DIVISION ONE — PRE-PASADENIAN. 67 



the Arroyo Seco, on land now owned by G. W. Glover in South Pasadena, 

 and was occupied by the grantee, together with his wile, Dona Luisa, and 

 a large family of children. =i^ Mrs. Garfias was a niece [sister's daughter] of 

 Don Jose Sepulveda who was the father of Hon. Ignacio Sepulveda, for some 

 years presiding judge of this district. 



"The Garfias hacienda was at that time one of the finest country estab- 

 lishments in Southern California. It was a one-and-a-half story adobe 

 building, with walls two feet thick, all nicely plastered inside and out, and 

 had an ample corridor extending all around. It had board floors, and 

 boasted of green bHnds — a rare thing in those days. This structure cost 

 $5,000 — in fact, it cost Garfias his ranch, for he had to borrow money to 

 build it, and the prevailing rates of interest were four per cent per month — 

 to be compounded if not paid when due.f The title of the property passed 

 into the hands of Dr. John S. Grifiin of I^os Angeles, by purchase just before 

 I first came out here; and as my wife's health seemed to be failing in lyos 

 Angeles and the change was recommended, I determined to take up my resi- 

 dence here To prepare for this step I left my wife and two children (Mary, 

 now Mrs. H. M. Johnston, and Fred, late city engineer of Los Angeles) 

 with her sister, Mrs. Dr. Griffin, and came out myself with stock, etc., tak- 

 ing possession of the premises just before Christmas, 1858. [It was in 1858 

 that Dr. Griffin loaned Garfias $8,000, as he told me. — Ed.] 



" No attempt had ever been made to divert the waters of the Arroyo 

 upon the ranch lands, so that cultivation of them was impracticable except 

 for such crops as would mature with the winter rains — chiefly wheat and 

 barley. I had brought with me quite a little herd of American cows which 

 I had been gathering and raising for years, and I did not at that time turn 

 my attention to anything but stock, and dairy produce. My wife did not 

 live to join me here, but lingered until the following May. Her death 

 broke up my plans, and in July following I rented my dairy stock and left 

 the ranch — not returning again until February, 1865." 



Some further historic incidents connected with the original San Pasqual 

 ranch house (the "Garfias adobe" as it was familiarly called by Pasadena's 

 early settlers) may here be noted. On the brink of the Arroyo bluff" a few 

 rods from the house a bountiful spring gurgled out under a great spreading 

 oak tree, and this spring was the determining cause for locating the house 

 here. The Indians had one of their villages near here when the Spaniards 

 first came in January, and again in April, 1770. This spring is now closely 

 boxed up and its waters piped to Lincoln Park, where it furnishes the sup- 

 ply for domestic and irrigation purposes in that oak-embowered settlement. 



*The Garfias children were six : three hoys— Enrique, born at Los Angeles, was sheriff at Phcenix, 

 Arizona, in 1S94-95, and had been deputy U. S. marshal before. Manuel E., the General, and Mariano 

 Jose, the lawyer, as before explained. Three girls, Angelina Salome — now Mrs Lambeck of San Diego. 

 Manuelita — now Mrs. Alejandro Sabin of Tia Juana. Laura — now Mrs. Lainesse of San Francisco. 

 The girls were all born at Los Angeles. 



t"In 1851 a common interest of money wns five per cent, per month often ten per cent. ; a rate that 

 commenced in iS4S-'49, with the loans of John Temple to the hundreds eager to share in the ' bonanza ' 

 atany sacrifice." —YCententiial Hist. Los A. Co., p. 4^. 



