When
I first moved from Los Angeles to the San Joaquin Valley in the 1970’s, on my
first road trip to Sonora in the Mother Lode foothills to the east, I noticed,
first, that there was a lot of rock that looked almost volcanic. I also noticed
the fields of the rolling hills were covered with walls made of the black
basalt rock. I was told these are called “Chinese Walls,” because they were built
by Chinese workers in the nineteenth century.
One
of the great contributions of Chinese Americans to development of California
was their stone masonry skills. However, there were stone masons of other
nationalities at work in the state at the time, so without conclusive documentation,
one cannot be absolutely certain how many walls were built by the early
Chinese.
This
photograph, above, was taken about four years ago along Highway 108 to Sonora. There
are very few Chinese Walls remaining along this route to the gold fields that dates back to the 1850's. Although they seemed to last from the
early 1860’s to about the 1980’s, modern development coupled with a disregard
for the history of the region has tended to take its toll.
The
stone walls on the Quick Ranch is well documented as having been built by
Chinese workers under a Chinese contractor, since the ranch has remained in the
family of the founder for six generations. They serve as a prime example of Chinese
stone masonry technique and can be used to help identify other Chinese stone
walls throughout the state. Unfortunately, in my opinion, this historic
photograph of this wall, which was about four feet in height, and used to
contain and separate the ranch’s livestock, visually leaves a lot to be
desired.
The
Quick Ranch sits in the rolling foothills along the former Raymond-Mariposa
Road. The original plank house that dates to the 1850s still stands. The ranch
is now owned by Clyde E. Quick, the great-grandson of the founder, Morgan W.
Quick.
In
1849, Morgan Quick, at the age of 21, sailed from New York to California, then
traveled to Mariposa to mine gold. In 1859, Morgan bought a homestead 11 miles
south of Mariposa for $250. The 160-acre property was located on Rancheria
Creek, surrounded by a common brush fence. The highest hill on the ranch is
2,022 feet. Altogether, including various home steads, the ranch covered 4,000
acres. Remains of the homesteads are still on the ranch.
In
1862, Morgan Quick had a rock wall built. This not only kept the livestock in
but cleaned the fields of rocks. Cattle, horses, hogs, turkeys, and chickens
were raised over the years. The family grew their own barley and wheat, and
harvested wild oat hay.
Chinese
workers from Mormon Bar built the fence under the direction of a Chinese boss. Morgan
also agreed to feed the workers and bought a herd of hogs at about a cent and a
half a pound to provide pork. Most of the original wall is still standing.
Although other parts of the ranch remain, one of Morgan Quick's greatest
monuments is the rock wall.
From
the 2008 Sierra Sun Times article, “Chinese Walls,” By Rochelle Frank:
Morgan Quick agreed
to pay a Chinese contractor $1.75 for each rod (sixteen and a half linear feet)
of stone wall. He also provided pork and rice for the workers. The contractor,
who sat under an umbrella tracking construction progress with an abacus, paid
his workers 25 cents per day IF they completed a rod and a half (twenty four
feet and nine inches). The daily wage was lost if workers failed to meet the
quota.
The whole project,
about four miles of stone wall, took almost a year to complete and cost the
rancher $6,000.
The workers cleared
fields of stones and used them to build four foot high barriers that marked
property boundaries and formed cattle enclosures. No mortar was used to hold
the wall together. Skillfully stacked, the uncut stones were carefully placed
to slope inward on each side. Being about two feet wide at the bottom, they
tapered up to one foot wide at the top. Some of the walls still serve their
original purposes today, where an addition of stakes and barbed wire have been
incorporated into the original stone foundations.
~o0o~
Although
Mariposa County is not featured in my book in the Bachelors & Babies series
or my two in the Cupids & Cowboys series, it is the county immediately to
the south of Tuolumne County, of which Sonora is the county seat. However, the
basalt rock Chinese Walls along what was originally the Old Sonora Road would
have been seen by Cole, Madeline, and their parents as they traveled between
Knights Ferry and Sonora. Below are the links for these books.
Kendrick – http://mybook.to/Kendrick-BnB
Cole - http://mybook.to/Cole-CnC
Madeline - http://mybook.to/Madeline
Sources:
https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/5views/5views3h65.htm
http://www.goldrushcam.com/2008/LG/sierra_sun_times%20linda%20gast%205.htm
