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    Turlock
    Turlock
    Turlock
    Ebook183 pages59 minutes

    Turlock

    By Kristen Santos, Phyllis Soderstrom, Thea Sonntag Harris and Monica Harris

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    About this ebook

    Turlock, like many communities across America, can trace its early development to one individual. John William Mitchell, wheat producer and entrepreneur, brought the Southern Pacific Railroad and a depot to what would become Turlock. This transportation link was the catalyst that brought business proprietors and settlers to the area and changed the 1850s settlement into an organized town. At the turn of the 20th century, the Turlock Irrigation district, the first California district under the Wright Act of 1887, brought water to the valley. A dam and system of canals provided the needed resources for crop diversification and the development of agricultural industry that changed the small town into a culturally rich, successful city. This volume focuses on the evolution of Turlock from the 1850s to 1950s.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439630372
    Turlock
    Author

    Kristen Santos

    Kristen Santos and her mother, Phyllis Soderstrom, are native Turlockers whose ancestors helped settle Turlock; Thea Sonntag Harris and her daughter Monica Harris have Turlock roots from the 1920s. All four are charter members of the Turlock Historical Society and are actively working on the Turlock Museum project.

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      Book preview

      Turlock - Kristen Santos

      Brown.

      INTRODUCTION

      The Great Valley of California is divided into the northern portion, the Sacramento Valley, and the southern portion, the San Joaquin Valley. The dividing point is the Delta where river waters join and flow to the sea through San Francisco Bay. The land that would become Turlock is located in the southern portion of the San Joaquin Valley near the Tuolumne River in Stanislaus County. Those who have studied the valley say that the area was naturally designed for agriculture with snow accumulation to the east in the Sierra Nevada range, a relatively flat valley floor, and an abundance of sunshine. In The Seven States of California, author Philip L. Fradkin contends that the valley’s natural landscape has been superficially altered by man four times in the last 200 years. The first alteration occurred around 1800 when the natural landscape was changed to a livestock or grazing landscape. In 1865 the grazing landscape was converted to a wheat production landscape. The change from a wheat, dry-farming landscape to an irrigated, agricultural landscape began to occur around 1900. Finally around 1960 the agricultural landscape began to coexist with the urban landscape.

      The Native Americans, the Yokut Indians, are known to have lived in the valley during the natural landscape period. One historian refers to the Yokuts of Stanislaus County as Laquisimas Yokuts, who called the Stanislaus River Laquismes. They were associated with tribes or ocean people from the coast and their currency or coveted treasures were forms of abalone jewelry or pieces of abalone shell. Some historians contend that the Yokuts, who ate mostly seeds, plants, edible roots, and some fish, were driven from the area during the 1850s when the change to livestock grazing peaked. Other sources indicate that the Yokuts had migrated from the area before the grazing of large herds began.

      One settler in the valley, John William Mitchell, participated in both the livestock period and the conversion to the wheat, dry-farming period. Mitchell enjoyed financial success buying land, developed large herds of cattle and sheep, and marketed them to the gold country miners. He purchased additional lands, over 100,000 acres in total, and became a wheat farming leader, cultivating tracts under the tenant system. During this time, Mitchell observed that transportation dependency was beginning to shift from the river to the rail. He had the vision to match his land purchases to the speculated route of the Southern Pacific expansion to the south.

      John Mitchell granted the right of way to the Southern Pacific and negotiated for a depot in what would become Turlock. This transportation link for freight and passengers was the catalyst that brought business proprietors and settlers to the area and changed the 1850s settlement into an organized town. The founder of Turlock, John Mitchell, had no children, but some of his siblings and their descendants did follow him to this new town. Many Turlock residents today find their roots in the extended family tree of John Mitchell.

      While the depot was being constructed, Mitchell built a grain warehouse. Businessmen moved buildings to town or built new ones to provide goods and services to farmers and anyone getting on or off the train. The railroad, with its depot, was one important factor that brought Turlock alive and kept it growing and changing through the end of the 19th century.

      At the turn of the 20th century the Turlock Irrigation District, the first California district under the Wright Act of 1887, brought irrigation water to the valley. As the irrigation system was being developed, wheat production was declining. Heavy grain production was exhausting the once-fertile soil and new crops with irrigation could mean renewed success. The Turlock Irrigation District was the second important factor that has kept Turlock thriving, growing, and changing through the end of the 20th century.

      Around 1893, the landholdings of the deceased John Mitchell were being subdivided into 20 to 40 acre tracts. A large influx of new settlers from the mid-west arrived in Turlock in 1903 and 1904 because of the milder climate, cheap land prices, and the promise of abundant irrigation water. A dam and system of canals provided the necessary resource for crop diversification and the development of agricultural industry that changed the small town into a successful city.

      We have selected photographs that chronicle the changes to the land and the evolution of an 1850s settlement into an organized town of 1871, then into an incorporated city of 1908, and finally the diverse community that emerged in the first half of the 20th century. We have tried to share many of the names and faces of the people of Turlock whose cultures and values shaped the community. In every decade, their sense of determination and perseverance is an untarnished example of the American spirit.

      At the beginning of the 20th century, with the railroad as its transportation link to the world, Turlock’s irrigation system was developed. This was the second important factor that kept Turlock growing and changing. For one hundred years, irrigation has been largely responsible for the economic, social, and demographic evolution of the area. (Courtesy Turlock Irrigation District.)

      One

      CULTIVATION OF THE VALLEY

      In the 1850s the natural prairie provided ample grazing land for cattle, sheep, and mustangs. The large population in the gold country increased the demand for food supplies and livestock. The valley settlers responded to that demand. Cattle and sheep were fattened up for market, and mustangs were rounded up and sold to the miners. Early settlers located along the banks of the Tuolumne and San Joaquin Rivers to be close to the cheapest and quickest means of transportation. In the next decade livestock epidemics

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