Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1874-07-02
CALIFORNIA CORRESPONDENCE
AMONG THE CoLoxIsrs. Los Angeles l
County, Cal, April l6. 1874.

Leaving Anaheim in search Of further
information. my frst TIP brought me to
region Of country laying little to the
southwest known as Westminster Colony.
Some four years ago Reverend l.. 2.
Webber. a Presbyterian clergyman. form
erly of Salem county. New Jersey. sccur-
ed some Z 1000 acres Of the lands of l.. A.
& S. b. Company as the site of colony OF
agricul,uri.ts. He reserved to himself.
as understood it, the right Of imposing
certain restrictions upon the man ufacture
Of wine or the distillatinn of spirits upon
the lands of the colony. as also the priv
ilcse Of deciding who should and who
should not become purchasers of any por-
ton Of the lands. l did not find Mr..
Webber. to whom would naturally look
for exact information in the premises at
home. aud therefore am compelled to deal
in gencralitics, for | found it extremely
difficult to obtain statistics in that part Of
the country was credibly informed,
however, that only about 1000 acres re-
main unsold out Of the 1000. Parties
were siuking an artcsan well upon Mr..
Webher's premises at the time Of my vis-
it. They informed me that there were
abou. forty (40) wells in the colony. ram
ging in depth. from 65 to 225 feet; that
the flow from four of these wells is suffi-
cicu. to irrigate l6O acres each, and that
the average fow is sufficient to irrigate
from forty to sixty acres each. The lands
of the colony are Of the very FIRST order as
regards fertility aud adaptability to the
production Of grain, roots. grasses. etc (.
as we'll as the harder fruits. Experiments
arc being made with the semi-tropical
fruits, but the result cannot be known
for some time yet. A neat aud commo-
dious school house stands in the centre
OF The town plat aud is also used for pur-
poses Of divine worship on the Sabbath.
1t cost about 81 500 aud speaks we'll for
tho character Of the colony. A good
school house is the best advertisement q
new settlement can have. West minister is
only the pioneer Of doson similar colonies
which are yet to spring up on the west side
Of the Santa Ana. Returning to Ana
helm. partook Of good dinner at the
Planters hotel. (Higby aud Lafoucherie
know how to get one up) and retired
carly. The next morning started for
Richland. The gentleman who drove
the buggy team managed. BY accident. to
miss the ford and get into the quicksands
Of the Santa Ana river. At my request
he returned to town. and as luck would
have it. was offered scat in the spring
wagon of my friend Campbell. who can
sell more sewing machines than any msc
ever saw. He headed straight for the
old Rodrigues crossing aud We were soon
in Richiand There is no mistake about
the nomenclature in this case. A pret-
tier valley does not lay out of doors. 1t
seemed. however. as if everybody who
could give US any information was away
from home. Bu. word or two about
the valley. Seen from the crossing Of
Santa Ara river. it rises gently to the
foothills four or Eve miles distant dotted
here and there with farm houses Of far
more than ordinary preteusions as regards
architecture and finish. cannot say
that like the prevailing brown. which
seems to have been chosen as the proper
coiorca PAINT White would have formed a
. muCu pIettitF CuUtFast ktc
frame in which the picture is set. We drove
to the store, which is in the centre ofthe
settlement. hoping to be able to obtain fen
items. but the proprietor was absent with
party engaged in determining the route
Of an acequia sixteen miles long which is
to bring water to this aud the adjoining
settlement Of Santa Ana, Tustin City, etc.
l met \ gentleman near by. however, Who
seemed fully competen. to tell me all
wanted to know. and made known to him
my mission and my desires in the premi-
ses. To all of wk!eh he replied. II have
been here bu, little over year mind
my oxn business and don't concern NY
self about my neishboss'. This was not
very encouraging. nevertheless l could
not help thinking what treasure such .
man woald be in some communities. How
pc,en,ly the force Of his example would
operate in ksseuiaS the xmsun, Of