The Squatter Era

In 1859, long before the Badilla brothers or J. S. Phillips arrived on the scene, that northern section of Covina that today lies between San Bernardino Road and Arrow Highway began being settled by enterprising American and immigrant pioneers. Featured in this article is a recently discovered telling of those settlers' story that was written in 1887, when all the events described were still in the living memory of those who witnessed them.

The land which was the subject of this newfound contemporary account was originally part of Henry ("Don Enrique") Dalton's Rancho Azusa, which the Englishman had purchased from Don Luis Arenas in 1844. At that time, Dalton's ranch encompassed most of the land east of the San Gabriel River and south from the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains to the old San Bernardino stage road.

Rancho Azusa de Dalton originally extended south to the northern boundary of Rancho La Puente. Selected section and quarter-section roads of today are labeled for reference.
Source: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records. (Click on the image to view an enlargement.)

As the article below will recount, in 1858 the U. S. Government ordered a new survey of Dalton's holdings, the result of which was the invalidation of Rancho Azusa's southern and eastern boundaries. Surveyor Henry Hancock drew a new southern line for Dalton's rancho (today's Gladstone Street), thus creating 2,428.25^* acres of new public land that thereupon became available for preemption, and later, homesteading.

While Pflueger (1964) gave an admirably thorough account of Covina's squatter era, this article from the January 23, 1887, edition of the Los Angeles Times^** tells the story from a unique perspective I haven't seen in print before.

The Azusa.

THE UPPER SAN GABRIEL VALLEY AND ITS PIONEERS.

The Difficulties They Had to Contend Against—The Rapid Recent Growth—Present Status and Future Prospects.

The intention of this brief sketch is to show the outside world what hardships and vicissitudes the Upper San Gabriel Valley (generally known as the Azusa, called after the name of the Dalton grant) has passed through to gain its present standing among the lovely sections of Southern California. To give a complete history, recounting the long, tedious land trials, following them through all their windings, would make a continued article, which would take months to publish. This sketch, therefore, will be simply a synopsis of the valley's history, cut comprehensive enough to answer the question so often asked, viz: "Why is the Azusa, an old settled place, so far behind other newer places in the matter of improvement, when the soil and climate are so perfect, and the water is so abundant?"

Positive dates are hard to obtain, but the dates in this brief history are as near correct as can be obtained now, and will answer the purpose set forth in the head line as well as though the days and months were given.

In the year 1858 the U. S. Surveyor-General ordered a survey of this section, which was finished some time during the year by H. Hancock, and in 1859 a few settled upon the land adjoining the Azusa grant. In 1860 additional settlers came in and took up land and began to clear their holdings of the cactus and brush which covered nearly the entire valley. These few settlers, poor in pocket, did not alarm the grant owner much, for it looked like an impossibility for a white man to make the "worthless" cactus lands "bear fruit" enough to maintain these bold pioneers and their families, but Dalton "reckoned without his host," for after the land had been cleared and planted it brought forth crops of corn, potatoes and vegetables even beyond the most sanguine expectations of those interested.

Hancock's survey significantly altered the territories of both Rancho Azusa de Dalton and Rancho San José Adición.
Reproduced courtesy of the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA. Link to full-res image.

From the year 1859 to 1864 the few who had the hardihood to "squat" on lands claimed by the grant labored zealously upon their claims, clearing away the cactus, grubbing out the brush, building shelters—though meager they were—for their families, and constructing ditches through the wilderness of vegetation to their little clearings. The eyes of the grant owner were upon this small settlement, and although he at first considered the subject lightly, as the land taken by the settlers was not good grazing land, and to him almost worthless; but now it was known that the cactus lands of the valley were of the richest quality, and would produce abundantly at any season of the year.

Up to the year 1864 thirteen families had settled in the valley, and more were coming. This fact caused Mr. Henry Dalton, by the advice of lawyers, to commence an action which financially ruined him, and was probably the immediate cause of his death. The settlers were ordered off their claims, and when they refused to go, Mr. Dalton commenced suit to have them removed by law. The spirit of the suit was that the Azusa was a part of the San José addition, and joined the San José on the west; therefore, no vacant or government land could exist between the two grants, the titles of which had never been disputed. This suit was duly inaugurated, and the settlers saw that they must organize to protect themselves. After consultation it was decided to make a fight for their rights. This would necessitate the hiring of a lawyer, and the lawyer's fees must be raised, besides money for other expenses. These hardy pioneers were in a dilemma, but like the pioneers of every age in the settlement of this great America, they were equal to the occasion. They drew up an article of agreement, organizing as a body to make the fight as one man, sharing equally the burden of expense. The following names are found attached to the document, and they are known as the "immortal thirteen": John Tate, Henry C. Roberts, Jesse Justice, Newton Dutcher, Perry Malone, John Casey, J. N. Smith, James Taggart, Sam Hickman, W. W. Maxey, John Dodson, Perry Justice and William de Shields.^*** This organization answered the complaint of Dalton, and in the Superior Court the grant claims were defeated. This joyful news spread like fire through the country, and the small band were rapidly reëforced. The suit was carried to a higher tribunal, and against the settlers gained the suit, and it was finally carried to the Secretary of the Interior. During the years this suit was in progress the settlers were laboring hard to keep their families supplied with the necessities of life, and the lawyer's fees paid. To do this every available foot of land was planted to that class of products from which ready money could be realized. Little attention was paid to experimenting upon fruits, for really they had no time to waste upon experiments of any kind, and as to building more comfortable residences, or beautifying their surroundings with trees and shrubbery, that was entirely out of the question. War had been inaugurated, and there were but two propositions apparent: To surrender unconditionally to the avarice of the grant owner, or continue to work early and late for means to keep the suit going.

"A friend in need is a friend indeed," is an old motto, and to these heavily taxed settlers came a friend whose name is revered by the remaining few who fought the valley's first battles for a right to their homes. This friend was George W. Julien—a man who had a heart that was true, and who, seeing the straightened circumstances of the settlers, and realizing the hardships through which they were passing, offered his services to the cause against the grant, and carried the suit to a successful ending before the Secretary of the Interior, standing and pleading their cause for three days. This work of George W. Julien was thorough in every detail, and resulted in a victory for the settlers, and although tendered fees by the poor but appreciative "land league," he refused to accept the proffered money, telling them they needed it more than he did. Such magnanimous large-heartedness as this is not often shown by that class of professionals who make their fortune by fees.

When the case had been decided by the highest tribunal in our government, Dalton's lawyers commenced another suit by filing a petition in the U. S. Land Office to purchase all the government land between the San Dimas and San Gabriel cañons. This was in conformity with an act which passed Congress, giving a grant owner the right to purchase land declared to be government land, but which was honestly believed by such owner to be part of the land claimed by the grant. This dodge was beaten, and again the settlers were made happy by an order from the Land Office to file upon their claims. This last decision threw open for settlement several thousand acres of land in one of the richest sections of this great State, but in that early day little was known of the real excellence of the soil and climate, further than had been tested in the matter of roots and cereals, crops which could be planted and harvested in one season.

The settlement grew more rapidly from the date of the last decision, but the settlers were still poor, it having taken all the money they could rake and scrape to put the suit through, and like a wasted and tired army after a hard campaign, it took some time for them to recuperate and get into good working order.

About the time that fortune began to smile upon their labors the Southern Pacific Railroad Company stepped in and claimed every odd section by virtue of the grant given them by Congress for the building of their road. This threw the settlers into a costly suit again, but it was decided again in favor of the tillers of the soil, and they were once more made happy.

There was still one more obstacle in the way, and that was the undisputed right to water. A suit was inaugurated by the grant owners enjoining the settlers from taking water from the river. Without water the settlers would have to leave the valley; but they had entered into a compact with Mr. Dalton—who, by the way, was not a hard man when his lawyers were not around—in 1868, the substance of which was to the effect that the settlers build a ditch and keep it in repair, from which he (Dalton) had the privilege of taking water and they could use what water they required for domestic and irrigating purposes. In this compact Dalton was perfectly safe, for if he won the land suit, the water and ditches would fall to him, and if he lost it, he would have no use for the water used by the settlers. So Mr. Dalton dedicated the ditch to the use of the settlers, and this virtually decided the last and final contest between the grant and the settlers, and in the compromise the grant was given seven twenty-fourths of the water, the settlers taking the rest. The ditch was enlarged to a fifteen-hundred capacity, and the water flowed into the settlement undisturbed.

This brings us down into the eighties. The smoke of the battle had cleared away and the pioneers were in possession of their titles. All the old animosity toward the grant was buried and the settlers commenced to make improvements in many ways. Orchards of the hardier fruits and vineyards were planted, and as the clearings yielded returns for their labor, the settlers added to their surroundings. Walnut groves, orange, peach and apple orchards sprang into existence in all parts of the settlement, and the rich soil and equitable climate, gave the trees such vigorous growth and the fruit such rich flavor, that the general verdict was that this section was peculiarly adapted to the culture of fine fruits, more especially the citrus family.

From the date of 1880-81 commenced the real development of the valley's resources. The settlers had no longer to fight the grant and railroad corporation, and their attention was almost wholly given to planting fruit and the development of their water supply, thereby laying the foundation of the valley's future greatness.

During the past six years orange orchards of noted budded varieties, comprising the Washington Navel, Mediterranean Sweet, Paper Rind, Malta Blood and St. Michael, and of lemons, the Eureka and Lisbon, have been cultivated, and many of them are now in partial bearing, and for young trees they produce as large, fine, clean fruit, of as delicate flavor as can be found in any part of the Union.

After reading the history of the valley, even in as brief a form as the above, who can help but see clearly portrayed the answer to the question concerning the tardiness of our progression? True, the valley has been settled for over twenty years, but for many years the men who first brought to the public notice the richness of the soil, the mild, even climate and the abundant water supply, were involved in expensive lawsuits, not knowing whether they would own the land or not. Had their financial resources been such that they could put up fine buildings, and could have dedicated a part of their clearings to the orange culture, it would not have been wise, under the circumstances, to have done so, for it they should have been defeated in the suit, their improvements would have been a waste of both time and money. The cultivation of potatoes and grain was the only sure road to success, and the early settlers showed wisdom in those troublous days in growing that line of products.

But now those days are gone. The valley has girded on her robes of prosperity, and the whole face of this beautiful section is fast changing from the desert waste and vast gain fields, by the magic touch of the goddess, Pomona, to a garden of beauty. Young orange orchards, with their dark, green foliage, are taking place of the rank growth of vegitation [sic] and cactus. Beautiful residences are springing into existence on the sites formerly occupied by the shelters built by the pioneers in those days when their "souls were tried." Handsome shade and ornamental trees surrounded by myriads of beautiful, odoriferous flowers, now decorate the homes of the settlers of today.

The change has been great, and none but those who have passed through the whole of the varied changes, from 1860 to the present, can realize how wonderful the transformation has been, and none should rejoice more than those same valiant, hardy pioneers to whom we owe our present perfected titles to both land and water.

Notes:

^* Estimate meticulously calculated by Yours Truly from Bureau of Land Management plat maps.
^** Reprinted from the San Gabriel Valley Exponent, n.d., and thus likely authored by the paper's editor, Mr. J. S. Eckles.
^*** The Tates, Caseys and Justices were the first white families to settle on Dalton's land, according to Mrs. William De Shields (Covina Argus, November 7, 1930.)