228 RURAL CALIFORNIA 



were abundant and labor was to be had for the com- 

 manding, there was practically no dairying. Milk 

 was rare, but the poorest ranchero had plenty of 

 beef in his pot. The mission padres had an abun- 

 dance of olive oil to take the place of butter and 

 they drank wine instead of milk and other drinks 

 to which milk is accessory. However, it is not true 

 that they had absolutely no dairying, for one early 

 visitor testifies that the pre- Americans did have milk, 

 but it was drawn from goats and it was difficult to 

 get a pint of milk from six of them. Hardly less 

 significant of the absence of a dairy industry 

 was the testimony of the cattle of the hide-and- 

 tallow breed of the Mexicans, of which it was said : 

 "To get any milk at all the cow had to be lassoed, 

 tied to a stake and allowed the company of her calf 

 before a drop could be had." 



Although the hunters and trappers who settled in 

 California before the gold discovery probably had 

 cows somewhat broken to milk, the first good cows 

 to reach the State in an;y number were those led or 

 driven across the plains by the gold-seekers. There 

 were a good many of them. They were fed or grazed 

 along the trail and contributed to the family menu 

 on the way. They were probably the best cows the 

 pioneers Had or could find in the places whence they 

 came. Such cows were the foundation stock of 

 pioneer dairy efforts in the foothills and mountain 

 valleys of the Sierra Nevada. When a family arrived 

 across the plains it was quite usual for the men 

 to go to gold-digging and the women to milking, 



