44() REPORT OF THE CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE COMMISSION. 
Lasted 20 to 30 seconds. Water in the river receded, shoaling vessels, and then rose 
with a rush. (Sacramento Union.) 
Knight's Landing. — “I was running a flour-mill at Knight’s Landing in 1868. While 
the shock was not unusually severe at that place, it did some damage. The gable end 
of the mill warehouse was thrown down, not by the vibration of the quake, but by a 
pile of wheat being thrown down against it and forcing the end of the building out. I 
was out in a pasture at the time, pumping water for stock, and noting the water sloshing 
from one end of the trough to the other, I wondered as to the cause, as I had not felt 
the shock on account of the motion of my body in working the pump. On looking up 
I noticed the trees swaying back and forth, with no wind, and I knew it must be an 
earthquake. ‘There was some little loss in the town in the way of broken crockery, 
chimneys, etc. ‘The heaviest shock was along the edge of the valley near the Coast 
Ranges. In this county it was heaviest at Winters, where it demolisht John Wolf- 
skill’s house, a stone building, and did considerable other damage.” (HK. H. Eastham.) 
Woodland. —'Two severe shocks, from southeast to northwest, lasting a minute. (Alta 
California, Oct. 22, 1868.) 
Suisun. — Severe shock, north and south. Slight damage. A few brick buildings 
cracked. (Solano Sentinel, Oct. 22, 1868.) 
Solano. — Severest shock ever felt. Sudden upheaval, attended and followed for 
nearly a minute by a swaying in a north and south direction. No damage except cracks 
in walls. (Sacramento Daily Union, Oct. 24, 1868.) 
Martinez. —Some buildings damaged by cracks. Waters in front of town caused 
to dance. Fish rose to surface. (Martinez Gazette.) Court-house wrecked. (Holden.) 
Walnut Springs. — Heaviest shock ever felt. Goods in store thrown from shelves. 
(Alta California, Oct. 22, 1868.) 
Antioch. — Severe shock from southwest to northeast for 30 seconds. Several fissures 
formed in the ground. (Sacramento Daily Union, Oct. 23, 1868.) 
Benecia. — At the repairing works of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, an iron 
shaft of one of the side-wheel steamers was lying on the ground in a north-south direc- 
tion. The earth moved from under it 9 inches, lengthwise, but in what direction is not 
recorded. (George Davidson.) 
Stockton. —““T was then 13 years old. With a younger brother and a third boy I 
had, on the morning of October 21, 1868, gone to the edge of the tule marsh about 2 
“miles southwest of Stockton, to shoot ducks. The morning flight of birds was over, 
and we were returning home. My brother had his gun at the shoulder and was aiming 
at a meadow-lark when the earth movement commenced. The lark flew up without 
apparent cause, the gun moved up and down slightly, and I at once had a feeling that 
something unusual was happening. Within a few seconds the water-fowl, hidden from 
us by the tule but in countless numbers, rose with a noise like rolling thunder and took 
flight toward the west; while 0.5 mile to the east a small band of cattle, with heads 
down and tails in the air, were racing across the country. By this time the earthquake 
was probably at its maximum, and, looking east, I could distinctly see the ground’s 
surface in wave-motion, the waves apparently moving across the line of vision. During 
the time this motion continued, it was not perceptible as a vibration to the sense of feel- 
ing. All three of us admitted, however, that the earth felt insecure under foot. We 
could detect no effect on the water surface of the swamp. Stockton escaped with only 
here and there a cracked brick wall.” (C. E. Grunsky.) 
Most severe shock ever felt. Vibration from northwest to southeast. West of Lodi 
and Woodbridge, shock was as severe as in Stockton. (Stockton Independent.) 
In a slough water was thrown into ebullition to a height of 2 feet for a few minutes. 
(Stockton Gazette.) 
