[p. 108 Military Saddle of Don Andres Pico, 1908e]
In 1851, Gregory's Great Atlantic and Pacific Express arrived in Los Angeles, bringing the first direct overland mail to the town, forty-nine days from St. Louis. But one trip seems to have finished the Great Atlantic, etc.; we hear no more of it. In 1852 a stage line was established between Los Angeles and the north, but it does not seem to have been maintained regularly until about 1857, when David Smith established a bi-monthly route via Visalia. In 1862 a regular tri-weekly stage ran from San José to Los Angeles. In the early fifties stages ran to San Bernardino, and Phineas Banning put on a regular stage between the city and San Pedro. In 1859 a weekly stage made trips to San Diego. In 1858 the Butterfield stage route was established. This carried the mails from St. Louis via the southern route through Los Angeles to San Francisco and gave the first regular overland mails; the distance was 2880 miles and the shortest time made was twenty-one days. This service was a great advance over any previous one and was greatly appreciated; but in 1861 it was replaced by the pony express, which traveled the central route. In 1857 Wells Fargo opened an office in Los Angeles. For years this company did the banking of the country as well as the express business.
[p. 109] In 1866 Banning & Co. put on a fast coach from Wilmington to Fort Yuma, giving a seventy-two-hour ride, which was considered a feat in those days. The advertisement for this line reads: "Leave for Fort Yuma at 4 o'clock every Monday, passing throught Los Angeles and San Bernardino. Returning, leave Fort Yuma every Sunday at 3 o'clock a.m." In 1867 a daily mail stage was maintained between Los Angeles and San José, then the terminus of the railroad. At the same time regular stage lines were operated between Los Angeles and Tucson, Arizona, and another line went to Prescott.
As the central point for so many stage lines, and as the outfitting point for a large trade carried on by wagon trains, Los Angeles was not altogether dull in the days before the railroad came. In the fifties the trade with Salt Lake was established and for many years large quantities of freight were hauled to Salt Lake, to Arizona, and even as far north as Idaho and Montana. In March, 1859, the Star reports 150 wagons leaving with goods to the amount of $180,000. This freighting business was of such importance and profit that when a railroad from San Pedro to Los Angeles was first proposed, there was decided opposition to it; and the Southern Pacific met the same obstacle when it made its first proposals in this section. A bill for a railroad between the port and the city was proposed in 1861, but although the county was granted permission to vote bonds for the road, nothing was done until 1867, when the question of granting the directors a subsidy of $150,000 from the county and $75,000 from the city was submitted to the people and was carried by a vote of 672 to 700-a close shave. The road was completed in 1869 and, despite the gloomy forebodings of many citizens, soon proved itself a valuable asset to the county. In 1872 the Southern Pacific was building its line southward through the San Joaquin valley; two routes were surveyed, one through the Soledad pass and San Fernando valley to Los Angeles, with heavy grades and costly tunnels; the other crossed the Mojave desert to Needles, a comparatively easy route. After much discussion and negotiation, the railroad company agreed to take the Los Angeles route, provided the county would vote bonds to the amount of $500,000, including its holding in the Los Angeles and San Pedro road. The railway company on its part agreed to construct fifty miles of track within the county inside of eighteen months and within two years should connect Los Angeles and Anaheim by rail and should carry its main trunk line on its way to connect wtih any southern transcontinental line, through Los Angeles valley. The company carried out its agreement and completed its line north to San Fernando and east to Spadra, the first train going over the road April 4, 1874. The consruction of the San Fernando tunnel required more than a year and the cost is reported at two and a half millions. The connection between Los Angeles and San Francisco was made September 8th, 1876-a great day in the annals of this county. The Southern Pacific was completed to its eastern connection in March, 1881, thus [p. 110] giving a through southern route-a consummation which had been talked of since the early fifties.
The building of the Los Angeles and Independence road from Santa Monica to Los Angeles has been gone into in the Santa Monica history. It was fully believed at the time that this line would be continued to Indepnedence and possiblby to a connection with the Central Pacific in Utah. In 1884 the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley road was constructed to Pasadena, its opening being celebrated by an enthusiastic excursion party, September 17th, 1885. Later it was completed to the San Gabriel river and in 1887 taken over by the Santa Fé system.
In 1879 representatives of a new corporation, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé, which was building a transcontinental line, visited California and decided upon San Diego as the terminus and the Cajon pass as the gateway for their road. In 1885 the Santa Fé company purchased the Southern Pacific branch already built from Needles to Mojave and built the connection between Barstow and San Bernardino, thus completing its line and giving Southern California a second transcontinental line. November 29th, 1885, its trains began running into Los Angeles, using the Southern Pacific tracks from Colton until the completion of its own line in 1887.
The completion of the Santa Fé led to a rate war which was the first cause of the "boom" of 1886-7. At first the passenger rate from Chicago was dropped from $115 to $70, while freight rates were mercilessly slashed. On Februatry 21st, 1886, tickets between the coast and the Missouri River were sold for $25; March 6th the prices dropped to $20 from Chicago and $35 from New York. For a few hours on March 8th tickets were sold in Los Angeles by the Southern Pacific for a flat rate of $1.00 to Missouri river points. This was the culmination.
Naturally, such an opportunity was seized by thousands of people who had hitherto never dreamed of seeing California; and, during the year that rates were below normal, the rush continued. At first the newcomers looked around and purchased improved property, at reasonable figures; as the influx continued, prices rose and property in and around Los Angeles changed hands at figures which astonished old timers; then the speculative fever seized old residents and new comers alike; and professional boomers and real estate sharks helped to feed it. Townsites were laid out anywhere; at first a business block, a hotel and water pipe and sidewalks were supplied; later the bare ground staked off, was sold at the price of city lots. Advertising, auctions, bands and excursions helped the excitement and sold the property to people who confidently expected to make from fifty to five hundred per cent, on their deals-as had been actually done in some cases. Many of the present thriving towns of this county were thus born and, having real merit in spite of the wild methods and hopes, they have survived their flimsy foundation. Such are Glendale, "Garvanzo," "Ahsusah," Glendora, Alhambra, University, and others. While the real estate [p. 111] boom had, of course, a tremendous reaction and there were many losses, there was also large gain. Substantial improvements were made as a result which greatly enhanced the value of property and prepared the way for a more solid advance. Many water companies organized during this time developed the water supply; many orchards set out as a speculative venture, proved to be solid investments; many buildings which were put up under the influence of inflated values, helped to create confidence and soon became fitted to the demand. At the height of the boom, in May, June and July, 1887, usually the dullest months in the year, the real estate sales in this county reached $35,067,830, for the three months. After this sales began to drop off. Yet during 1887-8 nearly $20,000,000 were expended in building. A large number of dummy, or narrow-gauge roads were built during this period and many branches of the railway lines were completed. The cable system fo Los Angeles was one result of the sudden expansion.
In 1886 a narrow-gauge line was built between Los Angeles and Glendale and in 1887 another narrow-gauge road was built to Pasadena. This road, known as the "Cross" road, absorbed the Glendale branch. In 1890 the "Terminal" Company, an organization of eastern capitalists, purchased the Cross roads and built a line to San Pedro. It was then believed that this was a move to secure terminal facilities at San Pedro for the Union Pacific; but the plans for the completion of the line failed to materialize and it was not until 1900, when Senator W.A. Clark of Montana secured a controlling interest in the Oregon Short Line, that active work began in carrying out the long-talked-of connection between Los Angeles and Salt Lake. In 1906 the San Pedro and Salt Lake railway was completed, thus giving Southern California another transcontinental line and opening up a new and rich territory tributary to Los Angeles. Los Angeles county now has nearly 700 miles of steam railway within her borders; she has three transcontinental lines centering within her limits; she has the fine harbor of San Pedro, besides ports at Port Los Angeles, Redondo and Long Beach. She is thus fully equipped to hold her place to the distributing point for a very large territory and has at her command ample and easily reached markets for all of her surplus products.