Some of the lands in the Flowers Ranch area near Copperopolis were taken up in the 1850s, with farms and dwellings located on the ferry roads and along Littlejohns Creek. These farms tended to encompass large acreages, with livestock grazing the primary occupation. Shortly after the discovery of copper at Quail Hill, Napoleon City, and Copperopolis in 1860, however, more settlers moved to the area. The rush for gold that had begun with such enthusiasm in 1848 had ended by the mid-1850s, and unemployed miners and merchants were looking elsewhere for their livelihood. The copper discoveries, coupled with the unprecedented need for copper for shell casings for the Northern cause in the Civil War, created a boom that brought miners, laborers, merchants, saloon keepers, hotel keepers, and trades people to the burgeoning Copperopolis community.
An outgrowth of this boom was the settlement of the surrounding lands for agricultural purposes, as farmers scrambled to produce livestock, grain crops, fruit, and vegetables to provide foodstuffs for the hungry hordes. It is interesting to note that many of the early settlers in the Flowers Ranch area were natives of Ireland, perhaps drawn to the area by Thomas McCarty, proprietor of the nearby Log Cabin Ranch and Store, which provided provisions for both local miners and travelers on the Shirley Road to Angels Camp and the Stanislaus River ferries. In addition to farming, however, all of the landowners mined at one time or another 1.
The man who was to have the longest connection with the lands in the Flowers Ranch area was Nathan Monroe Flower (a.k.a. Flowers), a native of New York and early resident of Stanislaus County who came to California in 1852 1. By 1860, however, the census enumerator listed Flower, age 39, as residing somewhere near the Flowers Ranch area. His occupation was listed as “merchant” with $1,000 in personal estate, and he was residing with two miners: John Mosher, 50, from Massachusetts; and relative J. D. Flowers, 20, from New York. This was undoubtedly at Two-Mile Bar, where that same year he was assessed for a house and lot, occupied as a store and garden, on the Knights Ferry Road near the bridge.
In 1863, Flower married Mary Ann Spicer, the daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Spicer, who had taken up a ranch east of the Flowers Ranch lands. In 1865, Flower purchased a 15-acre parcel of land on the right bank of the Stanislaus River at Two-Mile Bar from James Eldredge, one of the owners of the Rancho del Rio Estanislao, for $400 2. By 1870, however, the Flower family was residing in Knights Ferry, where Nathan Flower listed his occupation as stock raiser. With Nathan and Mary were their children Edwin, age 6; John, 4; Elizabeth, 3; and Franklin, 1.
In 1877, Nathan Flower patented a 40-acre parcel of land on Littlejohns Creek, just north of the Grant, where he built a cabin. He had purchased the property that year from James L. Gooch, of Stanislaus County, for $340 (northwestern half of the northeastern quarter, southwestern quarter of the northeastern quarter, and lots 2 and 3 of Section 28, T1N, R12E)3. His assessment that year noted a cabin and brush corral, but the Flower family continued to reside in Knights Ferry, using the cabin only sporadically. In 1880, Flower listed his occupation as “miner,” so perhaps he was residing in the cabin while mining on the creek. Lifelong Copperopolis resident Charlie Stone recalled that the cabin site was marked by a pile of rocks from a stone chimney and a slanting rock in the creek with the names of Flower’s children chiseled on it. Although Flower owned the property from 1877 on, it may have been occupied by earlier settlers without the benefit of recorded deeds.
The history of the Flower family and their land machinations is extremely complex. Nathan Flower and his brother, Roswell P. Flower, of Watertown, New York and governor of that state, were involved in numerous transactions regarding land purchases and sales in Calaveras County for many years 1. The Flower family papers, located in the library of the University of the Pacific, Stockton, contain copious amounts of papers related to various land exchanges 2, as do the official records of Calaveras County.
Earlier information on the Flower family can be found above, and this section continues their history in the 1890s. The first Calaveras County Fair was held on the Flowers Ranch in 1894, with the racetrack located in the eastern half of Section 9, on the former Callahan Ranch. Ed Moore of Copperopolis, the onetime assemblyman for the Mother Lode District, was president of the association that put on the first fair, where Nathan Flower built a half-mile track on a level stretch of his ranch and erected stalls and a judges’ stand. His idea was to assemble the best livestock of the countryside at these competitive meetings and thus improve breeding standards, but the first fair was almost exclusively a horse racing event, with local ranchers entering their quarter horses 3. Some accounts note the date as 1892, and others note it as 1898, but Nathan Flower was assessed for a racetrack as early as 1891, so it evidently was built by then.
In June 1897 and March 1898, N. M. and Mary Flower, et. ux., conveyed most of their lands in the Flowers Ranch area to his brother, Roswell P. Flower, in New York, and moved to the Valley Springs Area 4. After Roswell’s death in 1899, executors Anson and Edwin Flower, of Watertown, conveyed the Flowers Ranch to Edwin L. Flower’s children, Elsie Eudora, Flora Verna, and Roswell Nathan, with a life estate to Edwin 5.
In 1900, Edwin L. Flower, a native of California, was residing in a rented farm free of mortgage, presumably the ranch deeded to his children. With him were his wife, Amanda, married circa 1885, and children, Elsie, Flora, and Roswell Nathan, all at school. In February of 1903, Edwin L. Flower purchased the Box Ranch, at the northeastern corner of State Route 4 and Hodson Road, from B. J. Box. The Edwin Flower family then moved to the Box Ranch and resided in a dwelling built by Stephen Box in the 1890s. In 1910, the family, now joined by daughter Jane was still residing in the area, with Edwin listing his occupation as “own income.” Edwin and Amanda evidently moved away shortly thereafter, returning to Stockton to live full time, although Edwin was listed by the census enumerator as residing near Milton with his mother, Mary, in 1920.
Deeds to various parcels of the ranch were recorded shortly after Roswell P. Flower’s death, including the Box Ranch and other lands deeded to his widow, Sarah, and their daughter Emma Taylor, both of Watertown, and to his nephew Edwin L. Flower, residing in Calaveras County 6. When Roswell Nathan Flower registered for the draft in World War I, he noted his residence as Copperopolis and his occupation as stock raiser and noted that he was single and supported his sister. He evidently had moved to the family home on the Box Ranch, and in 1921 the family assessment noted a “new” house on the old Box Ranch. In 1930, Roswell Nathan Flower; his wife, Carolyn Christian; and their children, Patricia, Jonelle, and Roswell Jr., all were residing there on the Copperopolis and Stockton Road. When Roswell registered for the World War II draft, he was still residing in the family home. He died in 1951 and is buried in the Copperopolis Cemetery.
Edwin, however, was residing on South Stanislaus Street in Stockton and noted his occupation as “livestock buyer.” His daughter Elsie was listed as head of the household, with $5,000 in property, and working as a newspaper journalist. Also in the household were his daughter Jane; George Walker, a 62-year-old carpenter from New York; and his wife, Louise. Edwin died in 1933 and is buried in Knights Ferry.
Over the ensuing years, sections of the lands within the Flowers Ranch were passed between various members of the Flower family, including Edwin and his children Roswell Nathan and his wife Carolyn, Elsie Eudora, and Flora Flower Muldoon. According to a local resident and historian, Roswell (Rolly) Nathan Flower was involved in the cattle business and was well-known for buying high and selling low. In addition to grazing their own livestock, the family also leased grazing rights to others 7.
By 1945, the lands were assessed to Elsie Flower, residing in Stockton, and Roswell’s widow, Carolyn. After Elsie’s death shortly thereafter, the entire Flowers Ranch became the property of Patricia, Jonelle, and Nathan Flower, the children of Roswell and Carolyn. The house burned a few years ago, but Roswell Flower Jr. still resides in the Copperopolis area. In the early 1990s, the ranch, minus the Box parcel, was sold to the Huntington Beach Company, DBA H.B. Ranch Company, and since has been sold to Oak Canyon Ranch, LLP.
The first person to be assessed for the lands on Baker’s Flat was Joseph Lewis in 1858. That year, his assessment noted ownership of 320 acres, 300 enclosed under fence, located 2 miles south of the Log Cabin Ranch and 5 miles northwest of Scorpion Gulch, which included a residence, a barn, wagon, horses, cows, and hogs, and was valued at $1,000. The ranch was situated on the Salt Spring Valley–Knights Ferry Road, with the dwelling on the east side of Littlejohns Creek. Although the description simply noted the ranch as bounded northwest by McCarty’s Log Cabin Ranch and south by Peachy’s (in the northwestern quarter of Section 27, T1N, R12E and along Littlejohns Creek in the Grant), it appears likely that the residence and barn were located on the flat, the only large level area in the territory.
In 1860, Joseph P. Lewis, and his wife, Mary, both age 55, were listed as farmers residing with their son Jenkins, age 22; all were born in Kentucky. Sometime about 1864, Joseph sold the southern half of his property, also noted as on Littlejohns Creek, to his son Jenkins. By 1867, Jenkins was assessed for the entire 320 acres. In July 1869, Jenkins sold the ranch to Thomas Gatzman for $500, noting that it was bounded on the north by McDonald’s Ranch, on the south by the north line of the Grant, and on the east by Smith’s Ranch (formerly Clott’s), which would place it on Baker’s Flat and southerly along the creek to the Grant. That same year, Gatzman was assessed for 40 head of cattle and 10 hogs, as well as a house, a barn, and a fence.
Two homesteads were depicted on the 1870 GLO plat: “Gatesman’s” (Gatzman’s) (located in the southern half of Section 16, T1N, R12E) and McDonald’s field, just westerly. That same year, Gatzman, listed as a 45-year-old farmer and native of Baden, Germany, was noted as a farmer and residing on the property with his wife, E.; and children, Flora, Lizzie, Emma, Edward, and Albert. His real estate was valued at $400, and his personal estate was valued at $1,975. By 1880, Gatzman and his family were residing in Empire in Stanislaus County, where he was listed as a farmer still.
In 1873, R. Patterson, a nonresident, was assessed for the Gatzman property in the Flowers Ranch area, with a house, a barn, and a fence, as well as 960 sheep and 400 lambs. By 1881, the land and a small house were assessed to William Davies, along with furniture, firearms, sewing machine, wagons, a harness, farming utensils, seven horses, three cows, five calves, poultry, 28 hogs, and a dog. By 1884, David Clinton Baker and his wife, Elizabeth, had purchased the land (still known as Baker’s Flat today) and patented the entire Section 16 that same year. Baker registered to vote in 1888, stating that he was 34, was born in Iowa, and was working as a stock raiser, but by then he was residing northeast of the project area.
By 1887 Nathan Flower was assessed for all of the Baker lands in the Flowers Ranch (Section 16, T1N, R12E), as well as lands in Sections 20, 21, and 28. His assessment noted a house, two barns, a fence, an orchard, furniture, farming utensils, three wagons, three old horses, three colts, 50 calves, 70 stock cattle, and 6 tons of hay. When Nathan and his son John Clary registered to vote in 1888, they listed themselves as stock raisers 1. The use of the land had shifted from sheep to cattle grazing.
Nathan and Mary resided on their lands until they moved to the Gwin Mine near Paloma in the late 1890s 2. Over the next few years they resided in the Valley Springs area, and then they moved to Stockton, where Nathan died in 1919. The Flower family continued to be assessed for a house, a barn, and a fence on the Lewis/Gatzman/Davies/Baker land until the mid-1920s (noted as an old house in 1921); after that time, only a barn and a fence were listed on the assessment rolls.
Some of the parcels purchased by Nathan Flower evidently were patented by friends or employees, in order to sell them to him immediately upon them being proven. Others, however, were taken up by farming families that built dwellings, barns, and outbuildings and raised livestock. Most of the farmers who resided in the area in the 1880s and 1890s were assessed for the same types of property: a watch, furniture, firearms, a sewing machine, farming equipment, a harness, wagons, horses, colts, cows, hogs, poultry, and varying amounts of stock cattle. Only Patterson on Baker’s Flat and the Callahans in Sections 9 and 10 raised any amount of sheep. These “bedrock ranches” appeared to be subsistence farms, raising enough foodstuffs to supply family members, and enough grain and livestock to market for some small income.
Egan/Flower. James and Mary Egan patented land just east of the Flowers Ranch boundary (southern half of Section 3, T1N, R12E), where they raised a family of 14 children. Within the Flowers Ranch, James Egan patented a parcel of land where he built a cabin and raised goats (northeastern quarter of the northeastern quarter of Section 9, T1N, R12). This land was sold to Flower in 1896 for $57.50 1. Their son, Charlie Egan, patented land partially within the Flowers Ranch adjoining the family homestead but apparently never constructed any improvements on the property (eastern half of southeastern quarter of Section 4, T1N, R12E). Mary Egan sold this land to Elsie Flower in 1911 2.
Moore/Flower. Henry Moore was another early patentee, who took up land south of Reed’s Turnpike in 1881 (southern half of Section 4 and northern portion of Section 9, T1N, R12E). In 1897, his son, E.B. Moore, sold to Roswell P. Flower 3. Charlie Stone recalled Fulton Moore mentioning the house and farm and that the family raised hogs
Davies/Flower. In September 1882, William J. Davies filed a preemption claim to the northeastern quarter of Section 21, T1N, R12E, and sold it to Nathan Flower for $500 that same month (Deed Book 7:508). Davies evidently never resided on the property but simply patented it for Flower.
Eddlemon/Flower. John Daniel Eddlemon patented his land in 1880 (southwestern quarter of Section 21, T1N, R12E) but deeded it to Flower the previous year (Deed Book 1:183), so he evidently was residing on the land prior to that date. The site, however, may have been occupied prior to Eddlemon’s tenure, as it is located on a branch of the Knights Ferry Road, and early-day settlers were simply assessed for lands in the general area. John Eddlemon was evidently the son of D. Eddlemon, age 81 in 1880; and his wife, Nancy, age 78. D. Eddlemon was a native of Germany and working as a laborer at the time.
John was not listed in the 1880 census, but was noted in the 1888 Great Register as a farmer, age 33, from Arkansas, and residing in Telegraph City. As late as 1891, however, his assessment noted a cabin located on the northwestern quarter of Section 21, T1N, R12E . By 1895, however, Eddlemon was assessed for the fractional southern half of Section 19, T1N, R12E, with a house, a barn, and a fence, as well as for the southwestern quarter of the western half of the northwestern quarter of Section 20, fractional southwestern quarter of Section 21, fractional southeastern quarter of Section 14, fractional northwestern quarter of Section 28, and northern half of Section 29, a bit to the west of the project lands.
Baker/Flower. In 1887, D. C. Baker was assessed for land in the northeastern quarter of Section 10 (western half of the northeastern quarter of Section 10, T1N, R12E) but was residing in a house westerly in Section 3. These lands were patented by William S. Emmett in 1884 and sold by Baker to Roswell Flower in May 1897 for $400 4.
Bruskey/Flower. The adjoining lands to the east (eastern half of the northeastern quarter and Frcl. northeastern quarter of the southeastern quarter of Section 10, T1N, R12E), as well as lands easterly in Sections 11 and 14, a total of 520 acres, were patented by Bernard Bruskey in 1885 and assessed to William Bruskey in 1895. The lands were sold to Nathan Flower by John Manuel in May 1896 5. The land evidently had been foreclosed upon.
The eldest son, Robert Harrison Callahan, and his wife, Josephine Kuhn, took up land west of the senior Callahans (western half of Section 9, T1N, R12E) sometime prior to 1881, probably shortly after their marriage in 1877. In 1887, their assessment noted a house, a barn, and a fence on the southern half of the northwest quarter and north half of the southwestern quarter, on land originally patented by William M. Toomey in 1874.
In 1887, Robert was assessed for a house, a barn, and a fence on the property, as well as personal property including a watch, furniture, a guitar, a sewing machine, farming utensils, a buckboard, a harness, three horses, two colts, two cows, two stock cattle, 265 sheep, 110 lambs, poultry, hogs, and a dog. In later years, Charlie Stone described this as the residence of Robert Callahan, as located on the west side of Littlejohns Creek near the mine waste rock dump. In 1889, Robert Callahan sold this parcel of more than 92 acres of his lands to Nathan Flower 1.
As well as the lands in the western half of Section 9, Robert had acquired land to the east (southeastern quarter of Section 9, T1N, R12E), patented by Robert McCoun in 1882. McCoun, noted as a 48-year-old blind musician residing at the Tower Ranch in 1880, evidently was the brother of Elvira Callahan and simply patented the land for them. He also patented the northeastern quarter of Section 15, T1N, R12E, in 1890, presumably also for the Callahans.
In 1900, the census enumerator listed Robert Callahan as a farmer owning his mortgaged farm. He was age 45, and his wife, Josephine, was 42 and keeping house; his daughter, Susie, was 21 and a servant; and his son, Charles, was 14 and at school. His brother Austin was boarding at the Gorham Ranch and working as a day laborer.
By 1910, the Callahan family was still residing on its farm, with Robert noted as a farmer and the children with no occupation. Boarding with them were musician Isaac McCafferty, from Wisconsin, and John Olson, a woodchopper from Sweden. Sometime before 1920, Robert’s son, Charles, married Delia Gorham and moved to the Gorham Ranch (east of the project area) and was working as a truck driver in a copper mine, while Delia was teaching.
In 1930, Robert Callahan was still listed as a stock raiser, age 77, and residing with his wife and daughter, Susie, on their farm. The Robert Callahan Ranch finally was sold to the Flower family in the 1930s (Stone 1992).
The lands taken up by members of the Callahan family from the 1870s through the 1890s may have been occupied by others in the 1850s and 1860s, but no deeds were located. By 1870, Thomas Harris and Elvira Callahan and their family of six children were residing on their ranch in the northwesterly portion of the Flowers Ranch (southwestern quarter of Section 10, T1N, R12E). That year, Thomas, a native of Ireland, was listed as a 44-year-old farmer with $200 in real estate and $1,475 in personal estate. In addition to Thomas, the household consisted of his wife, Elvira/Ellen, age 42; his blind brother-in-law “McGowan” (McCuon), age 37; and his children, Robert, Susan, George, Ellen, Austin, and Thomas. Callahan was naturalized in Calaveras County the following year and registered to vote at that same time.
Thomas Callahan’s assessment in 1873 noted a house, a barn, a fence, and a stone corral, with a wagon, a horse, a colt, 26 cattle, two goats, five sheep, and poultry. Thomas patented the land in 1885, and Ella M. Callahan (Elvira/Ellen) had patented the northwestern quarter two years previously. Thomas Harris Callahan was listed as a “cloth furnisher” in the 1880 census but as a farmer in the 1888 Great Register. In 1880, he was 56 and residing on the property with his wife, Elvira, a native of Kentucky, age 52; while all the children were born in California: Robert, 26, a rancher; George W., 21, a laborer; and Austin, 15, and Thomas Jr., 14, sheep herders. Daughters Susan, 24, and Ellen, 18, were keeping house with their mother.
By 1887, Thomas was assessed for the 160 acres with a house, a barn, and a fence, as well as furniture, a sewing machine, farming utensils, a buggy, a harness, two cows, two stock cattle, four dozen poultry, and a dog. After his death in 1895, the property, which had been increased to 640 acres, was conveyed to William Bruskey and then to John Manuel, who sold to N.M. Flower in 1897 1. In 1900, Elvira Callahan and her daughter Ellen and son-in-law Jefferson D. Boxall and their two children were residing in Copperopolis.
Thomas and Elvira’s son George patented the southeastern quarter of Section 10 in 1888, and their son Austin patented the northeastern quarter of Section 15 in 1891 2. George sold his land, which had been assessed for only a corral and a fence, to William Bruskey in March 1902 for $30 (Deed Book 11:423), and Austin sold his acreage to Nathan Flower in April 1894 for $550 (Deed Book 24:245). Apparently, no structures were on the land, and it was used for agricultural purposes in conjunction with the main Callahan Ranch.
A brush fence, depicted on the 1870 GLO (northwestern quarter of the northwestern quarter of Section 9, T1N, R12E) was located upon the 40-acre ranch of John and Elizabeth Vickrey, who patented the land in 1884 and deeded it to Flower in 1889 1. Vickrey was listed as a native of Illinois, a miner, and residing on the property with his wife, Emma, and children, Ida and Henry, in 1880. The family was assessed for a house and a barn, and in 1992 Charlie Stone recalled that the house site was marked by a poplar tree and a well on the south side of the old highway (Reed’s Turnpike), 100 yards west of the bridge.