SETTLER'S ROCK WALLS, FENCES AND CORRALS:
1) Purposes:
To protect crops from livestock and to contain livestock, most of these fences were built near ranch buildings and livestock handling areas. Building rock fences is labor and time intensive so the first settler rock fences were built to surround and protect crops from livestock, the livestock was permitted to roam free.
2) Methods of construction:
In Northern California the only tools that can be documented is one lightly used crude rock sled or stone boat towed by horses or oxen and the manually lifting and placing of rocks.
3) Period of construction:
In California rock fences to contain livestock would have been built after 1866 when laws were "enacted that made ranches responsible for any damages done when livestock trespassed onto another property" and by 1880 barbed wire had supplanted all other materials for large fencing projects.
Rock Fences and Corrals in Northern California:
Stone Fences in the Shasta Valley article - the only article that could be on the stone fences in Northern California and is actually a school paper written for a folklore class at the local community college and published in 1984 in the Siskiyou Pioneer. The paper consists of interviews with locals who speculate about the rock lines. Riddled with statements such as “…it can be assumed..,”, “…could have been…”, “…suggested that perhaps…”, “…persons interviewed thought perhaps...”, etc., show the dubious value of the interviews. The conclusion of the article was that the rock lines were built to “...clear the land and to control the ranchers’ livestock.” The only purported physical evidence presented was a picture of a crude wooden horse drawn sled referred to as a “stone boat” that was purportedly used to haul large rocks, though the lack of wear indicates it wasn’t used much. To get a rock onto that sled would require raising it more than a foot. To try “…rolling, levering, or otherwise manhandling the large stones up onto the platform” would not have been possible with one thousand pound boulders and bigger. The sled does not appear to be only useful for transporting rocks that could be loaded and unloaded by one workman. Speculation peaked with “Another interesting way to clear rocks too big for even the stone boat to handle was to dig a big hole beside the rock and when it was big enough to hold the rock, the rock was rolled into the hole and buried.” Two sentences later the paper states “…it was next to impossible to impossible to dig a posthole in the rocky soil.” The last claim is easily verified, just take a pick and shovel out there and try it.
‘Archaelogical Explorations in Shasta Valley, California’ pg 38 & 39; 103.
The aforementioned article would not have been mentioned except that large parts are quoted verbatim as if it was fact and not speculation in ‘Archaelogical Explorations in Shasta Valley, California’ pg 38; 39; & 103.
Rock Fences and Corrals in Central California:
This was included because of the lack of historical documentation on the construction of rock fences in the Northern California.
The following quotes are from Stone Fences & Corrals: Oakdale Cowboy Museum about rock fences built in Mariposa County. Mariposa is about 150 miles south of any area looked at so far but the information does pertain to rock fence construction of the era. Excellent article with great references.
A. "In the early to mid-1860’s the range was open, but by 1866 a California Law was enacted that made ranches responsible for any damages done when livestock trespassed onto another property whether there was a fence or not. In 1870, California passed more fence line laws to keep livestock in."
B. "The Building of the Stone Wall at Quick Ranch, Mariposa County:
In 1862 Chinese workers from Mormon Bar built the fence under the direction of a
Chinese boss at the Quick Ranch. Each worker had to complete a rod and a half of
fence a day (24-3/4 ft.) to receive the day’s wages of 25 cents. The Chinese
boss was paid at the rate of 41.75 a rod (16-1/2 ft.). He sat under an umbrella,
and kept count of each foot of wall on his abacus. It took approximately two
years to complete the wall, and, the total cost was $6,000. Most of the original
wall is still standing today and is in usable condition. The rock boundary wall
is four miles long and was made without mortar from uncut fieldstones. The wall
is four feet high, two feet wide at the base, and one foot wide at the top. It
covers 640 acres."
There are errors in the above statement, here are two possible scenarios, the second seems much more likely.
1) With the rate for construction at $41.75 per rod (16.5 feet) then $6,000.00 would have bought about 144 rods (2,371 feet) ( about1/2 mile) of fence.
"It covers 640 acres - it is assumed that this is meant to encompasses 640 acres. It would take a minimum of 4 miles of fence to enclose 640 acres (1 square mile).
If the fence encompasses 640 acres (1 square mile) it would need to be at least 4 miles (1,280 rods) long. This would put the cost at building the wall at a minimum of $53,440.00.
It is more likely that this wall was about 4.5 miles long and in this scenario it was built at a cost of about $60,000.00 ($1,274,216.47 in 2009 dollars) and was completed at the approximate rate of 2.25 miles per year at a cost of about $13,500 ($283,160 in 2009 dollars) per mile.
2) With a corrected rate for construction at $4.175 per rod (16.5 feet) then $6,000.00 would have bought about 1,437 rods (23,713 feet) ( about 4.5 miles) of fence.
Then 4.5 miles of wall would cost about $6,000.00 ($127,422 in 2009 dollars) and a cost of about $1,350 ($28,316 in 2009 dollars) per mile.
This was very expensive fencing compared to barbed wire. In the 1850's barbed wire was invented and by 1870 production was booming as huge swathes of the West were being fenced in by "White Man's Rope". By 1880 because it was much cheaper and faster to construct barbed wire fencing had supplanted all other fencing for ranching purposes, .
The following quote is from The Tools Are On The Bar (Rock Fences section):
"The miles of rock fence in the vicinity of Telegraph City have been the object of much wonder and speculation on the part of tourists traveling through the southwestern end of Calaveras County.
Fred C. Buniharn, Sr., of Stockton, for many years a rancher and a cattleman of Calaveras County, remembers as a boy seeing the fences built and is perhaps today the only person who can speak authoritatively on their history. The reason for the fences, he states, was the cheapness of material. Surface rock was cleared from the fields hauled by sled to the building line. In addition to cheapness, the fence was not only immune to fire, but made a solid fire-stop. They were all built by hand, each rock being fitted tightly into its niche. The man responsible for work was Jimmie Sykes, who even in that day, around 1880, was regarded as an "old timer!" Little is remembered of Jimmie Sykes, but he left a monument to his skill as a stone mason in the beautiful stone bam on the Murphy Ranch at Telegraph City. Mr. Burnham says that Sykes built the stone fence that completely enclosed the Gardner Beardsley 7000 acres; the large acreage "belonging to the late Bob Parks, now owned by Murphy; and the 3000 acre Shoemaker place at Hog Hill. The late Bill Pope, whose ranch is a beauty spot of the section, built his own fence
Sykes had two assistants, whom Buniham remembers only as the "Wirth Boys." They were uncles of Mrs. Raymond Manuel of Stockton. Mrs. Manuel (Mabel McCarty Manuel) "says the Wirth Boys Jacob and George, were brothers of her mother, Nettie Wirth, who was an early-day school teacher and became the wife of Ransom T. McCarty." The old Wirth home place, attractively modernized, still stands in Copperopolis. (3)"
To completely enclose the "Gardner Beardsley 7,000 acres" (about 11 square miles) would require a minimum distance of 14 miles (73,920 feet) of fencing. If a building rate of rock fence was about 50 feet per day for 2 Chinese workers then it would seem conservative to make the same estimate of 50 feet feet per day for 3 workers. Using the above rate of 2.25 miles per year it would take about 6.25 years to build this wall with a three man team.
At the same rates completely enclosing the 3,000 acre (about 4.7 square miles) Shoemaker place at Hog Hill would take a minimum of 9 miles (47,520 feet) of fencing and would take over 4 years.