spotlight exhibits at the uc berkeley library
TRANSCRIPT
~l-thou~hfts mines are closed and its timberlands
I
r
- loggedoff and dogs sleep in tTie streets of-once- -
thriving ~own5 IuIariposa is-not a Ghost county Its
pieasant climate and relatively low cost of living
make it a good place to retire and ~ i g h w a ~ 140
irito Yoseaite Kational Park leads tourists kith full
--
pockets straight through the center of the town of
Kariposa the co-mty seat
-
A firm foot in the present does not prevent
Marfposans from casting awistfulqe at the past
celebration in the county -- the centennial- of its
newspaper-theGzzette and of its courthouse It
was at that courthouse as trim and squsre and plain
as a New England church (equipped with brass spittoons)
that the following interview -took place on a
blustery Saturday afternoon in Juluary 1954
At om request Superior Court Judge Thomamp
Coakley -- who worked his way through lew school
leading a dance band and has a way with -- gathered together the towns leading elder citizens
for an afternoon of reminiscing Seventeen people
two interested dogs ~ n d a tape -recorder crowded
into the Judges chambers the people all talked at
1
Coakley May I kind of c a l l the ~neeting t o order here
and w e t l l get s t a r t ed I know some of you w i l l
want t o get home though I hope yout 11-enjoy the
session so much t h a t y o u t l l not want t o leave
too ear ly I very much a2preciate your coming
out on a rainy dnybecause i t t s a miserable
-day Sag waiter con I have your a t ten t ion a
l i t t l e b i t here I want t o t e l l these people
what t h i s i s about and how much we want you t o
help us on t h i s thing
For purpose of the record we ought t o say
t h a t t h i s l i t t l e interview i s taking place in
the chambers of the Superior Court i n the
hundred-year-old courthouse where wetre ge t t ing
ready t o t e l l the s tory of our centennial
anniversary Also the anniversary of our
newspaper Our courthouse here a t Mariposa i s
- the olcest and -- not only i n California but
the Stz te Bar of Cal i fornia has investigated
and f inds wetre the olCest courthouse i n the
West There are only twc courthouses any older
than t h i s west of the Fississippi one i s in
Louisiana and the other i s in Iowa So we have
t h a t d is t inc t ion
Krs lrabucco-- I -had R -cousin - t ha t was b o r r ~here Judge and
- she says I j u s t dont i l l ink i t s my c r e d i t
t o t h i s -county t o say they have the o lde s t -
courthouse She says It j u s t shows they re
b~ckward t h a t they haven t b u i l t a new -one -
Coakley Well I don t th ink we agree with her M r s G i l b
here i s from the Rancroft L ib ra ry-of t he
- Univers i ty of C ~ l i f o r n i a Kr ~ e r t -~ a l l a r d
here may be known t o some of you Hes the
pub l ic r e l e t i o n s man f o r the S t e t e Ear of
Cal i fo rn i a and i n t e r e s t i n g l y enough found
the record of h i s own b i r t h r i g h t here t h i s -
morning J i m KcEl l igo t t turned t o a paper back
i n 1901 and showed where E - J Ea l l a rd Jr 1
was born here back i n 1901 He was t he son QP
the jeweler
Oomanls voice I remember him when he was a baby I was a
verggood f r i e n d of h is rnother ts
( l a u g h t e r and genere1 c h a t t e r about where
Ba l la rd was-born)
C oakley And todays da t e i s January 23 19
The gentlenen and l a d i e s t h a t Im going
t o in t roduce a r e e i t h e r p ioneers themselves
o r descendants of p ioneers of t h i s county and
almost eve ry man o r woman h e r e w i t h o n e o r
two excep t ions d a t e s h i s a n c e s t r y back t o the
e a r l y f i f t i e s o r e a r l i e r i n t h i s county
K r s G i l b t e l l s u s t h a t she d l i k e t o h e a r
any th ing you might t h i n k would be i n t e r e s t i n g
about our e a r l y e d u c a t i o n a l system i n t h i s
c o m t y and some of t h e schoo l t e a c h e r s o r
school s u p e r i n t e n d e n t s and about our e a r l y
t r a n s p o r t e t i o n s y s tem -- Walter t h a t s where
you come i n You o l d s t a g e d r i v e r you you re
going t o t e l l us e l i t t l e something about t h e
e a r l y t r a n s p o r t a t i o n of t h e county Wed l i k e
t o h e a r soniething i n t e r e s t i n g e5out t h e law o r
some of t h e famous trials he re whether they be
c i v i l t r i a l s or murder t r i a l s
I
PARTICIPANTS
~ u d ~ e i i t r 6 d u c e d each o f t h e ~ o a l c l e ~ t h ~ n present
1 one by one
- -
1 - -I - Nrs Llzzie Wi l l iqhs -- M a d i- - --- ( ~ l i z b b e t h
-i 4 -
i
a
(she was b o r n i n Fbriposa arid her mother ~ l i z a b e t h
i
~ a r b e r her M r s s t a r t e d teaching school b e f o r e ~ i l i i m s
a t 18-and t augh t f o r 8 years )
(1
11 l~irs~ e o i ~ e~ e r t k e n (and KT ~ e r t k e n l
[
i
-(A n a t i v e of I l l i n o i s she hadbeen i n - Mariposa county
f o r about 57 years IOP A l i t t l e overwJudge Coekley
remarked I i u e s s t h a t makes i t j u s t over the l i n e of a I
newcomer i n t h i s county doesn t i t They t e l l me u n t i l
- youve been h e r e 50 years you re n o t in )
iI
j
Mrs Rosine S t e r n G a l l i s o n
(Born i n 1869 i n l ia r iposa county a t H i t e f s Cove an i 1
o l d mining d i s t r i c t Her f a t h e r Joseph Amador S t e r n c m e i (
t o C a l i f o r n i a v i a Panama before 1849 and was super in tenden t
f o r t h e H i t e f s mining opera t ion Her husband a l s o born i n 1
1869 w z s a miner and c l e r k e d i n t h e s t o r e s and then was
county c l e r k f o r 33 y e a r s e l e c t e d f i r s t about-1892)
5
1-Irs Louis 1bilburn ( ~ i l e e n E ) ----
two
(she came t o M a r i p o s ~ from Nevada County a t the age -of
~ e rhusband a nephew of Jud~e ~rabucc o was born i n
i
Kariposa a t a s i t e r i g h t w h e r e Aunt E d i t h s house i s now
Louis Tdilburn becavie d i s t r l c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa i n 1918
nnd cont inued i n t h a t p o s i t i o n u n t i l 1946)
1
3 I
Mrs Al tn Castapnetto
I (she was a l s o born i n Nsriposa county i n t h e extreme
west of the county n o r t h of Merced F a l l s i n what was former ly
h o h m a s New Y e a r s p r e c i n c t Ky n o t h e r s f o l k s cane he re
i n a covered wagon from Modesto and my f a t h e r (Bob Prou ty )
came he re from 14assachusetts and he was s h e r i f f he re f b r 22
years Her husband John was born i n the county i n 1887
and was s h e r i f f from 1926 u n t i l 1942 when he passed away)
Grandma Trabucco brought h i s p a r e n t s here
Brought h i s mother over from I t a l y ( s e v e r a l
vo ices t r a c i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p of Grandma
Trabucco)
Mrs Cast No John s p a r e n t s were born i n t h i s country
and then went back h i s motler d id and then
was brought back by grandmother
Woman My grandmother was brought by Ers Trabucco
too t o t k i s count ry
1869 What year d id Judge ~ r a b u c k o s f a m i l y
s e t t l e i n t h i s colmty
M r s T I t h ink i t was 53 when Grandfather came t o
Bear Valley
Woman 9e was i n ~ o r n i t o s f i r s t wasnt he
Another worncan Oh I thousht he canie i n $9
Frs T Anyway he cave out and l e f t h i s b r ide i n I t a l y
and promised he r t h a t he would b r ing Sack
t runks of gold There she s tayed wi th a l l
of t h a t hopes you how And f i n a l l y he went
back and lie d i d n t have t he t runks of gold
bu t he induced h e r t o go back w i th him
My husband graduated from Santa Clara and 11i
I cane he re when he wasnt q u i t e twenty-one andi 1 r an f o r a ssessor He was e lec ted and he he ld 1 1 i t h a t I th ink f ou r years He was e l e c t e d t o
D i s t r i c t Attorney Oh I couldn t say how
i
- -
-manyyears he w a s D i s t r i c t Attorney he was
-
~ u d ~ e lie passed f o r t h i r t y - s i x y e a r s away - -
- i n 138
Trs T - I as born i n Visa l ia but I came here when I
was a few months old and Ive l i ved here a l l -
my l i f e
-
M r ~ e w e l lChanberlain -
(Operator of a motel a t ~ idygtines he
I wrote the book Cal l of old)
Jack Leidig
le is o lder brother ~ h a r i e s~ w i l l eLeidig
was the f i r s t white ch i ld b ~ r ni n Yosemite National Park)
Leidig Fy nother and f a t h e r stopped there with old
man Lamon He w a s a pioneer s e t t l e r i n the
Yosemite That orchard t h a t orchard r i g h t
where Camp Curry is t h a t s the old south
I Lamon orchard My f a t h e r and Lamon planted
t h a t orchard there i n March 1868I Coakley - You mean t h a t orchard where they now park
Leidig Yeah around i n there yeah
i i 7k t i
Farnsrrorth i
J
F Leidig
Coakley
Leidig
us l i v ing One s i s t e r passed away --who
Belle She was cremated two seeks ago today
I don t h o w whether you f o l k s know it or no t
but my mother s f a t h e r was the man who sunk
the s h a f t ou t t o the Princeton Kine he used
t o c a l l it Down a t M t Bull ion drove the
Pine Tree end Josephine Tunnels f i r s t
Your mother s f a t h e r What was h i s name
Donald Doby Ibly g r amho the r on my no ther s
s i de was buried up here i n t h i s cemetery the
6 t h of December 1862
Z~+U_ _iAl _ijz_ --u ---i i _ -- - 2gt- gt- - ed- amplt -=lt--gtltzlt alt--
r-Ji -
i
I i
i
[
Publ isher S$hool p r i n c i p a l Druamppis t
- i
I g u e s s you Coakleg T h e l a h i e l l k n o w h e r b u t
-
1
_
- s l l e s the- bebyof t h e p a r t y Harguer l te I -
~ e x t e r - ~ a r n p b e l l But you donl t lkriow her
j -
i I 1 M r g Campbell i s t h e pu5 l iqhe r of
_ I
-
bur Gaze t C amp and h e r f a t h e r F i r Dexte r was t h e
f o r manjr mnny y e a r q a n d w a s q u i t $ an
-
edi tor So I m to ld And t h i s gentlemm -
3
~ r ~ d l e s b i c h i s ourhigh school p r i n c i p a l
1 Hr Hadmovitch i s our d rugg i s t t he l e a d i n g
i - d r u g g i s t of the community
- M r R And t h e oidest one ( l a u g h t e r )
I
coakley He 1s s n o t h e r newcomer who has come up to t h i s - - - I- f i n e c l ima te t o r e t i r e I
I
I
i E v e r e t t Bagby
13
C oakle y E v e r e t t Bagbys anotheryoung fe l low For your 1
i i i n f o r m a t i o n the town of Bagby which i s j u s t
IB
across t h e Nerced River and which d i v i d e s the
county t h e n o r t h and t h e s o u t h side of thei
1 county t h e town b f Eagby was named a f t e r h i s 1
j fat he^
Bagby I thinlc my f a t h e r - s e t t l e d t h e r e about 9 5 TheI
o l d t o m was always c a l l e d Benton pills which1 1
w a s t h e p roper nme f o r It I t m i ~ h tbe j u s t
i
-
---Alt r~-ltiwCltA- - r --- - -m---------2
--
~ Y ~ = ~ ~ ~ -
lt __iC-i
-$gt gt--dslt- -~-gtr- LC gt -gtz amp--4A- -- us---)Lamp amp- gtk
c---
~ Samp2~ dLr~m ~ampGampkL Siamp-~~~~lti~2-k-~~
i i
-
10
_
a a l t t l amp i n t e r e s t i n e f or the rdcord to finamp
i ha c a l l e d ~ ~ ~ b f I t ~ ~ t h ~ ~ i t ~ h a ~ ~ ~ ~ e d t o -
wasnt any desiGe on my father^ p a r t - B u t
1 1 - - I
lt 1
-
tlrere btlaa an tingineer by the nme 0f N C Ray -
~$
i
- whowas q u i t e w e l l known i n ~ a l i f o r n i a a n d i
iI
i
he uamp goingback- f o Irjashington D C m d
_ - i
h e amp a i d t o my f a t he r he s a id 1 1 1 1 have a - 1 I p o s t o f f i c e k s t n b l i s h e d while 1 l i f b a c k t h a r amp
1 -
i -i
~ o u r s e t h a t ~ s those th ings t h e way they d i d
1i
i n those o ld day - t h e y j u s t went i n and had i t
i
4 done NOamp you have a b i t of P repara t ion
f o r i t Anyway when he cot back t o taslinzton
D C they asked him what t o c k l l i t No ha
aslced my f a t h e r first what t o c a l l i t and my
1 f a t h e r s a i d Benton I f i l l s And when Ray go t
1 b a c k t o Washington D C the-re was some -
c o n f l i c t of names somewhere s o they wouldnt
1 give it the name of Benton ]ltills and t h a t s 6
1 how- tha t met ropo l i s became c a l l e d Bagby j
Coakley Well youve had a l i t t l e p o l i t i c a l career
1 yourse l f You were what a s s e s s o r here
Bagby O h I was a s se s so r f o r awhile -j
t Coakley How many years I1
Bagby ~ w e l v e yearsf
i
Coskley Wow he s t he manager of our pub l ic u t i l i t y
d i s t r i c t water d i s t r i c t
-
--= ziz-E- w __----- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~C ~ - ~ F i ~ ~ Y ~ ~ ~ ~ P P P P gt ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -~ ~ F~ 8 1 F -7 ~
- -
- Idalter ~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley ~ i r n ~ w o r t h T h e nex t man h i r e i s ~ a l t amp r Waiter
- - - - ark you a f r a i d t o t e l l ~ o u r yoamp -a g e o r ~ r i l l
-
- - - - i t
-
~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r t h ~ f r h d ~ f o r amp o t ( l a u g h t e r ) old i t - o v e r SO
- I forgot (He was 82) - -
many t irnes that
~ o a k l t j y well Walter you were what y o u were s h e r i f f
Tor how many te ms -
Farnsworth One
Coakley One term And you spent most of your ca ree r
d r iv ing s tage d idn t you
Fsrnsworth Well I ve worked seve ra l years i n the county
I was tax c o l l e c t o r and coronerand publ ic
adminis t ra tor and I was s h e r i f f and f a u l t -
f i n d e r I want t o t e l l vou about the time my
f a t h e r a r r ived here
Coakley Go ahead Walter l e t s hea r it
Farnsworth Landed here on t he 15 th of Apri l 1850 i n
West Virginia
Coakley Is t h a t so What was h i s business miner
Farnsworth Blacksmith And they came overland He t o l d
me about t h e i r journey and he s a i d t hey fd
take a horse and swim i t across the r i v e r and
drag a rope- and then when they go t t o the end
- - 12
-
--amp--d ---ampamp ampAdGd-ampck-gt-Ad lt ampA~kampd-~ampo- -- d--m--- L-L- -~-~~r -amp--- --aamp --LLL-gt
-
the re across the r i v e r why theyd put t h a t
rep onto a chain and then theyd p u l l th chain
across Finally theyfd ge t on t h a t s i de and
theyd l i i tch the - oxen on the chain -and p u l l the
wagons through the 14ississippi They d idn t t
have an$ bridges then and t h a t s the way they
got across So when they g o t over here t o
Bridgeport- they s t a r t e d up over the S i e r r a -
Nevadas end they came t o a signboard and on
t h i s signSoard was pr in ted I f youre l o s t
take the r i g h t hand t r a i l And- they were
l o s t ill r i g h t And time my f a t h e r came up - -
and saw tha t he sa id Well l e t s take it
Mymother always-taught rramp when I go t
bewil-dered t o take the r i g h t hand t r a i l So
they took the r i g h t hand t r a i l and i t landed
them down i n the Calaveras Big Trees If
theyd taken the l e f t hand theyd been down
Well when they go t t o the grove i t began
t o ra in And of course they had schooners
they had t h e i r wagons t he re l i k e boats When
they went t o go across on t he re - they d go by
p u l l i n g i t with the oxen p u l l i n g a c r o s s on
the bank So they go t i n t o the Big Trees over
- -
here Mhv i t kept ralniny enc7 r a i n l r ~ g~ n d
ralnirw ~ n dthey h ~ dt o cl imb ~p i n t h e f r
wsgorls 11p i n the b o e t s and the re was no f e e d
f o r the hor ses and c e t t l e and they +em- scared
They couldnfi c r o s s t h e r i v e r So my fsfJher
he rode mound 1ook i r~g f o r e p l ~ c e he s a l d
c r o s s i n g came bnck end wh6n he came i n t o the
subul-bs of E i g Trees why he not lced a f l a s h
of l i g h t IIe WRB r i d i n ~by a t r e e t h a t had
f ~ l l e nnnd he stopped ~ n dlooked and it was
hollow So he g o t o f f h i s ho r se and went in
t h e r e and t h e r e was room enou~gt j u s t throu
t h a t t r e e t o ~ e t o c r o s s t h e r i v e r
So they went i n and t h e y took t h e 012 b e l l
cow they c a l l e d h e r Crybaby because every time
she wented t o be milked she1lt g e t r i g h t up
t o t h e canp a n d s h e l d never s t o p l t r l t h e y
come and mi lk he r She would c a l l =d t h e y
c s l l e d h e r Crybaby Ye l l she was t b e l e a 2 e r
of t h e whole men and h o r s e s grid eve ry th ing
t ake h e r by t h e b e l l s t r a p and you ccul2 lead
h e r anywhere So my Dad he cone back and got
t he o l d b e l l cow nnd he started through t h l s
- ~6akit iy DO m y women remember o i you men o r any of you
any p a r t i c u l a r l y hampiorous inciden-ts t a k i n g
-
Farnsworth
-
coqkxky
place i n - t h i s courtroom -either t h a t you
heard about o r t h a t you wi tnessed
Iheard one
canwe t - i l l i t
-
-
_ Hamp Cast L e t h e r g o Y a I t c r l e t h e r go (l aughter)-
Fakn3worth I reniexber see ing t he b i g g e s t crowd I eve r saw
Mrs Cast
Farnsworth
Man
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
i n rny l i f e w a s t h l s courthouse i n 81
But don t t e l l about any snakes p lease Dont
t e l l about any snakes your snake s t o r i e s
we don t want t o hea r those
IBout t he snakes
We don t want t o h e a r your snake s t o r i e s
Walter
This amp I t no snake s to ry
A l l r i g h t t e l l us about t he b igges t crowd you
ever saw here i n 81
Well they had a woman come here and she was
preaching good teniperance And I don t t h ink
I ever d id s ee more people i n t h a t courtroom
than t he r e was t h i s time She was a wonderful
t a l k e r And t hey had a l i t t l e Irishman t h a t
was r a i s e d around here came here and he
couldn1t read nor w r i t e but hi could spin a -
joke o r somethin And thi s l ady made a
remark t h a t i f anyone who drank l i quo r fop
f ou r years t h e i r stomsch was spoi led his -
-l i t t l e Irishman well he l i s t e n e d 2nd looked
on and she vent on and f i n a l l y she says
NOW i f t h e r e s anybodyld l i k e t o ask any
quest ion I d be g l sd t o answer it So he
go t down and he says Lady do you say
anyone who drank l i q u o r f o r t h r ee two $ears
stomach was spiledT1 Yes He says I
t e l l you what 111 do 111 put my stomzch up
a p i n s t yours-any time you see f i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Eonestly t h a t house j u s t roared Tha t s a
f a c t It happened r i g h t i n there I remember
i t a s well as1 j u s t t o l d it
THE FITE CASE
Leidig I think one of the most famous cases t h a t was
- ever t r i e d i n t h i s courtrooin was the case when -
-
old Lucy Hite sued old John Hite that time -
Coakley O h 1 e t ~hear abou t t ha t Therels q u i t e a -
- r e p o r t on t h a t case but t h a t s the appe l l a t e
repor t T e l l us something about what happened
- -in t h a t case
- Woman When was it
-
Man 1900 o r so was i t It was i n t h i s century -
Leidig The way Bi te happened t o f ind t h a t mine it used
t o be vou remember when we had what they ca l l ed -
the grub s take Well IIite and Kearns and a l l
of them and old Hickman they wouldnt s take
him any more and they were a l l there on the
river And it wasnt t h i s o ld l u c y It was
her s i s t e r t h a t was with h i m t h a t time when
he found t h a t mine and she wanted t o go over
t o where Indian F l a t i s now --Farmsworth Wasnl t she l i v i n g w i t h a f e l l a from ~ r e s n o F la t
Leidig -- she wanted t o go over t o this fandango
and he to ld he r she cou ldn f t go and he was
down by the r i v e r bank and he was mort iss ing
up some samples of some hed picked up
and she watched him and she sneaked off
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
1
Coakley May I kind of c a l l the ~neeting t o order here
and w e t l l get s t a r t ed I know some of you w i l l
want t o get home though I hope yout 11-enjoy the
session so much t h a t y o u t l l not want t o leave
too ear ly I very much a2preciate your coming
out on a rainy dnybecause i t t s a miserable
-day Sag waiter con I have your a t ten t ion a
l i t t l e b i t here I want t o t e l l these people
what t h i s i s about and how much we want you t o
help us on t h i s thing
For purpose of the record we ought t o say
t h a t t h i s l i t t l e interview i s taking place in
the chambers of the Superior Court i n the
hundred-year-old courthouse where wetre ge t t ing
ready t o t e l l the s tory of our centennial
anniversary Also the anniversary of our
newspaper Our courthouse here a t Mariposa i s
- the olcest and -- not only i n California but
the Stz te Bar of Cal i fornia has investigated
and f inds wetre the olCest courthouse i n the
West There are only twc courthouses any older
than t h i s west of the Fississippi one i s in
Louisiana and the other i s in Iowa So we have
t h a t d is t inc t ion
Krs lrabucco-- I -had R -cousin - t ha t was b o r r ~here Judge and
- she says I j u s t dont i l l ink i t s my c r e d i t
t o t h i s -county t o say they have the o lde s t -
courthouse She says It j u s t shows they re
b~ckward t h a t they haven t b u i l t a new -one -
Coakley Well I don t th ink we agree with her M r s G i l b
here i s from the Rancroft L ib ra ry-of t he
- Univers i ty of C ~ l i f o r n i a Kr ~ e r t -~ a l l a r d
here may be known t o some of you Hes the
pub l ic r e l e t i o n s man f o r the S t e t e Ear of
Cal i fo rn i a and i n t e r e s t i n g l y enough found
the record of h i s own b i r t h r i g h t here t h i s -
morning J i m KcEl l igo t t turned t o a paper back
i n 1901 and showed where E - J Ea l l a rd Jr 1
was born here back i n 1901 He was t he son QP
the jeweler
Oomanls voice I remember him when he was a baby I was a
verggood f r i e n d of h is rnother ts
( l a u g h t e r and genere1 c h a t t e r about where
Ba l la rd was-born)
C oakley And todays da t e i s January 23 19
The gentlenen and l a d i e s t h a t Im going
t o in t roduce a r e e i t h e r p ioneers themselves
o r descendants of p ioneers of t h i s county and
almost eve ry man o r woman h e r e w i t h o n e o r
two excep t ions d a t e s h i s a n c e s t r y back t o the
e a r l y f i f t i e s o r e a r l i e r i n t h i s county
K r s G i l b t e l l s u s t h a t she d l i k e t o h e a r
any th ing you might t h i n k would be i n t e r e s t i n g
about our e a r l y e d u c a t i o n a l system i n t h i s
c o m t y and some of t h e schoo l t e a c h e r s o r
school s u p e r i n t e n d e n t s and about our e a r l y
t r a n s p o r t e t i o n s y s tem -- Walter t h a t s where
you come i n You o l d s t a g e d r i v e r you you re
going t o t e l l us e l i t t l e something about t h e
e a r l y t r a n s p o r t a t i o n of t h e county Wed l i k e
t o h e a r soniething i n t e r e s t i n g e5out t h e law o r
some of t h e famous trials he re whether they be
c i v i l t r i a l s or murder t r i a l s
I
PARTICIPANTS
~ u d ~ e i i t r 6 d u c e d each o f t h e ~ o a l c l e ~ t h ~ n present
1 one by one
- -
1 - -I - Nrs Llzzie Wi l l iqhs -- M a d i- - --- ( ~ l i z b b e t h
-i 4 -
i
a
(she was b o r n i n Fbriposa arid her mother ~ l i z a b e t h
i
~ a r b e r her M r s s t a r t e d teaching school b e f o r e ~ i l i i m s
a t 18-and t augh t f o r 8 years )
(1
11 l~irs~ e o i ~ e~ e r t k e n (and KT ~ e r t k e n l
[
i
-(A n a t i v e of I l l i n o i s she hadbeen i n - Mariposa county
f o r about 57 years IOP A l i t t l e overwJudge Coekley
remarked I i u e s s t h a t makes i t j u s t over the l i n e of a I
newcomer i n t h i s county doesn t i t They t e l l me u n t i l
- youve been h e r e 50 years you re n o t in )
iI
j
Mrs Rosine S t e r n G a l l i s o n
(Born i n 1869 i n l ia r iposa county a t H i t e f s Cove an i 1
o l d mining d i s t r i c t Her f a t h e r Joseph Amador S t e r n c m e i (
t o C a l i f o r n i a v i a Panama before 1849 and was super in tenden t
f o r t h e H i t e f s mining opera t ion Her husband a l s o born i n 1
1869 w z s a miner and c l e r k e d i n t h e s t o r e s and then was
county c l e r k f o r 33 y e a r s e l e c t e d f i r s t about-1892)
5
1-Irs Louis 1bilburn ( ~ i l e e n E ) ----
two
(she came t o M a r i p o s ~ from Nevada County a t the age -of
~ e rhusband a nephew of Jud~e ~rabucc o was born i n
i
Kariposa a t a s i t e r i g h t w h e r e Aunt E d i t h s house i s now
Louis Tdilburn becavie d i s t r l c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa i n 1918
nnd cont inued i n t h a t p o s i t i o n u n t i l 1946)
1
3 I
Mrs Al tn Castapnetto
I (she was a l s o born i n Nsriposa county i n t h e extreme
west of the county n o r t h of Merced F a l l s i n what was former ly
h o h m a s New Y e a r s p r e c i n c t Ky n o t h e r s f o l k s cane he re
i n a covered wagon from Modesto and my f a t h e r (Bob Prou ty )
came he re from 14assachusetts and he was s h e r i f f he re f b r 22
years Her husband John was born i n the county i n 1887
and was s h e r i f f from 1926 u n t i l 1942 when he passed away)
Grandma Trabucco brought h i s p a r e n t s here
Brought h i s mother over from I t a l y ( s e v e r a l
vo ices t r a c i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p of Grandma
Trabucco)
Mrs Cast No John s p a r e n t s were born i n t h i s country
and then went back h i s motler d id and then
was brought back by grandmother
Woman My grandmother was brought by Ers Trabucco
too t o t k i s count ry
1869 What year d id Judge ~ r a b u c k o s f a m i l y
s e t t l e i n t h i s colmty
M r s T I t h ink i t was 53 when Grandfather came t o
Bear Valley
Woman 9e was i n ~ o r n i t o s f i r s t wasnt he
Another worncan Oh I thousht he canie i n $9
Frs T Anyway he cave out and l e f t h i s b r ide i n I t a l y
and promised he r t h a t he would b r ing Sack
t runks of gold There she s tayed wi th a l l
of t h a t hopes you how And f i n a l l y he went
back and lie d i d n t have t he t runks of gold
bu t he induced h e r t o go back w i th him
My husband graduated from Santa Clara and 11i
I cane he re when he wasnt q u i t e twenty-one andi 1 r an f o r a ssessor He was e lec ted and he he ld 1 1 i t h a t I th ink f ou r years He was e l e c t e d t o
D i s t r i c t Attorney Oh I couldn t say how
i
- -
-manyyears he w a s D i s t r i c t Attorney he was
-
~ u d ~ e lie passed f o r t h i r t y - s i x y e a r s away - -
- i n 138
Trs T - I as born i n Visa l ia but I came here when I
was a few months old and Ive l i ved here a l l -
my l i f e
-
M r ~ e w e l lChanberlain -
(Operator of a motel a t ~ idygtines he
I wrote the book Cal l of old)
Jack Leidig
le is o lder brother ~ h a r i e s~ w i l l eLeidig
was the f i r s t white ch i ld b ~ r ni n Yosemite National Park)
Leidig Fy nother and f a t h e r stopped there with old
man Lamon He w a s a pioneer s e t t l e r i n the
Yosemite That orchard t h a t orchard r i g h t
where Camp Curry is t h a t s the old south
I Lamon orchard My f a t h e r and Lamon planted
t h a t orchard there i n March 1868I Coakley - You mean t h a t orchard where they now park
Leidig Yeah around i n there yeah
i i 7k t i
Farnsrrorth i
J
F Leidig
Coakley
Leidig
us l i v ing One s i s t e r passed away --who
Belle She was cremated two seeks ago today
I don t h o w whether you f o l k s know it or no t
but my mother s f a t h e r was the man who sunk
the s h a f t ou t t o the Princeton Kine he used
t o c a l l it Down a t M t Bull ion drove the
Pine Tree end Josephine Tunnels f i r s t
Your mother s f a t h e r What was h i s name
Donald Doby Ibly g r amho the r on my no ther s
s i de was buried up here i n t h i s cemetery the
6 t h of December 1862
Z~+U_ _iAl _ijz_ --u ---i i _ -- - 2gt- gt- - ed- amplt -=lt--gtltzlt alt--
r-Ji -
i
I i
i
[
Publ isher S$hool p r i n c i p a l Druamppis t
- i
I g u e s s you Coakleg T h e l a h i e l l k n o w h e r b u t
-
1
_
- s l l e s the- bebyof t h e p a r t y Harguer l te I -
~ e x t e r - ~ a r n p b e l l But you donl t lkriow her
j -
i I 1 M r g Campbell i s t h e pu5 l iqhe r of
_ I
-
bur Gaze t C amp and h e r f a t h e r F i r Dexte r was t h e
f o r manjr mnny y e a r q a n d w a s q u i t $ an
-
edi tor So I m to ld And t h i s gentlemm -
3
~ r ~ d l e s b i c h i s ourhigh school p r i n c i p a l
1 Hr Hadmovitch i s our d rugg i s t t he l e a d i n g
i - d r u g g i s t of the community
- M r R And t h e oidest one ( l a u g h t e r )
I
coakley He 1s s n o t h e r newcomer who has come up to t h i s - - - I- f i n e c l ima te t o r e t i r e I
I
I
i E v e r e t t Bagby
13
C oakle y E v e r e t t Bagbys anotheryoung fe l low For your 1
i i i n f o r m a t i o n the town of Bagby which i s j u s t
IB
across t h e Nerced River and which d i v i d e s the
county t h e n o r t h and t h e s o u t h side of thei
1 county t h e town b f Eagby was named a f t e r h i s 1
j fat he^
Bagby I thinlc my f a t h e r - s e t t l e d t h e r e about 9 5 TheI
o l d t o m was always c a l l e d Benton pills which1 1
w a s t h e p roper nme f o r It I t m i ~ h tbe j u s t
i
-
---Alt r~-ltiwCltA- - r --- - -m---------2
--
~ Y ~ = ~ ~ ~ -
lt __iC-i
-$gt gt--dslt- -~-gtr- LC gt -gtz amp--4A- -- us---)Lamp amp- gtk
c---
~ Samp2~ dLr~m ~ampGampkL Siamp-~~~~lti~2-k-~~
i i
-
10
_
a a l t t l amp i n t e r e s t i n e f or the rdcord to finamp
i ha c a l l e d ~ ~ ~ b f I t ~ ~ t h ~ ~ i t ~ h a ~ ~ ~ ~ e d t o -
wasnt any desiGe on my father^ p a r t - B u t
1 1 - - I
lt 1
-
tlrere btlaa an tingineer by the nme 0f N C Ray -
~$
i
- whowas q u i t e w e l l known i n ~ a l i f o r n i a a n d i
iI
i
he uamp goingback- f o Irjashington D C m d
_ - i
h e amp a i d t o my f a t he r he s a id 1 1 1 1 have a - 1 I p o s t o f f i c e k s t n b l i s h e d while 1 l i f b a c k t h a r amp
1 -
i -i
~ o u r s e t h a t ~ s those th ings t h e way they d i d
1i
i n those o ld day - t h e y j u s t went i n and had i t
i
4 done NOamp you have a b i t of P repara t ion
f o r i t Anyway when he cot back t o taslinzton
D C they asked him what t o c k l l i t No ha
aslced my f a t h e r first what t o c a l l i t and my
1 f a t h e r s a i d Benton I f i l l s And when Ray go t
1 b a c k t o Washington D C the-re was some -
c o n f l i c t of names somewhere s o they wouldnt
1 give it the name of Benton ]ltills and t h a t s 6
1 how- tha t met ropo l i s became c a l l e d Bagby j
Coakley Well youve had a l i t t l e p o l i t i c a l career
1 yourse l f You were what a s s e s s o r here
Bagby O h I was a s se s so r f o r awhile -j
t Coakley How many years I1
Bagby ~ w e l v e yearsf
i
Coskley Wow he s t he manager of our pub l ic u t i l i t y
d i s t r i c t water d i s t r i c t
-
--= ziz-E- w __----- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~C ~ - ~ F i ~ ~ Y ~ ~ ~ ~ P P P P gt ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -~ ~ F~ 8 1 F -7 ~
- -
- Idalter ~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley ~ i r n ~ w o r t h T h e nex t man h i r e i s ~ a l t amp r Waiter
- - - - ark you a f r a i d t o t e l l ~ o u r yoamp -a g e o r ~ r i l l
-
- - - - i t
-
~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r t h ~ f r h d ~ f o r amp o t ( l a u g h t e r ) old i t - o v e r SO
- I forgot (He was 82) - -
many t irnes that
~ o a k l t j y well Walter you were what y o u were s h e r i f f
Tor how many te ms -
Farnsworth One
Coakley One term And you spent most of your ca ree r
d r iv ing s tage d idn t you
Fsrnsworth Well I ve worked seve ra l years i n the county
I was tax c o l l e c t o r and coronerand publ ic
adminis t ra tor and I was s h e r i f f and f a u l t -
f i n d e r I want t o t e l l vou about the time my
f a t h e r a r r ived here
Coakley Go ahead Walter l e t s hea r it
Farnsworth Landed here on t he 15 th of Apri l 1850 i n
West Virginia
Coakley Is t h a t so What was h i s business miner
Farnsworth Blacksmith And they came overland He t o l d
me about t h e i r journey and he s a i d t hey fd
take a horse and swim i t across the r i v e r and
drag a rope- and then when they go t t o the end
- - 12
-
--amp--d ---ampamp ampAdGd-ampck-gt-Ad lt ampA~kampd-~ampo- -- d--m--- L-L- -~-~~r -amp--- --aamp --LLL-gt
-
the re across the r i v e r why theyd put t h a t
rep onto a chain and then theyd p u l l th chain
across Finally theyfd ge t on t h a t s i de and
theyd l i i tch the - oxen on the chain -and p u l l the
wagons through the 14ississippi They d idn t t
have an$ bridges then and t h a t s the way they
got across So when they g o t over here t o
Bridgeport- they s t a r t e d up over the S i e r r a -
Nevadas end they came t o a signboard and on
t h i s signSoard was pr in ted I f youre l o s t
take the r i g h t hand t r a i l And- they were
l o s t ill r i g h t And time my f a t h e r came up - -
and saw tha t he sa id Well l e t s take it
Mymother always-taught rramp when I go t
bewil-dered t o take the r i g h t hand t r a i l So
they took the r i g h t hand t r a i l and i t landed
them down i n the Calaveras Big Trees If
theyd taken the l e f t hand theyd been down
Well when they go t t o the grove i t began
t o ra in And of course they had schooners
they had t h e i r wagons t he re l i k e boats When
they went t o go across on t he re - they d go by
p u l l i n g i t with the oxen p u l l i n g a c r o s s on
the bank So they go t i n t o the Big Trees over
- -
here Mhv i t kept ralniny enc7 r a i n l r ~ g~ n d
ralnirw ~ n dthey h ~ dt o cl imb ~p i n t h e f r
wsgorls 11p i n the b o e t s and the re was no f e e d
f o r the hor ses and c e t t l e and they +em- scared
They couldnfi c r o s s t h e r i v e r So my fsfJher
he rode mound 1ook i r~g f o r e p l ~ c e he s a l d
c r o s s i n g came bnck end wh6n he came i n t o the
subul-bs of E i g Trees why he not lced a f l a s h
of l i g h t IIe WRB r i d i n ~by a t r e e t h a t had
f ~ l l e nnnd he stopped ~ n dlooked and it was
hollow So he g o t o f f h i s ho r se and went in
t h e r e and t h e r e was room enou~gt j u s t throu
t h a t t r e e t o ~ e t o c r o s s t h e r i v e r
So they went i n and t h e y took t h e 012 b e l l
cow they c a l l e d h e r Crybaby because every time
she wented t o be milked she1lt g e t r i g h t up
t o t h e canp a n d s h e l d never s t o p l t r l t h e y
come and mi lk he r She would c a l l =d t h e y
c s l l e d h e r Crybaby Ye l l she was t b e l e a 2 e r
of t h e whole men and h o r s e s grid eve ry th ing
t ake h e r by t h e b e l l s t r a p and you ccul2 lead
h e r anywhere So my Dad he cone back and got
t he o l d b e l l cow nnd he started through t h l s
- ~6akit iy DO m y women remember o i you men o r any of you
any p a r t i c u l a r l y hampiorous inciden-ts t a k i n g
-
Farnsworth
-
coqkxky
place i n - t h i s courtroom -either t h a t you
heard about o r t h a t you wi tnessed
Iheard one
canwe t - i l l i t
-
-
_ Hamp Cast L e t h e r g o Y a I t c r l e t h e r go (l aughter)-
Fakn3worth I reniexber see ing t he b i g g e s t crowd I eve r saw
Mrs Cast
Farnsworth
Man
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
i n rny l i f e w a s t h l s courthouse i n 81
But don t t e l l about any snakes p lease Dont
t e l l about any snakes your snake s t o r i e s
we don t want t o hea r those
IBout t he snakes
We don t want t o h e a r your snake s t o r i e s
Walter
This amp I t no snake s to ry
A l l r i g h t t e l l us about t he b igges t crowd you
ever saw here i n 81
Well they had a woman come here and she was
preaching good teniperance And I don t t h ink
I ever d id s ee more people i n t h a t courtroom
than t he r e was t h i s time She was a wonderful
t a l k e r And t hey had a l i t t l e Irishman t h a t
was r a i s e d around here came here and he
couldn1t read nor w r i t e but hi could spin a -
joke o r somethin And thi s l ady made a
remark t h a t i f anyone who drank l i quo r fop
f ou r years t h e i r stomsch was spoi led his -
-l i t t l e Irishman well he l i s t e n e d 2nd looked
on and she vent on and f i n a l l y she says
NOW i f t h e r e s anybodyld l i k e t o ask any
quest ion I d be g l sd t o answer it So he
go t down and he says Lady do you say
anyone who drank l i q u o r f o r t h r ee two $ears
stomach was spiledT1 Yes He says I
t e l l you what 111 do 111 put my stomzch up
a p i n s t yours-any time you see f i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Eonestly t h a t house j u s t roared Tha t s a
f a c t It happened r i g h t i n there I remember
i t a s well as1 j u s t t o l d it
THE FITE CASE
Leidig I think one of the most famous cases t h a t was
- ever t r i e d i n t h i s courtrooin was the case when -
-
old Lucy Hite sued old John Hite that time -
Coakley O h 1 e t ~hear abou t t ha t Therels q u i t e a -
- r e p o r t on t h a t case but t h a t s the appe l l a t e
repor t T e l l us something about what happened
- -in t h a t case
- Woman When was it
-
Man 1900 o r so was i t It was i n t h i s century -
Leidig The way Bi te happened t o f ind t h a t mine it used
t o be vou remember when we had what they ca l l ed -
the grub s take Well IIite and Kearns and a l l
of them and old Hickman they wouldnt s take
him any more and they were a l l there on the
river And it wasnt t h i s o ld l u c y It was
her s i s t e r t h a t was with h i m t h a t time when
he found t h a t mine and she wanted t o go over
t o where Indian F l a t i s now --Farmsworth Wasnl t she l i v i n g w i t h a f e l l a from ~ r e s n o F la t
Leidig -- she wanted t o go over t o this fandango
and he to ld he r she cou ldn f t go and he was
down by the r i v e r bank and he was mort iss ing
up some samples of some hed picked up
and she watched him and she sneaked off
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
Krs lrabucco-- I -had R -cousin - t ha t was b o r r ~here Judge and
- she says I j u s t dont i l l ink i t s my c r e d i t
t o t h i s -county t o say they have the o lde s t -
courthouse She says It j u s t shows they re
b~ckward t h a t they haven t b u i l t a new -one -
Coakley Well I don t th ink we agree with her M r s G i l b
here i s from the Rancroft L ib ra ry-of t he
- Univers i ty of C ~ l i f o r n i a Kr ~ e r t -~ a l l a r d
here may be known t o some of you Hes the
pub l ic r e l e t i o n s man f o r the S t e t e Ear of
Cal i fo rn i a and i n t e r e s t i n g l y enough found
the record of h i s own b i r t h r i g h t here t h i s -
morning J i m KcEl l igo t t turned t o a paper back
i n 1901 and showed where E - J Ea l l a rd Jr 1
was born here back i n 1901 He was t he son QP
the jeweler
Oomanls voice I remember him when he was a baby I was a
verggood f r i e n d of h is rnother ts
( l a u g h t e r and genere1 c h a t t e r about where
Ba l la rd was-born)
C oakley And todays da t e i s January 23 19
The gentlenen and l a d i e s t h a t Im going
t o in t roduce a r e e i t h e r p ioneers themselves
o r descendants of p ioneers of t h i s county and
almost eve ry man o r woman h e r e w i t h o n e o r
two excep t ions d a t e s h i s a n c e s t r y back t o the
e a r l y f i f t i e s o r e a r l i e r i n t h i s county
K r s G i l b t e l l s u s t h a t she d l i k e t o h e a r
any th ing you might t h i n k would be i n t e r e s t i n g
about our e a r l y e d u c a t i o n a l system i n t h i s
c o m t y and some of t h e schoo l t e a c h e r s o r
school s u p e r i n t e n d e n t s and about our e a r l y
t r a n s p o r t e t i o n s y s tem -- Walter t h a t s where
you come i n You o l d s t a g e d r i v e r you you re
going t o t e l l us e l i t t l e something about t h e
e a r l y t r a n s p o r t a t i o n of t h e county Wed l i k e
t o h e a r soniething i n t e r e s t i n g e5out t h e law o r
some of t h e famous trials he re whether they be
c i v i l t r i a l s or murder t r i a l s
I
PARTICIPANTS
~ u d ~ e i i t r 6 d u c e d each o f t h e ~ o a l c l e ~ t h ~ n present
1 one by one
- -
1 - -I - Nrs Llzzie Wi l l iqhs -- M a d i- - --- ( ~ l i z b b e t h
-i 4 -
i
a
(she was b o r n i n Fbriposa arid her mother ~ l i z a b e t h
i
~ a r b e r her M r s s t a r t e d teaching school b e f o r e ~ i l i i m s
a t 18-and t augh t f o r 8 years )
(1
11 l~irs~ e o i ~ e~ e r t k e n (and KT ~ e r t k e n l
[
i
-(A n a t i v e of I l l i n o i s she hadbeen i n - Mariposa county
f o r about 57 years IOP A l i t t l e overwJudge Coekley
remarked I i u e s s t h a t makes i t j u s t over the l i n e of a I
newcomer i n t h i s county doesn t i t They t e l l me u n t i l
- youve been h e r e 50 years you re n o t in )
iI
j
Mrs Rosine S t e r n G a l l i s o n
(Born i n 1869 i n l ia r iposa county a t H i t e f s Cove an i 1
o l d mining d i s t r i c t Her f a t h e r Joseph Amador S t e r n c m e i (
t o C a l i f o r n i a v i a Panama before 1849 and was super in tenden t
f o r t h e H i t e f s mining opera t ion Her husband a l s o born i n 1
1869 w z s a miner and c l e r k e d i n t h e s t o r e s and then was
county c l e r k f o r 33 y e a r s e l e c t e d f i r s t about-1892)
5
1-Irs Louis 1bilburn ( ~ i l e e n E ) ----
two
(she came t o M a r i p o s ~ from Nevada County a t the age -of
~ e rhusband a nephew of Jud~e ~rabucc o was born i n
i
Kariposa a t a s i t e r i g h t w h e r e Aunt E d i t h s house i s now
Louis Tdilburn becavie d i s t r l c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa i n 1918
nnd cont inued i n t h a t p o s i t i o n u n t i l 1946)
1
3 I
Mrs Al tn Castapnetto
I (she was a l s o born i n Nsriposa county i n t h e extreme
west of the county n o r t h of Merced F a l l s i n what was former ly
h o h m a s New Y e a r s p r e c i n c t Ky n o t h e r s f o l k s cane he re
i n a covered wagon from Modesto and my f a t h e r (Bob Prou ty )
came he re from 14assachusetts and he was s h e r i f f he re f b r 22
years Her husband John was born i n the county i n 1887
and was s h e r i f f from 1926 u n t i l 1942 when he passed away)
Grandma Trabucco brought h i s p a r e n t s here
Brought h i s mother over from I t a l y ( s e v e r a l
vo ices t r a c i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p of Grandma
Trabucco)
Mrs Cast No John s p a r e n t s were born i n t h i s country
and then went back h i s motler d id and then
was brought back by grandmother
Woman My grandmother was brought by Ers Trabucco
too t o t k i s count ry
1869 What year d id Judge ~ r a b u c k o s f a m i l y
s e t t l e i n t h i s colmty
M r s T I t h ink i t was 53 when Grandfather came t o
Bear Valley
Woman 9e was i n ~ o r n i t o s f i r s t wasnt he
Another worncan Oh I thousht he canie i n $9
Frs T Anyway he cave out and l e f t h i s b r ide i n I t a l y
and promised he r t h a t he would b r ing Sack
t runks of gold There she s tayed wi th a l l
of t h a t hopes you how And f i n a l l y he went
back and lie d i d n t have t he t runks of gold
bu t he induced h e r t o go back w i th him
My husband graduated from Santa Clara and 11i
I cane he re when he wasnt q u i t e twenty-one andi 1 r an f o r a ssessor He was e lec ted and he he ld 1 1 i t h a t I th ink f ou r years He was e l e c t e d t o
D i s t r i c t Attorney Oh I couldn t say how
i
- -
-manyyears he w a s D i s t r i c t Attorney he was
-
~ u d ~ e lie passed f o r t h i r t y - s i x y e a r s away - -
- i n 138
Trs T - I as born i n Visa l ia but I came here when I
was a few months old and Ive l i ved here a l l -
my l i f e
-
M r ~ e w e l lChanberlain -
(Operator of a motel a t ~ idygtines he
I wrote the book Cal l of old)
Jack Leidig
le is o lder brother ~ h a r i e s~ w i l l eLeidig
was the f i r s t white ch i ld b ~ r ni n Yosemite National Park)
Leidig Fy nother and f a t h e r stopped there with old
man Lamon He w a s a pioneer s e t t l e r i n the
Yosemite That orchard t h a t orchard r i g h t
where Camp Curry is t h a t s the old south
I Lamon orchard My f a t h e r and Lamon planted
t h a t orchard there i n March 1868I Coakley - You mean t h a t orchard where they now park
Leidig Yeah around i n there yeah
i i 7k t i
Farnsrrorth i
J
F Leidig
Coakley
Leidig
us l i v ing One s i s t e r passed away --who
Belle She was cremated two seeks ago today
I don t h o w whether you f o l k s know it or no t
but my mother s f a t h e r was the man who sunk
the s h a f t ou t t o the Princeton Kine he used
t o c a l l it Down a t M t Bull ion drove the
Pine Tree end Josephine Tunnels f i r s t
Your mother s f a t h e r What was h i s name
Donald Doby Ibly g r amho the r on my no ther s
s i de was buried up here i n t h i s cemetery the
6 t h of December 1862
Z~+U_ _iAl _ijz_ --u ---i i _ -- - 2gt- gt- - ed- amplt -=lt--gtltzlt alt--
r-Ji -
i
I i
i
[
Publ isher S$hool p r i n c i p a l Druamppis t
- i
I g u e s s you Coakleg T h e l a h i e l l k n o w h e r b u t
-
1
_
- s l l e s the- bebyof t h e p a r t y Harguer l te I -
~ e x t e r - ~ a r n p b e l l But you donl t lkriow her
j -
i I 1 M r g Campbell i s t h e pu5 l iqhe r of
_ I
-
bur Gaze t C amp and h e r f a t h e r F i r Dexte r was t h e
f o r manjr mnny y e a r q a n d w a s q u i t $ an
-
edi tor So I m to ld And t h i s gentlemm -
3
~ r ~ d l e s b i c h i s ourhigh school p r i n c i p a l
1 Hr Hadmovitch i s our d rugg i s t t he l e a d i n g
i - d r u g g i s t of the community
- M r R And t h e oidest one ( l a u g h t e r )
I
coakley He 1s s n o t h e r newcomer who has come up to t h i s - - - I- f i n e c l ima te t o r e t i r e I
I
I
i E v e r e t t Bagby
13
C oakle y E v e r e t t Bagbys anotheryoung fe l low For your 1
i i i n f o r m a t i o n the town of Bagby which i s j u s t
IB
across t h e Nerced River and which d i v i d e s the
county t h e n o r t h and t h e s o u t h side of thei
1 county t h e town b f Eagby was named a f t e r h i s 1
j fat he^
Bagby I thinlc my f a t h e r - s e t t l e d t h e r e about 9 5 TheI
o l d t o m was always c a l l e d Benton pills which1 1
w a s t h e p roper nme f o r It I t m i ~ h tbe j u s t
i
-
---Alt r~-ltiwCltA- - r --- - -m---------2
--
~ Y ~ = ~ ~ ~ -
lt __iC-i
-$gt gt--dslt- -~-gtr- LC gt -gtz amp--4A- -- us---)Lamp amp- gtk
c---
~ Samp2~ dLr~m ~ampGampkL Siamp-~~~~lti~2-k-~~
i i
-
10
_
a a l t t l amp i n t e r e s t i n e f or the rdcord to finamp
i ha c a l l e d ~ ~ ~ b f I t ~ ~ t h ~ ~ i t ~ h a ~ ~ ~ ~ e d t o -
wasnt any desiGe on my father^ p a r t - B u t
1 1 - - I
lt 1
-
tlrere btlaa an tingineer by the nme 0f N C Ray -
~$
i
- whowas q u i t e w e l l known i n ~ a l i f o r n i a a n d i
iI
i
he uamp goingback- f o Irjashington D C m d
_ - i
h e amp a i d t o my f a t he r he s a id 1 1 1 1 have a - 1 I p o s t o f f i c e k s t n b l i s h e d while 1 l i f b a c k t h a r amp
1 -
i -i
~ o u r s e t h a t ~ s those th ings t h e way they d i d
1i
i n those o ld day - t h e y j u s t went i n and had i t
i
4 done NOamp you have a b i t of P repara t ion
f o r i t Anyway when he cot back t o taslinzton
D C they asked him what t o c k l l i t No ha
aslced my f a t h e r first what t o c a l l i t and my
1 f a t h e r s a i d Benton I f i l l s And when Ray go t
1 b a c k t o Washington D C the-re was some -
c o n f l i c t of names somewhere s o they wouldnt
1 give it the name of Benton ]ltills and t h a t s 6
1 how- tha t met ropo l i s became c a l l e d Bagby j
Coakley Well youve had a l i t t l e p o l i t i c a l career
1 yourse l f You were what a s s e s s o r here
Bagby O h I was a s se s so r f o r awhile -j
t Coakley How many years I1
Bagby ~ w e l v e yearsf
i
Coskley Wow he s t he manager of our pub l ic u t i l i t y
d i s t r i c t water d i s t r i c t
-
--= ziz-E- w __----- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~C ~ - ~ F i ~ ~ Y ~ ~ ~ ~ P P P P gt ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -~ ~ F~ 8 1 F -7 ~
- -
- Idalter ~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley ~ i r n ~ w o r t h T h e nex t man h i r e i s ~ a l t amp r Waiter
- - - - ark you a f r a i d t o t e l l ~ o u r yoamp -a g e o r ~ r i l l
-
- - - - i t
-
~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r t h ~ f r h d ~ f o r amp o t ( l a u g h t e r ) old i t - o v e r SO
- I forgot (He was 82) - -
many t irnes that
~ o a k l t j y well Walter you were what y o u were s h e r i f f
Tor how many te ms -
Farnsworth One
Coakley One term And you spent most of your ca ree r
d r iv ing s tage d idn t you
Fsrnsworth Well I ve worked seve ra l years i n the county
I was tax c o l l e c t o r and coronerand publ ic
adminis t ra tor and I was s h e r i f f and f a u l t -
f i n d e r I want t o t e l l vou about the time my
f a t h e r a r r ived here
Coakley Go ahead Walter l e t s hea r it
Farnsworth Landed here on t he 15 th of Apri l 1850 i n
West Virginia
Coakley Is t h a t so What was h i s business miner
Farnsworth Blacksmith And they came overland He t o l d
me about t h e i r journey and he s a i d t hey fd
take a horse and swim i t across the r i v e r and
drag a rope- and then when they go t t o the end
- - 12
-
--amp--d ---ampamp ampAdGd-ampck-gt-Ad lt ampA~kampd-~ampo- -- d--m--- L-L- -~-~~r -amp--- --aamp --LLL-gt
-
the re across the r i v e r why theyd put t h a t
rep onto a chain and then theyd p u l l th chain
across Finally theyfd ge t on t h a t s i de and
theyd l i i tch the - oxen on the chain -and p u l l the
wagons through the 14ississippi They d idn t t
have an$ bridges then and t h a t s the way they
got across So when they g o t over here t o
Bridgeport- they s t a r t e d up over the S i e r r a -
Nevadas end they came t o a signboard and on
t h i s signSoard was pr in ted I f youre l o s t
take the r i g h t hand t r a i l And- they were
l o s t ill r i g h t And time my f a t h e r came up - -
and saw tha t he sa id Well l e t s take it
Mymother always-taught rramp when I go t
bewil-dered t o take the r i g h t hand t r a i l So
they took the r i g h t hand t r a i l and i t landed
them down i n the Calaveras Big Trees If
theyd taken the l e f t hand theyd been down
Well when they go t t o the grove i t began
t o ra in And of course they had schooners
they had t h e i r wagons t he re l i k e boats When
they went t o go across on t he re - they d go by
p u l l i n g i t with the oxen p u l l i n g a c r o s s on
the bank So they go t i n t o the Big Trees over
- -
here Mhv i t kept ralniny enc7 r a i n l r ~ g~ n d
ralnirw ~ n dthey h ~ dt o cl imb ~p i n t h e f r
wsgorls 11p i n the b o e t s and the re was no f e e d
f o r the hor ses and c e t t l e and they +em- scared
They couldnfi c r o s s t h e r i v e r So my fsfJher
he rode mound 1ook i r~g f o r e p l ~ c e he s a l d
c r o s s i n g came bnck end wh6n he came i n t o the
subul-bs of E i g Trees why he not lced a f l a s h
of l i g h t IIe WRB r i d i n ~by a t r e e t h a t had
f ~ l l e nnnd he stopped ~ n dlooked and it was
hollow So he g o t o f f h i s ho r se and went in
t h e r e and t h e r e was room enou~gt j u s t throu
t h a t t r e e t o ~ e t o c r o s s t h e r i v e r
So they went i n and t h e y took t h e 012 b e l l
cow they c a l l e d h e r Crybaby because every time
she wented t o be milked she1lt g e t r i g h t up
t o t h e canp a n d s h e l d never s t o p l t r l t h e y
come and mi lk he r She would c a l l =d t h e y
c s l l e d h e r Crybaby Ye l l she was t b e l e a 2 e r
of t h e whole men and h o r s e s grid eve ry th ing
t ake h e r by t h e b e l l s t r a p and you ccul2 lead
h e r anywhere So my Dad he cone back and got
t he o l d b e l l cow nnd he started through t h l s
- ~6akit iy DO m y women remember o i you men o r any of you
any p a r t i c u l a r l y hampiorous inciden-ts t a k i n g
-
Farnsworth
-
coqkxky
place i n - t h i s courtroom -either t h a t you
heard about o r t h a t you wi tnessed
Iheard one
canwe t - i l l i t
-
-
_ Hamp Cast L e t h e r g o Y a I t c r l e t h e r go (l aughter)-
Fakn3worth I reniexber see ing t he b i g g e s t crowd I eve r saw
Mrs Cast
Farnsworth
Man
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
i n rny l i f e w a s t h l s courthouse i n 81
But don t t e l l about any snakes p lease Dont
t e l l about any snakes your snake s t o r i e s
we don t want t o hea r those
IBout t he snakes
We don t want t o h e a r your snake s t o r i e s
Walter
This amp I t no snake s to ry
A l l r i g h t t e l l us about t he b igges t crowd you
ever saw here i n 81
Well they had a woman come here and she was
preaching good teniperance And I don t t h ink
I ever d id s ee more people i n t h a t courtroom
than t he r e was t h i s time She was a wonderful
t a l k e r And t hey had a l i t t l e Irishman t h a t
was r a i s e d around here came here and he
couldn1t read nor w r i t e but hi could spin a -
joke o r somethin And thi s l ady made a
remark t h a t i f anyone who drank l i quo r fop
f ou r years t h e i r stomsch was spoi led his -
-l i t t l e Irishman well he l i s t e n e d 2nd looked
on and she vent on and f i n a l l y she says
NOW i f t h e r e s anybodyld l i k e t o ask any
quest ion I d be g l sd t o answer it So he
go t down and he says Lady do you say
anyone who drank l i q u o r f o r t h r ee two $ears
stomach was spiledT1 Yes He says I
t e l l you what 111 do 111 put my stomzch up
a p i n s t yours-any time you see f i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Eonestly t h a t house j u s t roared Tha t s a
f a c t It happened r i g h t i n there I remember
i t a s well as1 j u s t t o l d it
THE FITE CASE
Leidig I think one of the most famous cases t h a t was
- ever t r i e d i n t h i s courtrooin was the case when -
-
old Lucy Hite sued old John Hite that time -
Coakley O h 1 e t ~hear abou t t ha t Therels q u i t e a -
- r e p o r t on t h a t case but t h a t s the appe l l a t e
repor t T e l l us something about what happened
- -in t h a t case
- Woman When was it
-
Man 1900 o r so was i t It was i n t h i s century -
Leidig The way Bi te happened t o f ind t h a t mine it used
t o be vou remember when we had what they ca l l ed -
the grub s take Well IIite and Kearns and a l l
of them and old Hickman they wouldnt s take
him any more and they were a l l there on the
river And it wasnt t h i s o ld l u c y It was
her s i s t e r t h a t was with h i m t h a t time when
he found t h a t mine and she wanted t o go over
t o where Indian F l a t i s now --Farmsworth Wasnl t she l i v i n g w i t h a f e l l a from ~ r e s n o F la t
Leidig -- she wanted t o go over t o this fandango
and he to ld he r she cou ldn f t go and he was
down by the r i v e r bank and he was mort iss ing
up some samples of some hed picked up
and she watched him and she sneaked off
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
almost eve ry man o r woman h e r e w i t h o n e o r
two excep t ions d a t e s h i s a n c e s t r y back t o the
e a r l y f i f t i e s o r e a r l i e r i n t h i s county
K r s G i l b t e l l s u s t h a t she d l i k e t o h e a r
any th ing you might t h i n k would be i n t e r e s t i n g
about our e a r l y e d u c a t i o n a l system i n t h i s
c o m t y and some of t h e schoo l t e a c h e r s o r
school s u p e r i n t e n d e n t s and about our e a r l y
t r a n s p o r t e t i o n s y s tem -- Walter t h a t s where
you come i n You o l d s t a g e d r i v e r you you re
going t o t e l l us e l i t t l e something about t h e
e a r l y t r a n s p o r t a t i o n of t h e county Wed l i k e
t o h e a r soniething i n t e r e s t i n g e5out t h e law o r
some of t h e famous trials he re whether they be
c i v i l t r i a l s or murder t r i a l s
I
PARTICIPANTS
~ u d ~ e i i t r 6 d u c e d each o f t h e ~ o a l c l e ~ t h ~ n present
1 one by one
- -
1 - -I - Nrs Llzzie Wi l l iqhs -- M a d i- - --- ( ~ l i z b b e t h
-i 4 -
i
a
(she was b o r n i n Fbriposa arid her mother ~ l i z a b e t h
i
~ a r b e r her M r s s t a r t e d teaching school b e f o r e ~ i l i i m s
a t 18-and t augh t f o r 8 years )
(1
11 l~irs~ e o i ~ e~ e r t k e n (and KT ~ e r t k e n l
[
i
-(A n a t i v e of I l l i n o i s she hadbeen i n - Mariposa county
f o r about 57 years IOP A l i t t l e overwJudge Coekley
remarked I i u e s s t h a t makes i t j u s t over the l i n e of a I
newcomer i n t h i s county doesn t i t They t e l l me u n t i l
- youve been h e r e 50 years you re n o t in )
iI
j
Mrs Rosine S t e r n G a l l i s o n
(Born i n 1869 i n l ia r iposa county a t H i t e f s Cove an i 1
o l d mining d i s t r i c t Her f a t h e r Joseph Amador S t e r n c m e i (
t o C a l i f o r n i a v i a Panama before 1849 and was super in tenden t
f o r t h e H i t e f s mining opera t ion Her husband a l s o born i n 1
1869 w z s a miner and c l e r k e d i n t h e s t o r e s and then was
county c l e r k f o r 33 y e a r s e l e c t e d f i r s t about-1892)
5
1-Irs Louis 1bilburn ( ~ i l e e n E ) ----
two
(she came t o M a r i p o s ~ from Nevada County a t the age -of
~ e rhusband a nephew of Jud~e ~rabucc o was born i n
i
Kariposa a t a s i t e r i g h t w h e r e Aunt E d i t h s house i s now
Louis Tdilburn becavie d i s t r l c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa i n 1918
nnd cont inued i n t h a t p o s i t i o n u n t i l 1946)
1
3 I
Mrs Al tn Castapnetto
I (she was a l s o born i n Nsriposa county i n t h e extreme
west of the county n o r t h of Merced F a l l s i n what was former ly
h o h m a s New Y e a r s p r e c i n c t Ky n o t h e r s f o l k s cane he re
i n a covered wagon from Modesto and my f a t h e r (Bob Prou ty )
came he re from 14assachusetts and he was s h e r i f f he re f b r 22
years Her husband John was born i n the county i n 1887
and was s h e r i f f from 1926 u n t i l 1942 when he passed away)
Grandma Trabucco brought h i s p a r e n t s here
Brought h i s mother over from I t a l y ( s e v e r a l
vo ices t r a c i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p of Grandma
Trabucco)
Mrs Cast No John s p a r e n t s were born i n t h i s country
and then went back h i s motler d id and then
was brought back by grandmother
Woman My grandmother was brought by Ers Trabucco
too t o t k i s count ry
1869 What year d id Judge ~ r a b u c k o s f a m i l y
s e t t l e i n t h i s colmty
M r s T I t h ink i t was 53 when Grandfather came t o
Bear Valley
Woman 9e was i n ~ o r n i t o s f i r s t wasnt he
Another worncan Oh I thousht he canie i n $9
Frs T Anyway he cave out and l e f t h i s b r ide i n I t a l y
and promised he r t h a t he would b r ing Sack
t runks of gold There she s tayed wi th a l l
of t h a t hopes you how And f i n a l l y he went
back and lie d i d n t have t he t runks of gold
bu t he induced h e r t o go back w i th him
My husband graduated from Santa Clara and 11i
I cane he re when he wasnt q u i t e twenty-one andi 1 r an f o r a ssessor He was e lec ted and he he ld 1 1 i t h a t I th ink f ou r years He was e l e c t e d t o
D i s t r i c t Attorney Oh I couldn t say how
i
- -
-manyyears he w a s D i s t r i c t Attorney he was
-
~ u d ~ e lie passed f o r t h i r t y - s i x y e a r s away - -
- i n 138
Trs T - I as born i n Visa l ia but I came here when I
was a few months old and Ive l i ved here a l l -
my l i f e
-
M r ~ e w e l lChanberlain -
(Operator of a motel a t ~ idygtines he
I wrote the book Cal l of old)
Jack Leidig
le is o lder brother ~ h a r i e s~ w i l l eLeidig
was the f i r s t white ch i ld b ~ r ni n Yosemite National Park)
Leidig Fy nother and f a t h e r stopped there with old
man Lamon He w a s a pioneer s e t t l e r i n the
Yosemite That orchard t h a t orchard r i g h t
where Camp Curry is t h a t s the old south
I Lamon orchard My f a t h e r and Lamon planted
t h a t orchard there i n March 1868I Coakley - You mean t h a t orchard where they now park
Leidig Yeah around i n there yeah
i i 7k t i
Farnsrrorth i
J
F Leidig
Coakley
Leidig
us l i v ing One s i s t e r passed away --who
Belle She was cremated two seeks ago today
I don t h o w whether you f o l k s know it or no t
but my mother s f a t h e r was the man who sunk
the s h a f t ou t t o the Princeton Kine he used
t o c a l l it Down a t M t Bull ion drove the
Pine Tree end Josephine Tunnels f i r s t
Your mother s f a t h e r What was h i s name
Donald Doby Ibly g r amho the r on my no ther s
s i de was buried up here i n t h i s cemetery the
6 t h of December 1862
Z~+U_ _iAl _ijz_ --u ---i i _ -- - 2gt- gt- - ed- amplt -=lt--gtltzlt alt--
r-Ji -
i
I i
i
[
Publ isher S$hool p r i n c i p a l Druamppis t
- i
I g u e s s you Coakleg T h e l a h i e l l k n o w h e r b u t
-
1
_
- s l l e s the- bebyof t h e p a r t y Harguer l te I -
~ e x t e r - ~ a r n p b e l l But you donl t lkriow her
j -
i I 1 M r g Campbell i s t h e pu5 l iqhe r of
_ I
-
bur Gaze t C amp and h e r f a t h e r F i r Dexte r was t h e
f o r manjr mnny y e a r q a n d w a s q u i t $ an
-
edi tor So I m to ld And t h i s gentlemm -
3
~ r ~ d l e s b i c h i s ourhigh school p r i n c i p a l
1 Hr Hadmovitch i s our d rugg i s t t he l e a d i n g
i - d r u g g i s t of the community
- M r R And t h e oidest one ( l a u g h t e r )
I
coakley He 1s s n o t h e r newcomer who has come up to t h i s - - - I- f i n e c l ima te t o r e t i r e I
I
I
i E v e r e t t Bagby
13
C oakle y E v e r e t t Bagbys anotheryoung fe l low For your 1
i i i n f o r m a t i o n the town of Bagby which i s j u s t
IB
across t h e Nerced River and which d i v i d e s the
county t h e n o r t h and t h e s o u t h side of thei
1 county t h e town b f Eagby was named a f t e r h i s 1
j fat he^
Bagby I thinlc my f a t h e r - s e t t l e d t h e r e about 9 5 TheI
o l d t o m was always c a l l e d Benton pills which1 1
w a s t h e p roper nme f o r It I t m i ~ h tbe j u s t
i
-
---Alt r~-ltiwCltA- - r --- - -m---------2
--
~ Y ~ = ~ ~ ~ -
lt __iC-i
-$gt gt--dslt- -~-gtr- LC gt -gtz amp--4A- -- us---)Lamp amp- gtk
c---
~ Samp2~ dLr~m ~ampGampkL Siamp-~~~~lti~2-k-~~
i i
-
10
_
a a l t t l amp i n t e r e s t i n e f or the rdcord to finamp
i ha c a l l e d ~ ~ ~ b f I t ~ ~ t h ~ ~ i t ~ h a ~ ~ ~ ~ e d t o -
wasnt any desiGe on my father^ p a r t - B u t
1 1 - - I
lt 1
-
tlrere btlaa an tingineer by the nme 0f N C Ray -
~$
i
- whowas q u i t e w e l l known i n ~ a l i f o r n i a a n d i
iI
i
he uamp goingback- f o Irjashington D C m d
_ - i
h e amp a i d t o my f a t he r he s a id 1 1 1 1 have a - 1 I p o s t o f f i c e k s t n b l i s h e d while 1 l i f b a c k t h a r amp
1 -
i -i
~ o u r s e t h a t ~ s those th ings t h e way they d i d
1i
i n those o ld day - t h e y j u s t went i n and had i t
i
4 done NOamp you have a b i t of P repara t ion
f o r i t Anyway when he cot back t o taslinzton
D C they asked him what t o c k l l i t No ha
aslced my f a t h e r first what t o c a l l i t and my
1 f a t h e r s a i d Benton I f i l l s And when Ray go t
1 b a c k t o Washington D C the-re was some -
c o n f l i c t of names somewhere s o they wouldnt
1 give it the name of Benton ]ltills and t h a t s 6
1 how- tha t met ropo l i s became c a l l e d Bagby j
Coakley Well youve had a l i t t l e p o l i t i c a l career
1 yourse l f You were what a s s e s s o r here
Bagby O h I was a s se s so r f o r awhile -j
t Coakley How many years I1
Bagby ~ w e l v e yearsf
i
Coskley Wow he s t he manager of our pub l ic u t i l i t y
d i s t r i c t water d i s t r i c t
-
--= ziz-E- w __----- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~C ~ - ~ F i ~ ~ Y ~ ~ ~ ~ P P P P gt ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -~ ~ F~ 8 1 F -7 ~
- -
- Idalter ~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley ~ i r n ~ w o r t h T h e nex t man h i r e i s ~ a l t amp r Waiter
- - - - ark you a f r a i d t o t e l l ~ o u r yoamp -a g e o r ~ r i l l
-
- - - - i t
-
~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r t h ~ f r h d ~ f o r amp o t ( l a u g h t e r ) old i t - o v e r SO
- I forgot (He was 82) - -
many t irnes that
~ o a k l t j y well Walter you were what y o u were s h e r i f f
Tor how many te ms -
Farnsworth One
Coakley One term And you spent most of your ca ree r
d r iv ing s tage d idn t you
Fsrnsworth Well I ve worked seve ra l years i n the county
I was tax c o l l e c t o r and coronerand publ ic
adminis t ra tor and I was s h e r i f f and f a u l t -
f i n d e r I want t o t e l l vou about the time my
f a t h e r a r r ived here
Coakley Go ahead Walter l e t s hea r it
Farnsworth Landed here on t he 15 th of Apri l 1850 i n
West Virginia
Coakley Is t h a t so What was h i s business miner
Farnsworth Blacksmith And they came overland He t o l d
me about t h e i r journey and he s a i d t hey fd
take a horse and swim i t across the r i v e r and
drag a rope- and then when they go t t o the end
- - 12
-
--amp--d ---ampamp ampAdGd-ampck-gt-Ad lt ampA~kampd-~ampo- -- d--m--- L-L- -~-~~r -amp--- --aamp --LLL-gt
-
the re across the r i v e r why theyd put t h a t
rep onto a chain and then theyd p u l l th chain
across Finally theyfd ge t on t h a t s i de and
theyd l i i tch the - oxen on the chain -and p u l l the
wagons through the 14ississippi They d idn t t
have an$ bridges then and t h a t s the way they
got across So when they g o t over here t o
Bridgeport- they s t a r t e d up over the S i e r r a -
Nevadas end they came t o a signboard and on
t h i s signSoard was pr in ted I f youre l o s t
take the r i g h t hand t r a i l And- they were
l o s t ill r i g h t And time my f a t h e r came up - -
and saw tha t he sa id Well l e t s take it
Mymother always-taught rramp when I go t
bewil-dered t o take the r i g h t hand t r a i l So
they took the r i g h t hand t r a i l and i t landed
them down i n the Calaveras Big Trees If
theyd taken the l e f t hand theyd been down
Well when they go t t o the grove i t began
t o ra in And of course they had schooners
they had t h e i r wagons t he re l i k e boats When
they went t o go across on t he re - they d go by
p u l l i n g i t with the oxen p u l l i n g a c r o s s on
the bank So they go t i n t o the Big Trees over
- -
here Mhv i t kept ralniny enc7 r a i n l r ~ g~ n d
ralnirw ~ n dthey h ~ dt o cl imb ~p i n t h e f r
wsgorls 11p i n the b o e t s and the re was no f e e d
f o r the hor ses and c e t t l e and they +em- scared
They couldnfi c r o s s t h e r i v e r So my fsfJher
he rode mound 1ook i r~g f o r e p l ~ c e he s a l d
c r o s s i n g came bnck end wh6n he came i n t o the
subul-bs of E i g Trees why he not lced a f l a s h
of l i g h t IIe WRB r i d i n ~by a t r e e t h a t had
f ~ l l e nnnd he stopped ~ n dlooked and it was
hollow So he g o t o f f h i s ho r se and went in
t h e r e and t h e r e was room enou~gt j u s t throu
t h a t t r e e t o ~ e t o c r o s s t h e r i v e r
So they went i n and t h e y took t h e 012 b e l l
cow they c a l l e d h e r Crybaby because every time
she wented t o be milked she1lt g e t r i g h t up
t o t h e canp a n d s h e l d never s t o p l t r l t h e y
come and mi lk he r She would c a l l =d t h e y
c s l l e d h e r Crybaby Ye l l she was t b e l e a 2 e r
of t h e whole men and h o r s e s grid eve ry th ing
t ake h e r by t h e b e l l s t r a p and you ccul2 lead
h e r anywhere So my Dad he cone back and got
t he o l d b e l l cow nnd he started through t h l s
- ~6akit iy DO m y women remember o i you men o r any of you
any p a r t i c u l a r l y hampiorous inciden-ts t a k i n g
-
Farnsworth
-
coqkxky
place i n - t h i s courtroom -either t h a t you
heard about o r t h a t you wi tnessed
Iheard one
canwe t - i l l i t
-
-
_ Hamp Cast L e t h e r g o Y a I t c r l e t h e r go (l aughter)-
Fakn3worth I reniexber see ing t he b i g g e s t crowd I eve r saw
Mrs Cast
Farnsworth
Man
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
i n rny l i f e w a s t h l s courthouse i n 81
But don t t e l l about any snakes p lease Dont
t e l l about any snakes your snake s t o r i e s
we don t want t o hea r those
IBout t he snakes
We don t want t o h e a r your snake s t o r i e s
Walter
This amp I t no snake s to ry
A l l r i g h t t e l l us about t he b igges t crowd you
ever saw here i n 81
Well they had a woman come here and she was
preaching good teniperance And I don t t h ink
I ever d id s ee more people i n t h a t courtroom
than t he r e was t h i s time She was a wonderful
t a l k e r And t hey had a l i t t l e Irishman t h a t
was r a i s e d around here came here and he
couldn1t read nor w r i t e but hi could spin a -
joke o r somethin And thi s l ady made a
remark t h a t i f anyone who drank l i quo r fop
f ou r years t h e i r stomsch was spoi led his -
-l i t t l e Irishman well he l i s t e n e d 2nd looked
on and she vent on and f i n a l l y she says
NOW i f t h e r e s anybodyld l i k e t o ask any
quest ion I d be g l sd t o answer it So he
go t down and he says Lady do you say
anyone who drank l i q u o r f o r t h r ee two $ears
stomach was spiledT1 Yes He says I
t e l l you what 111 do 111 put my stomzch up
a p i n s t yours-any time you see f i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Eonestly t h a t house j u s t roared Tha t s a
f a c t It happened r i g h t i n there I remember
i t a s well as1 j u s t t o l d it
THE FITE CASE
Leidig I think one of the most famous cases t h a t was
- ever t r i e d i n t h i s courtrooin was the case when -
-
old Lucy Hite sued old John Hite that time -
Coakley O h 1 e t ~hear abou t t ha t Therels q u i t e a -
- r e p o r t on t h a t case but t h a t s the appe l l a t e
repor t T e l l us something about what happened
- -in t h a t case
- Woman When was it
-
Man 1900 o r so was i t It was i n t h i s century -
Leidig The way Bi te happened t o f ind t h a t mine it used
t o be vou remember when we had what they ca l l ed -
the grub s take Well IIite and Kearns and a l l
of them and old Hickman they wouldnt s take
him any more and they were a l l there on the
river And it wasnt t h i s o ld l u c y It was
her s i s t e r t h a t was with h i m t h a t time when
he found t h a t mine and she wanted t o go over
t o where Indian F l a t i s now --Farmsworth Wasnl t she l i v i n g w i t h a f e l l a from ~ r e s n o F la t
Leidig -- she wanted t o go over t o this fandango
and he to ld he r she cou ldn f t go and he was
down by the r i v e r bank and he was mort iss ing
up some samples of some hed picked up
and she watched him and she sneaked off
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
I
PARTICIPANTS
~ u d ~ e i i t r 6 d u c e d each o f t h e ~ o a l c l e ~ t h ~ n present
1 one by one
- -
1 - -I - Nrs Llzzie Wi l l iqhs -- M a d i- - --- ( ~ l i z b b e t h
-i 4 -
i
a
(she was b o r n i n Fbriposa arid her mother ~ l i z a b e t h
i
~ a r b e r her M r s s t a r t e d teaching school b e f o r e ~ i l i i m s
a t 18-and t augh t f o r 8 years )
(1
11 l~irs~ e o i ~ e~ e r t k e n (and KT ~ e r t k e n l
[
i
-(A n a t i v e of I l l i n o i s she hadbeen i n - Mariposa county
f o r about 57 years IOP A l i t t l e overwJudge Coekley
remarked I i u e s s t h a t makes i t j u s t over the l i n e of a I
newcomer i n t h i s county doesn t i t They t e l l me u n t i l
- youve been h e r e 50 years you re n o t in )
iI
j
Mrs Rosine S t e r n G a l l i s o n
(Born i n 1869 i n l ia r iposa county a t H i t e f s Cove an i 1
o l d mining d i s t r i c t Her f a t h e r Joseph Amador S t e r n c m e i (
t o C a l i f o r n i a v i a Panama before 1849 and was super in tenden t
f o r t h e H i t e f s mining opera t ion Her husband a l s o born i n 1
1869 w z s a miner and c l e r k e d i n t h e s t o r e s and then was
county c l e r k f o r 33 y e a r s e l e c t e d f i r s t about-1892)
5
1-Irs Louis 1bilburn ( ~ i l e e n E ) ----
two
(she came t o M a r i p o s ~ from Nevada County a t the age -of
~ e rhusband a nephew of Jud~e ~rabucc o was born i n
i
Kariposa a t a s i t e r i g h t w h e r e Aunt E d i t h s house i s now
Louis Tdilburn becavie d i s t r l c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa i n 1918
nnd cont inued i n t h a t p o s i t i o n u n t i l 1946)
1
3 I
Mrs Al tn Castapnetto
I (she was a l s o born i n Nsriposa county i n t h e extreme
west of the county n o r t h of Merced F a l l s i n what was former ly
h o h m a s New Y e a r s p r e c i n c t Ky n o t h e r s f o l k s cane he re
i n a covered wagon from Modesto and my f a t h e r (Bob Prou ty )
came he re from 14assachusetts and he was s h e r i f f he re f b r 22
years Her husband John was born i n the county i n 1887
and was s h e r i f f from 1926 u n t i l 1942 when he passed away)
Grandma Trabucco brought h i s p a r e n t s here
Brought h i s mother over from I t a l y ( s e v e r a l
vo ices t r a c i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p of Grandma
Trabucco)
Mrs Cast No John s p a r e n t s were born i n t h i s country
and then went back h i s motler d id and then
was brought back by grandmother
Woman My grandmother was brought by Ers Trabucco
too t o t k i s count ry
1869 What year d id Judge ~ r a b u c k o s f a m i l y
s e t t l e i n t h i s colmty
M r s T I t h ink i t was 53 when Grandfather came t o
Bear Valley
Woman 9e was i n ~ o r n i t o s f i r s t wasnt he
Another worncan Oh I thousht he canie i n $9
Frs T Anyway he cave out and l e f t h i s b r ide i n I t a l y
and promised he r t h a t he would b r ing Sack
t runks of gold There she s tayed wi th a l l
of t h a t hopes you how And f i n a l l y he went
back and lie d i d n t have t he t runks of gold
bu t he induced h e r t o go back w i th him
My husband graduated from Santa Clara and 11i
I cane he re when he wasnt q u i t e twenty-one andi 1 r an f o r a ssessor He was e lec ted and he he ld 1 1 i t h a t I th ink f ou r years He was e l e c t e d t o
D i s t r i c t Attorney Oh I couldn t say how
i
- -
-manyyears he w a s D i s t r i c t Attorney he was
-
~ u d ~ e lie passed f o r t h i r t y - s i x y e a r s away - -
- i n 138
Trs T - I as born i n Visa l ia but I came here when I
was a few months old and Ive l i ved here a l l -
my l i f e
-
M r ~ e w e l lChanberlain -
(Operator of a motel a t ~ idygtines he
I wrote the book Cal l of old)
Jack Leidig
le is o lder brother ~ h a r i e s~ w i l l eLeidig
was the f i r s t white ch i ld b ~ r ni n Yosemite National Park)
Leidig Fy nother and f a t h e r stopped there with old
man Lamon He w a s a pioneer s e t t l e r i n the
Yosemite That orchard t h a t orchard r i g h t
where Camp Curry is t h a t s the old south
I Lamon orchard My f a t h e r and Lamon planted
t h a t orchard there i n March 1868I Coakley - You mean t h a t orchard where they now park
Leidig Yeah around i n there yeah
i i 7k t i
Farnsrrorth i
J
F Leidig
Coakley
Leidig
us l i v ing One s i s t e r passed away --who
Belle She was cremated two seeks ago today
I don t h o w whether you f o l k s know it or no t
but my mother s f a t h e r was the man who sunk
the s h a f t ou t t o the Princeton Kine he used
t o c a l l it Down a t M t Bull ion drove the
Pine Tree end Josephine Tunnels f i r s t
Your mother s f a t h e r What was h i s name
Donald Doby Ibly g r amho the r on my no ther s
s i de was buried up here i n t h i s cemetery the
6 t h of December 1862
Z~+U_ _iAl _ijz_ --u ---i i _ -- - 2gt- gt- - ed- amplt -=lt--gtltzlt alt--
r-Ji -
i
I i
i
[
Publ isher S$hool p r i n c i p a l Druamppis t
- i
I g u e s s you Coakleg T h e l a h i e l l k n o w h e r b u t
-
1
_
- s l l e s the- bebyof t h e p a r t y Harguer l te I -
~ e x t e r - ~ a r n p b e l l But you donl t lkriow her
j -
i I 1 M r g Campbell i s t h e pu5 l iqhe r of
_ I
-
bur Gaze t C amp and h e r f a t h e r F i r Dexte r was t h e
f o r manjr mnny y e a r q a n d w a s q u i t $ an
-
edi tor So I m to ld And t h i s gentlemm -
3
~ r ~ d l e s b i c h i s ourhigh school p r i n c i p a l
1 Hr Hadmovitch i s our d rugg i s t t he l e a d i n g
i - d r u g g i s t of the community
- M r R And t h e oidest one ( l a u g h t e r )
I
coakley He 1s s n o t h e r newcomer who has come up to t h i s - - - I- f i n e c l ima te t o r e t i r e I
I
I
i E v e r e t t Bagby
13
C oakle y E v e r e t t Bagbys anotheryoung fe l low For your 1
i i i n f o r m a t i o n the town of Bagby which i s j u s t
IB
across t h e Nerced River and which d i v i d e s the
county t h e n o r t h and t h e s o u t h side of thei
1 county t h e town b f Eagby was named a f t e r h i s 1
j fat he^
Bagby I thinlc my f a t h e r - s e t t l e d t h e r e about 9 5 TheI
o l d t o m was always c a l l e d Benton pills which1 1
w a s t h e p roper nme f o r It I t m i ~ h tbe j u s t
i
-
---Alt r~-ltiwCltA- - r --- - -m---------2
--
~ Y ~ = ~ ~ ~ -
lt __iC-i
-$gt gt--dslt- -~-gtr- LC gt -gtz amp--4A- -- us---)Lamp amp- gtk
c---
~ Samp2~ dLr~m ~ampGampkL Siamp-~~~~lti~2-k-~~
i i
-
10
_
a a l t t l amp i n t e r e s t i n e f or the rdcord to finamp
i ha c a l l e d ~ ~ ~ b f I t ~ ~ t h ~ ~ i t ~ h a ~ ~ ~ ~ e d t o -
wasnt any desiGe on my father^ p a r t - B u t
1 1 - - I
lt 1
-
tlrere btlaa an tingineer by the nme 0f N C Ray -
~$
i
- whowas q u i t e w e l l known i n ~ a l i f o r n i a a n d i
iI
i
he uamp goingback- f o Irjashington D C m d
_ - i
h e amp a i d t o my f a t he r he s a id 1 1 1 1 have a - 1 I p o s t o f f i c e k s t n b l i s h e d while 1 l i f b a c k t h a r amp
1 -
i -i
~ o u r s e t h a t ~ s those th ings t h e way they d i d
1i
i n those o ld day - t h e y j u s t went i n and had i t
i
4 done NOamp you have a b i t of P repara t ion
f o r i t Anyway when he cot back t o taslinzton
D C they asked him what t o c k l l i t No ha
aslced my f a t h e r first what t o c a l l i t and my
1 f a t h e r s a i d Benton I f i l l s And when Ray go t
1 b a c k t o Washington D C the-re was some -
c o n f l i c t of names somewhere s o they wouldnt
1 give it the name of Benton ]ltills and t h a t s 6
1 how- tha t met ropo l i s became c a l l e d Bagby j
Coakley Well youve had a l i t t l e p o l i t i c a l career
1 yourse l f You were what a s s e s s o r here
Bagby O h I was a s se s so r f o r awhile -j
t Coakley How many years I1
Bagby ~ w e l v e yearsf
i
Coskley Wow he s t he manager of our pub l ic u t i l i t y
d i s t r i c t water d i s t r i c t
-
--= ziz-E- w __----- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~C ~ - ~ F i ~ ~ Y ~ ~ ~ ~ P P P P gt ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -~ ~ F~ 8 1 F -7 ~
- -
- Idalter ~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley ~ i r n ~ w o r t h T h e nex t man h i r e i s ~ a l t amp r Waiter
- - - - ark you a f r a i d t o t e l l ~ o u r yoamp -a g e o r ~ r i l l
-
- - - - i t
-
~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r t h ~ f r h d ~ f o r amp o t ( l a u g h t e r ) old i t - o v e r SO
- I forgot (He was 82) - -
many t irnes that
~ o a k l t j y well Walter you were what y o u were s h e r i f f
Tor how many te ms -
Farnsworth One
Coakley One term And you spent most of your ca ree r
d r iv ing s tage d idn t you
Fsrnsworth Well I ve worked seve ra l years i n the county
I was tax c o l l e c t o r and coronerand publ ic
adminis t ra tor and I was s h e r i f f and f a u l t -
f i n d e r I want t o t e l l vou about the time my
f a t h e r a r r ived here
Coakley Go ahead Walter l e t s hea r it
Farnsworth Landed here on t he 15 th of Apri l 1850 i n
West Virginia
Coakley Is t h a t so What was h i s business miner
Farnsworth Blacksmith And they came overland He t o l d
me about t h e i r journey and he s a i d t hey fd
take a horse and swim i t across the r i v e r and
drag a rope- and then when they go t t o the end
- - 12
-
--amp--d ---ampamp ampAdGd-ampck-gt-Ad lt ampA~kampd-~ampo- -- d--m--- L-L- -~-~~r -amp--- --aamp --LLL-gt
-
the re across the r i v e r why theyd put t h a t
rep onto a chain and then theyd p u l l th chain
across Finally theyfd ge t on t h a t s i de and
theyd l i i tch the - oxen on the chain -and p u l l the
wagons through the 14ississippi They d idn t t
have an$ bridges then and t h a t s the way they
got across So when they g o t over here t o
Bridgeport- they s t a r t e d up over the S i e r r a -
Nevadas end they came t o a signboard and on
t h i s signSoard was pr in ted I f youre l o s t
take the r i g h t hand t r a i l And- they were
l o s t ill r i g h t And time my f a t h e r came up - -
and saw tha t he sa id Well l e t s take it
Mymother always-taught rramp when I go t
bewil-dered t o take the r i g h t hand t r a i l So
they took the r i g h t hand t r a i l and i t landed
them down i n the Calaveras Big Trees If
theyd taken the l e f t hand theyd been down
Well when they go t t o the grove i t began
t o ra in And of course they had schooners
they had t h e i r wagons t he re l i k e boats When
they went t o go across on t he re - they d go by
p u l l i n g i t with the oxen p u l l i n g a c r o s s on
the bank So they go t i n t o the Big Trees over
- -
here Mhv i t kept ralniny enc7 r a i n l r ~ g~ n d
ralnirw ~ n dthey h ~ dt o cl imb ~p i n t h e f r
wsgorls 11p i n the b o e t s and the re was no f e e d
f o r the hor ses and c e t t l e and they +em- scared
They couldnfi c r o s s t h e r i v e r So my fsfJher
he rode mound 1ook i r~g f o r e p l ~ c e he s a l d
c r o s s i n g came bnck end wh6n he came i n t o the
subul-bs of E i g Trees why he not lced a f l a s h
of l i g h t IIe WRB r i d i n ~by a t r e e t h a t had
f ~ l l e nnnd he stopped ~ n dlooked and it was
hollow So he g o t o f f h i s ho r se and went in
t h e r e and t h e r e was room enou~gt j u s t throu
t h a t t r e e t o ~ e t o c r o s s t h e r i v e r
So they went i n and t h e y took t h e 012 b e l l
cow they c a l l e d h e r Crybaby because every time
she wented t o be milked she1lt g e t r i g h t up
t o t h e canp a n d s h e l d never s t o p l t r l t h e y
come and mi lk he r She would c a l l =d t h e y
c s l l e d h e r Crybaby Ye l l she was t b e l e a 2 e r
of t h e whole men and h o r s e s grid eve ry th ing
t ake h e r by t h e b e l l s t r a p and you ccul2 lead
h e r anywhere So my Dad he cone back and got
t he o l d b e l l cow nnd he started through t h l s
- ~6akit iy DO m y women remember o i you men o r any of you
any p a r t i c u l a r l y hampiorous inciden-ts t a k i n g
-
Farnsworth
-
coqkxky
place i n - t h i s courtroom -either t h a t you
heard about o r t h a t you wi tnessed
Iheard one
canwe t - i l l i t
-
-
_ Hamp Cast L e t h e r g o Y a I t c r l e t h e r go (l aughter)-
Fakn3worth I reniexber see ing t he b i g g e s t crowd I eve r saw
Mrs Cast
Farnsworth
Man
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
i n rny l i f e w a s t h l s courthouse i n 81
But don t t e l l about any snakes p lease Dont
t e l l about any snakes your snake s t o r i e s
we don t want t o hea r those
IBout t he snakes
We don t want t o h e a r your snake s t o r i e s
Walter
This amp I t no snake s to ry
A l l r i g h t t e l l us about t he b igges t crowd you
ever saw here i n 81
Well they had a woman come here and she was
preaching good teniperance And I don t t h ink
I ever d id s ee more people i n t h a t courtroom
than t he r e was t h i s time She was a wonderful
t a l k e r And t hey had a l i t t l e Irishman t h a t
was r a i s e d around here came here and he
couldn1t read nor w r i t e but hi could spin a -
joke o r somethin And thi s l ady made a
remark t h a t i f anyone who drank l i quo r fop
f ou r years t h e i r stomsch was spoi led his -
-l i t t l e Irishman well he l i s t e n e d 2nd looked
on and she vent on and f i n a l l y she says
NOW i f t h e r e s anybodyld l i k e t o ask any
quest ion I d be g l sd t o answer it So he
go t down and he says Lady do you say
anyone who drank l i q u o r f o r t h r ee two $ears
stomach was spiledT1 Yes He says I
t e l l you what 111 do 111 put my stomzch up
a p i n s t yours-any time you see f i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Eonestly t h a t house j u s t roared Tha t s a
f a c t It happened r i g h t i n there I remember
i t a s well as1 j u s t t o l d it
THE FITE CASE
Leidig I think one of the most famous cases t h a t was
- ever t r i e d i n t h i s courtrooin was the case when -
-
old Lucy Hite sued old John Hite that time -
Coakley O h 1 e t ~hear abou t t ha t Therels q u i t e a -
- r e p o r t on t h a t case but t h a t s the appe l l a t e
repor t T e l l us something about what happened
- -in t h a t case
- Woman When was it
-
Man 1900 o r so was i t It was i n t h i s century -
Leidig The way Bi te happened t o f ind t h a t mine it used
t o be vou remember when we had what they ca l l ed -
the grub s take Well IIite and Kearns and a l l
of them and old Hickman they wouldnt s take
him any more and they were a l l there on the
river And it wasnt t h i s o ld l u c y It was
her s i s t e r t h a t was with h i m t h a t time when
he found t h a t mine and she wanted t o go over
t o where Indian F l a t i s now --Farmsworth Wasnl t she l i v i n g w i t h a f e l l a from ~ r e s n o F la t
Leidig -- she wanted t o go over t o this fandango
and he to ld he r she cou ldn f t go and he was
down by the r i v e r bank and he was mort iss ing
up some samples of some hed picked up
and she watched him and she sneaked off
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
5
1-Irs Louis 1bilburn ( ~ i l e e n E ) ----
two
(she came t o M a r i p o s ~ from Nevada County a t the age -of
~ e rhusband a nephew of Jud~e ~rabucc o was born i n
i
Kariposa a t a s i t e r i g h t w h e r e Aunt E d i t h s house i s now
Louis Tdilburn becavie d i s t r l c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa i n 1918
nnd cont inued i n t h a t p o s i t i o n u n t i l 1946)
1
3 I
Mrs Al tn Castapnetto
I (she was a l s o born i n Nsriposa county i n t h e extreme
west of the county n o r t h of Merced F a l l s i n what was former ly
h o h m a s New Y e a r s p r e c i n c t Ky n o t h e r s f o l k s cane he re
i n a covered wagon from Modesto and my f a t h e r (Bob Prou ty )
came he re from 14assachusetts and he was s h e r i f f he re f b r 22
years Her husband John was born i n the county i n 1887
and was s h e r i f f from 1926 u n t i l 1942 when he passed away)
Grandma Trabucco brought h i s p a r e n t s here
Brought h i s mother over from I t a l y ( s e v e r a l
vo ices t r a c i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p of Grandma
Trabucco)
Mrs Cast No John s p a r e n t s were born i n t h i s country
and then went back h i s motler d id and then
was brought back by grandmother
Woman My grandmother was brought by Ers Trabucco
too t o t k i s count ry
1869 What year d id Judge ~ r a b u c k o s f a m i l y
s e t t l e i n t h i s colmty
M r s T I t h ink i t was 53 when Grandfather came t o
Bear Valley
Woman 9e was i n ~ o r n i t o s f i r s t wasnt he
Another worncan Oh I thousht he canie i n $9
Frs T Anyway he cave out and l e f t h i s b r ide i n I t a l y
and promised he r t h a t he would b r ing Sack
t runks of gold There she s tayed wi th a l l
of t h a t hopes you how And f i n a l l y he went
back and lie d i d n t have t he t runks of gold
bu t he induced h e r t o go back w i th him
My husband graduated from Santa Clara and 11i
I cane he re when he wasnt q u i t e twenty-one andi 1 r an f o r a ssessor He was e lec ted and he he ld 1 1 i t h a t I th ink f ou r years He was e l e c t e d t o
D i s t r i c t Attorney Oh I couldn t say how
i
- -
-manyyears he w a s D i s t r i c t Attorney he was
-
~ u d ~ e lie passed f o r t h i r t y - s i x y e a r s away - -
- i n 138
Trs T - I as born i n Visa l ia but I came here when I
was a few months old and Ive l i ved here a l l -
my l i f e
-
M r ~ e w e l lChanberlain -
(Operator of a motel a t ~ idygtines he
I wrote the book Cal l of old)
Jack Leidig
le is o lder brother ~ h a r i e s~ w i l l eLeidig
was the f i r s t white ch i ld b ~ r ni n Yosemite National Park)
Leidig Fy nother and f a t h e r stopped there with old
man Lamon He w a s a pioneer s e t t l e r i n the
Yosemite That orchard t h a t orchard r i g h t
where Camp Curry is t h a t s the old south
I Lamon orchard My f a t h e r and Lamon planted
t h a t orchard there i n March 1868I Coakley - You mean t h a t orchard where they now park
Leidig Yeah around i n there yeah
i i 7k t i
Farnsrrorth i
J
F Leidig
Coakley
Leidig
us l i v ing One s i s t e r passed away --who
Belle She was cremated two seeks ago today
I don t h o w whether you f o l k s know it or no t
but my mother s f a t h e r was the man who sunk
the s h a f t ou t t o the Princeton Kine he used
t o c a l l it Down a t M t Bull ion drove the
Pine Tree end Josephine Tunnels f i r s t
Your mother s f a t h e r What was h i s name
Donald Doby Ibly g r amho the r on my no ther s
s i de was buried up here i n t h i s cemetery the
6 t h of December 1862
Z~+U_ _iAl _ijz_ --u ---i i _ -- - 2gt- gt- - ed- amplt -=lt--gtltzlt alt--
r-Ji -
i
I i
i
[
Publ isher S$hool p r i n c i p a l Druamppis t
- i
I g u e s s you Coakleg T h e l a h i e l l k n o w h e r b u t
-
1
_
- s l l e s the- bebyof t h e p a r t y Harguer l te I -
~ e x t e r - ~ a r n p b e l l But you donl t lkriow her
j -
i I 1 M r g Campbell i s t h e pu5 l iqhe r of
_ I
-
bur Gaze t C amp and h e r f a t h e r F i r Dexte r was t h e
f o r manjr mnny y e a r q a n d w a s q u i t $ an
-
edi tor So I m to ld And t h i s gentlemm -
3
~ r ~ d l e s b i c h i s ourhigh school p r i n c i p a l
1 Hr Hadmovitch i s our d rugg i s t t he l e a d i n g
i - d r u g g i s t of the community
- M r R And t h e oidest one ( l a u g h t e r )
I
coakley He 1s s n o t h e r newcomer who has come up to t h i s - - - I- f i n e c l ima te t o r e t i r e I
I
I
i E v e r e t t Bagby
13
C oakle y E v e r e t t Bagbys anotheryoung fe l low For your 1
i i i n f o r m a t i o n the town of Bagby which i s j u s t
IB
across t h e Nerced River and which d i v i d e s the
county t h e n o r t h and t h e s o u t h side of thei
1 county t h e town b f Eagby was named a f t e r h i s 1
j fat he^
Bagby I thinlc my f a t h e r - s e t t l e d t h e r e about 9 5 TheI
o l d t o m was always c a l l e d Benton pills which1 1
w a s t h e p roper nme f o r It I t m i ~ h tbe j u s t
i
-
---Alt r~-ltiwCltA- - r --- - -m---------2
--
~ Y ~ = ~ ~ ~ -
lt __iC-i
-$gt gt--dslt- -~-gtr- LC gt -gtz amp--4A- -- us---)Lamp amp- gtk
c---
~ Samp2~ dLr~m ~ampGampkL Siamp-~~~~lti~2-k-~~
i i
-
10
_
a a l t t l amp i n t e r e s t i n e f or the rdcord to finamp
i ha c a l l e d ~ ~ ~ b f I t ~ ~ t h ~ ~ i t ~ h a ~ ~ ~ ~ e d t o -
wasnt any desiGe on my father^ p a r t - B u t
1 1 - - I
lt 1
-
tlrere btlaa an tingineer by the nme 0f N C Ray -
~$
i
- whowas q u i t e w e l l known i n ~ a l i f o r n i a a n d i
iI
i
he uamp goingback- f o Irjashington D C m d
_ - i
h e amp a i d t o my f a t he r he s a id 1 1 1 1 have a - 1 I p o s t o f f i c e k s t n b l i s h e d while 1 l i f b a c k t h a r amp
1 -
i -i
~ o u r s e t h a t ~ s those th ings t h e way they d i d
1i
i n those o ld day - t h e y j u s t went i n and had i t
i
4 done NOamp you have a b i t of P repara t ion
f o r i t Anyway when he cot back t o taslinzton
D C they asked him what t o c k l l i t No ha
aslced my f a t h e r first what t o c a l l i t and my
1 f a t h e r s a i d Benton I f i l l s And when Ray go t
1 b a c k t o Washington D C the-re was some -
c o n f l i c t of names somewhere s o they wouldnt
1 give it the name of Benton ]ltills and t h a t s 6
1 how- tha t met ropo l i s became c a l l e d Bagby j
Coakley Well youve had a l i t t l e p o l i t i c a l career
1 yourse l f You were what a s s e s s o r here
Bagby O h I was a s se s so r f o r awhile -j
t Coakley How many years I1
Bagby ~ w e l v e yearsf
i
Coskley Wow he s t he manager of our pub l ic u t i l i t y
d i s t r i c t water d i s t r i c t
-
--= ziz-E- w __----- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~C ~ - ~ F i ~ ~ Y ~ ~ ~ ~ P P P P gt ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -~ ~ F~ 8 1 F -7 ~
- -
- Idalter ~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley ~ i r n ~ w o r t h T h e nex t man h i r e i s ~ a l t amp r Waiter
- - - - ark you a f r a i d t o t e l l ~ o u r yoamp -a g e o r ~ r i l l
-
- - - - i t
-
~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r t h ~ f r h d ~ f o r amp o t ( l a u g h t e r ) old i t - o v e r SO
- I forgot (He was 82) - -
many t irnes that
~ o a k l t j y well Walter you were what y o u were s h e r i f f
Tor how many te ms -
Farnsworth One
Coakley One term And you spent most of your ca ree r
d r iv ing s tage d idn t you
Fsrnsworth Well I ve worked seve ra l years i n the county
I was tax c o l l e c t o r and coronerand publ ic
adminis t ra tor and I was s h e r i f f and f a u l t -
f i n d e r I want t o t e l l vou about the time my
f a t h e r a r r ived here
Coakley Go ahead Walter l e t s hea r it
Farnsworth Landed here on t he 15 th of Apri l 1850 i n
West Virginia
Coakley Is t h a t so What was h i s business miner
Farnsworth Blacksmith And they came overland He t o l d
me about t h e i r journey and he s a i d t hey fd
take a horse and swim i t across the r i v e r and
drag a rope- and then when they go t t o the end
- - 12
-
--amp--d ---ampamp ampAdGd-ampck-gt-Ad lt ampA~kampd-~ampo- -- d--m--- L-L- -~-~~r -amp--- --aamp --LLL-gt
-
the re across the r i v e r why theyd put t h a t
rep onto a chain and then theyd p u l l th chain
across Finally theyfd ge t on t h a t s i de and
theyd l i i tch the - oxen on the chain -and p u l l the
wagons through the 14ississippi They d idn t t
have an$ bridges then and t h a t s the way they
got across So when they g o t over here t o
Bridgeport- they s t a r t e d up over the S i e r r a -
Nevadas end they came t o a signboard and on
t h i s signSoard was pr in ted I f youre l o s t
take the r i g h t hand t r a i l And- they were
l o s t ill r i g h t And time my f a t h e r came up - -
and saw tha t he sa id Well l e t s take it
Mymother always-taught rramp when I go t
bewil-dered t o take the r i g h t hand t r a i l So
they took the r i g h t hand t r a i l and i t landed
them down i n the Calaveras Big Trees If
theyd taken the l e f t hand theyd been down
Well when they go t t o the grove i t began
t o ra in And of course they had schooners
they had t h e i r wagons t he re l i k e boats When
they went t o go across on t he re - they d go by
p u l l i n g i t with the oxen p u l l i n g a c r o s s on
the bank So they go t i n t o the Big Trees over
- -
here Mhv i t kept ralniny enc7 r a i n l r ~ g~ n d
ralnirw ~ n dthey h ~ dt o cl imb ~p i n t h e f r
wsgorls 11p i n the b o e t s and the re was no f e e d
f o r the hor ses and c e t t l e and they +em- scared
They couldnfi c r o s s t h e r i v e r So my fsfJher
he rode mound 1ook i r~g f o r e p l ~ c e he s a l d
c r o s s i n g came bnck end wh6n he came i n t o the
subul-bs of E i g Trees why he not lced a f l a s h
of l i g h t IIe WRB r i d i n ~by a t r e e t h a t had
f ~ l l e nnnd he stopped ~ n dlooked and it was
hollow So he g o t o f f h i s ho r se and went in
t h e r e and t h e r e was room enou~gt j u s t throu
t h a t t r e e t o ~ e t o c r o s s t h e r i v e r
So they went i n and t h e y took t h e 012 b e l l
cow they c a l l e d h e r Crybaby because every time
she wented t o be milked she1lt g e t r i g h t up
t o t h e canp a n d s h e l d never s t o p l t r l t h e y
come and mi lk he r She would c a l l =d t h e y
c s l l e d h e r Crybaby Ye l l she was t b e l e a 2 e r
of t h e whole men and h o r s e s grid eve ry th ing
t ake h e r by t h e b e l l s t r a p and you ccul2 lead
h e r anywhere So my Dad he cone back and got
t he o l d b e l l cow nnd he started through t h l s
- ~6akit iy DO m y women remember o i you men o r any of you
any p a r t i c u l a r l y hampiorous inciden-ts t a k i n g
-
Farnsworth
-
coqkxky
place i n - t h i s courtroom -either t h a t you
heard about o r t h a t you wi tnessed
Iheard one
canwe t - i l l i t
-
-
_ Hamp Cast L e t h e r g o Y a I t c r l e t h e r go (l aughter)-
Fakn3worth I reniexber see ing t he b i g g e s t crowd I eve r saw
Mrs Cast
Farnsworth
Man
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
i n rny l i f e w a s t h l s courthouse i n 81
But don t t e l l about any snakes p lease Dont
t e l l about any snakes your snake s t o r i e s
we don t want t o hea r those
IBout t he snakes
We don t want t o h e a r your snake s t o r i e s
Walter
This amp I t no snake s to ry
A l l r i g h t t e l l us about t he b igges t crowd you
ever saw here i n 81
Well they had a woman come here and she was
preaching good teniperance And I don t t h ink
I ever d id s ee more people i n t h a t courtroom
than t he r e was t h i s time She was a wonderful
t a l k e r And t hey had a l i t t l e Irishman t h a t
was r a i s e d around here came here and he
couldn1t read nor w r i t e but hi could spin a -
joke o r somethin And thi s l ady made a
remark t h a t i f anyone who drank l i quo r fop
f ou r years t h e i r stomsch was spoi led his -
-l i t t l e Irishman well he l i s t e n e d 2nd looked
on and she vent on and f i n a l l y she says
NOW i f t h e r e s anybodyld l i k e t o ask any
quest ion I d be g l sd t o answer it So he
go t down and he says Lady do you say
anyone who drank l i q u o r f o r t h r ee two $ears
stomach was spiledT1 Yes He says I
t e l l you what 111 do 111 put my stomzch up
a p i n s t yours-any time you see f i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Eonestly t h a t house j u s t roared Tha t s a
f a c t It happened r i g h t i n there I remember
i t a s well as1 j u s t t o l d it
THE FITE CASE
Leidig I think one of the most famous cases t h a t was
- ever t r i e d i n t h i s courtrooin was the case when -
-
old Lucy Hite sued old John Hite that time -
Coakley O h 1 e t ~hear abou t t ha t Therels q u i t e a -
- r e p o r t on t h a t case but t h a t s the appe l l a t e
repor t T e l l us something about what happened
- -in t h a t case
- Woman When was it
-
Man 1900 o r so was i t It was i n t h i s century -
Leidig The way Bi te happened t o f ind t h a t mine it used
t o be vou remember when we had what they ca l l ed -
the grub s take Well IIite and Kearns and a l l
of them and old Hickman they wouldnt s take
him any more and they were a l l there on the
river And it wasnt t h i s o ld l u c y It was
her s i s t e r t h a t was with h i m t h a t time when
he found t h a t mine and she wanted t o go over
t o where Indian F l a t i s now --Farmsworth Wasnl t she l i v i n g w i t h a f e l l a from ~ r e s n o F la t
Leidig -- she wanted t o go over t o this fandango
and he to ld he r she cou ldn f t go and he was
down by the r i v e r bank and he was mort iss ing
up some samples of some hed picked up
and she watched him and she sneaked off
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
1869 What year d id Judge ~ r a b u c k o s f a m i l y
s e t t l e i n t h i s colmty
M r s T I t h ink i t was 53 when Grandfather came t o
Bear Valley
Woman 9e was i n ~ o r n i t o s f i r s t wasnt he
Another worncan Oh I thousht he canie i n $9
Frs T Anyway he cave out and l e f t h i s b r ide i n I t a l y
and promised he r t h a t he would b r ing Sack
t runks of gold There she s tayed wi th a l l
of t h a t hopes you how And f i n a l l y he went
back and lie d i d n t have t he t runks of gold
bu t he induced h e r t o go back w i th him
My husband graduated from Santa Clara and 11i
I cane he re when he wasnt q u i t e twenty-one andi 1 r an f o r a ssessor He was e lec ted and he he ld 1 1 i t h a t I th ink f ou r years He was e l e c t e d t o
D i s t r i c t Attorney Oh I couldn t say how
i
- -
-manyyears he w a s D i s t r i c t Attorney he was
-
~ u d ~ e lie passed f o r t h i r t y - s i x y e a r s away - -
- i n 138
Trs T - I as born i n Visa l ia but I came here when I
was a few months old and Ive l i ved here a l l -
my l i f e
-
M r ~ e w e l lChanberlain -
(Operator of a motel a t ~ idygtines he
I wrote the book Cal l of old)
Jack Leidig
le is o lder brother ~ h a r i e s~ w i l l eLeidig
was the f i r s t white ch i ld b ~ r ni n Yosemite National Park)
Leidig Fy nother and f a t h e r stopped there with old
man Lamon He w a s a pioneer s e t t l e r i n the
Yosemite That orchard t h a t orchard r i g h t
where Camp Curry is t h a t s the old south
I Lamon orchard My f a t h e r and Lamon planted
t h a t orchard there i n March 1868I Coakley - You mean t h a t orchard where they now park
Leidig Yeah around i n there yeah
i i 7k t i
Farnsrrorth i
J
F Leidig
Coakley
Leidig
us l i v ing One s i s t e r passed away --who
Belle She was cremated two seeks ago today
I don t h o w whether you f o l k s know it or no t
but my mother s f a t h e r was the man who sunk
the s h a f t ou t t o the Princeton Kine he used
t o c a l l it Down a t M t Bull ion drove the
Pine Tree end Josephine Tunnels f i r s t
Your mother s f a t h e r What was h i s name
Donald Doby Ibly g r amho the r on my no ther s
s i de was buried up here i n t h i s cemetery the
6 t h of December 1862
Z~+U_ _iAl _ijz_ --u ---i i _ -- - 2gt- gt- - ed- amplt -=lt--gtltzlt alt--
r-Ji -
i
I i
i
[
Publ isher S$hool p r i n c i p a l Druamppis t
- i
I g u e s s you Coakleg T h e l a h i e l l k n o w h e r b u t
-
1
_
- s l l e s the- bebyof t h e p a r t y Harguer l te I -
~ e x t e r - ~ a r n p b e l l But you donl t lkriow her
j -
i I 1 M r g Campbell i s t h e pu5 l iqhe r of
_ I
-
bur Gaze t C amp and h e r f a t h e r F i r Dexte r was t h e
f o r manjr mnny y e a r q a n d w a s q u i t $ an
-
edi tor So I m to ld And t h i s gentlemm -
3
~ r ~ d l e s b i c h i s ourhigh school p r i n c i p a l
1 Hr Hadmovitch i s our d rugg i s t t he l e a d i n g
i - d r u g g i s t of the community
- M r R And t h e oidest one ( l a u g h t e r )
I
coakley He 1s s n o t h e r newcomer who has come up to t h i s - - - I- f i n e c l ima te t o r e t i r e I
I
I
i E v e r e t t Bagby
13
C oakle y E v e r e t t Bagbys anotheryoung fe l low For your 1
i i i n f o r m a t i o n the town of Bagby which i s j u s t
IB
across t h e Nerced River and which d i v i d e s the
county t h e n o r t h and t h e s o u t h side of thei
1 county t h e town b f Eagby was named a f t e r h i s 1
j fat he^
Bagby I thinlc my f a t h e r - s e t t l e d t h e r e about 9 5 TheI
o l d t o m was always c a l l e d Benton pills which1 1
w a s t h e p roper nme f o r It I t m i ~ h tbe j u s t
i
-
---Alt r~-ltiwCltA- - r --- - -m---------2
--
~ Y ~ = ~ ~ ~ -
lt __iC-i
-$gt gt--dslt- -~-gtr- LC gt -gtz amp--4A- -- us---)Lamp amp- gtk
c---
~ Samp2~ dLr~m ~ampGampkL Siamp-~~~~lti~2-k-~~
i i
-
10
_
a a l t t l amp i n t e r e s t i n e f or the rdcord to finamp
i ha c a l l e d ~ ~ ~ b f I t ~ ~ t h ~ ~ i t ~ h a ~ ~ ~ ~ e d t o -
wasnt any desiGe on my father^ p a r t - B u t
1 1 - - I
lt 1
-
tlrere btlaa an tingineer by the nme 0f N C Ray -
~$
i
- whowas q u i t e w e l l known i n ~ a l i f o r n i a a n d i
iI
i
he uamp goingback- f o Irjashington D C m d
_ - i
h e amp a i d t o my f a t he r he s a id 1 1 1 1 have a - 1 I p o s t o f f i c e k s t n b l i s h e d while 1 l i f b a c k t h a r amp
1 -
i -i
~ o u r s e t h a t ~ s those th ings t h e way they d i d
1i
i n those o ld day - t h e y j u s t went i n and had i t
i
4 done NOamp you have a b i t of P repara t ion
f o r i t Anyway when he cot back t o taslinzton
D C they asked him what t o c k l l i t No ha
aslced my f a t h e r first what t o c a l l i t and my
1 f a t h e r s a i d Benton I f i l l s And when Ray go t
1 b a c k t o Washington D C the-re was some -
c o n f l i c t of names somewhere s o they wouldnt
1 give it the name of Benton ]ltills and t h a t s 6
1 how- tha t met ropo l i s became c a l l e d Bagby j
Coakley Well youve had a l i t t l e p o l i t i c a l career
1 yourse l f You were what a s s e s s o r here
Bagby O h I was a s se s so r f o r awhile -j
t Coakley How many years I1
Bagby ~ w e l v e yearsf
i
Coskley Wow he s t he manager of our pub l ic u t i l i t y
d i s t r i c t water d i s t r i c t
-
--= ziz-E- w __----- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~C ~ - ~ F i ~ ~ Y ~ ~ ~ ~ P P P P gt ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -~ ~ F~ 8 1 F -7 ~
- -
- Idalter ~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley ~ i r n ~ w o r t h T h e nex t man h i r e i s ~ a l t amp r Waiter
- - - - ark you a f r a i d t o t e l l ~ o u r yoamp -a g e o r ~ r i l l
-
- - - - i t
-
~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r t h ~ f r h d ~ f o r amp o t ( l a u g h t e r ) old i t - o v e r SO
- I forgot (He was 82) - -
many t irnes that
~ o a k l t j y well Walter you were what y o u were s h e r i f f
Tor how many te ms -
Farnsworth One
Coakley One term And you spent most of your ca ree r
d r iv ing s tage d idn t you
Fsrnsworth Well I ve worked seve ra l years i n the county
I was tax c o l l e c t o r and coronerand publ ic
adminis t ra tor and I was s h e r i f f and f a u l t -
f i n d e r I want t o t e l l vou about the time my
f a t h e r a r r ived here
Coakley Go ahead Walter l e t s hea r it
Farnsworth Landed here on t he 15 th of Apri l 1850 i n
West Virginia
Coakley Is t h a t so What was h i s business miner
Farnsworth Blacksmith And they came overland He t o l d
me about t h e i r journey and he s a i d t hey fd
take a horse and swim i t across the r i v e r and
drag a rope- and then when they go t t o the end
- - 12
-
--amp--d ---ampamp ampAdGd-ampck-gt-Ad lt ampA~kampd-~ampo- -- d--m--- L-L- -~-~~r -amp--- --aamp --LLL-gt
-
the re across the r i v e r why theyd put t h a t
rep onto a chain and then theyd p u l l th chain
across Finally theyfd ge t on t h a t s i de and
theyd l i i tch the - oxen on the chain -and p u l l the
wagons through the 14ississippi They d idn t t
have an$ bridges then and t h a t s the way they
got across So when they g o t over here t o
Bridgeport- they s t a r t e d up over the S i e r r a -
Nevadas end they came t o a signboard and on
t h i s signSoard was pr in ted I f youre l o s t
take the r i g h t hand t r a i l And- they were
l o s t ill r i g h t And time my f a t h e r came up - -
and saw tha t he sa id Well l e t s take it
Mymother always-taught rramp when I go t
bewil-dered t o take the r i g h t hand t r a i l So
they took the r i g h t hand t r a i l and i t landed
them down i n the Calaveras Big Trees If
theyd taken the l e f t hand theyd been down
Well when they go t t o the grove i t began
t o ra in And of course they had schooners
they had t h e i r wagons t he re l i k e boats When
they went t o go across on t he re - they d go by
p u l l i n g i t with the oxen p u l l i n g a c r o s s on
the bank So they go t i n t o the Big Trees over
- -
here Mhv i t kept ralniny enc7 r a i n l r ~ g~ n d
ralnirw ~ n dthey h ~ dt o cl imb ~p i n t h e f r
wsgorls 11p i n the b o e t s and the re was no f e e d
f o r the hor ses and c e t t l e and they +em- scared
They couldnfi c r o s s t h e r i v e r So my fsfJher
he rode mound 1ook i r~g f o r e p l ~ c e he s a l d
c r o s s i n g came bnck end wh6n he came i n t o the
subul-bs of E i g Trees why he not lced a f l a s h
of l i g h t IIe WRB r i d i n ~by a t r e e t h a t had
f ~ l l e nnnd he stopped ~ n dlooked and it was
hollow So he g o t o f f h i s ho r se and went in
t h e r e and t h e r e was room enou~gt j u s t throu
t h a t t r e e t o ~ e t o c r o s s t h e r i v e r
So they went i n and t h e y took t h e 012 b e l l
cow they c a l l e d h e r Crybaby because every time
she wented t o be milked she1lt g e t r i g h t up
t o t h e canp a n d s h e l d never s t o p l t r l t h e y
come and mi lk he r She would c a l l =d t h e y
c s l l e d h e r Crybaby Ye l l she was t b e l e a 2 e r
of t h e whole men and h o r s e s grid eve ry th ing
t ake h e r by t h e b e l l s t r a p and you ccul2 lead
h e r anywhere So my Dad he cone back and got
t he o l d b e l l cow nnd he started through t h l s
- ~6akit iy DO m y women remember o i you men o r any of you
any p a r t i c u l a r l y hampiorous inciden-ts t a k i n g
-
Farnsworth
-
coqkxky
place i n - t h i s courtroom -either t h a t you
heard about o r t h a t you wi tnessed
Iheard one
canwe t - i l l i t
-
-
_ Hamp Cast L e t h e r g o Y a I t c r l e t h e r go (l aughter)-
Fakn3worth I reniexber see ing t he b i g g e s t crowd I eve r saw
Mrs Cast
Farnsworth
Man
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
i n rny l i f e w a s t h l s courthouse i n 81
But don t t e l l about any snakes p lease Dont
t e l l about any snakes your snake s t o r i e s
we don t want t o hea r those
IBout t he snakes
We don t want t o h e a r your snake s t o r i e s
Walter
This amp I t no snake s to ry
A l l r i g h t t e l l us about t he b igges t crowd you
ever saw here i n 81
Well they had a woman come here and she was
preaching good teniperance And I don t t h ink
I ever d id s ee more people i n t h a t courtroom
than t he r e was t h i s time She was a wonderful
t a l k e r And t hey had a l i t t l e Irishman t h a t
was r a i s e d around here came here and he
couldn1t read nor w r i t e but hi could spin a -
joke o r somethin And thi s l ady made a
remark t h a t i f anyone who drank l i quo r fop
f ou r years t h e i r stomsch was spoi led his -
-l i t t l e Irishman well he l i s t e n e d 2nd looked
on and she vent on and f i n a l l y she says
NOW i f t h e r e s anybodyld l i k e t o ask any
quest ion I d be g l sd t o answer it So he
go t down and he says Lady do you say
anyone who drank l i q u o r f o r t h r ee two $ears
stomach was spiledT1 Yes He says I
t e l l you what 111 do 111 put my stomzch up
a p i n s t yours-any time you see f i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Eonestly t h a t house j u s t roared Tha t s a
f a c t It happened r i g h t i n there I remember
i t a s well as1 j u s t t o l d it
THE FITE CASE
Leidig I think one of the most famous cases t h a t was
- ever t r i e d i n t h i s courtrooin was the case when -
-
old Lucy Hite sued old John Hite that time -
Coakley O h 1 e t ~hear abou t t ha t Therels q u i t e a -
- r e p o r t on t h a t case but t h a t s the appe l l a t e
repor t T e l l us something about what happened
- -in t h a t case
- Woman When was it
-
Man 1900 o r so was i t It was i n t h i s century -
Leidig The way Bi te happened t o f ind t h a t mine it used
t o be vou remember when we had what they ca l l ed -
the grub s take Well IIite and Kearns and a l l
of them and old Hickman they wouldnt s take
him any more and they were a l l there on the
river And it wasnt t h i s o ld l u c y It was
her s i s t e r t h a t was with h i m t h a t time when
he found t h a t mine and she wanted t o go over
t o where Indian F l a t i s now --Farmsworth Wasnl t she l i v i n g w i t h a f e l l a from ~ r e s n o F la t
Leidig -- she wanted t o go over t o this fandango
and he to ld he r she cou ldn f t go and he was
down by the r i v e r bank and he was mort iss ing
up some samples of some hed picked up
and she watched him and she sneaked off
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
- -
-manyyears he w a s D i s t r i c t Attorney he was
-
~ u d ~ e lie passed f o r t h i r t y - s i x y e a r s away - -
- i n 138
Trs T - I as born i n Visa l ia but I came here when I
was a few months old and Ive l i ved here a l l -
my l i f e
-
M r ~ e w e l lChanberlain -
(Operator of a motel a t ~ idygtines he
I wrote the book Cal l of old)
Jack Leidig
le is o lder brother ~ h a r i e s~ w i l l eLeidig
was the f i r s t white ch i ld b ~ r ni n Yosemite National Park)
Leidig Fy nother and f a t h e r stopped there with old
man Lamon He w a s a pioneer s e t t l e r i n the
Yosemite That orchard t h a t orchard r i g h t
where Camp Curry is t h a t s the old south
I Lamon orchard My f a t h e r and Lamon planted
t h a t orchard there i n March 1868I Coakley - You mean t h a t orchard where they now park
Leidig Yeah around i n there yeah
i i 7k t i
Farnsrrorth i
J
F Leidig
Coakley
Leidig
us l i v ing One s i s t e r passed away --who
Belle She was cremated two seeks ago today
I don t h o w whether you f o l k s know it or no t
but my mother s f a t h e r was the man who sunk
the s h a f t ou t t o the Princeton Kine he used
t o c a l l it Down a t M t Bull ion drove the
Pine Tree end Josephine Tunnels f i r s t
Your mother s f a t h e r What was h i s name
Donald Doby Ibly g r amho the r on my no ther s
s i de was buried up here i n t h i s cemetery the
6 t h of December 1862
Z~+U_ _iAl _ijz_ --u ---i i _ -- - 2gt- gt- - ed- amplt -=lt--gtltzlt alt--
r-Ji -
i
I i
i
[
Publ isher S$hool p r i n c i p a l Druamppis t
- i
I g u e s s you Coakleg T h e l a h i e l l k n o w h e r b u t
-
1
_
- s l l e s the- bebyof t h e p a r t y Harguer l te I -
~ e x t e r - ~ a r n p b e l l But you donl t lkriow her
j -
i I 1 M r g Campbell i s t h e pu5 l iqhe r of
_ I
-
bur Gaze t C amp and h e r f a t h e r F i r Dexte r was t h e
f o r manjr mnny y e a r q a n d w a s q u i t $ an
-
edi tor So I m to ld And t h i s gentlemm -
3
~ r ~ d l e s b i c h i s ourhigh school p r i n c i p a l
1 Hr Hadmovitch i s our d rugg i s t t he l e a d i n g
i - d r u g g i s t of the community
- M r R And t h e oidest one ( l a u g h t e r )
I
coakley He 1s s n o t h e r newcomer who has come up to t h i s - - - I- f i n e c l ima te t o r e t i r e I
I
I
i E v e r e t t Bagby
13
C oakle y E v e r e t t Bagbys anotheryoung fe l low For your 1
i i i n f o r m a t i o n the town of Bagby which i s j u s t
IB
across t h e Nerced River and which d i v i d e s the
county t h e n o r t h and t h e s o u t h side of thei
1 county t h e town b f Eagby was named a f t e r h i s 1
j fat he^
Bagby I thinlc my f a t h e r - s e t t l e d t h e r e about 9 5 TheI
o l d t o m was always c a l l e d Benton pills which1 1
w a s t h e p roper nme f o r It I t m i ~ h tbe j u s t
i
-
---Alt r~-ltiwCltA- - r --- - -m---------2
--
~ Y ~ = ~ ~ ~ -
lt __iC-i
-$gt gt--dslt- -~-gtr- LC gt -gtz amp--4A- -- us---)Lamp amp- gtk
c---
~ Samp2~ dLr~m ~ampGampkL Siamp-~~~~lti~2-k-~~
i i
-
10
_
a a l t t l amp i n t e r e s t i n e f or the rdcord to finamp
i ha c a l l e d ~ ~ ~ b f I t ~ ~ t h ~ ~ i t ~ h a ~ ~ ~ ~ e d t o -
wasnt any desiGe on my father^ p a r t - B u t
1 1 - - I
lt 1
-
tlrere btlaa an tingineer by the nme 0f N C Ray -
~$
i
- whowas q u i t e w e l l known i n ~ a l i f o r n i a a n d i
iI
i
he uamp goingback- f o Irjashington D C m d
_ - i
h e amp a i d t o my f a t he r he s a id 1 1 1 1 have a - 1 I p o s t o f f i c e k s t n b l i s h e d while 1 l i f b a c k t h a r amp
1 -
i -i
~ o u r s e t h a t ~ s those th ings t h e way they d i d
1i
i n those o ld day - t h e y j u s t went i n and had i t
i
4 done NOamp you have a b i t of P repara t ion
f o r i t Anyway when he cot back t o taslinzton
D C they asked him what t o c k l l i t No ha
aslced my f a t h e r first what t o c a l l i t and my
1 f a t h e r s a i d Benton I f i l l s And when Ray go t
1 b a c k t o Washington D C the-re was some -
c o n f l i c t of names somewhere s o they wouldnt
1 give it the name of Benton ]ltills and t h a t s 6
1 how- tha t met ropo l i s became c a l l e d Bagby j
Coakley Well youve had a l i t t l e p o l i t i c a l career
1 yourse l f You were what a s s e s s o r here
Bagby O h I was a s se s so r f o r awhile -j
t Coakley How many years I1
Bagby ~ w e l v e yearsf
i
Coskley Wow he s t he manager of our pub l ic u t i l i t y
d i s t r i c t water d i s t r i c t
-
--= ziz-E- w __----- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~C ~ - ~ F i ~ ~ Y ~ ~ ~ ~ P P P P gt ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -~ ~ F~ 8 1 F -7 ~
- -
- Idalter ~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley ~ i r n ~ w o r t h T h e nex t man h i r e i s ~ a l t amp r Waiter
- - - - ark you a f r a i d t o t e l l ~ o u r yoamp -a g e o r ~ r i l l
-
- - - - i t
-
~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r t h ~ f r h d ~ f o r amp o t ( l a u g h t e r ) old i t - o v e r SO
- I forgot (He was 82) - -
many t irnes that
~ o a k l t j y well Walter you were what y o u were s h e r i f f
Tor how many te ms -
Farnsworth One
Coakley One term And you spent most of your ca ree r
d r iv ing s tage d idn t you
Fsrnsworth Well I ve worked seve ra l years i n the county
I was tax c o l l e c t o r and coronerand publ ic
adminis t ra tor and I was s h e r i f f and f a u l t -
f i n d e r I want t o t e l l vou about the time my
f a t h e r a r r ived here
Coakley Go ahead Walter l e t s hea r it
Farnsworth Landed here on t he 15 th of Apri l 1850 i n
West Virginia
Coakley Is t h a t so What was h i s business miner
Farnsworth Blacksmith And they came overland He t o l d
me about t h e i r journey and he s a i d t hey fd
take a horse and swim i t across the r i v e r and
drag a rope- and then when they go t t o the end
- - 12
-
--amp--d ---ampamp ampAdGd-ampck-gt-Ad lt ampA~kampd-~ampo- -- d--m--- L-L- -~-~~r -amp--- --aamp --LLL-gt
-
the re across the r i v e r why theyd put t h a t
rep onto a chain and then theyd p u l l th chain
across Finally theyfd ge t on t h a t s i de and
theyd l i i tch the - oxen on the chain -and p u l l the
wagons through the 14ississippi They d idn t t
have an$ bridges then and t h a t s the way they
got across So when they g o t over here t o
Bridgeport- they s t a r t e d up over the S i e r r a -
Nevadas end they came t o a signboard and on
t h i s signSoard was pr in ted I f youre l o s t
take the r i g h t hand t r a i l And- they were
l o s t ill r i g h t And time my f a t h e r came up - -
and saw tha t he sa id Well l e t s take it
Mymother always-taught rramp when I go t
bewil-dered t o take the r i g h t hand t r a i l So
they took the r i g h t hand t r a i l and i t landed
them down i n the Calaveras Big Trees If
theyd taken the l e f t hand theyd been down
Well when they go t t o the grove i t began
t o ra in And of course they had schooners
they had t h e i r wagons t he re l i k e boats When
they went t o go across on t he re - they d go by
p u l l i n g i t with the oxen p u l l i n g a c r o s s on
the bank So they go t i n t o the Big Trees over
- -
here Mhv i t kept ralniny enc7 r a i n l r ~ g~ n d
ralnirw ~ n dthey h ~ dt o cl imb ~p i n t h e f r
wsgorls 11p i n the b o e t s and the re was no f e e d
f o r the hor ses and c e t t l e and they +em- scared
They couldnfi c r o s s t h e r i v e r So my fsfJher
he rode mound 1ook i r~g f o r e p l ~ c e he s a l d
c r o s s i n g came bnck end wh6n he came i n t o the
subul-bs of E i g Trees why he not lced a f l a s h
of l i g h t IIe WRB r i d i n ~by a t r e e t h a t had
f ~ l l e nnnd he stopped ~ n dlooked and it was
hollow So he g o t o f f h i s ho r se and went in
t h e r e and t h e r e was room enou~gt j u s t throu
t h a t t r e e t o ~ e t o c r o s s t h e r i v e r
So they went i n and t h e y took t h e 012 b e l l
cow they c a l l e d h e r Crybaby because every time
she wented t o be milked she1lt g e t r i g h t up
t o t h e canp a n d s h e l d never s t o p l t r l t h e y
come and mi lk he r She would c a l l =d t h e y
c s l l e d h e r Crybaby Ye l l she was t b e l e a 2 e r
of t h e whole men and h o r s e s grid eve ry th ing
t ake h e r by t h e b e l l s t r a p and you ccul2 lead
h e r anywhere So my Dad he cone back and got
t he o l d b e l l cow nnd he started through t h l s
- ~6akit iy DO m y women remember o i you men o r any of you
any p a r t i c u l a r l y hampiorous inciden-ts t a k i n g
-
Farnsworth
-
coqkxky
place i n - t h i s courtroom -either t h a t you
heard about o r t h a t you wi tnessed
Iheard one
canwe t - i l l i t
-
-
_ Hamp Cast L e t h e r g o Y a I t c r l e t h e r go (l aughter)-
Fakn3worth I reniexber see ing t he b i g g e s t crowd I eve r saw
Mrs Cast
Farnsworth
Man
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
i n rny l i f e w a s t h l s courthouse i n 81
But don t t e l l about any snakes p lease Dont
t e l l about any snakes your snake s t o r i e s
we don t want t o hea r those
IBout t he snakes
We don t want t o h e a r your snake s t o r i e s
Walter
This amp I t no snake s to ry
A l l r i g h t t e l l us about t he b igges t crowd you
ever saw here i n 81
Well they had a woman come here and she was
preaching good teniperance And I don t t h ink
I ever d id s ee more people i n t h a t courtroom
than t he r e was t h i s time She was a wonderful
t a l k e r And t hey had a l i t t l e Irishman t h a t
was r a i s e d around here came here and he
couldn1t read nor w r i t e but hi could spin a -
joke o r somethin And thi s l ady made a
remark t h a t i f anyone who drank l i quo r fop
f ou r years t h e i r stomsch was spoi led his -
-l i t t l e Irishman well he l i s t e n e d 2nd looked
on and she vent on and f i n a l l y she says
NOW i f t h e r e s anybodyld l i k e t o ask any
quest ion I d be g l sd t o answer it So he
go t down and he says Lady do you say
anyone who drank l i q u o r f o r t h r ee two $ears
stomach was spiledT1 Yes He says I
t e l l you what 111 do 111 put my stomzch up
a p i n s t yours-any time you see f i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Eonestly t h a t house j u s t roared Tha t s a
f a c t It happened r i g h t i n there I remember
i t a s well as1 j u s t t o l d it
THE FITE CASE
Leidig I think one of the most famous cases t h a t was
- ever t r i e d i n t h i s courtrooin was the case when -
-
old Lucy Hite sued old John Hite that time -
Coakley O h 1 e t ~hear abou t t ha t Therels q u i t e a -
- r e p o r t on t h a t case but t h a t s the appe l l a t e
repor t T e l l us something about what happened
- -in t h a t case
- Woman When was it
-
Man 1900 o r so was i t It was i n t h i s century -
Leidig The way Bi te happened t o f ind t h a t mine it used
t o be vou remember when we had what they ca l l ed -
the grub s take Well IIite and Kearns and a l l
of them and old Hickman they wouldnt s take
him any more and they were a l l there on the
river And it wasnt t h i s o ld l u c y It was
her s i s t e r t h a t was with h i m t h a t time when
he found t h a t mine and she wanted t o go over
t o where Indian F l a t i s now --Farmsworth Wasnl t she l i v i n g w i t h a f e l l a from ~ r e s n o F la t
Leidig -- she wanted t o go over t o this fandango
and he to ld he r she cou ldn f t go and he was
down by the r i v e r bank and he was mort iss ing
up some samples of some hed picked up
and she watched him and she sneaked off
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
i i 7k t i
Farnsrrorth i
J
F Leidig
Coakley
Leidig
us l i v ing One s i s t e r passed away --who
Belle She was cremated two seeks ago today
I don t h o w whether you f o l k s know it or no t
but my mother s f a t h e r was the man who sunk
the s h a f t ou t t o the Princeton Kine he used
t o c a l l it Down a t M t Bull ion drove the
Pine Tree end Josephine Tunnels f i r s t
Your mother s f a t h e r What was h i s name
Donald Doby Ibly g r amho the r on my no ther s
s i de was buried up here i n t h i s cemetery the
6 t h of December 1862
Z~+U_ _iAl _ijz_ --u ---i i _ -- - 2gt- gt- - ed- amplt -=lt--gtltzlt alt--
r-Ji -
i
I i
i
[
Publ isher S$hool p r i n c i p a l Druamppis t
- i
I g u e s s you Coakleg T h e l a h i e l l k n o w h e r b u t
-
1
_
- s l l e s the- bebyof t h e p a r t y Harguer l te I -
~ e x t e r - ~ a r n p b e l l But you donl t lkriow her
j -
i I 1 M r g Campbell i s t h e pu5 l iqhe r of
_ I
-
bur Gaze t C amp and h e r f a t h e r F i r Dexte r was t h e
f o r manjr mnny y e a r q a n d w a s q u i t $ an
-
edi tor So I m to ld And t h i s gentlemm -
3
~ r ~ d l e s b i c h i s ourhigh school p r i n c i p a l
1 Hr Hadmovitch i s our d rugg i s t t he l e a d i n g
i - d r u g g i s t of the community
- M r R And t h e oidest one ( l a u g h t e r )
I
coakley He 1s s n o t h e r newcomer who has come up to t h i s - - - I- f i n e c l ima te t o r e t i r e I
I
I
i E v e r e t t Bagby
13
C oakle y E v e r e t t Bagbys anotheryoung fe l low For your 1
i i i n f o r m a t i o n the town of Bagby which i s j u s t
IB
across t h e Nerced River and which d i v i d e s the
county t h e n o r t h and t h e s o u t h side of thei
1 county t h e town b f Eagby was named a f t e r h i s 1
j fat he^
Bagby I thinlc my f a t h e r - s e t t l e d t h e r e about 9 5 TheI
o l d t o m was always c a l l e d Benton pills which1 1
w a s t h e p roper nme f o r It I t m i ~ h tbe j u s t
i
-
---Alt r~-ltiwCltA- - r --- - -m---------2
--
~ Y ~ = ~ ~ ~ -
lt __iC-i
-$gt gt--dslt- -~-gtr- LC gt -gtz amp--4A- -- us---)Lamp amp- gtk
c---
~ Samp2~ dLr~m ~ampGampkL Siamp-~~~~lti~2-k-~~
i i
-
10
_
a a l t t l amp i n t e r e s t i n e f or the rdcord to finamp
i ha c a l l e d ~ ~ ~ b f I t ~ ~ t h ~ ~ i t ~ h a ~ ~ ~ ~ e d t o -
wasnt any desiGe on my father^ p a r t - B u t
1 1 - - I
lt 1
-
tlrere btlaa an tingineer by the nme 0f N C Ray -
~$
i
- whowas q u i t e w e l l known i n ~ a l i f o r n i a a n d i
iI
i
he uamp goingback- f o Irjashington D C m d
_ - i
h e amp a i d t o my f a t he r he s a id 1 1 1 1 have a - 1 I p o s t o f f i c e k s t n b l i s h e d while 1 l i f b a c k t h a r amp
1 -
i -i
~ o u r s e t h a t ~ s those th ings t h e way they d i d
1i
i n those o ld day - t h e y j u s t went i n and had i t
i
4 done NOamp you have a b i t of P repara t ion
f o r i t Anyway when he cot back t o taslinzton
D C they asked him what t o c k l l i t No ha
aslced my f a t h e r first what t o c a l l i t and my
1 f a t h e r s a i d Benton I f i l l s And when Ray go t
1 b a c k t o Washington D C the-re was some -
c o n f l i c t of names somewhere s o they wouldnt
1 give it the name of Benton ]ltills and t h a t s 6
1 how- tha t met ropo l i s became c a l l e d Bagby j
Coakley Well youve had a l i t t l e p o l i t i c a l career
1 yourse l f You were what a s s e s s o r here
Bagby O h I was a s se s so r f o r awhile -j
t Coakley How many years I1
Bagby ~ w e l v e yearsf
i
Coskley Wow he s t he manager of our pub l ic u t i l i t y
d i s t r i c t water d i s t r i c t
-
--= ziz-E- w __----- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~C ~ - ~ F i ~ ~ Y ~ ~ ~ ~ P P P P gt ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -~ ~ F~ 8 1 F -7 ~
- -
- Idalter ~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley ~ i r n ~ w o r t h T h e nex t man h i r e i s ~ a l t amp r Waiter
- - - - ark you a f r a i d t o t e l l ~ o u r yoamp -a g e o r ~ r i l l
-
- - - - i t
-
~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r t h ~ f r h d ~ f o r amp o t ( l a u g h t e r ) old i t - o v e r SO
- I forgot (He was 82) - -
many t irnes that
~ o a k l t j y well Walter you were what y o u were s h e r i f f
Tor how many te ms -
Farnsworth One
Coakley One term And you spent most of your ca ree r
d r iv ing s tage d idn t you
Fsrnsworth Well I ve worked seve ra l years i n the county
I was tax c o l l e c t o r and coronerand publ ic
adminis t ra tor and I was s h e r i f f and f a u l t -
f i n d e r I want t o t e l l vou about the time my
f a t h e r a r r ived here
Coakley Go ahead Walter l e t s hea r it
Farnsworth Landed here on t he 15 th of Apri l 1850 i n
West Virginia
Coakley Is t h a t so What was h i s business miner
Farnsworth Blacksmith And they came overland He t o l d
me about t h e i r journey and he s a i d t hey fd
take a horse and swim i t across the r i v e r and
drag a rope- and then when they go t t o the end
- - 12
-
--amp--d ---ampamp ampAdGd-ampck-gt-Ad lt ampA~kampd-~ampo- -- d--m--- L-L- -~-~~r -amp--- --aamp --LLL-gt
-
the re across the r i v e r why theyd put t h a t
rep onto a chain and then theyd p u l l th chain
across Finally theyfd ge t on t h a t s i de and
theyd l i i tch the - oxen on the chain -and p u l l the
wagons through the 14ississippi They d idn t t
have an$ bridges then and t h a t s the way they
got across So when they g o t over here t o
Bridgeport- they s t a r t e d up over the S i e r r a -
Nevadas end they came t o a signboard and on
t h i s signSoard was pr in ted I f youre l o s t
take the r i g h t hand t r a i l And- they were
l o s t ill r i g h t And time my f a t h e r came up - -
and saw tha t he sa id Well l e t s take it
Mymother always-taught rramp when I go t
bewil-dered t o take the r i g h t hand t r a i l So
they took the r i g h t hand t r a i l and i t landed
them down i n the Calaveras Big Trees If
theyd taken the l e f t hand theyd been down
Well when they go t t o the grove i t began
t o ra in And of course they had schooners
they had t h e i r wagons t he re l i k e boats When
they went t o go across on t he re - they d go by
p u l l i n g i t with the oxen p u l l i n g a c r o s s on
the bank So they go t i n t o the Big Trees over
- -
here Mhv i t kept ralniny enc7 r a i n l r ~ g~ n d
ralnirw ~ n dthey h ~ dt o cl imb ~p i n t h e f r
wsgorls 11p i n the b o e t s and the re was no f e e d
f o r the hor ses and c e t t l e and they +em- scared
They couldnfi c r o s s t h e r i v e r So my fsfJher
he rode mound 1ook i r~g f o r e p l ~ c e he s a l d
c r o s s i n g came bnck end wh6n he came i n t o the
subul-bs of E i g Trees why he not lced a f l a s h
of l i g h t IIe WRB r i d i n ~by a t r e e t h a t had
f ~ l l e nnnd he stopped ~ n dlooked and it was
hollow So he g o t o f f h i s ho r se and went in
t h e r e and t h e r e was room enou~gt j u s t throu
t h a t t r e e t o ~ e t o c r o s s t h e r i v e r
So they went i n and t h e y took t h e 012 b e l l
cow they c a l l e d h e r Crybaby because every time
she wented t o be milked she1lt g e t r i g h t up
t o t h e canp a n d s h e l d never s t o p l t r l t h e y
come and mi lk he r She would c a l l =d t h e y
c s l l e d h e r Crybaby Ye l l she was t b e l e a 2 e r
of t h e whole men and h o r s e s grid eve ry th ing
t ake h e r by t h e b e l l s t r a p and you ccul2 lead
h e r anywhere So my Dad he cone back and got
t he o l d b e l l cow nnd he started through t h l s
- ~6akit iy DO m y women remember o i you men o r any of you
any p a r t i c u l a r l y hampiorous inciden-ts t a k i n g
-
Farnsworth
-
coqkxky
place i n - t h i s courtroom -either t h a t you
heard about o r t h a t you wi tnessed
Iheard one
canwe t - i l l i t
-
-
_ Hamp Cast L e t h e r g o Y a I t c r l e t h e r go (l aughter)-
Fakn3worth I reniexber see ing t he b i g g e s t crowd I eve r saw
Mrs Cast
Farnsworth
Man
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
i n rny l i f e w a s t h l s courthouse i n 81
But don t t e l l about any snakes p lease Dont
t e l l about any snakes your snake s t o r i e s
we don t want t o hea r those
IBout t he snakes
We don t want t o h e a r your snake s t o r i e s
Walter
This amp I t no snake s to ry
A l l r i g h t t e l l us about t he b igges t crowd you
ever saw here i n 81
Well they had a woman come here and she was
preaching good teniperance And I don t t h ink
I ever d id s ee more people i n t h a t courtroom
than t he r e was t h i s time She was a wonderful
t a l k e r And t hey had a l i t t l e Irishman t h a t
was r a i s e d around here came here and he
couldn1t read nor w r i t e but hi could spin a -
joke o r somethin And thi s l ady made a
remark t h a t i f anyone who drank l i quo r fop
f ou r years t h e i r stomsch was spoi led his -
-l i t t l e Irishman well he l i s t e n e d 2nd looked
on and she vent on and f i n a l l y she says
NOW i f t h e r e s anybodyld l i k e t o ask any
quest ion I d be g l sd t o answer it So he
go t down and he says Lady do you say
anyone who drank l i q u o r f o r t h r ee two $ears
stomach was spiledT1 Yes He says I
t e l l you what 111 do 111 put my stomzch up
a p i n s t yours-any time you see f i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Eonestly t h a t house j u s t roared Tha t s a
f a c t It happened r i g h t i n there I remember
i t a s well as1 j u s t t o l d it
THE FITE CASE
Leidig I think one of the most famous cases t h a t was
- ever t r i e d i n t h i s courtrooin was the case when -
-
old Lucy Hite sued old John Hite that time -
Coakley O h 1 e t ~hear abou t t ha t Therels q u i t e a -
- r e p o r t on t h a t case but t h a t s the appe l l a t e
repor t T e l l us something about what happened
- -in t h a t case
- Woman When was it
-
Man 1900 o r so was i t It was i n t h i s century -
Leidig The way Bi te happened t o f ind t h a t mine it used
t o be vou remember when we had what they ca l l ed -
the grub s take Well IIite and Kearns and a l l
of them and old Hickman they wouldnt s take
him any more and they were a l l there on the
river And it wasnt t h i s o ld l u c y It was
her s i s t e r t h a t was with h i m t h a t time when
he found t h a t mine and she wanted t o go over
t o where Indian F l a t i s now --Farmsworth Wasnl t she l i v i n g w i t h a f e l l a from ~ r e s n o F la t
Leidig -- she wanted t o go over t o this fandango
and he to ld he r she cou ldn f t go and he was
down by the r i v e r bank and he was mort iss ing
up some samples of some hed picked up
and she watched him and she sneaked off
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
Z~+U_ _iAl _ijz_ --u ---i i _ -- - 2gt- gt- - ed- amplt -=lt--gtltzlt alt--
r-Ji -
i
I i
i
[
Publ isher S$hool p r i n c i p a l Druamppis t
- i
I g u e s s you Coakleg T h e l a h i e l l k n o w h e r b u t
-
1
_
- s l l e s the- bebyof t h e p a r t y Harguer l te I -
~ e x t e r - ~ a r n p b e l l But you donl t lkriow her
j -
i I 1 M r g Campbell i s t h e pu5 l iqhe r of
_ I
-
bur Gaze t C amp and h e r f a t h e r F i r Dexte r was t h e
f o r manjr mnny y e a r q a n d w a s q u i t $ an
-
edi tor So I m to ld And t h i s gentlemm -
3
~ r ~ d l e s b i c h i s ourhigh school p r i n c i p a l
1 Hr Hadmovitch i s our d rugg i s t t he l e a d i n g
i - d r u g g i s t of the community
- M r R And t h e oidest one ( l a u g h t e r )
I
coakley He 1s s n o t h e r newcomer who has come up to t h i s - - - I- f i n e c l ima te t o r e t i r e I
I
I
i E v e r e t t Bagby
13
C oakle y E v e r e t t Bagbys anotheryoung fe l low For your 1
i i i n f o r m a t i o n the town of Bagby which i s j u s t
IB
across t h e Nerced River and which d i v i d e s the
county t h e n o r t h and t h e s o u t h side of thei
1 county t h e town b f Eagby was named a f t e r h i s 1
j fat he^
Bagby I thinlc my f a t h e r - s e t t l e d t h e r e about 9 5 TheI
o l d t o m was always c a l l e d Benton pills which1 1
w a s t h e p roper nme f o r It I t m i ~ h tbe j u s t
i
-
---Alt r~-ltiwCltA- - r --- - -m---------2
--
~ Y ~ = ~ ~ ~ -
lt __iC-i
-$gt gt--dslt- -~-gtr- LC gt -gtz amp--4A- -- us---)Lamp amp- gtk
c---
~ Samp2~ dLr~m ~ampGampkL Siamp-~~~~lti~2-k-~~
i i
-
10
_
a a l t t l amp i n t e r e s t i n e f or the rdcord to finamp
i ha c a l l e d ~ ~ ~ b f I t ~ ~ t h ~ ~ i t ~ h a ~ ~ ~ ~ e d t o -
wasnt any desiGe on my father^ p a r t - B u t
1 1 - - I
lt 1
-
tlrere btlaa an tingineer by the nme 0f N C Ray -
~$
i
- whowas q u i t e w e l l known i n ~ a l i f o r n i a a n d i
iI
i
he uamp goingback- f o Irjashington D C m d
_ - i
h e amp a i d t o my f a t he r he s a id 1 1 1 1 have a - 1 I p o s t o f f i c e k s t n b l i s h e d while 1 l i f b a c k t h a r amp
1 -
i -i
~ o u r s e t h a t ~ s those th ings t h e way they d i d
1i
i n those o ld day - t h e y j u s t went i n and had i t
i
4 done NOamp you have a b i t of P repara t ion
f o r i t Anyway when he cot back t o taslinzton
D C they asked him what t o c k l l i t No ha
aslced my f a t h e r first what t o c a l l i t and my
1 f a t h e r s a i d Benton I f i l l s And when Ray go t
1 b a c k t o Washington D C the-re was some -
c o n f l i c t of names somewhere s o they wouldnt
1 give it the name of Benton ]ltills and t h a t s 6
1 how- tha t met ropo l i s became c a l l e d Bagby j
Coakley Well youve had a l i t t l e p o l i t i c a l career
1 yourse l f You were what a s s e s s o r here
Bagby O h I was a s se s so r f o r awhile -j
t Coakley How many years I1
Bagby ~ w e l v e yearsf
i
Coskley Wow he s t he manager of our pub l ic u t i l i t y
d i s t r i c t water d i s t r i c t
-
--= ziz-E- w __----- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~C ~ - ~ F i ~ ~ Y ~ ~ ~ ~ P P P P gt ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -~ ~ F~ 8 1 F -7 ~
- -
- Idalter ~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley ~ i r n ~ w o r t h T h e nex t man h i r e i s ~ a l t amp r Waiter
- - - - ark you a f r a i d t o t e l l ~ o u r yoamp -a g e o r ~ r i l l
-
- - - - i t
-
~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r t h ~ f r h d ~ f o r amp o t ( l a u g h t e r ) old i t - o v e r SO
- I forgot (He was 82) - -
many t irnes that
~ o a k l t j y well Walter you were what y o u were s h e r i f f
Tor how many te ms -
Farnsworth One
Coakley One term And you spent most of your ca ree r
d r iv ing s tage d idn t you
Fsrnsworth Well I ve worked seve ra l years i n the county
I was tax c o l l e c t o r and coronerand publ ic
adminis t ra tor and I was s h e r i f f and f a u l t -
f i n d e r I want t o t e l l vou about the time my
f a t h e r a r r ived here
Coakley Go ahead Walter l e t s hea r it
Farnsworth Landed here on t he 15 th of Apri l 1850 i n
West Virginia
Coakley Is t h a t so What was h i s business miner
Farnsworth Blacksmith And they came overland He t o l d
me about t h e i r journey and he s a i d t hey fd
take a horse and swim i t across the r i v e r and
drag a rope- and then when they go t t o the end
- - 12
-
--amp--d ---ampamp ampAdGd-ampck-gt-Ad lt ampA~kampd-~ampo- -- d--m--- L-L- -~-~~r -amp--- --aamp --LLL-gt
-
the re across the r i v e r why theyd put t h a t
rep onto a chain and then theyd p u l l th chain
across Finally theyfd ge t on t h a t s i de and
theyd l i i tch the - oxen on the chain -and p u l l the
wagons through the 14ississippi They d idn t t
have an$ bridges then and t h a t s the way they
got across So when they g o t over here t o
Bridgeport- they s t a r t e d up over the S i e r r a -
Nevadas end they came t o a signboard and on
t h i s signSoard was pr in ted I f youre l o s t
take the r i g h t hand t r a i l And- they were
l o s t ill r i g h t And time my f a t h e r came up - -
and saw tha t he sa id Well l e t s take it
Mymother always-taught rramp when I go t
bewil-dered t o take the r i g h t hand t r a i l So
they took the r i g h t hand t r a i l and i t landed
them down i n the Calaveras Big Trees If
theyd taken the l e f t hand theyd been down
Well when they go t t o the grove i t began
t o ra in And of course they had schooners
they had t h e i r wagons t he re l i k e boats When
they went t o go across on t he re - they d go by
p u l l i n g i t with the oxen p u l l i n g a c r o s s on
the bank So they go t i n t o the Big Trees over
- -
here Mhv i t kept ralniny enc7 r a i n l r ~ g~ n d
ralnirw ~ n dthey h ~ dt o cl imb ~p i n t h e f r
wsgorls 11p i n the b o e t s and the re was no f e e d
f o r the hor ses and c e t t l e and they +em- scared
They couldnfi c r o s s t h e r i v e r So my fsfJher
he rode mound 1ook i r~g f o r e p l ~ c e he s a l d
c r o s s i n g came bnck end wh6n he came i n t o the
subul-bs of E i g Trees why he not lced a f l a s h
of l i g h t IIe WRB r i d i n ~by a t r e e t h a t had
f ~ l l e nnnd he stopped ~ n dlooked and it was
hollow So he g o t o f f h i s ho r se and went in
t h e r e and t h e r e was room enou~gt j u s t throu
t h a t t r e e t o ~ e t o c r o s s t h e r i v e r
So they went i n and t h e y took t h e 012 b e l l
cow they c a l l e d h e r Crybaby because every time
she wented t o be milked she1lt g e t r i g h t up
t o t h e canp a n d s h e l d never s t o p l t r l t h e y
come and mi lk he r She would c a l l =d t h e y
c s l l e d h e r Crybaby Ye l l she was t b e l e a 2 e r
of t h e whole men and h o r s e s grid eve ry th ing
t ake h e r by t h e b e l l s t r a p and you ccul2 lead
h e r anywhere So my Dad he cone back and got
t he o l d b e l l cow nnd he started through t h l s
- ~6akit iy DO m y women remember o i you men o r any of you
any p a r t i c u l a r l y hampiorous inciden-ts t a k i n g
-
Farnsworth
-
coqkxky
place i n - t h i s courtroom -either t h a t you
heard about o r t h a t you wi tnessed
Iheard one
canwe t - i l l i t
-
-
_ Hamp Cast L e t h e r g o Y a I t c r l e t h e r go (l aughter)-
Fakn3worth I reniexber see ing t he b i g g e s t crowd I eve r saw
Mrs Cast
Farnsworth
Man
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
i n rny l i f e w a s t h l s courthouse i n 81
But don t t e l l about any snakes p lease Dont
t e l l about any snakes your snake s t o r i e s
we don t want t o hea r those
IBout t he snakes
We don t want t o h e a r your snake s t o r i e s
Walter
This amp I t no snake s to ry
A l l r i g h t t e l l us about t he b igges t crowd you
ever saw here i n 81
Well they had a woman come here and she was
preaching good teniperance And I don t t h ink
I ever d id s ee more people i n t h a t courtroom
than t he r e was t h i s time She was a wonderful
t a l k e r And t hey had a l i t t l e Irishman t h a t
was r a i s e d around here came here and he
couldn1t read nor w r i t e but hi could spin a -
joke o r somethin And thi s l ady made a
remark t h a t i f anyone who drank l i quo r fop
f ou r years t h e i r stomsch was spoi led his -
-l i t t l e Irishman well he l i s t e n e d 2nd looked
on and she vent on and f i n a l l y she says
NOW i f t h e r e s anybodyld l i k e t o ask any
quest ion I d be g l sd t o answer it So he
go t down and he says Lady do you say
anyone who drank l i q u o r f o r t h r ee two $ears
stomach was spiledT1 Yes He says I
t e l l you what 111 do 111 put my stomzch up
a p i n s t yours-any time you see f i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Eonestly t h a t house j u s t roared Tha t s a
f a c t It happened r i g h t i n there I remember
i t a s well as1 j u s t t o l d it
THE FITE CASE
Leidig I think one of the most famous cases t h a t was
- ever t r i e d i n t h i s courtrooin was the case when -
-
old Lucy Hite sued old John Hite that time -
Coakley O h 1 e t ~hear abou t t ha t Therels q u i t e a -
- r e p o r t on t h a t case but t h a t s the appe l l a t e
repor t T e l l us something about what happened
- -in t h a t case
- Woman When was it
-
Man 1900 o r so was i t It was i n t h i s century -
Leidig The way Bi te happened t o f ind t h a t mine it used
t o be vou remember when we had what they ca l l ed -
the grub s take Well IIite and Kearns and a l l
of them and old Hickman they wouldnt s take
him any more and they were a l l there on the
river And it wasnt t h i s o ld l u c y It was
her s i s t e r t h a t was with h i m t h a t time when
he found t h a t mine and she wanted t o go over
t o where Indian F l a t i s now --Farmsworth Wasnl t she l i v i n g w i t h a f e l l a from ~ r e s n o F la t
Leidig -- she wanted t o go over t o this fandango
and he to ld he r she cou ldn f t go and he was
down by the r i v e r bank and he was mort iss ing
up some samples of some hed picked up
and she watched him and she sneaked off
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
~ Y ~ = ~ ~ ~ -
lt __iC-i
-$gt gt--dslt- -~-gtr- LC gt -gtz amp--4A- -- us---)Lamp amp- gtk
c---
~ Samp2~ dLr~m ~ampGampkL Siamp-~~~~lti~2-k-~~
i i
-
10
_
a a l t t l amp i n t e r e s t i n e f or the rdcord to finamp
i ha c a l l e d ~ ~ ~ b f I t ~ ~ t h ~ ~ i t ~ h a ~ ~ ~ ~ e d t o -
wasnt any desiGe on my father^ p a r t - B u t
1 1 - - I
lt 1
-
tlrere btlaa an tingineer by the nme 0f N C Ray -
~$
i
- whowas q u i t e w e l l known i n ~ a l i f o r n i a a n d i
iI
i
he uamp goingback- f o Irjashington D C m d
_ - i
h e amp a i d t o my f a t he r he s a id 1 1 1 1 have a - 1 I p o s t o f f i c e k s t n b l i s h e d while 1 l i f b a c k t h a r amp
1 -
i -i
~ o u r s e t h a t ~ s those th ings t h e way they d i d
1i
i n those o ld day - t h e y j u s t went i n and had i t
i
4 done NOamp you have a b i t of P repara t ion
f o r i t Anyway when he cot back t o taslinzton
D C they asked him what t o c k l l i t No ha
aslced my f a t h e r first what t o c a l l i t and my
1 f a t h e r s a i d Benton I f i l l s And when Ray go t
1 b a c k t o Washington D C the-re was some -
c o n f l i c t of names somewhere s o they wouldnt
1 give it the name of Benton ]ltills and t h a t s 6
1 how- tha t met ropo l i s became c a l l e d Bagby j
Coakley Well youve had a l i t t l e p o l i t i c a l career
1 yourse l f You were what a s s e s s o r here
Bagby O h I was a s se s so r f o r awhile -j
t Coakley How many years I1
Bagby ~ w e l v e yearsf
i
Coskley Wow he s t he manager of our pub l ic u t i l i t y
d i s t r i c t water d i s t r i c t
-
--= ziz-E- w __----- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~C ~ - ~ F i ~ ~ Y ~ ~ ~ ~ P P P P gt ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -~ ~ F~ 8 1 F -7 ~
- -
- Idalter ~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley ~ i r n ~ w o r t h T h e nex t man h i r e i s ~ a l t amp r Waiter
- - - - ark you a f r a i d t o t e l l ~ o u r yoamp -a g e o r ~ r i l l
-
- - - - i t
-
~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r t h ~ f r h d ~ f o r amp o t ( l a u g h t e r ) old i t - o v e r SO
- I forgot (He was 82) - -
many t irnes that
~ o a k l t j y well Walter you were what y o u were s h e r i f f
Tor how many te ms -
Farnsworth One
Coakley One term And you spent most of your ca ree r
d r iv ing s tage d idn t you
Fsrnsworth Well I ve worked seve ra l years i n the county
I was tax c o l l e c t o r and coronerand publ ic
adminis t ra tor and I was s h e r i f f and f a u l t -
f i n d e r I want t o t e l l vou about the time my
f a t h e r a r r ived here
Coakley Go ahead Walter l e t s hea r it
Farnsworth Landed here on t he 15 th of Apri l 1850 i n
West Virginia
Coakley Is t h a t so What was h i s business miner
Farnsworth Blacksmith And they came overland He t o l d
me about t h e i r journey and he s a i d t hey fd
take a horse and swim i t across the r i v e r and
drag a rope- and then when they go t t o the end
- - 12
-
--amp--d ---ampamp ampAdGd-ampck-gt-Ad lt ampA~kampd-~ampo- -- d--m--- L-L- -~-~~r -amp--- --aamp --LLL-gt
-
the re across the r i v e r why theyd put t h a t
rep onto a chain and then theyd p u l l th chain
across Finally theyfd ge t on t h a t s i de and
theyd l i i tch the - oxen on the chain -and p u l l the
wagons through the 14ississippi They d idn t t
have an$ bridges then and t h a t s the way they
got across So when they g o t over here t o
Bridgeport- they s t a r t e d up over the S i e r r a -
Nevadas end they came t o a signboard and on
t h i s signSoard was pr in ted I f youre l o s t
take the r i g h t hand t r a i l And- they were
l o s t ill r i g h t And time my f a t h e r came up - -
and saw tha t he sa id Well l e t s take it
Mymother always-taught rramp when I go t
bewil-dered t o take the r i g h t hand t r a i l So
they took the r i g h t hand t r a i l and i t landed
them down i n the Calaveras Big Trees If
theyd taken the l e f t hand theyd been down
Well when they go t t o the grove i t began
t o ra in And of course they had schooners
they had t h e i r wagons t he re l i k e boats When
they went t o go across on t he re - they d go by
p u l l i n g i t with the oxen p u l l i n g a c r o s s on
the bank So they go t i n t o the Big Trees over
- -
here Mhv i t kept ralniny enc7 r a i n l r ~ g~ n d
ralnirw ~ n dthey h ~ dt o cl imb ~p i n t h e f r
wsgorls 11p i n the b o e t s and the re was no f e e d
f o r the hor ses and c e t t l e and they +em- scared
They couldnfi c r o s s t h e r i v e r So my fsfJher
he rode mound 1ook i r~g f o r e p l ~ c e he s a l d
c r o s s i n g came bnck end wh6n he came i n t o the
subul-bs of E i g Trees why he not lced a f l a s h
of l i g h t IIe WRB r i d i n ~by a t r e e t h a t had
f ~ l l e nnnd he stopped ~ n dlooked and it was
hollow So he g o t o f f h i s ho r se and went in
t h e r e and t h e r e was room enou~gt j u s t throu
t h a t t r e e t o ~ e t o c r o s s t h e r i v e r
So they went i n and t h e y took t h e 012 b e l l
cow they c a l l e d h e r Crybaby because every time
she wented t o be milked she1lt g e t r i g h t up
t o t h e canp a n d s h e l d never s t o p l t r l t h e y
come and mi lk he r She would c a l l =d t h e y
c s l l e d h e r Crybaby Ye l l she was t b e l e a 2 e r
of t h e whole men and h o r s e s grid eve ry th ing
t ake h e r by t h e b e l l s t r a p and you ccul2 lead
h e r anywhere So my Dad he cone back and got
t he o l d b e l l cow nnd he started through t h l s
- ~6akit iy DO m y women remember o i you men o r any of you
any p a r t i c u l a r l y hampiorous inciden-ts t a k i n g
-
Farnsworth
-
coqkxky
place i n - t h i s courtroom -either t h a t you
heard about o r t h a t you wi tnessed
Iheard one
canwe t - i l l i t
-
-
_ Hamp Cast L e t h e r g o Y a I t c r l e t h e r go (l aughter)-
Fakn3worth I reniexber see ing t he b i g g e s t crowd I eve r saw
Mrs Cast
Farnsworth
Man
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
i n rny l i f e w a s t h l s courthouse i n 81
But don t t e l l about any snakes p lease Dont
t e l l about any snakes your snake s t o r i e s
we don t want t o hea r those
IBout t he snakes
We don t want t o h e a r your snake s t o r i e s
Walter
This amp I t no snake s to ry
A l l r i g h t t e l l us about t he b igges t crowd you
ever saw here i n 81
Well they had a woman come here and she was
preaching good teniperance And I don t t h ink
I ever d id s ee more people i n t h a t courtroom
than t he r e was t h i s time She was a wonderful
t a l k e r And t hey had a l i t t l e Irishman t h a t
was r a i s e d around here came here and he
couldn1t read nor w r i t e but hi could spin a -
joke o r somethin And thi s l ady made a
remark t h a t i f anyone who drank l i quo r fop
f ou r years t h e i r stomsch was spoi led his -
-l i t t l e Irishman well he l i s t e n e d 2nd looked
on and she vent on and f i n a l l y she says
NOW i f t h e r e s anybodyld l i k e t o ask any
quest ion I d be g l sd t o answer it So he
go t down and he says Lady do you say
anyone who drank l i q u o r f o r t h r ee two $ears
stomach was spiledT1 Yes He says I
t e l l you what 111 do 111 put my stomzch up
a p i n s t yours-any time you see f i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Eonestly t h a t house j u s t roared Tha t s a
f a c t It happened r i g h t i n there I remember
i t a s well as1 j u s t t o l d it
THE FITE CASE
Leidig I think one of the most famous cases t h a t was
- ever t r i e d i n t h i s courtrooin was the case when -
-
old Lucy Hite sued old John Hite that time -
Coakley O h 1 e t ~hear abou t t ha t Therels q u i t e a -
- r e p o r t on t h a t case but t h a t s the appe l l a t e
repor t T e l l us something about what happened
- -in t h a t case
- Woman When was it
-
Man 1900 o r so was i t It was i n t h i s century -
Leidig The way Bi te happened t o f ind t h a t mine it used
t o be vou remember when we had what they ca l l ed -
the grub s take Well IIite and Kearns and a l l
of them and old Hickman they wouldnt s take
him any more and they were a l l there on the
river And it wasnt t h i s o ld l u c y It was
her s i s t e r t h a t was with h i m t h a t time when
he found t h a t mine and she wanted t o go over
t o where Indian F l a t i s now --Farmsworth Wasnl t she l i v i n g w i t h a f e l l a from ~ r e s n o F la t
Leidig -- she wanted t o go over t o this fandango
and he to ld he r she cou ldn f t go and he was
down by the r i v e r bank and he was mort iss ing
up some samples of some hed picked up
and she watched him and she sneaked off
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
- -
- Idalter ~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley ~ i r n ~ w o r t h T h e nex t man h i r e i s ~ a l t amp r Waiter
- - - - ark you a f r a i d t o t e l l ~ o u r yoamp -a g e o r ~ r i l l
-
- - - - i t
-
~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r t h ~ f r h d ~ f o r amp o t ( l a u g h t e r ) old i t - o v e r SO
- I forgot (He was 82) - -
many t irnes that
~ o a k l t j y well Walter you were what y o u were s h e r i f f
Tor how many te ms -
Farnsworth One
Coakley One term And you spent most of your ca ree r
d r iv ing s tage d idn t you
Fsrnsworth Well I ve worked seve ra l years i n the county
I was tax c o l l e c t o r and coronerand publ ic
adminis t ra tor and I was s h e r i f f and f a u l t -
f i n d e r I want t o t e l l vou about the time my
f a t h e r a r r ived here
Coakley Go ahead Walter l e t s hea r it
Farnsworth Landed here on t he 15 th of Apri l 1850 i n
West Virginia
Coakley Is t h a t so What was h i s business miner
Farnsworth Blacksmith And they came overland He t o l d
me about t h e i r journey and he s a i d t hey fd
take a horse and swim i t across the r i v e r and
drag a rope- and then when they go t t o the end
- - 12
-
--amp--d ---ampamp ampAdGd-ampck-gt-Ad lt ampA~kampd-~ampo- -- d--m--- L-L- -~-~~r -amp--- --aamp --LLL-gt
-
the re across the r i v e r why theyd put t h a t
rep onto a chain and then theyd p u l l th chain
across Finally theyfd ge t on t h a t s i de and
theyd l i i tch the - oxen on the chain -and p u l l the
wagons through the 14ississippi They d idn t t
have an$ bridges then and t h a t s the way they
got across So when they g o t over here t o
Bridgeport- they s t a r t e d up over the S i e r r a -
Nevadas end they came t o a signboard and on
t h i s signSoard was pr in ted I f youre l o s t
take the r i g h t hand t r a i l And- they were
l o s t ill r i g h t And time my f a t h e r came up - -
and saw tha t he sa id Well l e t s take it
Mymother always-taught rramp when I go t
bewil-dered t o take the r i g h t hand t r a i l So
they took the r i g h t hand t r a i l and i t landed
them down i n the Calaveras Big Trees If
theyd taken the l e f t hand theyd been down
Well when they go t t o the grove i t began
t o ra in And of course they had schooners
they had t h e i r wagons t he re l i k e boats When
they went t o go across on t he re - they d go by
p u l l i n g i t with the oxen p u l l i n g a c r o s s on
the bank So they go t i n t o the Big Trees over
- -
here Mhv i t kept ralniny enc7 r a i n l r ~ g~ n d
ralnirw ~ n dthey h ~ dt o cl imb ~p i n t h e f r
wsgorls 11p i n the b o e t s and the re was no f e e d
f o r the hor ses and c e t t l e and they +em- scared
They couldnfi c r o s s t h e r i v e r So my fsfJher
he rode mound 1ook i r~g f o r e p l ~ c e he s a l d
c r o s s i n g came bnck end wh6n he came i n t o the
subul-bs of E i g Trees why he not lced a f l a s h
of l i g h t IIe WRB r i d i n ~by a t r e e t h a t had
f ~ l l e nnnd he stopped ~ n dlooked and it was
hollow So he g o t o f f h i s ho r se and went in
t h e r e and t h e r e was room enou~gt j u s t throu
t h a t t r e e t o ~ e t o c r o s s t h e r i v e r
So they went i n and t h e y took t h e 012 b e l l
cow they c a l l e d h e r Crybaby because every time
she wented t o be milked she1lt g e t r i g h t up
t o t h e canp a n d s h e l d never s t o p l t r l t h e y
come and mi lk he r She would c a l l =d t h e y
c s l l e d h e r Crybaby Ye l l she was t b e l e a 2 e r
of t h e whole men and h o r s e s grid eve ry th ing
t ake h e r by t h e b e l l s t r a p and you ccul2 lead
h e r anywhere So my Dad he cone back and got
t he o l d b e l l cow nnd he started through t h l s
- ~6akit iy DO m y women remember o i you men o r any of you
any p a r t i c u l a r l y hampiorous inciden-ts t a k i n g
-
Farnsworth
-
coqkxky
place i n - t h i s courtroom -either t h a t you
heard about o r t h a t you wi tnessed
Iheard one
canwe t - i l l i t
-
-
_ Hamp Cast L e t h e r g o Y a I t c r l e t h e r go (l aughter)-
Fakn3worth I reniexber see ing t he b i g g e s t crowd I eve r saw
Mrs Cast
Farnsworth
Man
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
i n rny l i f e w a s t h l s courthouse i n 81
But don t t e l l about any snakes p lease Dont
t e l l about any snakes your snake s t o r i e s
we don t want t o hea r those
IBout t he snakes
We don t want t o h e a r your snake s t o r i e s
Walter
This amp I t no snake s to ry
A l l r i g h t t e l l us about t he b igges t crowd you
ever saw here i n 81
Well they had a woman come here and she was
preaching good teniperance And I don t t h ink
I ever d id s ee more people i n t h a t courtroom
than t he r e was t h i s time She was a wonderful
t a l k e r And t hey had a l i t t l e Irishman t h a t
was r a i s e d around here came here and he
couldn1t read nor w r i t e but hi could spin a -
joke o r somethin And thi s l ady made a
remark t h a t i f anyone who drank l i quo r fop
f ou r years t h e i r stomsch was spoi led his -
-l i t t l e Irishman well he l i s t e n e d 2nd looked
on and she vent on and f i n a l l y she says
NOW i f t h e r e s anybodyld l i k e t o ask any
quest ion I d be g l sd t o answer it So he
go t down and he says Lady do you say
anyone who drank l i q u o r f o r t h r ee two $ears
stomach was spiledT1 Yes He says I
t e l l you what 111 do 111 put my stomzch up
a p i n s t yours-any time you see f i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Eonestly t h a t house j u s t roared Tha t s a
f a c t It happened r i g h t i n there I remember
i t a s well as1 j u s t t o l d it
THE FITE CASE
Leidig I think one of the most famous cases t h a t was
- ever t r i e d i n t h i s courtrooin was the case when -
-
old Lucy Hite sued old John Hite that time -
Coakley O h 1 e t ~hear abou t t ha t Therels q u i t e a -
- r e p o r t on t h a t case but t h a t s the appe l l a t e
repor t T e l l us something about what happened
- -in t h a t case
- Woman When was it
-
Man 1900 o r so was i t It was i n t h i s century -
Leidig The way Bi te happened t o f ind t h a t mine it used
t o be vou remember when we had what they ca l l ed -
the grub s take Well IIite and Kearns and a l l
of them and old Hickman they wouldnt s take
him any more and they were a l l there on the
river And it wasnt t h i s o ld l u c y It was
her s i s t e r t h a t was with h i m t h a t time when
he found t h a t mine and she wanted t o go over
t o where Indian F l a t i s now --Farmsworth Wasnl t she l i v i n g w i t h a f e l l a from ~ r e s n o F la t
Leidig -- she wanted t o go over t o this fandango
and he to ld he r she cou ldn f t go and he was
down by the r i v e r bank and he was mort iss ing
up some samples of some hed picked up
and she watched him and she sneaked off
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
- - 12
-
--amp--d ---ampamp ampAdGd-ampck-gt-Ad lt ampA~kampd-~ampo- -- d--m--- L-L- -~-~~r -amp--- --aamp --LLL-gt
-
the re across the r i v e r why theyd put t h a t
rep onto a chain and then theyd p u l l th chain
across Finally theyfd ge t on t h a t s i de and
theyd l i i tch the - oxen on the chain -and p u l l the
wagons through the 14ississippi They d idn t t
have an$ bridges then and t h a t s the way they
got across So when they g o t over here t o
Bridgeport- they s t a r t e d up over the S i e r r a -
Nevadas end they came t o a signboard and on
t h i s signSoard was pr in ted I f youre l o s t
take the r i g h t hand t r a i l And- they were
l o s t ill r i g h t And time my f a t h e r came up - -
and saw tha t he sa id Well l e t s take it
Mymother always-taught rramp when I go t
bewil-dered t o take the r i g h t hand t r a i l So
they took the r i g h t hand t r a i l and i t landed
them down i n the Calaveras Big Trees If
theyd taken the l e f t hand theyd been down
Well when they go t t o the grove i t began
t o ra in And of course they had schooners
they had t h e i r wagons t he re l i k e boats When
they went t o go across on t he re - they d go by
p u l l i n g i t with the oxen p u l l i n g a c r o s s on
the bank So they go t i n t o the Big Trees over
- -
here Mhv i t kept ralniny enc7 r a i n l r ~ g~ n d
ralnirw ~ n dthey h ~ dt o cl imb ~p i n t h e f r
wsgorls 11p i n the b o e t s and the re was no f e e d
f o r the hor ses and c e t t l e and they +em- scared
They couldnfi c r o s s t h e r i v e r So my fsfJher
he rode mound 1ook i r~g f o r e p l ~ c e he s a l d
c r o s s i n g came bnck end wh6n he came i n t o the
subul-bs of E i g Trees why he not lced a f l a s h
of l i g h t IIe WRB r i d i n ~by a t r e e t h a t had
f ~ l l e nnnd he stopped ~ n dlooked and it was
hollow So he g o t o f f h i s ho r se and went in
t h e r e and t h e r e was room enou~gt j u s t throu
t h a t t r e e t o ~ e t o c r o s s t h e r i v e r
So they went i n and t h e y took t h e 012 b e l l
cow they c a l l e d h e r Crybaby because every time
she wented t o be milked she1lt g e t r i g h t up
t o t h e canp a n d s h e l d never s t o p l t r l t h e y
come and mi lk he r She would c a l l =d t h e y
c s l l e d h e r Crybaby Ye l l she was t b e l e a 2 e r
of t h e whole men and h o r s e s grid eve ry th ing
t ake h e r by t h e b e l l s t r a p and you ccul2 lead
h e r anywhere So my Dad he cone back and got
t he o l d b e l l cow nnd he started through t h l s
- ~6akit iy DO m y women remember o i you men o r any of you
any p a r t i c u l a r l y hampiorous inciden-ts t a k i n g
-
Farnsworth
-
coqkxky
place i n - t h i s courtroom -either t h a t you
heard about o r t h a t you wi tnessed
Iheard one
canwe t - i l l i t
-
-
_ Hamp Cast L e t h e r g o Y a I t c r l e t h e r go (l aughter)-
Fakn3worth I reniexber see ing t he b i g g e s t crowd I eve r saw
Mrs Cast
Farnsworth
Man
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
i n rny l i f e w a s t h l s courthouse i n 81
But don t t e l l about any snakes p lease Dont
t e l l about any snakes your snake s t o r i e s
we don t want t o hea r those
IBout t he snakes
We don t want t o h e a r your snake s t o r i e s
Walter
This amp I t no snake s to ry
A l l r i g h t t e l l us about t he b igges t crowd you
ever saw here i n 81
Well they had a woman come here and she was
preaching good teniperance And I don t t h ink
I ever d id s ee more people i n t h a t courtroom
than t he r e was t h i s time She was a wonderful
t a l k e r And t hey had a l i t t l e Irishman t h a t
was r a i s e d around here came here and he
couldn1t read nor w r i t e but hi could spin a -
joke o r somethin And thi s l ady made a
remark t h a t i f anyone who drank l i quo r fop
f ou r years t h e i r stomsch was spoi led his -
-l i t t l e Irishman well he l i s t e n e d 2nd looked
on and she vent on and f i n a l l y she says
NOW i f t h e r e s anybodyld l i k e t o ask any
quest ion I d be g l sd t o answer it So he
go t down and he says Lady do you say
anyone who drank l i q u o r f o r t h r ee two $ears
stomach was spiledT1 Yes He says I
t e l l you what 111 do 111 put my stomzch up
a p i n s t yours-any time you see f i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Eonestly t h a t house j u s t roared Tha t s a
f a c t It happened r i g h t i n there I remember
i t a s well as1 j u s t t o l d it
THE FITE CASE
Leidig I think one of the most famous cases t h a t was
- ever t r i e d i n t h i s courtrooin was the case when -
-
old Lucy Hite sued old John Hite that time -
Coakley O h 1 e t ~hear abou t t ha t Therels q u i t e a -
- r e p o r t on t h a t case but t h a t s the appe l l a t e
repor t T e l l us something about what happened
- -in t h a t case
- Woman When was it
-
Man 1900 o r so was i t It was i n t h i s century -
Leidig The way Bi te happened t o f ind t h a t mine it used
t o be vou remember when we had what they ca l l ed -
the grub s take Well IIite and Kearns and a l l
of them and old Hickman they wouldnt s take
him any more and they were a l l there on the
river And it wasnt t h i s o ld l u c y It was
her s i s t e r t h a t was with h i m t h a t time when
he found t h a t mine and she wanted t o go over
t o where Indian F l a t i s now --Farmsworth Wasnl t she l i v i n g w i t h a f e l l a from ~ r e s n o F la t
Leidig -- she wanted t o go over t o this fandango
and he to ld he r she cou ldn f t go and he was
down by the r i v e r bank and he was mort iss ing
up some samples of some hed picked up
and she watched him and she sneaked off
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
- -
here Mhv i t kept ralniny enc7 r a i n l r ~ g~ n d
ralnirw ~ n dthey h ~ dt o cl imb ~p i n t h e f r
wsgorls 11p i n the b o e t s and the re was no f e e d
f o r the hor ses and c e t t l e and they +em- scared
They couldnfi c r o s s t h e r i v e r So my fsfJher
he rode mound 1ook i r~g f o r e p l ~ c e he s a l d
c r o s s i n g came bnck end wh6n he came i n t o the
subul-bs of E i g Trees why he not lced a f l a s h
of l i g h t IIe WRB r i d i n ~by a t r e e t h a t had
f ~ l l e nnnd he stopped ~ n dlooked and it was
hollow So he g o t o f f h i s ho r se and went in
t h e r e and t h e r e was room enou~gt j u s t throu
t h a t t r e e t o ~ e t o c r o s s t h e r i v e r
So they went i n and t h e y took t h e 012 b e l l
cow they c a l l e d h e r Crybaby because every time
she wented t o be milked she1lt g e t r i g h t up
t o t h e canp a n d s h e l d never s t o p l t r l t h e y
come and mi lk he r She would c a l l =d t h e y
c s l l e d h e r Crybaby Ye l l she was t b e l e a 2 e r
of t h e whole men and h o r s e s grid eve ry th ing
t ake h e r by t h e b e l l s t r a p and you ccul2 lead
h e r anywhere So my Dad he cone back and got
t he o l d b e l l cow nnd he started through t h l s
- ~6akit iy DO m y women remember o i you men o r any of you
any p a r t i c u l a r l y hampiorous inciden-ts t a k i n g
-
Farnsworth
-
coqkxky
place i n - t h i s courtroom -either t h a t you
heard about o r t h a t you wi tnessed
Iheard one
canwe t - i l l i t
-
-
_ Hamp Cast L e t h e r g o Y a I t c r l e t h e r go (l aughter)-
Fakn3worth I reniexber see ing t he b i g g e s t crowd I eve r saw
Mrs Cast
Farnsworth
Man
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
i n rny l i f e w a s t h l s courthouse i n 81
But don t t e l l about any snakes p lease Dont
t e l l about any snakes your snake s t o r i e s
we don t want t o hea r those
IBout t he snakes
We don t want t o h e a r your snake s t o r i e s
Walter
This amp I t no snake s to ry
A l l r i g h t t e l l us about t he b igges t crowd you
ever saw here i n 81
Well they had a woman come here and she was
preaching good teniperance And I don t t h ink
I ever d id s ee more people i n t h a t courtroom
than t he r e was t h i s time She was a wonderful
t a l k e r And t hey had a l i t t l e Irishman t h a t
was r a i s e d around here came here and he
couldn1t read nor w r i t e but hi could spin a -
joke o r somethin And thi s l ady made a
remark t h a t i f anyone who drank l i quo r fop
f ou r years t h e i r stomsch was spoi led his -
-l i t t l e Irishman well he l i s t e n e d 2nd looked
on and she vent on and f i n a l l y she says
NOW i f t h e r e s anybodyld l i k e t o ask any
quest ion I d be g l sd t o answer it So he
go t down and he says Lady do you say
anyone who drank l i q u o r f o r t h r ee two $ears
stomach was spiledT1 Yes He says I
t e l l you what 111 do 111 put my stomzch up
a p i n s t yours-any time you see f i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Eonestly t h a t house j u s t roared Tha t s a
f a c t It happened r i g h t i n there I remember
i t a s well as1 j u s t t o l d it
THE FITE CASE
Leidig I think one of the most famous cases t h a t was
- ever t r i e d i n t h i s courtrooin was the case when -
-
old Lucy Hite sued old John Hite that time -
Coakley O h 1 e t ~hear abou t t ha t Therels q u i t e a -
- r e p o r t on t h a t case but t h a t s the appe l l a t e
repor t T e l l us something about what happened
- -in t h a t case
- Woman When was it
-
Man 1900 o r so was i t It was i n t h i s century -
Leidig The way Bi te happened t o f ind t h a t mine it used
t o be vou remember when we had what they ca l l ed -
the grub s take Well IIite and Kearns and a l l
of them and old Hickman they wouldnt s take
him any more and they were a l l there on the
river And it wasnt t h i s o ld l u c y It was
her s i s t e r t h a t was with h i m t h a t time when
he found t h a t mine and she wanted t o go over
t o where Indian F l a t i s now --Farmsworth Wasnl t she l i v i n g w i t h a f e l l a from ~ r e s n o F la t
Leidig -- she wanted t o go over t o this fandango
and he to ld he r she cou ldn f t go and he was
down by the r i v e r bank and he was mort iss ing
up some samples of some hed picked up
and she watched him and she sneaked off
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
- ~6akit iy DO m y women remember o i you men o r any of you
any p a r t i c u l a r l y hampiorous inciden-ts t a k i n g
-
Farnsworth
-
coqkxky
place i n - t h i s courtroom -either t h a t you
heard about o r t h a t you wi tnessed
Iheard one
canwe t - i l l i t
-
-
_ Hamp Cast L e t h e r g o Y a I t c r l e t h e r go (l aughter)-
Fakn3worth I reniexber see ing t he b i g g e s t crowd I eve r saw
Mrs Cast
Farnsworth
Man
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
i n rny l i f e w a s t h l s courthouse i n 81
But don t t e l l about any snakes p lease Dont
t e l l about any snakes your snake s t o r i e s
we don t want t o hea r those
IBout t he snakes
We don t want t o h e a r your snake s t o r i e s
Walter
This amp I t no snake s to ry
A l l r i g h t t e l l us about t he b igges t crowd you
ever saw here i n 81
Well they had a woman come here and she was
preaching good teniperance And I don t t h ink
I ever d id s ee more people i n t h a t courtroom
than t he r e was t h i s time She was a wonderful
t a l k e r And t hey had a l i t t l e Irishman t h a t
was r a i s e d around here came here and he
couldn1t read nor w r i t e but hi could spin a -
joke o r somethin And thi s l ady made a
remark t h a t i f anyone who drank l i quo r fop
f ou r years t h e i r stomsch was spoi led his -
-l i t t l e Irishman well he l i s t e n e d 2nd looked
on and she vent on and f i n a l l y she says
NOW i f t h e r e s anybodyld l i k e t o ask any
quest ion I d be g l sd t o answer it So he
go t down and he says Lady do you say
anyone who drank l i q u o r f o r t h r ee two $ears
stomach was spiledT1 Yes He says I
t e l l you what 111 do 111 put my stomzch up
a p i n s t yours-any time you see f i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Eonestly t h a t house j u s t roared Tha t s a
f a c t It happened r i g h t i n there I remember
i t a s well as1 j u s t t o l d it
THE FITE CASE
Leidig I think one of the most famous cases t h a t was
- ever t r i e d i n t h i s courtrooin was the case when -
-
old Lucy Hite sued old John Hite that time -
Coakley O h 1 e t ~hear abou t t ha t Therels q u i t e a -
- r e p o r t on t h a t case but t h a t s the appe l l a t e
repor t T e l l us something about what happened
- -in t h a t case
- Woman When was it
-
Man 1900 o r so was i t It was i n t h i s century -
Leidig The way Bi te happened t o f ind t h a t mine it used
t o be vou remember when we had what they ca l l ed -
the grub s take Well IIite and Kearns and a l l
of them and old Hickman they wouldnt s take
him any more and they were a l l there on the
river And it wasnt t h i s o ld l u c y It was
her s i s t e r t h a t was with h i m t h a t time when
he found t h a t mine and she wanted t o go over
t o where Indian F l a t i s now --Farmsworth Wasnl t she l i v i n g w i t h a f e l l a from ~ r e s n o F la t
Leidig -- she wanted t o go over t o this fandango
and he to ld he r she cou ldn f t go and he was
down by the r i v e r bank and he was mort iss ing
up some samples of some hed picked up
and she watched him and she sneaked off
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
couldn1t read nor w r i t e but hi could spin a -
joke o r somethin And thi s l ady made a
remark t h a t i f anyone who drank l i quo r fop
f ou r years t h e i r stomsch was spoi led his -
-l i t t l e Irishman well he l i s t e n e d 2nd looked
on and she vent on and f i n a l l y she says
NOW i f t h e r e s anybodyld l i k e t o ask any
quest ion I d be g l sd t o answer it So he
go t down and he says Lady do you say
anyone who drank l i q u o r f o r t h r ee two $ears
stomach was spiledT1 Yes He says I
t e l l you what 111 do 111 put my stomzch up
a p i n s t yours-any time you see f i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Eonestly t h a t house j u s t roared Tha t s a
f a c t It happened r i g h t i n there I remember
i t a s well as1 j u s t t o l d it
THE FITE CASE
Leidig I think one of the most famous cases t h a t was
- ever t r i e d i n t h i s courtrooin was the case when -
-
old Lucy Hite sued old John Hite that time -
Coakley O h 1 e t ~hear abou t t ha t Therels q u i t e a -
- r e p o r t on t h a t case but t h a t s the appe l l a t e
repor t T e l l us something about what happened
- -in t h a t case
- Woman When was it
-
Man 1900 o r so was i t It was i n t h i s century -
Leidig The way Bi te happened t o f ind t h a t mine it used
t o be vou remember when we had what they ca l l ed -
the grub s take Well IIite and Kearns and a l l
of them and old Hickman they wouldnt s take
him any more and they were a l l there on the
river And it wasnt t h i s o ld l u c y It was
her s i s t e r t h a t was with h i m t h a t time when
he found t h a t mine and she wanted t o go over
t o where Indian F l a t i s now --Farmsworth Wasnl t she l i v i n g w i t h a f e l l a from ~ r e s n o F la t
Leidig -- she wanted t o go over t o this fandango
and he to ld he r she cou ldn f t go and he was
down by the r i v e r bank and he was mort iss ing
up some samples of some hed picked up
and she watched him and she sneaked off
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
THE FITE CASE
Leidig I think one of the most famous cases t h a t was
- ever t r i e d i n t h i s courtrooin was the case when -
-
old Lucy Hite sued old John Hite that time -
Coakley O h 1 e t ~hear abou t t ha t Therels q u i t e a -
- r e p o r t on t h a t case but t h a t s the appe l l a t e
repor t T e l l us something about what happened
- -in t h a t case
- Woman When was it
-
Man 1900 o r so was i t It was i n t h i s century -
Leidig The way Bi te happened t o f ind t h a t mine it used
t o be vou remember when we had what they ca l l ed -
the grub s take Well IIite and Kearns and a l l
of them and old Hickman they wouldnt s take
him any more and they were a l l there on the
river And it wasnt t h i s o ld l u c y It was
her s i s t e r t h a t was with h i m t h a t time when
he found t h a t mine and she wanted t o go over
t o where Indian F l a t i s now --Farmsworth Wasnl t she l i v i n g w i t h a f e l l a from ~ r e s n o F la t
Leidig -- she wanted t o go over t o this fandango
and he to ld he r she cou ldn f t go and he was
down by the r i v e r bank and he was mort iss ing
up some samples of some hed picked up
and she watched him and she sneaked off
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
She 1 ~ ~ s up the h i l l - She hsd about half-way -
him hand-icapped but he was going - t o go a f t e r -
pick do
- -
-
h i l l 1know right where the spotwas where he- -
- found it - W e l l he se t doim the re t o r e s t and
unconsc ious ly~jus t covering the s l a t e s t ick ing
up there - The f e l l a wasnt prospectin j u s t
takinl a r e s t Looked over the h i l l -and-she
was halfway down the other side And he said
Oh s h e l l come home a f t e r awhile And he
knocked t h i s piece of s l a t e off and the gold
was r i g h t there i n the and t h a t s the
way he discovered the Hite Mine There was
no Indian squaw showed him t o it Why would
an Indian squaw when he was on the verge of
s ta rva t ion wait u n t i l he pret ty near starved
t o death and then take him out and show him
the mine He had $SQOOO-in bul l ion around
h i s mine there before anybody knew anything
about it
And then he got s ick and -he went t o San
Francisco because my motherwent and saw him
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
In the 01liJ IFerlFrnl fntei - or
K a r k s t S t r eek 9 - -
-
- - I thjr1k 8t tillamp time 5 t G e s be blipen Elfthn n d
- - - - -
x i 07 the s6o t~~ s i d e o f I h r k a t stmdt
- - Ha go t Slcp then He went tothe h o s ~ it $ l
- - - -
- - ttie Crrvkrl thnt hampmerrerl- - sncl olQ ~e when 1 - - lt - - she w a s P ~ U Y S B Iamp t h e hdsp3 t~l sorn~bodg t o l d
- - - -
i -
h i n l hRvirig S Q hch money - - hkilooked I1e1 p b ~ ~ t -
+ l i k e - he was ha l f l amp u s g - - she wns to s e t -
_ _
-
1
r hegt cnp f o r h i m nnclshe g0t h h
j T J I ~ ~O R ~ ~ l l lhe brps -the m s n thatJ ~ 1
I - worlced up t h e case f o r o l d Lucy f1ite t o grinamp
s u i t R S conunon l a w w i f e she was ses And
I
they had old j1ite p r e t t g n e a r going
John Wall w a s t he man t h a t was on her side
and what we the f e l l a fs nsme t h a t u s e d t o
come from Merced Jim peck Jim peck and
Breckinr idge w a s on h i s s i d e 9 l d 3reckinridge
hed s t a n d up to t he c l ~ s p i d o rover t h e r e and
p l i n g r i g h t i n t o i t ( l a u g h t e r )
Coakley You mean t o t e l l me Judge Tra$ucco didnft
hold him i n contempt f o r taat
Leidig- No t h a t was before Judge T r a w c c o fs time
(Genera l d iscuss ion co~sensust h a t i t w a s
- i n C o r c o r a n s time)
Ccakley You go s h e a d and t e l l 11s something abcut t h a t
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
- - - -
_ - _
- (zrqmcn t l 3 s c iss tiii) - -
-Firstdf - a l l John ~ ~ rcor an was tM Judge - Coakiey
Leidig 1 - Yes sir- --
- - -
coik1ey And t l ~ampttornt iysf o r damp side ampre ampote - - - -
Castlehouri ~ d n d o n anclCondon ~ Arid t h e atjier y - -
- s3de -waSRogers n i ~ drntamprsonwas t h ~ tco+rampct
L e i d i g - amp ~ dj o h n R Wall - -
~
Krs Cast
Wall tnlght have been one o f ths a t t o r n e y s Ke
doesnt show on the r ecord You t e l l us about
the case
John wasnft t h a t b e f o r e gtJallfs t ime
Old John R Wall was r i g h t h e r e he was r i g h t
here when t h e y h t ~ dt h a t suit when o l d Lucy
Hitc was t r y i n g t o i e t the 3 i t e f 3 Cove -2ropertg
She wanted t h e H i t e s Cove p r o p e r t y $600000
They comromised t h e case They awarded i-ler -Tiey g i v e h e r so much They made Jim J e s t f a l l
=c Torniy Gibbs a son of her first husband --he was a c r i p p l e d f e l l a
Krs S a s t They c u t o f f his l e g and lie was going t o schoo l
when t hey t o l d us on t h e q t m d $0 we went
up t o t h e p l a c e where they burn t the leg and
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
I n c l i ~ n Pe te ranch Tha t W R S R show p lnce i n
FTariposa county when he pot t h r o u ~ h w i t h it
Somebody collie a long one day and s a i d what ya
d o l n t K r ~ i t e H e hnd an o ld mule and an
o l d ho r se h a n l e s s a l l t i e d t o g e t h e r w i t h
wire Well he s a i d Im tl-line t o plough
o u t a do l l a r He was worth probably f o u r o r
f i v e m i l l i o n -
And John H i t e d i e d and l e f t his widow
And i t was 1906 ~ n dhe w a s up i n I Io l s tead
Undertaking P a r l o r s H e d i ed on 1 6 t h of
~ G i l born ing o f t he 1 8 t h of A p r i l he g o t -
cremated r i g h t t h e r e
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
Chamberlain
I have t h e memoirs of Judge Corcoran t h a t he -
publ ished - a t one t i rne and t h i s i 6 one o f - h i s
s ta tements which might b e i n t e r e s t i n g - -
I $7
~ d h n ~ b r c o r a k i n 1894 had been j u d g e f o r
31 and had dkcidedmmy of C a l i f o r n $ a t s
- water s u i t s w i t h never a d 6 c i s i o n reversed
That 1s h i s o h words He wrote up t h e h i s t 0 r ~ -
of the county i n d i f f e r e n t d i v i s i o n s and he
says I n t h e pe r iod up t o 1865 the county
ba r cons i s t ed of Herber t and Burke and M e r r i t t
and s o fo r th He s a i d In t n a t f i r s t per iod
the only man who s u f f e r e d t h e extreme p e n a l t y
under t h e law and many c la im he should n o t have
been executed was Dennis ~ahoney Now I
d o n t t know anyth ing about t h e Dennis Kahoney
case I t v e never looked i t up I n 1936
a l l were gone Those who had acqui red a
n a t i o n a l r e p u t a t i o n were p h i 1 D Herbert
Congressman from C a l i f o r n i a John D EcCuilough
e a r l y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y i n Mariposa and a f t e r -
wards over nor of Vermont H D Worthington
f irst Congressman of Nevada and subsequently
m i n i s t e r t o the Argentine Republic
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
~ o l o i l e l3 n 1 n i r ~ l E lb4erri-$t Chief J u s t i c e -
-
-
~ ~ ~ b u c c d - - he - Then i n - the p amp r i o d u p t h 1amp05
-
t n e n t i o n s t h ~ t s e v e r a l bersons Ger8 k i l l e d
through anlcer Ivy was -executedinbut Henry
~ i i e 1 7 9 hamp being t h e only one re ize iv ln i -
that I t h e pe r iod- up t o 911 why l i t igatidri
had been liellt -nb nlurdkrs o r m y t h i n g l i k e
-
-t h a t He s a i d he decided a n y of ~ ~ ~ l i f o r n l a ~ s
water s u i t s Now they may have been decided
h e r e
Coakley R i s l - ~ there 111 t h i s county oh yes O h yes
This i s the c r a d l e t h i s county of much of
o u r water and mining law a s you know
Chamberlain 1t may have been decided r i i h t her6 in t h i s
courthouse and t h a t would be a v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g
p o i n t -
Gilb Id l i k e t o a sk a q u e s t i o n about t h e s e mining
cases Did the a t t o r n e y s xho t r i e d t h o s e c a s e s
come from around h e r e o r d i d t h e y come from
San Franc i sco o r some p l a c e e l s e
Farnsworth The a t t o r n e y s ~ e i 1 they d b r i n g them from
a l l around
Coakley San P~aanciscowas g r e a t l y r ep resen ted They
were most ly from San Franc i sco
F ~ r n s w o r t h Prssno had q u i t e a few Conleys and a l l them
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
they -come here Ithe re n cop~ tybar associaklon i n ~ G i p o s a 1 -G115
~oalciey No-we have only - fou r lat jyers Cbuhty bar
a -
- pr6ct icing i n the dounty h here 1 s no formal
bar here Two a re - i n -Yosemite a n d t$o tire
res ider i ts of ilaripdsa ~ o tof our 1 a ~work
13 doid by Mereed lawyers ]whocome over
- I t s an hour l s d r lv e
Coakley Mrs Trabucco what t r i a l s did th ~ u d i e f e e l
were the most co lo r fu l t h a t he hnd r i g h t
here i n t h i s courthouse Do you remember
lrs T Oh I don t think I ever heard him say He
spoke more about the cases he had down below
He used t o ge t kind of because t he
apers would wr i te up a case about some murder
o r some scandal t h a t he t r i e d end never
mention a l l these --Coaltley - C i v i l cases
Mrs T Cases where you s e t t l e the land what i s t h a t
how Well no t c i v i l but where they take
the proper ty you h o w --Coakley Condemnation -casks
1 4 ~ s T Yes condemnation cases
Coakley Yes he t r i e d many of those I know He was
judge on many of them
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
Krs T He had a number of then i n Oakland
Coakley
Iltrs T
Chamberlain
T e l l me when d i d he f i r s t i t d r t becoming a
so-cal led t r ave l l ink judge I n those e a r l y -
days they d i d n t move the judges around
n e a r l y a s much -
-I don t know what year t h a t was
I th ink ~ u d ~ e ~ o r c o r a r i s t a r t e d t h a t
-
Woman No Judge Corcoran never went out i t was
a f t e r h i s time I t w s s a f t e r $our ch i l d r en
was q u i t e good-sized
Chamberla-in He presided over wa te r cases I know tha t
Because I never went wi th my husband until
a f t e r my boys were i n co l l ege
Coakley What year would t h a t be would-yousay t h a t
Judge Trabucco f i r s t s t a r t e d t r a v e l l i n g
M r s T When Louis f i n a l l y went t o S m t a Clara b u t I
wouldnt h o w j u s t what yea r t h a t would be
I never kept t r a c k of a l l those th ings
Coakley Somebody suggested t h a t I ask you something
about h i s work h a b i t s Is i t t r u e t h a t t he
Judge used t o g e t over h e r e o n win te r mornings
before dawn
Nrs T Yes He always s a i d t h a t was the Yest time
t o work No one came i n t o bother him and he
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
j u s t could work and do a l l h i s -- He did t h a t
- a t school because the f a t h e r s there t o l d me
hed ge t up a t four o rc l o c k i n the morning and
put an overcoat on -- they d idn t have heah you
know i n those- days -- and put an overcoat on
- and study
C oakley Now what t i ne d i a he used t o come over t o the
courthouse here generally -
Mrs T Oh hed come -- he zlways cooked the breakfas t
and then hed s t a r t out Hed get over here
I guess about s i x o rclock always be over
here by s ix wouldnft he
~ r s - c a s t - Yes
Coaltley
$IPS T
Coakley
Then go home f o r lunch
Yes h e f d always come home f o r lunch
Then back again and then s t a y about how l a t e
f ia t time dtd he go home f o r dinner
Hed ge t home about f i ve N r s T
Coakley Then d id he come back again i n the evening
M r s T Not very often
Man Se t a p r e t t y good pat tern
~ o a k l e ~ I heard he was a hard worker Why t h a t s only-
eleven hours a day from s ix t o f i ve
Mrs T - He l iked t o go t o bed ear ly
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
Coakle y
Farnsworthr
Farnswort5
Coakley
Fnrnsworth
lihat t r i a l t h a t took place i n t h i s court -
house s t r i k e s y o u a s thenioit famoub o r t h e
mampst c o l o r f u trial we ever had in the valley
I think he most was whe-re ~ 6 v a g e a ~ k i l l e d
L i - tt l e Louis - -
What year was t+a t
T ~ a tMas i n the e a r l y e igh t i e s i - - -
Te l l us a l i t t l e b i t abnut i t Walter
Why M r Howard B i l l Howard was the under-
s h e r i f f under Nullery And he used t o r i d e
from here ou t t o his ranch s i x mlles out t o
h i s ranch every evening Come out i n t he -
morning and i n the evening And t h i s l i t t l e
Frenchman he had a l i t t l e ranch out there
He had a b ig black jack and a sheepdog and
every spr ing he went t o Whiterock t o the
Smiths and herded t h e i r sheep t h a t summer
took them i n the mountains And he always
went with the jack and the dog they went
with him
Well there was a s tranger by the name
of Savageau came from v i rg in ik City crossed
l o t s and came i n t o t h i s country an stopped
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
- ~ q ~ k l ~ ~ Oh Brid~eport
-
Farnsworth Sriagepbrt He camamp and 1 -
through ~ j r i d ~ e p o r t
6Ger the - mountains -arid- down here enc he f6und
some ~ r e n c h l ~ e o ~ i e they 1 i v e d h e r e a t h e t
- _ -
l i t t l e y~hi le And then they bought house or
mot- a h0usean old ~renchmanowned $here the
u -
Indians l i v e now - -
- -
Coakley --You mean up here by 0113 cemetery
-Farnsworth -
- Yes
Coalriey ~ l l r i ~ h t Go ahead
Farnsworth He l i v e d there th ree o r f o u r months and go t
acquainted you know wi th t h i s o ld Frenchman
the l i t t l e old Frenchman t h a t he k i l l e d He
thought t h a t t h i s old Frenchman hadl money you
see and he was going t o k i l l him and take h i s
property Be had a l i t t l e spo t there a
vineyard and he had a few chickens and t h i s
jack and dog And every year he went away
and herded sheep Into the S i e r r a mountains
Up around --
Idlrs Cast Paregoy Keadows
Farnsworth No no It was between Fresno F l e t s and
11ount Raymond up i n t h a t country there And
he always took t h i s jack and the dog They
never separated- The man went the donkey
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
went and the dog ~ h e gj u s t fo1ieired him
-
everywhere he went Ive soen him go in a -
-
s a l o o n t h amp donkey theclok tin$ him A b i g
b l ~ c kjack
_ _
So old m a r ~ o w a r d came to the o f f i c e h e r e
- -
and h e - s a i d t o the s h e r i f f ~ i u l l e r y he s a i d
I h a d the d ~ r n e d e k t dream j a ~ t h i ~ h t e v e r -you
- ~ z ~ ~ ~ dof H e s a i d ~ e s he s a i d what s
-t h a t - ~ e said I j u s t d r e a m t somebody
_
k i l l ~ do l d Louis l d i d n tt n o t i c e hm but to
t he g a t e todny when I come in Mullerg sags
Oh oh he sags as you d r i n k i n yesterday
And o l d man JIotrard never drank i ~ e l l he
sags Im going t o take a r i d e back ou t t h e r e
anyway And he went back ou t the re end he
asked t h i s man where Louis was Cb he t a k e - --he go herd the sheep yes when amp d he go
away Oh he go away yesterday SO he
says How i s i t he d i d n f t t ake h i s dog Oh
he forget ell he d i d n t take h i s jack
e i t h e r Howfd he g e t away Oh why l eave
jack come back g e t it So o f course the
jack and t h e dog was t h e r e and that was
evidence t o t h e o t h e r f e l low t h a t o ld Louis
wss gone So they went down t h e r e 2nd a r r e s t e d
him and they found the head buriec under a b i g
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
C o ~ l c l eg
Fam~sworth
Coaliley
~ a n l amp o r t l l
Coskley
P a r r l s ~ b rth
Ccakley
P ~ r n s u o r t h
Coakleg
r zmsworth
K a n
F~rusworth
v R ~ 1 I ~ r j (I t ) ~ -q f l ( r f ~ I I Q ~ rlf7 Fr~rc~rnnr~
rind str1ck I ti in t h s r e RI hr~rnecl i t Tireg
toolt the ashes enrl tbst up ~ n c tt l rouiht i t
-
i n f o the courthogss here And t heg he a 5 0 7
cn l l ed A l e c And this A l ~ c he g ~ y s ~ s t n e r
h e snq 11W1-ly i-oir tell him fhout t h e heed
H e w a s t e l l i n them where t h e f o t t h s head
He -wes fi boy sFut ff or 9 - e m s o l d let
90 t h e y brorght h j m i n h e r e and c o ~ ~ i s t e d
hjm nnd he WEIS s e n t t o S m 9uentin sncl hung
Jho was the- jurj[e therl Judge Corcoran
Yes
Who was the d i s t r i c t - attorney
Nermian Jones I bel ieve
Who was the defense a t t o r n e y
Goucher They were bro thers- in- law George
Goucher and Newman Jones I t h i n k t r i e d t h e
case
Brothers-in-law one on one side and one on
t h e o t h e r is that it
Yep
Was t h e r e anything p a r t i c s l a r l y c o l o r 3 1 about
Jones Kewman Jones o r Gouciier
i l e l l they were wonderful a t t o r n e ~ s
Goucher becan~ea S t a t e S e ~ m t o ~ d idn7t he
Yes yes lie was Senntol His s32 iez8e d ied
the o t h e r d e y you know
-7
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
+- _~ - 4 c - - 2 i_iiti- 2L_-__ I -Llt
i - -lt ) -
er w ~ S he ree11y qui t e a f nmnus o r ~ t o r -
cc1111d (-enera1 convcrso t i o n severdl psoJe
1 a t once ebout Goticher )
~ i s t r i c - tktorney -he re f o r tt-ro
1s s t ~ r ylikre -- he didnl t mention
llrs SSvageau JasntD she mixed up i n it
e wnsnt t s e n t e n c e d
No only h i m They d idni t sentence the boy
r ~ i e y tlung t h i s D I ~f e l low t u r n e d
o t h e r t v r 6 loose They went f r o h h e r e
over t o the o t h e r side of La Grange They
went t o La Grange They had a cous in o r
somebody who l i v e d over t h e r e and they r~oved
e They l i v c d there and she f i n a l l y
d i e d and the bog xent -- I d o n i t know i-rhere
the boy w e n t t o 1 ve l o s t t r a c l r o f him
f e l low Hovard E i l l Roward wrote a book
d i c t a t e d a book when he was zSout a hllndred
years o ld and he descr ibed t h i s Savageau
i n c i d e n t And the book i s t n the Bancroft
Library I t s c a l l e d Tile L p s t of t h e C a l i f o r n i a
~ a n ~ e r s By J i l l c o s s l e y - ~ a t t I th ink I twsa a woman wrote i t H i s i c tuampe i s i n t h i s book
wi th h i s b i g white beard and t h a t s the most
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
~ ~ ~ + - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ b p =--z
---7-++ g-xr-x _ ~ ~ ~ ~ 6- ~ -
i I
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
- ~
N+s Cast- - I h a v e a ka-iife ahcut th$s long t h a t yas presented ~
I
to ny f s t h e r b y s iexican sheipherer thy
- - -
- beloneed t o ~6n u i i curietta 1thad a big -
-
- scabbard and then t h e r e 1 s 2 l i t t l e kn i fe a 1 - - very- b e a u t i f u l piece of work
Coakiey - ~ j d l i k kt o s e e i t some time i a t e r i t -ampo l ld be -
- - -
- a w o n d e r f u l t h i n g t o look a t
-
PEPS c i st--~ I c h a r g e 56 c e n t s ( l augh te r )
- -
-
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
-
FIAN( I IGS ~-cjri11 LI (r A I J D clrrpx ~ J IOLEIGE -
--
C o a k l e y D i d of g b u eirek klitness any hanginys here - - _ -
i n the co~mty - -
-I
-did I -
- Where Right u p behind the j a i l
- y e s They b u i l t 6 big h i g h wa l i go we - ~ lt r n ~ w o r t h
-
cbuldntt lobk o l s r and we climbampdup i n the-
- t r e e and locked down i n t o where t h e hanging
was going t i x r e They huhg h7 ion-out o f
a l l my time here I only know of two men being
hung and t h g t was Ivy arid a f e l l o w by the name
of Ju l i an
Coakley What was I v y s f i r s t name
Fa rns r~or th Henry ~ e n r yIvy
Coakley And t h a t happened r i g h t he re behind om j a i l
Farnsworth That was where he was hung But he was --committed a murder s l ipped up behind a man
down here i n I n d i a n Gulch e n d stuc-k a ick in
h i s back and k i l l e d him robbedhim
EPS Cast Twasntt the same j a i l though was i t
F ~ r n s w c r t h Yes It was Same j a i l
K r s Cest Eut one j a i l burned up
- e rnswo~th Oh you mean t h i s j a i l
K r s Css It wasnt t h i s j a i l
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
Farnsworth Well p a r t of it
Krs ~
Hilburn Kdlnat case
was i t the s h e r i f f put one o f h i s
pr i soners out one of these windows
Coakley Krs Xilburnampskedh question Did you
hear i t ---Mrs 1iilburn asked you men here
G r s iltilburn I rerneniber I r e a d the s t o r y - a l o n g lorg while - - -
-ago about the s h e r i f f p u t t i n g --
Chxpberlain That was 1ndian V i l l i e
- s b u r n Ir Choiss i r dropped a man out one of the
windows so they wouldnlt lynch him and they
took off on up t h i s way t o s e t away from the
crowd - What case was tha t
Chamberlain That wcs Indian i f i l l i e They wanted t o lynch
t h i s fellow but t h e s h e r i f f and the deputy
were too -- ant they raced t o Ferced f i n a l l y
go t t h i s Indian boy i n the IYerced j a i l j u s t
about a few rnintrtes h e a d of the pursuing par ty
t h a t was t rying--
Farmsworth This happened out here out here where Sul l ivan
l i v e s Chamberlain Well t h a t was where they accused him of
murdering but the t r i a l was here and tha t
was where they got h im off they lynching
- Farnsworth Fassacree I can remember tha t I saw the
Indians come with t h e i r hands t i e d behind them
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
Chamberlain
IJ oman
Woman
Leidig -
Woman
Leidig
And t h i s Antone t h a t you see a round~he re He
was a l i t t l e t o t in a bag being packed around
on h i s mother s back And he says now h e s
110 years old That was i n 76
Well 79
They d i d have lynching i n the l lh i te Rook - a
- - d i s t r i c t where theyaccused a young Kexcan
-
of s t e a l i n g ca t t le Iremember my grandfa ther
being i n t ha t What was t h a t do you remember
That was i n the e a r l y 90s I n the e a r l y 90s
I was going a f t e r a milk cow And I went down
there and I saw a few fe l lows s tanding around
there and I says lrhatls the matter They
says You see t h e r e s J u l i a n hanging there
and the re he was hanging on a t r e e Right
over the road
Was he a Mexican
J i m J e s t f a l l and Jack McGurk d id it
Yes t h a t s the one I m t a l k i n g about
I remember i n 1932 when Elmer dorm he r e
was running f o r Supervisor i n t h e F i f t h D i s t r i c t
He had some o ld lady k i t h him and -I found out
a f terwards t h a t i t was h i s wife Ead a n old
model T Ford a l i t t l e xodel T Ford coupe I
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
2i-A--- - -- - -gt-- Lcw-lt dgtdgt~-7d---~--4-~ ---dlt==Llt-- - ltgtgt-L-ampdgt------ ~ 3 - - ~ ~ - d ~ ~ ~ ~ lt - amp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~amp~amp -A-2gt-s-
1- 2
met him- i n ~dawona and he sef Iy come
here I hqid ~ h a t d oJTOU want - dell -
he s a i d her I V amp Cotnfriend~kRntyou t o
- - f o r you t 0 vo te for - I looked-nt h i m _
J i m
w e s t f a l l was runninl f o r the nominat ion he
-
- Ho~u~sinme time ~ n dI lopked a t iliri I sn5d
- $6come you a i n l t campaigning for Jim l r l e s t f a l l
s p i dI You and him used t o b e k i l l i n t He
_ _ said What do you mean 1 s a id Didnl t
- t h e y have youand him i n the j a i l t o g e t h e r down
t h e r e f o r hk t in1 t h a t Eexican down i n rr
He s a i d Get up Get away from here g e t up
Get goin he says I d o n t want t o t a l k t o
t h a t f e l l a He d id n t t want to - t a l k any xore ~ a amp k have any wife d i d n t He d idn t t heva no
w i f e
Yes he d id She s bur ied r i g h t over t h e r e a t
Oakhurst and h e s bu r i ed r i g h t along s i d e of
h e r
Idell t h a t was ve ry appropr ia t e of course
Do you want t o h e a r anything a5out t h e time
when t h e o l d lzdy t h a t was mar r i ed t o o ld
drunken J u l e s P e i x o t t o h i t a b o b t a i l Her
nsne was Baker first Baker Old Baker was
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
i
-ampamp ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - amp ~ d ~gtugt~ampampA~ -- --L2L-- AampltampLamp----- -ww---ampgt-A- LAa-~a-~~amp-~- -2 s-- amp-
I 1- 3
a dcunlcen o ld d e v i l R e U s e d t o GO home and
bast h e r u p and beamp her -up and she t o l a him
cd s h e sa id KO looka here ThatIs goin
I
3 t b p smeday once h e w e n t t o - come
-runk colne i n thk hausk and he-had a - -
h i f e -She h a d a sho tgun s i t t i n r i g h t
s h e w e n t o u t the back - i n s i d e of t h e - door
r reached i n and g o t t h e shotgun He r u n o u t
f r o n t door and Boom boom She said I
d you Id put a s t o p t o a l l t h i s d idn t t I
h e k i l l e d him right thebe wi th a double-
b a r r e l l e d shotgun She a f t e r w a r d s married a ld
J u l i e Peixotto
Did they her
Do y c u f o l k s remember t he d e t a i l s o f the t ime-
t h a t Frank S i lve rose sho t a f e l l a out here and
they s e n t o ld Frank t o San Quentin ~i o ld
Frank t o l d it t o me he came i n and -- I don t
r e n e ~ b e r who t he d i s t r i c t a t t o rney was but
Dick S t a l b u r y ~ t o l d him how t h i s here nephew of
h i s wasnt t i t do you remenberthe circumstances
can you t e l l i t -
remember exac t l y how i t went because I
w a s d r i v ing s tage There was th ree ceses on
-- - - - - - lt ~m - - -
I
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
Un was he c n s e 1iher1 t k l ~ ~ d w r ng o t kI l l e i
liei-e t lw t GIRS -the f l rs t - ope And then the
next case W R S D l c k H n r t o n And the nex t c p s e
- t11~road a t F o r t Vonroe
Pnlnslro~til Johnson Riverby yes IJe s h o t sornebodg Tilere
tiere t he th ree 011s r i g h t a f t e r Another-
Leidig Hc d i d n t s l~on i him t ~ eW A S the one t h s t shot
of l on the f looi- and --F ~ ~ - r s ~ i o r t h Yes he ~ e ~ l t gain st 2nd h i tc l c s r up the b ~ r
the gun and i t f e l l on t11e f l o ~ r and went off
and 11e go t f o u r t e e n yea r s f o r t h s t The o t h e r
f e l l o w g o t twelve and the o t h e r f e l l o w t h a t
k i l l e d onother f e l l o w went sco t f r e e -Gilb You lmow I n o t i c e d something in t h e - p a p e r s
downstairs I t s a i d t h a t t h e y never co-nvicted
them of f i r s t degree murder it w a s always
second o r t h i r d degree Has t h a t been txe i n
your exger ience
F ~ r n s w o r t h Y e l l t hey m i n t h a t c a t e ~ o r g I guess
G i l b They h a v e n t f i g u r e d a ~urderw a s bad enough to
be f i r s t degree
Sag3y There k ~ sa l i t t l e f u n n y circumstance Old
Frank S i l v e r o s e worked f o r u s f o r yeam snd
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
z a
5 a
j 0
9-4
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
1 _ -
K ~ l t e r do lbu remember who t h e f e l l a s were -
alid the - v l ~ ~ l a n t e s ~ do^^ overthat went t o -
l n d i s n i ia~ss erampek ln t where fled ~ e t t l ~ ~ m amp I -
l i v e s f i ~ w who the men were - - - -
-
No I h e a r d rnentiamped- Jut I neGer h e w - -
Joe - Eat Green - - Wes t f a l l
th 0 l d r 4 a n J o e ~ e s t f ~ l 1
F ~ r ~ l s w o r - - J o e ~ o e Yes
-
Leidig 11im Na t Green o ld mon - fltb~oondlt Lqird
- - o l d Martin c o t e y --
Krs Cast How about Pred - ~ o l t -
Coakley Well was t h e r e an I n d i a n nassac re t h e r e Hou
nlany Indf ans were massa-amped I that in YOUP
book M r chgnberlnin -
Chamberlain Xo i t i s n l - t
How many Ind ians were massacred
Leidig O h I don t know how many t h e y k i l l e d 2uite
a few People s P r o t e c t i v e Associz t ion
( S e v e r a l people t a l k i n g a t once )
1 saw s e v e r a l of them when t h e r c o ~ l eof it
a f terwarcis and they had ropes t i e d aro-=d their
s r m s and t h e y run a l l t h e way i n t o t o m a n d -
o ld Doctor Turner c u t - t h e rope off of o l d
b l i n d C h a r l i e and --
Coakley s laiter l e t s h e a r t h s t I want t o g e t t h t
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
-
id I In1 slre thpt ~ r ~ e sis-here p r ~ n t g e t o w t o -
- - -
i t Sousab~ s e v e r a l Jndlens ~-et-~$n-inc~lfrom- - -
- t h i s iilas$ecre - - -
-
- - -
Tamswortli ampI them aro lx ld tis 6efr c ~ r i s arr-i--tged--behind- - -
t h e i r h a n d s id11 know -Theyrim - Tampey r u n
- -
Co~k ley Wtiat y e a r hias this F J n l t e r
-
Farnsxor th - l72 174 -
Conklcy lJbs t happened Wllhnt ~ a v Crise to-tiii s rxassacre
N h ~ twas t i l e r eason f o r i t - -
F k r n s ~ i o rth Well tlieg sccuaed Indian M i l l i e of killing o l d
an Tllon~psoilowned t h e place thatSeor72 Wilkes
orms o u t t h e r e W c s t f z l l 012 m a r L a i r d and
h i m rrere pa r t i l e r s They Cold them k o w Yfionson
was Sea2 and L a i r d s t a r t e d t h i s posse went
down wi th h i s boys and --Coakley Row ~ranywhite mer and how rn-y --
Pzmswcrth There I-asfive o r sixof them t 3 e r e Tney
never d i d know who all were the re
Soak3e y Row nany Indians were as sacred
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
lt go11re cnl~rrhtJn the p n t c i of B
joculnr r rnpr
ply nrrme 1 s R i l e y snrl I croasscl the
cnsvorth c i i d n t t Flay Corcqren p i c k t h a t ip 3idn1t
she p i c k t h a t up mil p u t it I n her Yook Y e s
she wrcte a story about it
LeiEig Cld X a r t i n Kirby had one eye
7-- 6OT11E12 I wci~ciarrd~ere1ayr s s t o r i e s a r e - 5 e ~c~clie
t o Se i n the S a n c r o f t L ib ra ry
-Ckez-ber L2 ~ She f o r t h e Bancroft Li-arg ivfier= -yyofc my book I i n t e r + i e w e d _ e ~ sza pis
1j t t l e n i u e d 11p torfirtls the last
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
Coakley
Farnsworth
N r s To
Farnsworth
Why don t you t e l l us something about the e a r l y
stayecoach runs i n the county Walter
The e a r l i e s t holdup I remember was he ld a t
Frank Lewist p l a c e r i g h t on t o p o f t h e h i l l
whdre the Whitlock road i s cu t out Stage was
he ld up the re I t was held up by a man name
He had b reakfas t a t my mother s house the
nornirqthat he robbed t h a t s t age Fredericku
h i s name was wasnt i t
11y s i s t e r N e l l i e was on t h a t s t a g e and she
had her money -- i f she had any -- t i e d up i n
t h e end of a handlterchief So she j u s t kind of
he ld the- handkerchief o u t t o him and he s a i d
I don t want your o ld handkerchief He
throwed i t out on the ground And she says t o
him Well i f you d p n t want the handkerchief
111 take i t back So he handed i t back t o
her
Then he went on and he was czptured j u s t
i n s i x mi les a l i t t l e over s ix miles brought
up and put i n j a i l here And he was oh
despera te about i t He took and made h i s nose
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
Coalrley
- Parnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
Coakley
Farnsworth
N O i t d i d n t g e t t o Genr Volley Renr Valley
go t t h e i r m ~ i lfrom P t Ophir
How d id they g e t i t from K t Ophir
Well they had a wagon rand and got the mail
see
What was tho l a s t yea r t h a t anyone operated
a statyecoach here i n t h i s county
1906
T h a t l a s t of the stagecoaches wns 19061
hat i s i n town here The l a s t i n Yosemite
Valley was i n 13
Well now t h e one t h a t stopped i n t h i s town
i n 1906 where d i d i t s t a r t and where d id it
end
Well i t s t a r t e d from Iariposa and went t o
PIerced through Hornitos K t Bul l ion and
Bear Valley It went from here t o F t Bull ion
then from Bul l ion t o Bear Valley Bear Valley
t o Hornitos and then Hornitos t o Pierced
That was t h e route I had t h a t rou te run
a month and twenty days t o the tune of about
That w a s t h e yea r the r a i l r o a d s t a r t e d was
i t 19061
That w a s t he year i t was f i n i s h e d 1907
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
2- ltltLamp--ampampamp --Leamp-gti ---- amp amp ltampampwbu amp ~ A - ~ ~ A ~ amp ~ lt - ~ ~ ~ - amp ~ amp ~ - s lt ~ + d ~ ~ ~ x amp ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ----d =ampgt
Any interesting stories that haventtbeen-
written about him yet
-
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
I
k u l f a J o n e s whs county sihbol s l rpcrintampdent
for a good many years
- -
- ~ a ~ n s w o r t ~ O h yes she was a dandy She g o t $600 e year-
- Coakley - A s id you thiampshe school s i lpe i in tenden t
-
~ w a s bverpnid or underpaid Walter
F a r n s w ~ r t h o h amp under why i t d t a k e ~ r k t tJ near a l l
-
-
t h a t t o pay h e r expenses ( general- c o n v e r s a -
- t i p n about s k l n r i c s of superintendents--one
$aid to h i v e r ece ived $75 a month)
Mrs Cast I t h i n k J u l i a Jones was the most ou t s t and ing
super in tendent wstve e v e r had i n t h i s couhty -
You know because she had a l l t hese l i t t l e one-
room schools and made these j o u h e y s v i s i t i n g
over all t hese roads with a h o r s e and buggy
Coakley Do you remember how many of those one-room
schools she had Under h e r j u r i s d i c t i o n a t
t h a t t ime
Woman She had q u i t e a l o t more than they do now
Woman When I was teaching had 33
Gal l i son I t a u g h t i n a good many one-room schools i n
my e a r l y days
Farnswor th I can show you P c t u r e s where t h e r e was about
7 0 of you i n t h e grammar sc-hool
One t e a c h e r t ~ u g h t 33 t o 56 a l l t h e way from
6 t o 18 I n one school
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
- - 56
-Gallison I taught p e t t g n e a r 60 f o r awhile
-
Coakley
Gallison
A l l the grades i n the
~ i g h t grades --
one
room
Gilb What d id you t r y t o teach them
and wr i t i namp and arithmetic
jus t reading -
~ e l l i ~ o n
Gilb
Oh geography kle had physiology algebra
Taught some geometry Several more subjects
than they do now -
D i d many of them stop a t the eighth grade o r
-
did they go on some place t o high school
Gallison They usually went to 18 i n the gi-amar school
andqu i t
Coaltley What do you mean by 18 18 years of age T b t
would be the end of the i r schooling i s tha t i t
Gallison Oh they had the ninth grade It would amount
t o about the f i r s t year of high perhaps
Mrs T My son graduated from tha t and he was given
two years i n Santa Clara
Woman I went nine gears and you did too Eileen
IIP here Chamberlain I have a l i s t of the graduates from the f i r s t
I school here i n the town Some of the families
are s t i l l here I havent i t with me
I One of the m o s t in teres t ing s t o r i e s of ear ly
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
day schooling however occurs t o me happened
i n Yosemite John NcCeuley h i s f a t h e r b u i l t
the mo-qtain house G d he c o u l d s e e the
school down i n ~ o s e m i t e but i t would take
him about three hou r s t o g e t there dot
-t h a t t r a i l have a - - And h e s a id t h a t h e d i d
-burro t h a t he d hang onto the burror s ta i 1
and ge t back up t h a t mountain He spent e i g h t
o r nine hours a day t o and from school
You couldn t g e t a k id now t o do tha t
No t h e i r pa ren ts wouldnt l e t them
K r Chamberlain t h a t about McCauley bui ld ing
the mountain house i s wrong Char l ie Paregoy
f o r which they named the Paregoy Keadows h e r s
the man who b u i l t t h a t mountain house and
McCauley bought i t o f f of him
Well anyway John was l i v i n g there
Does anybody here know when the Fremont Nine
were operat ing t he ore ca r s down the h i l l
what years
About f58 o r 59
Louis used t o walk from Sear Valley t o Hunters
Valley
-
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
Coakley From ear ~ a l l e ~ to ~ ~ m t e r sVal ley j t h a t s- how -
many mi les hat would ker ta iLly -be o r ~six - seven mile-s ~ b i i ~ u s s i o n o f the t r a i l )
ab0ut - e a r l y times but you were tThis i s n f
mentioning some
of you kbout t h e hardships
- t h a t the kndured t o g e t t o q c h o o l
And I t h i n k I c a n q u o t e a t h e i a ~ t amp a s k w i t h i n - -
t w o o r - t h r e e ykars t h a t w i l l almost p a r a l l e l
o r 5 e a t l e a s t a s s e r i o u s a p r o b l - i m a ~t h e y
had i n the e a r l y d a y We h a d two y o h E s t e r s
viho l i v e d up above Greeley H i l l up above
IicDermottts r enger s t a t i o n about six miles and
they walked o u t about from f i v e t o f i v e and a
h a l f mi les -- i n t h e winter t ime t h e y s k i i e d
t h e s e f i v e miles caught t h e bus a t Greeley
H i l l drove 36 mi les i n t o school i n the morning
and i n t h e evening they rode back on the bus
and took t h e i r s k i i s and went home They
l e f t home around 530 i n t h e morning and got
home a t n igh t
Coakley What yea r was tha t
Adlesbach The younger of t h e two graduated l a s t year
Coakley What was the fami ly name
Adlesbach The c h i l d r e n s l names were Snyder and t h e i r -
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
Chamberlain
Coakley
Pirs Cast Coakley
Bertken
Coakley
Bertken
C oakley
CIIIHESE
P I ~ S alliso is oh s a i d she was bbrll i n ~ i t e1 s cove
I n one of t h e vol~unes o f Herbelt~ b o v e r s
m e m o i r s h e ~ t n t e dt h a t he wss doing sbme- -
invesf i g a t i n g w o r k of a mine in the i n t e r i o r -
1 of Chine and met a chinaman who h a d worked in
-
the ~ i t e $Cove milie i~l lt e r i p o s a ~ o amp t y That
i s i n one of h i s e a r l i e r books i n Herber t
- 11oovers memoirs _ -
There welae hundreds if n o t thousands of
Chinese he re In the e a r l j days were the re n o t
Wholl t e l l us something about t h a t
~ e o r ~ eBertken says t h e r e were down a t Formon
Bar
K r Bertken what do know about ti-e Chinese
what do you know about the Chicese t h a t were
i n t h i s county i i t h e e a r l y days
wel l I h o w t h e y was l o t s of then here t h a t s
a l l
What year d id they come in do you know
I don t know j u s t exac t ly Eefore my time
=Pay
What d id they ck Were they i n the mining
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
- Bertken
Man
~ a r n s w o r t h
Coakley -
Farns~ror th
Coakley
Farnsuorth
Coakley
-
Mining - - -
They worked
quartz mining A whole-crew
s were the re over t o ~ i t e Cove
They b u i l t the roads from the h o t e l i n t o
Yosemite Valley t h e Chinamen - -
-Idalter the Chinanen b u i l t the road from
From the co rne r of Slaughter Eote l i n t o Yosemite
Valley It was a rece Sonora wanted t o g e t
i n t o Yosenlite first and Kerced wanted t o g e t
i n the re see And John PicCready and Henry
Ijaahburn and Wal l i s Chapvan formed a company
and had a hundred Chinmen a day working on
those roads -
What was the line of the roads Where d i d it
run from
It mxn fran here through Wawona by I n s p i r a t i o n
Po in t dovm in to the Valley The o the r came
by Oak Flat you see And the C o u l t e r v i l l e
Road it was backed up by Kerced people
D r McLean Ee r~ashead m a n of t h a t
I t s your s ta tement then t h a t i t was t he
Chinese about a hundred Chinese t h a t b u i l t
the road frov t h e Slaughter Botel through
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so
I
-NEGROSIAVERY
coakleY w e l l now speaking of ~ h i n e s ei n Hornitos -
don j t they have a boampn there hots a d i r e c t -
descendent of -sonamp e-arly-day slaves t ha t 1 ~
Gere in thiltco+ty -
Gilb there
~ e r amp o t h e r s l a v e s here d o gou remeer - s lzves from the e r l y days kaive you he-ard of
them - -
Woman There was one t h a t l ived up there a t M r s
- place
- Another woman Yes he was a Jrenchnegro wasnt he
Bagby Right by the Catholic church the re
Farnsworth --- fellow over t o I n d t q Gulch
Leidig What do you mean old - J i m Duff
Coakle y Yes t h a t s who theyre ta lk ing about Jack
Man Ead a garden there
C oakley What year d i d he come i n t o the comty
Farnsworth He was an e a r l y b i rd
Chamberlain He came in 149
C oakle y Is t h a t so
Chamberlain He brought a m i l l out f o r Fremont He was
consldered one of Fremont8s scouts
Farnsworth Wasnt h i s wife t h e i r cook
Chanberlain Possibly so