George Gilbert starts the first refinery in Southern California in Ojai. He converts ground seepage oil into kerosene. Diseases rage as a result of stagnant water from the floods. Early year floods provoke an outcry that the city take responsibility for the water supply. In Summer, a major drought wipes out crops, kills an estimated 2,000,000 cattle and creates a full scale depression.
Land prices tumble.
The major ranches close and are broken up into squatted lands. Pro Confederacy merchants refuse to accept U.S. money. Moderate Earthquakes occur in San Diego and Santa Barbara. Railroad magnate Leland Stanford becomes Governor of California. The already tiny Tongva and Chumash tribes of the L.A. basin are exterminated to a handful of survivors by a Smallpox epidemic.