San Luis Obispo County History Transcribed by Peggy Hooper This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter. All persons donating to this site retain the rights to their own work. Source: A Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura, California by Yda Addis Storke Published in 1891 in Chicago by the Lewis Publishing Co. CREEKS. Southeastward from the old Mission of San Miguel, the valley of the Estrella Creek stretches toward the mountains dividing San Luis from Kern County. This large tract until very recently was unoccupied and useless, save as grazing ground for a few cattle and sheep. Up to the '70's it was regarded as a portion of some Mexican grant; then the discovery was made that this was Government land, open to settlement, and, while bare in appearance, of great fertility of soil, and well adapted to agriculture. Thus a rapid immigration set in, settlements were made, schoolhouses built, and a vast change effected. Good crops were had in 1876 and 1878, and by 1880 at least forty families had settled upon this wide and fertile tract. In 1887 the total acreage in wheat and barley, from Santa Margarita on the south to San Miguel on the north, and from Paso de Robles to Sheid's, was 8,625 acres, of which thirteen-sixteenths was wheat. The land here is a rich, sandy loam, sparsely covered with nutritious grasses, and with live-oak and white-oak trees scattered at intervals. Water is had at an average depth of thirty feet. Las Tablas Creek rises in the hills near the Hot Springs and flows northwesterly into the Nacimiento. The fertile tract along its valley supports a quite considerable population, chiefly engaged in grazing and fanning. This region is somewhat elevated, its soil mostly a black adobe, very fruitful, and its grazing facilities excellent. Mining, too, has helped the various settlements in this district, as several important quicksilver mines have been located and worked hereabouts. Adelaide is the postoffice for this region, and the postal facilities are well maintained. In schools and churches, also, Las Tablas has taken an advanced position. Between the Salinas and the Estrella are the ranches Santa Ysabel, Huer-Huero, and Eureka, aggregating about 70,000 acres. The Santa Ysabel consists of 20,200 acres, adjoining the Rancho Paso de Robles at the northeast. For ten miles the Southern Pacific Railway runs along and within one-fourth mile of its boundary. It is covered with white and live-oak timber, although less thickly than the Paso de Robles. There are, substantially, 16,000 acres of plow land, the rest fruit and grazing land. The soil is rich and deep, and will produce wheat of the finest, barley, oats, corn, all fruits and vines, and olives. Wine and raisin-making will, no doubt, be important industries of this section. On this rancho are twenty miles of running water, besides numerous living springs. Well water is had at ten to forty feet deep. The Huer-Huero adjoins the Santa Ysabel and the Eureka on the east. It comprises 8,000 acres of valley, 23,000 acres of level and rolling farming lands, and 15,000 acres of hill grazing lands. In two years, 34,000 acres were sold to settlers, mostly of wealth and position, and the region is thickly settled. Wheat, olives, fruit and vines have been planted. About 12,000 acres of this rancho are still unsold. The Eureka Rancho adjoins Santa Ysabel on the south, and Paso de Robles on the east, comprising about 11,000 acres, of which some 9,500 acres are plow land, and 1,500 grazing. This rancho has a rich, deep soil, and is well watered, and wooded with white and live oak. These three ranchos last-named were purchased two or three years since by the West Coast Land Company, and have been subdivided and put upon the market by this company, which already has founded the promising town of Templeton, and settled up a great deal of country hitherto unoccupied. In the extreme northeastern part of the county is the great Cholame Rancho, com- prising 26,622 acres, long the property of Messrs. R. E. Jack and Frederick Adams, who have used it mainly as a sheep range. It is similar in its features to the region just described, and is a valuable property. It extends over the boundary line into Monterey County. As an evidence of progress, the development of the Huer-Huero may be cited. This tract of land, comprising about 48,000 acres, was regarded as an exhausted sheep range, and less than four years ago was sold at $3 an acre. Mr. J. V. Webster, an experienced horticulturist of Alameda County, purchased a large area and soon commenced its cultiva- tion. At the county fair, in the middle of October, 1888, he exhibited from the land grapes of the most choice varieties in large bunches. Also fig and peach trees of six feet growth in the last six months; samples of amber sugar cane, yielding at the rate of 144,000 pounds per acre, and sorghum at the rate of 175,000 pounds per acre. Ho also exhibited hops of exceedingly thrifty and rich growth, flax of good quality, melons, squashes and a great variety of products grown without irrigation, but with good cultivation. This detail could be carried on to a tedious extent, and is only introduced to illustrate what can be done on lands called a desert, simply because it was the stupid custom to follow the expression of some very stupid man. In this region is the little village of Creston with two stores, hotel, school, postoffice, shops, saloons, and residences, with many thrifty farms in the vicinity, all where four years since existed only a wilderness.