DIVISION TWO — COLONIAL, IO7 



to select and purchase land and start the colony work as laid out in the 

 printed circular. But soon thereafter came the great financial crisis and 

 panic of that year, which followed the failure of Jay Cooke, the Wall street 

 king of the hour, and his gigantic Northern Pacific Railroad scheme. 

 Partly owing to this money panic, and partly from its natural weakness as 

 a prompt cash resource, the financial plan of the colony enterprise proved a 

 sorry failure ; for D. M. Berry, its purchasing agent, reported in December 

 from lyOS Angeles to treasurer Ruddell at Indianapolis that he had only 

 $130.80 on hand. However, this Mr. Berry became the " connecting link " 

 between the extinct colony creation of Indianapolis and the living Pasadena 

 of today, which happened in this wise : 



One day very early in November, 1873, Judge Eaton was in lyos Ange- 

 les and happened to meet Mr. Berry. In the cour.se of conversation Mr. 

 Berry stated his business in California ; and when asked by the Judge with 

 what success he had met, he replied in a comical but rather lugubrious tone : 

 "Well, I have worn my shoes out, and have worn my clothes out, and I 

 am about worn out myself ; but I have failed to find the desired ' ' well tim- 

 bered, well watered tract." Mr. Eaton then invited Berry to accompany 

 him to his home on the San Pasqual ranch, out a few miles in the country. 

 Mr. Berry accepted, and was driven up the Arroyo to the Garfias mansion, 

 and on up to " Fair Oaks," now J- E. Crank's place, near Eaton Canyon. 

 The following morning when Mr. Berry got up he made the remark that he 

 felt fine, and had pas.sed the night in sound, unbroken slumber for the first 

 time in three years. He looked down over the beautiful valley and was 

 enchanted. He said, " this is the place I have been looking for." 



Mr. Berry had opened an office under the name of Berry & Elliott, in 

 Eos Angeles, in a small adobe building on the southwest corner of land 

 where the Baker block now stands, on North Main street. After re*^urning 

 from his visit at Judge Eaton's, he and J. H. Baker and Calvin Fletcher, 

 being all that was then left of the " Indiana Colony," went to work trying 

 to get other eastern people in and about Eos Angeles to join them as colo- 

 nists and buy the San Pasqual lands. They succeeded so well that the first 

 formal meeting was held in Berry & Elliot's office Nov. 13, at which were 

 present in person or by legal representative — B. S. Eaton, T. F. Croft, D. M. 

 Berry, T. B. Elliott by proxy, P. M. Green, A. O. Porter, W. T. Clapp, 

 John H. Baker, A. O. Bristol, Jabez Banbury, H. G. Bennett, Calvin 

 Fletcher, E. J. Vawter, H. J. Holmes, J. M. Matthews, Nathan Kimball, 

 Jesse Yarnell, Mrs. C. A. Vawter, N. R. Gibson. And they then and there 

 voted to organize themselves into a corporate body called the "San Gabriel 

 Orange Grove Association," to exist ten years, and have a capital stock of 

 $25,000, divided into 100 shares of $250 each. 



It took a month to get the articles of incorporation prepared, signed 

 and recorded in due and legal form, with certificate from the Secretary of 



