Short History of Jonathan Wells

History of McHenry County, Illinois, 1885

Click on the image for a larger view.

Oliver Terrell; English French War

Waterbury, Connecticut. Click on the picture to view larger.

Oliver Terrell of North Milford, Conn. served in the Rev. War as a private in Warners Co. the Ct. line. He enlisted 26 May 1777 for 8 months. Discharged 9 Jan 1778. Oliver Terrell was with Capt. Eldad Lewis, in War between England and France, from Waterbury, marched to scene of danger in the "Fort William Henry alarm" in 1757. (Lake George)

History of Waterbury, Connecticut by Henry Bronson, M.D., 1858

History of Waterbury, Connecticut by Henry Bronson, M.D., 1858

War Ration Books

 

My great grandfather was much shorter than I would have figured as evidenced in the Certificate of Register above. I vaguely remember him but he was quite old then and I was quite young. Fortunately for those of us who like our family history grandma Charlotte save lot of stuff.

J.D. Cronk's Bill For Furniture

A bill for furniture to J.D. Cronk, 1901

Grandma (Charlotte Cronk Craddick) gave me what she believed is the Golden Oak Dresser $19.50, fifth from the top which I still use. When you look at this list of furniture and see it came to less than $90.00 without the $3.60 discount it's pretty amazing. Wish I had all of it now except for maybe the carpet.

More Posts on JD Cronk

Totten Ranch & Home

Totten Ranch. It was the Lem Earnest ranch as I grew up 1/2 mile down the road.

Picture labeled as Totten Ranch in McCloud, CA

I did a lot of enhancement on the lower photo to get it to this image. The original is so faint and faded I couldn't see what it was. Fortunately someone wrote on the back. I can only hope that it is correct because I don't think anyone living knows.

Thomas and Viola Arnold Farm, Pittville Totten Road

Front of the old house.

Looking at the back of the house.

Thomas and Viola are in their watermelon patch in the upper photo. Viola tending pigs and Thomas with a team of horses in the lower.

Joel Enoch Cronk Story

Cronk house in Belvidere, IL. Joel Enoch Cronk and Charlotte Boomer Cronk sitting. Four of their children: Lottie, Araminta, Louis, and Ben standing.

******Notes on the Cronk Family dictated by Joel D'Aubigne Cronk to Lois (Cronk) Startt, November 15 1945.******

Joel, Enoch's other son, born September 17, 1829, was my father.  He stayed with his father on the farm in Illinois and the two worked together to improve and enlarge their property. Together they purchased adjoining land and increased their holdings to 120 acres.

Joel fell in love with Charlotte Bommer, a girl from Garden Prairie, seven miles away. He decided to seek his fortune in the West and in 1852 made his first trip to California. There he found  wages and trade more lucrative than mining. At one time he worked in a saw mill for $150 a month, fabulous wages for those times. Something drew him home for a few years, but in 1855 he returned to California. This time he went to New York and boarded a sailing vessel which brought him around Cape Horn to San Francisco.  He again found that work paid well in the West.  He was able to return home with enough money to finance his big venture.

In 1857 he bought 110 head of cattle and two horses and with a comrade started West to increase his wealth by butchering.  This time he stayed on the Oregon Trail and arrived at his destination with 100 head of cattle and one horse.

He covered Southern Oregon and Northern California as far south as Marysville, selling his beef to the miners and settled for food. His venture was a great success, and he returned to Illinois, where he invested some of his capital in farmland and adjoining his father's farm.

He built a log cabin near the old farm house, where he took his bride, Charlotte Boomer, in 1866.  There his first two children, Florence and Joel D'Aubigne, were born in 1867 and 1869.

About 1870 Enoch and Mary Cronk moved to a small farm nearby and turned over the original farm to Joel who bought up land around his father's farm until his holding measured 480 acres, one mile long and three-quarters of a mile wide. He was then ready to farm on a large scale.

During 1877, a typical year, his farm inventory included 52 Durham dairy cows (milked by hand); 90 calves, and bought from neighboring farms to be raise and sold as steers;100 head of fattening hogs, 4 teams of horses, 40 to 50 colts to be sold as 4-year-old work stock; 60 beef steers, 280 acres of pasture and hay land, and about 200 acres of oats and corn.

He purchased much of his stock feed from his neighbors. Corn was then around 20¢ a bushel, and 4¢ a pound was a good price for a fat hog, which was not considered ready to sell until it weighed between 300 and 400 pounds.

Although Joel was a hard-working man his many activities required many hands.  He employed three steady men the year around and more during haying season. He also hired a dairy women and at least one girl to help in the house.

Establishing the dairy house became so expensive that it is doubtful if this ever was a farm asset. The walls were built of sandstone and were a foot thick. A cellar was equipped for storing milk and butter. On the ground floor, 3' x 8' tin vats were installed for cooling the milk. Cold water pipes under the vats regulated the temperature. Skimming and churning were done by hand.

The barn was a usual mid-western structure, measuring 40' x 60'. The first floor was termed a basement but was not excavated. It's walls were 6' high and were made of stone. One side was filled in to make a driveway onto the first floor. The dairy cows were kept in the basement. Part of the first floor was a stable. Above the horses were the granary and hayloft. For many years and overhead hay carrier was installed. The young stock were kept in a separate shed during stormy weather.

The house yard consisted of four acres, about half of which was a family orchard made up of apple and cherry trees. There was a flower garden enclosed by a picket fence, but no lawn since this was before the invention of lawn mowers. Grass grew in the orchards, and part of the area was pastured by the calves; the rest grew tall and rank. It made a fine place for the children to play or to hunt for apples that had dropped from the limbs above.

A garden big enough for a large family was grown each year. Much attention was given to root vegetables suitable for storing in the cellar for winter use.  Drying was the only method of preserving that was used.

The farmhouse was large, but considering the size of the family Joel Cronk raised, it hardly seems ample. It was the practice in that period to build a two-story upright with a one-story wing. The front section had a bedroom and living room downstairs and three bedrooms upstairs; the wing had a bedroom, dining room, and kitchen. There was a full basement under the house.

Little thought or time was given to recreation on a farm in those busy days. Boys and girls learned to do chores and an early age, and pride and satisfaction in doing work well was instilled into each member of the family. Card playing and dancing were forbidden by the religious background of the mother. There was some time for play though, and the boys found many natural outlets for their vigorous natures in boxing and wrestling. Their mother was a great reader, and some of her children acquired her preference for historical books. Many of her children bear the names of her favorite historical characters.

Sunday was strictly observed as a day of rest and worship. The family went to town to church, and often there were friends invited for Sunday dinner afterwards.

When the children became older, the parents became more intensely interested in the family's religious life. The mother, Charlotte, disliked living so far from her friends in town and felt it hampered her religious work. In 1881 when the children were grown and some had left for homes of their own,  Joel moved his family to Belvidere.

From that time on his affairs were not so successful. The long drive to and from the farm was burdensome. He was no longer as robust as he had been, and his venture in raising race horses combined to prove his undoing. He died on October 25, 1904, in Belvidere, Illinois, leaving most of his life's work manifested in his children. His wife, Charlotte, died while visiting her daughter, Araminta Wilkins, on August 8, 1924, in Mishawaka, Indiana.


                                                 *********************


EXCERPTS from Phoebe Terwilliger Diary in which she mentions briefly that Joel Cronk was a member of the Gage-Terwilliger train. The diary published in the 1973 issue of the "Siskiyou Pioneer", a publication of the Siskiyou County Historical Society.

The New Lebanon emigrant train started out from New Lebanon, Dekalb County, IL., on April 5, 1854. On April 26th, it was joined en route by Joseph (sic) Cronk and his companions with two wagons and a drove of cattle. (p.2) On p.23:"...9 men a horse back armed well went to see if the could get track of the Indians, S. Gage, T. Fuller, W. Stone, Mr. Keen, J. Palmer, one of J. Cronks men and 3 of the Scotch which makes the 9..."

p.34;"..went about 15 miles without nooning then follows a dry creek down to the river and campt this afternoon we find Alkali all alone here J Cronk had one of his oxen die before the wagon a day or two before one of his cows died..." p.38;"..after crossing the river the last time we went upon the rocks and put our names on them one of J Cronks cows died..." [This was the famous Three Crossings of the Sweetwater River near Independence Rock.] p.44; July 23, "...came to Bear River again now the road passes between two mountains here we campt this afternoon some wood some washed and the men shoed some cattle two of Joel Cronks men was taken with the mountain fever...". p.45;"..one of J C--men very sick..."

Enoch Cronk Story

******Notes on the Cronk Family dictated by Joel D'Aubigne Cronk to Lois (Cronk) Startt, November 15 1945.******

Enoch Cronk was born in New York (State), March 11, 1804.  His parents are unknown to me, but his brothers were Amos, Elisha and Wesley.  He had no sisters to my knowledge.

He was a farmer and lived in Dutchess and Tioga counties, New York.  He married Mary Denny, an Irish girl, on June 25, 1825.  They made an odd couple as he was a tall man, weighing over 200 pounds, she was small, not over five feet and very slight.

They had three children:  Richard, Joel Enoch, and Jane.

About 1844, Enoch moved his  family to Illinois where he took up forty acres of land by pre-emption.  The land was secured for $1.25 an acre and was in the locality known as Bonus Prairie, six miles northeast of Belvidere, Illinois. This section was rolling with a few oak trees along the creek and scattered wooded plots. Enoch had no trees on his plot, so he immediately set out Lombardy poplars for a wind break to shelter the yard and apple orchard which later materialized.

All of Enoch's brothers moved westward.  Enoch was a diligent farmer and provided a good home for his children.

About 1870 Enoch and Mary Cronk moved to a small farm nearby and turned over the original farm to Joel who bought up land around his father's farm until his holding measured 480 acres, one mile long and three-quarters of a mile wide. He was then ready to farm on a large scale.

The following property sales records were retreived from the Illinois, Boone Co., land sales records via the Internet in 1996 by James G. Arnold.

  Purchaser:      CRONK ENOCH               Record ID:      162767
  Date:           07/11/1846
  Acres:          40
  Price:          $5.00
  Type of sale:   State        (ST)
  County:         4
  Section:        15                        Section Part:   SWNW
  Township:       44N                       Range:          04E
  Meridian:       3                         Purchaser Res:
  Arch. Vol. No:  811                       Vol. Page No.:  039
  Cash warrant code:                        Record corrected: 0
.

  Purchaser:      CRONK ENOCH               Record ID:      84043
  Date:           10/22/1846
  Acres:          40
  Price:          $1.25
  Type of sale:   Federal sale (FD)
  County:         4
  Section:        12                        Section Part:   SESW
  Township:       44N                       Range:          04E
  Meridian:       3                         Purchaser Res:
  Arch. Vol. No:  683                       Vol. Page No.:  107
  Cash warrant code:                        Record corrected: 0
.

  Purchaser:      CRONK ENOCH               Record ID:      92515
  Date:           12/31/1845
  Acres:          76
  Price:          $1.25
  Type of sale:   Federal sale (FD)
  County:         56
  Section:        7                         Section Part:   LOT2SW
  Township:       44N                       Range:          05E
  Meridian:       3                         Purchaser Res:
  Arch. Vol. No:  683                       Vol. Page No.:  230
  Cash warrant code:                        Record corrected: 0

More of Grandpa Leo Arnolds Story

William Arnold, b. 1802, was in his sixties when he brought his family over the emigrant trail. The Healys were in their forty's.

******Taken from L.F. Arnold Family History, 1974******

Thomas Arnold

1864

Somewhere on the Missouri River (maybe at Independence) a group of people from in and around Des Moines, Iowa, gathered and formed a wagon train to cross the plains and mountains to the west coast.  My father [Thomas Arnold, b. July 20, 1856], eight years old at the time, came on that train. I do not know the size of the train.

He told of camping along the Sweetwater River and of watching an Indian boy practice shooting with his bow and arrow.  But the highlight of his trip was when some Indians ran by on their horses and shot at them, killing a steer or ox.  He said he would never forget seeing that dead animal with the arrow sticking in it just up to the feathers.

The next thing he told of was how clean the air was - seeing a mountain they were driving to, he and other boys wanted to walk to it and wait for the train.  They traveled three days before they came to it.  It shows how clear the air used to be, and the space of travel (10 to 20 miles per day) I suppose.

Father never told me what route they took into California but they spent the first year at Healdsburg on the Russian River where he learned to swim and be a boy.  After living there a year they moved to a place on Elk River, 40 or 50 miles west of Corvallis, Oregon, where the deer, elk, bear and panther were all plentiful and the wolves set up their mournful howl every night.  One highlight of that was when my 12 or 13 year old Uncle Will killed a big panther (10 feet, 6 inches) with a muzzle loading rifle.

William Arnold Family

After living there a few years they moved to Philomath on Mary's River, about seven or eight miles from Corvallis where my father went to school in the Philomath College which may still be a landmark.  As I remember, it‘s a three story wooden building with lots of windows setting up on a hillside near the road from Corvallis to Newport on the coast.

They next moved to a valley near the Santiam River where my father finished school and taught school two or three years.

Viola (Healy) Arnold

1865

Somewhere on the Missouri River a crowd of people, also from Iowa, gathered and formed a wagon train to head across the plains and mountains to the west coast. My mother, Viola (Healy) Arnold, b. October 30, 1858, seven years old, was a passenger on that train. It was a large train (250 wagons), some horses and some cattle. Mother said the cattle seemed to stand the long trip better than the horses - there were so many wagons that driven end to end they would form a circle one fourth mile across where they would turn horses and cattle in to feed at night.

The Indians seemed not to dare attack a train of that size but they passed where smaller trains and been massacred or captured and their belongings were burned and the feather beds were still smouldering. Mother told of their captain who would ride around every morning on a big white horse- waking them up so they would be ready to start together. She told of one incident when a man was out scouting for water and pasture for the next camp, some Indians chased him back to the camp and he jumped his horse in, the Indian shot at him - the arrow hit a cylinder of a revolver he was carrying, deflecting it so it did very little harm.

The next she told of was when they reached Grande Ronde Valley (where Pendleton now stands) and someone reported Indians ran off and stole some of grandpa's horses and cattle, but grandpa said it was white man, not Indians that stole his stock. The next stop of importance was at Portland and she never said so but they must have come the old Barlow route which goes just south of Mt. Hood near where the big ski resort is now operated.

Fernando Leo and Olivia Terrell Healy

Of Portland, she said there was only a trading post and a black smith shop there and she remembered someone had set out a small orchard. They came south and settled on Sand Ridge about three miles southwest of Lebanon just six months to the day from the time they left the Missouri River. The three older boys farmed, plowing the fields with horse drawn walking plows, raising wheat on the fertile land, making pretty good money for those days. They built a house in Sodaville and lived there for awhile.

My mother went to school at Sand Ridge and at Sodaville. She was a schoolmate of Alvin McKnight, the only person buried at Tomb Stone Prairie near the summit of the Cascade Mountains and near the Santiam Highway. She then moved with grandpa and grandma Healy to the little valley near the Santiam River.

A Short Story of the Terrell Family History

Olivia Terrell Healy (not mentioned in this article)

***History of Lorain Co., Ohio, 1807-1879, Williams Brothers, page 157-166***

Ridgeville, Ohio is a township known as number six, in the sixteenth range, and was drawn by Ephraim Root, of Hartford, Connecticut.

In the fall of 1809, Oliver Terrell, Ichabod Terrell and David Beebe, Sr., of Waterbury, Conn., exchanged their New England farms with Mr. Root for something over one-fourth of the township.  Having the privilege of selecting their land, they chose the northeast quarter, with some additional territory on Butternut Ridge.

In April of the next year, a company of men, some twelve or thirteen in number, on foot and with their knapsacks on their backs, set out from Waterbury for the western purchase.  Their names were David Beebe, and two sons, David and Loman, Joel Terrell, Oliver Terrell, Philander Terrell, Elihu Terrell, Lyman Root, Sheldon Wooster, Mansfield Webb, Amos and Orrin Hotchkiss and Ira B. Morgan.

At Buffalo they bought an outfit consisting of axes, saws, planes, chains, and some other articles for their use in the Ridgeville woods.  A man with a small sail boat was engaged to carry the tools to Cleveland, one of the men, Lyman Root, accompanying to take charge of the valuable cargo on its arrival at Cleveland.  The rest of the company resumed the journey the next morning and reached Cleveland only a day after the arrival of the vessel.  From this place, then a little settlement of only a few cabins, they proceeded to Ridgeville, by way of Columbia, carrying in their knapsacks some of the lighter implements and leaving the rest to be brought afterwards on pack-horses.  They reached the end of their long journey on Tuesday, May 10th.  As they approached the Ridgeville line David Beebe, Jr., quietly passed ahead of his associates, and arriving first on the ground, cut down the first tree.  The first improvement was made on lot fifteen, on land now (January 1879) owned by John Lonsby.  Here the men erected a rude log cabin, the roof of which consisted of bark and the floor of mother earth.  In this the men kept bachelor's hall, while on their selected locations they prosecuted the work of clearing and preparing for the arrival of their families later in the season.

In the later part of October 1810, the families of David Beebe, Sr., David Beebe, Jr., and Lyman Root who arrived under the care of David Beebe, Jr., and Ichabod Terrell, his family and his aged father, Oliver Terrell, were added to the infant colony.  There were in the party some twenty-two persons, the oldest eighty-two years and the youngest five weeks.  Two wagons, three yokes of oxen and one horse, brought the emigrants and their effects.
At Cleveland Ichabod Terrell bought a barrel each of flour and salt, paying therefor the snug sum of forty dollars.  Instead of going around through Columbia, as did their predecessors had done, they took a more direct course, and from Rocky river to the place of destination, had to cut their own road.  This part of the journey , only twelve miles in extent, consumed nearly four days.

Joel D'Aubigne Cronk's Hospital Bill

This image is of my great grandfather J. D. Cronk's hospital bill from 1941. He stayed four days and was billed less than $41.00 including, doctor, hospital, drugs, dressings, x-ray, and even a phone call home. Wouldn't it be interesting to see what a modern hospital bill for the same treatment would cost now.

I don't know why he was hospitalized, so if any of my family that see's this knows let me know.

Totten Family Story

Recorded from an oration given by Herbert R. Totten at Fort Crook Historical Museum June 20, 1976.

My grandfather Peter R. Totten was born near Quincy, IL in 1838. He had two brothers, Marc Totten and Joseph Totten, two sisters, Anna Totten Noel and Cornelia Totten Brewer.

In 1853 at the age of fifteen and one half he set out for California by way of the isthmus of Panama. The crossing was made about thirty-seven miles from the new city of Colon on the east coast via the Gorgona route to Panama City on the west coast. Now the city of Colon, I believe was founded the year before. It's part of the Canal Zone now.

The crossing took five days. Three days by large canoe and two days by mule back. The canoe fare was ten dollars and pack mules rented for three dollars per day. The railroad was not completed until late eighteen fifty three.

From panama City he secured passage on a steamer bound for San Francisco. It was a top heavy side wheeler. I recall this description of this passage. He told of a storm which lasted for three days. At the end of which time several passengers were unaccounted for. With an expansive grin he used to jest that they may have jumped overboard rather than eat the food that was offered.

From the time of his arrival in San Francisco and up to the time of his marriage to Elizabeth Getz in Illinois of Camp Point there is little of record. I recall bits and pieces of his trip back to Illinois part of which he made by horse back. One thing bibbed in my memory was his account of killing a rattlesnake with his revolver while mounted on his horse. You know how kids remember things.

From a family portrait it is known he returned with his family to Colusa, CA in eighteen seventy. Means of transportation unknown. At that time his family consisted of two girls and two boys. The youngest being my father. Later in the eighteen seventies two daughters and a son were born. The family: Helen Totten Hawes of Oakdale, CA; Emma Totten Larison of Redding, CA; Carolyn Totten Gregory of Woodland, CA; Lucy Totten Moss of Pittville, CA; Leroy Totten of Pittville, CA; Frank Totten of Reno, NV; and Silas (Hub) Totten of Pittville, CA.

His brother Marc Totten lived in Colusa, CA where he applied his trade as a gunsmith and inventor. In nineteen sixteen he was riding a bicycle to which he had attached a gasoline motor. It went out of control and he was killed at the age of eighty-four.

My grandfather moved his family from Colusa to Anderson, CA in the early eighteen eighties where he was engaged in farming and the nursery business. Some of his children attended the Anderson High School. From Anderson the family moved to McCloud, CA where he had acquired some timber land. While there, he served for a time as Justice of the Peace for McCloud township. My father also acquired some land at Warmcastle, no longer in existence (there used to be a Post Office there)where I was born in 1903. My father, my uncle Roy, and my grandparents moved to Fall River Valley in 1906 where they had acquired the Frederick Z. Palmer holdings from Frank Palmer near Pittville. It was a family project and involved the grandparents, my father, my uncle Roy, and my grandfather's son-in-law Len Moss.

My mother died in 1905 leaving the responsibility of raising the five bereaved children to my grandparents. Four brothers and one sister aged two through twelve. Their names in descending order were Nora, Clarence, Phillip, Peter, and Herbert. Much assistance was given by my mothers sisters' Josephine Bosworth and Lydia Joiner. Much credit should be given to my late sister Nora Totten Arnold for supervising Saturday night baths and guiding the family through its formative years.

Two years after purchasing the ranch my grandfather set about building a new house. A nine-room two story structure which still stands. It has withstood a succession of repairs and alterations including electric service, running water, and plumbing.

The family attended elementary school on the bench the first two years, and then attended Pine Grove School which was in the Pitt River School District. It was a one room one teacher school and I am convinced that basic education was not overlooked at that time. I wish that I could say that at the present time. Some of our children also attended this school. The school building is presently occupied as a residence by Mazzella and Jesse Cae.

It is well to keep the proper perspective relative to the advances in educational services and opportunities when I recall the school bus service available in nineteen seventeen from our area to the high school. It may have been in nineteen eighteen but I'm reasonably sure it was nineteen seventeen. The means of transport was a Wells Fargo type coach, leather springs and all, drawn by two horses and owned by Wallace Herford, was driven by his son Hubert. We have come a long way.

In nineteen thirteen upon the insistence of my grandmother the family purchased a hundred and sixty acres of land form the Johnson estate in Shasta County near Pittville. Eighty acres of which was subsequently deeded to my father as an anchor for his family. My brother, Peter and his family now own and occupy this property.

At this time I would like to remind myself and you too, of life as it was for a child living with its grandparents at that time. We were necessarily very self sufficient in those days. My first ride in a motor vehicle was in nineteen ten. We raised our own food. A large summer garden was a must. Corn was cut from the cob and dried in the sun. Apples were peeled, quartered and dried in the sun. Apples were made in to cider which was stored in fifty gallon casks in the cellar. Some cash income was generated from this vinegar, fifty cents a gallon. Cabbage converted into sauerkraut in ten gallon crocks also the last of the cabbage heads were stored in a bin in the root cellar and were good until December. Carrots, beets, potatoes, and onions were stored for winter use in the root cellar. Apples grown on the ranch were stored in bins and some lasted until March.

Hogs were slaughtered in November, fourteen head and converted to sausage, ham, and bacon. They were smoked with green oak wood and mahogany in our own smokehouse. Casings for the sausage were made out of muslin about fourteen inches long and when filled were about three inches in diameter.

Very little beef was consumed. Primally it was a cash crop, no way of keeping it for more than three days. Purchases were limited to infrequent visits by the Rock Bros. and Joe E. Bruce with their traveling butcher shop.

Another minor source of cash income was a vehicle and stock scale. A small charge was made for each weighing.

There was an ice house on the ranch where blocks of ice sawn from eight inch thick ponds in the swamp were stored. The blocks about fifteen inches square were neatly stacked into a huge cube interstice were laced with snow to facilitate their removal. This ice was not used for drinking purposes but for making ice cream and emergency food cooling during the summer months. The huge cube was covered with a two-foot layer of sawdust on the sides and top.

A planting of blackberries and logan berries was another source of cash income. Logan berries were sold in five gallon cans at five dollars each. Another source was from the traveling freight wagons. The ranch was an overnight stop for the four and six horse freight wagons over the mountain using the toll road to Big Valley. Horses were barned and fed for twenty-five cents each and my grandmother charged a dollar for meals and lodging. This was her private preserve and did not enter into the general cash stream. The sight of the freight wagons approaching a mile away in the dust and the gradual intrusion of the pleasant sound of the bows of bells on each of the lead horses is as if it happened yesterday. The last of the freight lines was owned by Frank Gasaway.

There were no banks within a radius of sixty miles. The savings account was three hundred dollars in twenty dollar gold pieces in my grandmother's trunk.

Flour was obtained by hauling a wagon load of ranch grown wheat to the Creighton Flour Mill in Glenburn where it was exchanged for twenty fifty-pound sacks of flour plus other by-products such as bran and shorts, used for hog feed and a sack or two of wheat germ which was used as a staple breakfast food. A few of the sacks of flour would be sold to the Indian family in residence on the ranch at cost.

A family of Indians lived in a separate residence on the ranch. The head of the family worked on the ranch and was paid in cash. Advances of bacon, flour, coffee, and so forth were made and accounts were settled monthly. Their children went to our school and we played together. Theirs was a different culture, of course, but ours was adaptable to theirs and theirs to ours. The head of the family's name was Beiber Quinn. Here was a man who had never attended school, was scrupulously honest, a dependable worker, and an accomplished violinist. He and his two children played both the violin and guitar none could read music at that time. The children did go to school and learned to read and write. They had never been out of the Fall River Valley.

Perhaps I should dwell for a time on the Indian culture as it was in the valley sixty five years ago. Little has been put on record regarding this topic. Life was not easy for them. The transition from a lifestyle of open living to closed housing with poor ventilation took its toll. Consumption or tuberculosis was endemic. I recall that when an elderly Indian died his or her living quarters and possessions were put to the torch by other tribal members. Medical care was not readily available. There were members who surreptitiously practiced there own primitive cures which were used as a last resort. There were no aspirin available at that time. There were two doctors in residence in Fall River Mills at that time. They both made house calls but the Indians did not avail themselves of their services. The doctors were Dr. Pratt and Dr. Wheeler, and were both dedicated men.

I recall the tremendous Indian Fourth of July celebrations which were held in a clearing in the Pine Grove area, the land belonging to Charley Green who was an unofficial tribal leader of the Pit River Tribe. The celebration would start about July first and end about July tenth.

A dance floor was constructed. Sandwich stands where all kinds of soda pop, firecrackers, ice cream, etc., were available, were operated by whites. Indians from as far away as Alturas and Klamath Falls were very much in attendance. The dances were attended by both Indians and whites mostly locals.

The big attraction for the Indians was the gambling. There would be several "grass games" going all day. Blankets were spread, opposing sides were seated on the ground, usually three to four opposing each other about six feet apart. A board was placed on the ground directly in front of the opposing sides. The game, as I remember it, was to guess in which hand the bone with the black band (about 3/4 inches in diameter and about 1 1\2 inches long) reposed. Each game lasted about twenty minutes, with a group of at least ten women gathered around the contestants, chanting in time with the pounding on the board with short sticks. The chant sounded something like this "Hun-ne-ah, Hun-ne-ah, Hun-na-ah," slowly. While the chanting was in progress, the two bones wrapped in grass were passed to and from the contestants. Suddenly the chanting was stopped by a shout. The contestant who at that moment had possession of the bones, with ritualistic arm-waving would suddenly and ceremoniously fold his arms in front of him and would gaze into infinity without and expression. Silence for about one minute, then another shout and the contestant exactly opposite would point to the hand which he thought had the bone with the black band. If he guessed it, the winnings would be distributed evenly to the players on his side.

The "Big Joo-Iy" as it was called, was not very compatible with the local demand for field and haying hands at that particular time of year. It took precedence over any type of gainful employment.

There were many poor people during those times, but no one went hungry. The government had not yet gotten around to telling people they were poor.

Health problems were met head-on with home remedies. Liniments, poultices, rest in bed and all kinds of patent medicines were available for specific ills. Malaria was prevalent, particularly in the Pittville area. No one knew it was caused by the malarial mosquito. Grove's Chill Tonic was on every medicine sheif. Quinine was widely used. Many thought it was caused by vapors from Pit River.

All farm work was done with horses and mules. We had two saddle animals, one buggy horse, a matched team of mules for the surrey "with the fringe on top," and at least seven work horses. It took all the hay in one barn for the horses and work animals, and the hay in the other two barns was for the freight teams, milk cows, and stock cattle, There were usually eight milk cows from whose milk both butter and cheese was made. The butter was packaged in two pound rolls and sold for fifty cents each. Prices of other produce on the farm as of November 1907 were as follows:

• 100 pounds potatoes     $1.25
• 100 pounds onions          2.25
• 80 pounds apples            1.70
• 28 pounds dried apples   2.25
• 3 gallons apple butter      3.75

The McArthur Cheese Factory became operational and provided steady cash income. Milk was hauled daily to the plant, usually it was picked up by a neighbor and delivered for a small charge.

Telephone service in those days was by local cooperatives, usually not more than ten subscribers. Single tines with wall phones. A central switchboard was at the John Lamburth store in McArthur and at the M. D. Pratt residence in Fall River Mills. There was no direct long distance to the outside world. Ours was The Peoples Telephone Company. Annual switching assessment was six dollars per year.

We kept about fifty laying hens from which cash income was derived. Income was seasonal as was the laying season. A market glut was expected in the springtime. Eggs were traded for coffee, etc. at the local stores. The prices ranged from a low of ten cents per dozen to a high of fifty cents per dozen in the wintertime.

Time did not drag, for there were so many things a growing boy could do. Squirrel hunting in the summer, duck and goose hunting in the winter were important diversions from milking cows, hoeing weeds in the garden, thinning onions, picking berries, driving the cows to pasture, feeding chickens, carrying wood and dozens of minor chores.

The food was good, sourdough hotcakes or biscuits, with ham, bacon or sausage for breakfast. We were awakened every morning by the grinding of the ranch-roasted coffee beans in the wallhung coffee mill strategically located just under our upstairs bedroom.

Politics were the basis of general discussion which reached fever pitch at four-year intervals when county, state, and federal offices were sought. Events were discussed every day, either at the hot-stove league at the Pittville Store or at Press Fine's blacksmith shop. Although some of the news may have been a week old upon its arrival it was given the full treatment as though it had just happened that morning. I was always fascinated by the forthright political views of Len Moss and Press Fine. They had ready solutions for every problem, some of which were quite practical and far ahead of their time. The two major political parties were predominant with the Socialist party far out on one side. If the Socialists had only known!

I graduated from Fall River High School in 1921. From there I attended Heald's Business College in Sacramento and San Jose during the winter month of 1922 and 1923. My first job was as camp clerk for McCloud River Lumber Company at their main camp north of what is now Pondosa. From there a years employment in one of the large downtown Los Angeles hotels, then as a carpenter's helper for a San Francisco contractor, then to a four-year stint as office manager and estimator for a large contracting firm specializing in highway and dam construction. Married Marian Nevada Hicks in 1928, whom I met while on a dam construction job in Quincy, CA and she was manager of the local Western Union office. I spent thirteen years in a supervisory position for the California Division of Highways in the San Francisco Bay area, twelve years as owner and operator of the Totten Ranch near Pittville, during which time I served four years as an elected member of the Lassen County Board of Supervisors, also a one and a half year stint as a member of the Fall River Joint Unified School District's Board of Trustees. Three sons and two daughters were born to us: James, 2nd lieutenant in the United Stated Air Force, killed while training in a jet fighter plane; Mark, County Planning Director and Purchasing Agent, Susanville; John, professional real estate appraiser, Salem, OR.; Gail Totten Ashe, secretary to Intermountain Fair Manager, McArthur, CA; Sara Totten Musch, Irvine, CA, attending Saddleback Community College near Irvine, studying to become a registered nurse.

I sold the ranch in 1955 to Lem and Marjorie Earnest. Moved to Salem, OR where I worked for thirteen years as Right-of-Way Agent for Marion County. My wife, Marian attended business college in Salem. She worked for a short time as a real estate agent, and for ten years as an accountant for a wholesale electronics firm until our retirement in 1968.

Signed, Herbert R. Totten, June 1976

Jonathan Wells Diary, July 29 - August 7, 1850

Monday, July 29

Five miles from mornings camp we struck the river and again left it. Camped again where we could not get to the river. Got but little grass and that we were obliged to pack all about 40 rods in mud and water to our hips. We had made 25 miles.

Tuesday, July 30

We left camp at daybreak this morning. Drove 8 miles and stopped to cut hay for the desert. We were obliged to cross the river half a mile from where we could get with our teams and half as far from the river on the other side and back through water and mud to the road. We crossed the grass in a wagon box. The river is very high. Swimming deep.

Wednesday, July 31

We left camp today at 12:00 o'clock with our hay. Drove 15 miles and camped on a slough. Poor grass and bad water.

Thursday, August 1

We continued down the river course through the dry road, sandy and very dusty. Made about 20 miles.

Friday, August 2

The road has been much the same as yesterday. W struck the river at about 5 o'clock and camped. Made 18 miles. Crossed the river for grass.

Saturday, August 3

We left the river this morning and struck the bluffs for 15 miles, then came to a creek or slough with a number of springs. Water very good. Drove 22 miles.

Sunday, August 4

We drove 8 miles down the river and again cut grass for the 50 mile desert.

Monday, August 5

Lay in camp and dry our hay and rest the horses for a hard siege.

Tuesday, August 6

Drove 20 miles. No feed except what we had with us, or water and very salt. We camped on the last slough or water of the Humboldt River, in common seasons but we were told we had two more sloughs to cross.

Wednesday, August 7

We started early this morning and came to the slough spoken of. We found them very bad to cross, the water deep and a muddy bottom. Got our things wet. We baited our teams and started for Salmon River about 0ne o'clock P.M. We drove until six o'clock when we stopped for supper and to feed our horses. Started again at sundown. Drove till one o'clock and again feed until daybreak. Hitched up and drove till 8 o'clock A.M. Stopping for breakfast. We got to the river at about 1:00 P.M. Ourselves and horses almost worn out. Lay by the rest of the day.

 For some reason the journal ends here even though some very rough mountains (Sierra Nevada) had to be crossed. His reference to Salmon River was a stumper for me for a long time. I finally found an atlas containing maps from the 1850's. A map published in 1852 by C. D. Gibbs, Stockton, California answered my question.

The map shows a river draining into Pyramid Lake labeled Salmon Trout River. Jonathan must have left the Trout part off. This is the Truckee River now. Yesterday using Google Search I found out it had been named the Salmon Trout River in 1844 by Fremont and changed to the Truckee later by emigrants.

Jonathan Wells Diary, July 22 - July 28, 1850

Monday, July 22

Made an early start this morning, our horses feeling in good condition. Followed down the river. Road good except clouds of dust. Passed two graves the corpses of which were shot by Indians. Camped on the banks of the river. 25 miles from starting place.

Tuesday, July 23

Our travel still continued down the river until noon, when we left the river bottom ans ascended a high mountainous road, very rough the rest of the way. Came to a small creek and camped. 23 miles drive today.

Wednesday, July 24

Four miles from our morning camp we came in sight of the river again then struggled up. Two miles farther on we came to a good creek of cold water. Then we again took the mountains for eighteen miles up and down. Some of the way very stony, no grass and but little water. We struck the Humboldt again and camped on its banks. We have driven 24 miles. Provisions are getting mighty scarce with the emigrants. It commands almost any price one is a mind to ask. Meat and flour from 50 cents to a dollar a pound.

Thursday, July 25

Started very early. We took the bluffs. Some of the teams crossed the river. About noon we struck the river again. Followed the river and camped back five miles from it. Dug wells for water. Poor grass. Drove 22 miles.

Friday, July 26

Made but one drive today. Sixteen miles. Passed some warm springs. Road very dusty. Camped on the fork of the river. Grass good.

Saturday, July 27

Today we struck the river about noon. And passed quite a number of warm springs. Left the river again. The road very heavy and clouds of dust. Camped on a slough. Cut grass one mile up and brought it in for our horses. Drove 26 miles.

Sunday, July 28

Made a drive today of 8 miles. Camped where the grass was very good. No water but slough.

Jonathan Wells Diary, July 14 - July 21, 1850

Monday, July 15

Made 20 miles today. Crossed 3 creeks. Camped on the bank of the third. Grass good. Killed two ducks. Had a pot-pie for supper. Plenty of wild yellow currents on the bank of the creek made excellent sauce.

Tuesday, July 16

Today's travels have been over rough high mountains. For five miles this morning we ascended one mountain. Some of the way very steep, the balance of the way very crooked and winding. One way among the mountains. Camped tonight on Goose Creek. 25 miles driven today. Fed in the company of the Hoveys. They came Subletts Cut Off (spelled Sutetetts in the diary).

Wednesday, July 17

Followed up Goose Creek for 12 miles, thence took a branch of the same into a deep narrow canyon in the mountains for two miles, then over barren mountains for 15 miles, destitute of feed and water into Thousand Spring Valley. Camped where the grass was very poor. Drove 30 miles.

Thursday, July 18

Followed the same valley for 22 miles and camped by a clear cold spring of water. About 40 rods are a number of warm springs, forming quite a brook.

Friday, July 19

We left camp at an early hour this morning. Four miles up a small creek, crossed a mountain, three miles into another valley. Came to a spring of alkali water. All of our horses got poisoned. We gave them vinegar and lard. That cured them. Still it puts them back very much. We drove 24 miles.

Saturday, July 20

We drove only 7 miles, our horses being in bad condition to travel after last nights sickness from their poison. We have good water today.

Sunday, July 21

Drove 8 miles this morning. Grossed the north branch of the Humboldt River four miles from the starting point. Camped to the stream at a good grassy place and lay over the rest of the day.

Jonathan Wells Diary, July 1 - July 14

Monday, July 1

Our road still lay between high mountains, following a small creek, and crossing it every little way. Very bad to cross. Made 22 miles.

Tuesday, July 2

Still followed the same stream till three miles after dinner came to Weeker River. Paid three dollars for our wagons and forded our horses. Made 25 miles in one day.

Wednesday, July 3

Made 23 miles crossing one creek 13 times. Very bad to cross. After leaving the creek about 11:00 o'clock we took another small creek and followed it four miles., all the way up a mountain. Some of the time in the bed of the creek over hard heads, at others crossing it often, making it hard dangerous traveling.

Thursday, July 4, Independence Day

Drove 15 miles which brought us to Salt Lake City. Road very bad. Some of us heard an oration delivered in the afternoon by the head Mormon in this place. We had an Independence Supper this evening.

Friday, July 5

We left this morning. Drove 16 miles. Passed one hot spring 4 miles from town. After that a number of springs and brooks. Good water. Here we lay until Tuesday. Traded away two of our horses. Bought one fat sheep at six dollars.

Tuesday, July 9

Made 21 miles. Crossed the Weber River. Ferried our wagons at three and one half dollars each. Forded our horses and camped on the banks of the river. Good grass.

Wednesday, July 10

Good roads today. Plenty of good water. Passed a number of springs. Drove 22 miles. Camped on the bank of a cold stream of good water.

Thursday, July 11

Made 22 miles to first rate road. Crossed a number of springs and creeks. Ferried the Bear River. Paid five dollars and swam our horses. Two miles from the river we crossed Mud Creek. Paid one dollar at a toll bridge. Good grass and no wood.

Friday, July 12

Drove 32 miles today. No grass. Water scarce. Good roads. Camped on the side of a mountain.

I don't know what happened to Saturday, July 13.

Sunday, July 14

Drove 10 miles today on account of feed and water camped on a small stream. Good grass. Some Indians.

Jonathan Wells Diary, June 23 - June 30

Sunday, June 23

As we were camped in a bad place for grass we thought we would drive a part of the day. We drove 18 miles and camped on a branch of the Sweetwater. Took our horses two miles to grass. There lies a snow bank a few roads from our camp. 30 rods long and from 4 to 6 ft. deep. Comfortably warm. Nights cold.

Monday, June 24

Continental Divide

Made 21 miles today. Seven miles from mornings camp we again crossed the Sweetwater for the last time. Ten miles farther on we came to the summit or dividing ridge of the Rocky Mountains. Camped 3 miles from this on the Spring Creek. Grass 3 miles off. Heavy thunder storm.

Tuesday, June 25

Drove 24 miles today. First rate road. Seven miles from our camp we came to where the Salt Lake road leaves the Oregon Road. We took the Salt Lake Road. Camped tonight on the banks of the Little Sandy Creek. Grass poor. Plenty of sage for wood.

Wednesday, June 26

Made 27 miles today. Road good. 17 miles from morning camp crossed Big Sandy Creek. Struck it again at 6:00 o'clock and camped.

Thursday, June 27

Drove 6 miles and came to Green River. Too high to ford. Paid 5 dollars for each of our wagons and one dollar a head for our horses. Hitched up and drove 20 miles before we came to water. Camped on a stream.

Fort Bridger

Friday, June 28

Made a long drive today. 30 miles. Good roads. Camped near Fort Bridger.

Saturday, June 29

Drove 10 miles today. Road very rough. I was too unwell to sit up. My complaint was mountain fever. It takes a person very suddenly. Severe pain from head to foot.

Sunday, June 30

Drove all day over a very rough road. Up and down mountains. Very stony. I thought it would take my life. Made 23 miles.

Jonathan Wells Diary, June 10 - June 23, 1850

Monday, June 10

Left camp today at 2:00 o'clock, on the north side of the Platte. A new road. Drove 8 miles and camped.

Tuesday, June 11

Started this morning into the bluffs road. New and rough, up and down, round mountains and over them.. Grass and wood. Water rather scarce. Made 20 miles and camped.

Wednesday, June 12

Made 20 miles today. Roads rather better than yesterday. One man shot an antelope, which is excellent meat in this desert land.

Thursday, June 13

Lay in camp this morning til noon. Made 12 miles over high bluffs. Crooked roads. Camped on creek. Good grass. Poor water.

Friday, June 14

Made 20 miles today. Road better than the day before. Mostly on the bank of the river. Poor grass. Plenty wood.

Saturday, June 15

18 miles today. Some of the way over high bluffs. Some deep dry creeks. Very sandy. Camped on the bank of the Upper Platte. Poor grass. No wood.

Sunday, June 16

We hitched up this morning on account of it's being poor grass. Drove 3 miles to a pleasant spot of green timber, on the bank of the Platte River, where men from the other side were crossing over. The river is high and bad crossing. We consider ourselves very fortunate that we started on the north side. I have been washing today, and skinned my fingers. Sunday is a busy day with us, although we do not drive. Washing and baking all through the camp. It seem to be very necessary to do this kind of work.

Monday, June 17

This morning we started at 4:00 o'clock. Made 24 miles over very sandy bluffs. Then on the river bottom. Camped tonight on the bank of the Platte River. Heavy traveling. Grass poor.

Tuesday, June 18

Made 36 miles today. Three miles form mornings camp we came to the upper ferry and ford on the Platte River. Thence 17 miles over barren sandy country to an alkali lake, where we took our dinner. Sixteen miles passing willow creek and spring [sic]. Took in water and drove three miles to a muddy slough, where we camped. Little grass. Some of our horses were taken sick. We suppose from drinking alkali water. We went to doctoring them and they soon got better. Some of our horses died. A light fall of snow this morning.

 

Independence Rock

Wednesday, June 19

Last night was very cold. Ice a quarter of an inch thick on our pail. 17 miles brought us to Independence Rock. Country still barren. One mile from this we forded the Sweetwater River. (8 rods wide 2 ft. deep) Five miles farther we camped on the same river near the Devil Gate. The rocks are said to be 400 ft. high The river passes between the rocks. 23 miles today. Grass still poor.

Devils Gate

Thursday, June 20

We lay in camp this morning until ten o'clock after two days hard drivin [sic] with but little grass. Drove 11 miles. The Sweetwater and mountains on our right, and a chain of the Rocky Mountains on our left. Snow plain to be seen on the north side, Still the days are quite warm.

Friday, June 21

Made 22 miles today. Road very sandy. Crossed the Sweetwater three times and camped on its banks. Grass short. This is a barren country indeed. No wood except now and then we get a dry cedar from the mountains.

Saturday, June 22

Made 27 miles today. Some good roads. Some very sandy. Crossed the Sweetwater four times. Took our horses two miles to grass, as the river bottoms are mostly alkali. We have seen a number of dead oxen today.

Sunday, June 23

As we were camped in a bad place for grass we thought we would drive a part of the day. We drove 18 miles and camped on a branch of the Sweetwater. Took our horses two miles to grass. There lies a snow bank a few roads from our camp. 30 rods long and from 4 to 6 ft. deep. Comfortably warm. Nights cold.