DYER: We are still talking about some
of the public works projects, but let’s talk a bit about water works in the
area. And we’ve already established that there were several ditches that
were here, oh, back in, probably, the 1860s. Can you identify them again
for us Mrs. Black?—the ditches that were here—water ditches.
BLACK: the ditch that I remember quite
well was called a Kinkaid water ditch. And it was here for many years by
that name, and even after they build the reservoir over there, it still held
the name of the Kinkaid Reservoir. And it wasn’t long after that that it
was changed into Lamberts Lake. And just because of the ranch, I suppose, it
was called Lamberts Lake on their property. But later it was called the
Pacific Gas and Electric company ditch. And there’s names farther back, but I
cannot remember the name.
DYER: So there were several parallel
ditches in the area, weren’t there?
BLACK: Yes, there were a good many
ditches and most of them are used for the purpose of farmers irrigating. But
very few of them had name other than Garso’s ditch or
some ditch that had to go quite a little distance. Our ditch was just
Water Ditch for the Hervey Ranch, I suppose, and years ago it was called
Stockdale Water Ditch.
DYER: And you were guaranteed a
specific number of inches and that.
BLACK: Yes, our water right called for
twelve inches or more, which was quite an unusual way to read it, but it’s
still lint eh record as twelve inches or more from Curtis Creek.
DYER: and you’re still receiving the
twelve inches?
BLACK: twelve inches. In the last few
years PG&E made it just twelve inches because of so many people needing
water down below us, it had to read a specific amount to the PG&E.
But we get the twelve inches and it’s still coming to this ranch through the
same ditch.
DYER: what do you do with the water?
BLACK: It is just used for irrigation.
The field bellow us are using it and the field across the road irrigate with
it. And the field across the Curtis Creek do not
have any of the water right. It’s the only part that didn’t get any. This ninety acres northeast of Curtis Creek are the only
ones receiving the twelve inches of water.
DYER: So the neighbors, then,
purchase the water from you?
BLACK: No, it just runs twelve inches
through the ranch and everybody gets their water free. We have done
nothing to make a charge to anybody—only keeping up the ditch and several of us
get together and see that the ditch is clear and running.
DYER: But actually it is your water;
but since you are not using it, you are letting it flow along the ditch system
so that other may use it if they want to.
BLACK: Well, no. It isn’t that way
anymore. The ninety acres on this side—or approximately—when Dr. Kent
bought the property he just divided the water so that each six acres would get
a half-an-inch of water, or there abouts. The field across the creek get five-and-a-half inches. And
the other six-and-a-half inches is divided between the people on this side.
DYER: Did you use the ditch for
drinking water too?
BLACK: No. No, it was just used
for irrigation. It was not really clean enough for drinking water because
it comes right to the Pickering Lumber Company pond. So it couldn’t be
used for drinking water. It didn’t hurt the cattle or anything—animals
that drank—but we did have many years of experience with bark coming down, which
dirtied up the sides of the creek and left bark in the ditch bank and all. And
the when Soulsbyville mines were raining, the cyanide
came down. It was terrible coming out of the mines at Soulsbyville.
So finally the state got on the mines and the lumber company and made them hold
back their cyanide and their bark.
DYER: Is the ditch and the creek
cleaner now that…
BLACK: Oh, much cleaner. The
children can swim in it now. We used to be able to swim in it for many years,
but only in the early summer and spring because when it would get to be too
warm, then the water would get dirty and stagnate-like even though it was
running.
DYER: Well, I assume most of the
people have their private wells, then, for drinking purposes.
BLACK: Right. And this ranch was
one ranch with lots of water. It had water in springs and anywhere since
it’s been divided up. Any well can go down from 65 feet to 150 and get
thirty inches or more a minute. It’s a wonderful water area here.
DYER: It’s very sweet.
BLACK: Yes. It’s wonderful water. I
imagine it’s granite. I don’t know just what it
would be called other than granite, because the granite rocks are here.
DYER: when did you first receive
electricity in the area, approximately?
BLACK: In 1940. We sold a little
piece of property on the core of the ranch to Elmer Friar in order to get the
electricity down. It had to come from Tuolumne Highway—way up on Tuolumne
Highway—and Elmer Friar got it down as far as his place and then we borough it
from his place down here. And we had to purchase an electric range,
electric refrigerator, and a pump. And that’s how we got it down.
There was no cost. Only we had to buy that many appliances to supply
enough electricity for them to put it down here.
DYER: did the telephone company hook
up at the same time?
BLACK: No. We had telephone in
nineteen…well, I believe the first telephone was put in in
the Houber Ranch and the Booker Ranch—which is
up on the Tuolumne Highway—and Charlie Myers Ranch, and several ranches had a…the
men put it in themselves. And it was two lines—two telephone wires—and
each had their own telephone. And in 1920 my oldest brother had a little
job that he earned enough money to buy our telephone. And I guess at that
time the telephone only cost about fifteen dollars. And then the men put
it in themselves. They put the wiring in, they put the phones on the
wall, and they were a phone that you would ring by hand, and each farmer had
his own number. Our number happened to be four long rings and one short.
And when that rang on the line, everybody could hear it, but they knew that
that was their neighbors number so they didn’t go and
answer it.
DYER: Oh, wouldn’t want to hear what
you were talking about?
BLACK: Oh, many times; many
time.
DYER: Did you pick up the receiver
and hear lots of others?
BLACK: Yes, and we used to call that rubbering. And I never will forget; that was very
funny. We had lots of fun with the telephone, but each one had their own
number. So they were not supposed to pick it up on four long and one
short ring. I suppose it was sort of…we were very inquisitive when those
numbers rang. You’d want to see who was talking to who.
But we were not supposed to pick the phone up when someone else’s number rang.
DYER: how many operators did they
have at the central…the receiving area.
BLACK: Our days there were only two or
three there.
DYER: did they handle all of the
calls in…
BLACK: Yes. And I was call central. You didn’t ring the operator; you rang
central. One ring rang central and she’d ask and she’d “number please.”
And if you wanted to ring somebody other than what your line was, you had to
give them the number. Now, the last number I remember on a farmers line or on a regular line was 5F11. And that was
Jim Ogden’s number over where Rancho Sonora State is. He lives just
across from that. And that was the last 5F11 number that I remember we had to
call the operator for. In 19…we just got our phone in 1950 about, we
purchased this kind of phone. The other phone, they took all the lines
down. So ours was one of the last and Tinnens
and several of the phones of the farmers right close by here, were last 5F41 or
5F11—whatever it might have been.
DYER: Did the operator know all that
was going on in the county?
BLACK: Well, I think she could hear
pretty well. Especially if I rang her and called some number on the other
side of the farmers line here. She could probably hear what we said if she
wanted to.
DYER: there surely must have been
people who tried to help the farmers during the early days. What there a
county farm advisor that used to assist if you had any insect problem or soil
problem?
BLACK: Oh yes. Mr. H. H. Sherrard was the first—as far as I remember—was our first
county agricultural man. We call him a farm adviser, but now they have it
a little bit different. I believe it’s called the agricultural
commissioner. In fact, that’s what he was called at that time, but all
the farmers called him the farm advisor. And he was a very fine well
learned man of farming, oh, insect problems or whatever. Now, his farm
and his ranch is still in existence. And it
shows very plainly in the fall of the year: when you go down 108 to Sonora, his
ranch is up on the hill that they call Michigan Heights. It’s up on that
area and you see all those beatify red trees when you’re heading towards
Sonora.
DYER: Chinese Pistachio.
BLACK: that’s right. And those
pear trees—they’re the two red red showingmint. Well, Mr. Sherrard was our first farm advisor that I remember.
And he came and established his office in the old Tervuren
Hall where the park now stands—in form of the courthouse. The old Tervuren Hall—I believe that’s what they called it. And his
office was there, right after World War I. He was a caption, or
something, in the army in World War I. and when he returned home, he took up
his office there. Then when the memorial hall was built, his office was
in where Mr. Bigalow is now.
DYER: what about the 4H? Was it an
active organization in the schools?
BLACK: Not at that time. What we
called the 4H was little groups of farming clubs, and during World War I we
were all taught to plant victory gardens and we had a little plot in our school
yard that each child was taught how to plant. But Mr. Sherrard
was one of the first ones that started anything in the farming community that I
remember of. Groups of young children to learn.
He had the first group out at the high school and he taught agriculture in high
school. He was the first one that I remember to teach any agriculture. But it
wasn’t called the agriculture class that it is now; there was an agricultural
name for it, but he taught…
DYER: More of like a club?
BLACK: Yes, it was agriculture
teaching, and he was the first teacher out there. And it dropped for quit a few years and then Sonora High School through the
help of, I believe of, Mr. Mezalin-Sylva, Ithink, had a lot to do with starting the agriculture
program in Sonora high School.
DYER: Was the Grange active in
Tuolumne County?
BLACK: Well, the Grange was active
about 100 years ago. And one of their first master, I just can’t remember
his name now, he was from near Soulsbyville.
But the Grange didn’t stay very long in Tuolumne County. Evidentially
there wasn’t enough people, or couldn’t get them
together; but there was a Grange in Tuolumne county about 100 years ago.
And then it fell through and it didn’t start up until 1941. The Grange it
32 years old now; how long would that be?
DYER: Oh, 32. This is 1974, so
that would be in 1942.
BLACK: It started in 1941 and Mr.
Simms—Frank Simms—from Chinese Camp was the first master of the Sonora Grange.
DYER: Is it largely a social
organization today?
BLACK: Today it is, yes. But when Mr.
Simms was master and Mr. Pour and Mr. Faulk, it was encouraging farming and to
help the farmers. But now it’s more of a social organization.
DYER: Agnes, last year on the 17th
of June 1973 you had a very celebration in this house.
BLACK: yes we did.
DYER: Why don’t you tell us about
that?
BLACK: well, I was quite happy about
it because my father had told me that the ranch would soon be 100 years old,
and I’m sorry that he was not able to be here with us; of course, he passed
away many years. But I decided to go on with it since Mr. Stockdale had
proved up on the place and had squatted here over a hundred years ago.
And as close as my record showed, it was a 100 years old about that time.
But my father’s and mother’s anniversary was on the 17th of June;
and I had felt that been here those many long years and I would get the family
together and anyone interested in historical records. So I planned a 100th
anniversary of this old house and this ranch and it proved to be very
successful. We had 200 or more guests view the house and all of the old things
that are still here. Much to my sorrow many of the old things have
disappeared, or broke, or worn out. But there’s
still many things here that show the 100th anniversary of the house
and the ranch. So we were very happy to have a nice celebration, and so many
people attend.
DYER: you had a very good write up,
not only in the Union Democrat—our local newspaper—but also the Modesto
Bee. I thought it was very appropriate.
BLACK: Yes, I felt very good about the
news media feeling so interested in it. They came out and took pictures
and were here to take news and I think the news people did a fine job.
And the pictures were real real good.
DYER: Yes. Do you have any
plans to make a ny
significant changes in the house—additions, or planning to remodel it, or
restore any portions of the house as it was originally?
BLACK: Yes, we do. We are
working on it now, and the only real change that will be not as it was was the back porch. And since it rains so hard from
the south, we decided to cover the porch in and make it warmer and so that the
house will last longer. But the side of the house towards Blanket Creek
Road, I’m going to call it, is going o be restores to its original part.
The porch was about eight feet wide, and it had the pillar-like posts on it and
it was an open porch. And we’re planning on putting that back and the
original eight-pane windows. We’re going to try to put six of the original
windows back in again. And if we can get that done, and the side porch,
and the back of the house fixed just the way it was, that’s what we plan
on doing this summer.
DYER: what about the surrounding
area? Are you replanting some of the plants that were originally her?
BLACK: Yes, especially the orchid
trees. The portion that our neighbor has purchased, he’s already putting
in—the trees that were there, or similar. He asked me what trees were
there in the original time of this property, and he’s a fine young fellow, and
he’s already planted eight trees, and he plans on putting in another row of
trees, and I’m putting in another row of trees. So that will make it the
original orchard that was in back of the house.
DYER: well, I hope that the second
100 years of the Black Ranch are as happy and prosperous for those who will be
here as the first 100 years have been Agnes. And certainly I personally
appreciate this. It’s been very revealing to me. We would like you
permission to use this at Columbia junior college by researchers, or students,
or in a classroom. May we receive from you your verbal permission/
BLACK: you certainly may. As far
as I’m concerned, I’d like to see further research in this and see what was
here before this Old Man Stokesdale property took place. I would really
like to see it investigated or see what the old relics might have been of
Indian lore or whatever it is. And you certainly have my permission to go
ahead with this program.
DYER: Well, thank you very much, and
I’m sure with what we have done here it will add to what you and others had
done and hopefully there will be others who will continue the research and the
development of the story of the Black Ranch.
BLACK: Thank you.
DYER: Thank you Mrs. Black.
END OF TAPE
General Information:
Interviewer: Dyer,
Richard
Interviewee: Black, Agnes
Name of Tape: Agnes
Black on the Black Ranch
(black_a_5_1)
When: 1974
Where: Wards
Ferry Road
Transcriber: Ariella
(3/5/09)