New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-05-30
CALIFORNIA COLONY LIFE.
vrATuREs Or ANAHEIM. THE PloNEEh
ENTERPRISE.

s,xr, ANA ORANGE, ONTASro AND oTHE
COLONIES.
svvou An ocC .sIo>AL CORRESPONDENT OF THE rRibuSS'
rs ,xcrrrs. Cal. May 1s.-To the colony sys-
..m Southern California mainly owes its phehoie-
,sl growth during the last fifteen years NO other
-o.bol vould have been able 10 convert the dry
.rd dusty plaius. which had been given up IN sue
-, hv the catte-rancher and the wheat
-ro,ver into orange groves. vineyards and dehsht-
T., se,,i-tropcal homes For generations TINS
sorthcrn country had been held by the native Caii-
forpians Of whom the elder Dana gave so good
rictnre in his Two Years Before the Mast Dana
Y;a,,,l..ed fine race somew hat. as any New-Eng-
lander is apt 10 misiudge 1t to-day but IN the main
his sketch of the lie and methods employed on
+heae GREAT eattle-ranches held good until Io'u.
The ranch houses were miles apart thousands OF
acrcs were required for range for the cattle no
grain or fruit WAS ra sed except for home consump
tion: the ART Of irrigation was unknown except Oh
tho old missions where the pious padres demo"-
s.rate1 what coull be done with plenty OF wafer
but seemed to find no converts 10 their theories
With the discovery of gold came a great rush Vi
immigrants from all quarters of the elooe' Los
Augelos was on the Southern overland roau anu
ea a rest No place for those who had spent
v,arv weeks on the Santa Re trdli. INC
Ger food for the great number OF newcomers HUM
H. into tbe mines led TO an increase in grain-grow-
i-yf in Los Angeles ana DelEuboiiub N'"ii'AN'' So
old Spanish American rancheros sold out IN llsgust
a. nrices ranging from % cents TO 81 an acre Tor
Io,1 which they fanced was worthless. as 1t had
e.eed 70 produce the od-time crop of luxurlant
s-ass for their herds. The new generation OF
farmers turned over the rich soil. dark and rch
o. the Dakota prairie and began to grow wheaV
IN n large scale. The wheat era lasted about nj
teen wears Then constant cropping OF the same
cround without rest or rotation, produced its
natural effects and the wheat growers began TO
rre llet the dismal failure of the country.
The pioneers IN tie new era of fruit culture were
the founders of Anaheim. the first colony e>tab-
IsreI in Southern California. To these men, who
wore mainly German artisans Of San Francisco who
loneed 10 have homes of their own, belongs the
credit Of having devised he colony system and
proved that il was practicable As far back as 1898
nearly thirty years ago they joined hands LOT the
nurchqse of n tract of land about twenty miles from
los Angeles. with the purpose OF bringing water
mon II and growing grapes The committee chosen
a. select the land bought portion OF great span
ish ranch hch was Overgrown with cactus ana
vas REGARDED by all the old residents of the country
a. harren ana worthless. The cactus cleared
of. bitches were dug from the neighborlng river
tbo lands were surveyed and divided into twenty
are nlots and planted to vines. The colonsts did
not commit the folly of giving up their business in
the city. They waited three years until the vines
were in good bearing. Then they moved to Ana
helm with Their tamil es and established the homes
which nave rema ned almost unchanged 10 tins
dav. In many cases the original settlers. although
they have grown wealthy from the sale OF wine
have never rebuilt The old, One-story houses still
rernain As mementoes Of the period Of struggle
This conservatism on the part Of the settlers OF
Anaheim stood them in good stead in the early
DAYS for less phleCmatc people would probably
have become discouraged. May experiments
were tred before the proper methods OF culture
wore learned. The land was far from rich and II
demanded an enormous quantity of water but ali
djficulties were finally overcome and the colony
became the wonder of the southern country. III
was 40 far removed from Los Angeles that II was
forced to become a small indepen lent province ami
govern itself No better example OF the fruits OF
co-operation can be found in this country than IS
furnished by the experience Of these coioniStS
While each settler was independent ana MS success
or failure depended upon his individual efforts the
community was firmly united by the cooperative
principle. Everything secured at the lowest
price: no mlddlemen waXed fat on the pronts OF
exhange: the leading colonsts gave their time
and attention freely for the general welfare every
one shared in the experiments made by the wealth
fer vitculturists IL such community tniht
was Sure 10 lead to fortune. 1t is the boast OF
Anaheim that none Of the early settlers Jailed TO
nav for his home and that mortgage was ever
placed on any of these tracts.
Auaheim to-day cannot compare with is Younger
rivals in beauty or picturesqueneSs The very
Qualities which made its founders successful have
aided TO reta1d its full development. Although the
Mission fathers had shown that all kinds OF fruit
would flourish in this southern country if they
were given plenty If water the ALahem coOnists
limited themsf Ives to grapes When the great de-
veloprent of the orange industry occurred. they
were found 10th to embark IN the new venture.
Hence we have the curious anomaly OF the Oldest
colony in the county producing less oranges than
one which was founded only ten years ago. In fact
the conservative people of Anaheim, when the
great rush settlers came into their valley about
fifteen years ago. feared that the fruit business
woud be overdone and dissuaded newcomers from
buviug The result that the other settlements
pro6ted by their short-sig htedness and gained ell
terprisiug citizens who would have been of great
value 10 Anaheim. Now they are as eager to wei
come new settlers as their neighbors are Fully
one half of the colony is now occupied by Americans
and one entire district. North Anahem. IS settled
by the newcomers VINO have built handsome houses
and laid out the grounds with ornamental trees anC
flowers
Riverside was the second COLONY established IL
Southern California. 1t was planted in san Bernar
dino County on a stretch OF mesa land, so barren
and forbddng in appearance that all the olo
residents OF the ne hborng towns precteu lts lnil
ure The land was "A heavy black loan. water wa
obtained from the ne ghboring river, and vineyard
orange groves and orchards were set out IN
original cOlonists obtained their land, With per2et
ual waterright for from $40 to -" an acre. "a
s. 600 an acre. they have earned the enornou
advance Oranges did not seem to flourish ven az
first. while the almond. which was eAtehslve-
PLANTED was found to be a dead failure as the yOun
frnt would not stick on the tree. They were Gu
down and converted into kindling wood, which cos
$500 cord Then the wine ana ralsin grape
which were planted were found unprontaDle / OIL
some reason the raisias could not be cured well an
several settlers "a disgust dug up their vines ne.
Nil now that they had been less hasty as tn