726 



THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



indifferent attitude prevails, except in the instances of the homesteader 

 or small purchaser adjacent to the rancho. 



Emigration from the east brought American ideas, customs and 

 traditions to California with the result naturally to be anticipated that 

 the attitude of the Mexican, or the native Californian, would be unfavor- 

 able. The refusal of all rights to Ameircans, and even expulsion was 

 contemplated, which, if attempted, would have ended disastrously for 

 the Mexicans. The war made possible the establishment of California 

 as a military possession in 1846, after the short period of the Bear 

 Republic, independently established by a group of zealous United 

 States soldiers. It is interest in items such as these that absorbed the 

 attention of all. The more peaceful pursuits would pass unnoticed and 

 historians were generally impressed with the greater activities of the 

 grant holders than with the small owners from whom complaints were 

 likely to come. 



During one period of California's existence, perhaps its most impor- 

 tant historically, we may be quite assured that rodents played a minor 

 role in public interest. This was the gold discovery period. Everyone 

 dropped his occupation, whether he be shopkeeper, banker, agricul- 

 turist or seaman; to make a "strike" was uppermost in the minds of 

 all. Many of the large owners saw a demoralizing effect upon the labor 

 situation as far as their agricultural interests were concerned, for these 

 grantees generally had a retinue of herders and general farm hands, 

 in many instances totaling a thousand or more. It meant that from 

 the grant farthermost north at Cottonwood, to the southernmost in 

 San Diego County, the gold rush would carry practically all away to 

 the wealth-yielding fields of east central California. Those that farmed 

 their acres, who were not lured by the possibility of instantaneous riches, 

 in many cases made far greater fortunes by supplying the many towns 

 of mushroom growth with provisions raised upon near-by lands. 



Some notice had to be taken of rodents by the gold diggers and an 

 occasional grievance is recorded where squirrels and gophers attracted 

 by the vegetation produced by the water carried along the ditches, 

 undermined the walls of these ditches, causing a break, with consequent 

 turning off of the water. One specific instance in mind was recorded 

 by the Sacramento Union of June 11, 1860, in which case 30 feet of 

 ditch bank of the Tuolumne County Water Company washed away due 

 to rodent borings, to such an extent that the water supply for a thousand 

 miners about Columbia was effectually cut off, entailing a considerable 

 loss of time and labor. 



The influx of people from the States, and in fact from all quarters 

 of the globe, brought a decided surplus of laborers which, together 

 with those desiring to remain after the main gold rush, gave an excess 

 of "workmen over and above the demands of the gold diggings. Some 

 of these were bound to become farmers. In the meantime it had been 

 conclusively demonstrated that California lands were of value for things 

 agricultural , other than grazing. Many had advanced experimental 

 crop growing and the possibilities with irrigation were beginning to 

 be realized. Vast Valley acreages, spread north and south from Sacra- 

 mento, but who owned them? A long period intervened during which 

 the titles and ownerships had to be proven. The work of the courts 



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