March 2004 - Society for California Archaeology

40
Articles
Figure 2: Russell City Railroad Station.
Indian converts; in the number of horses, sheep, and cattle; in
the extent of its agricultural and mechanical productions, the
Mission San Jose far excelled the neighboring missions of
Santa Clara and San Francisco” (Thompson and West 1878:
14).
After their revolution in 1822 and the subsequent
claiming of Alta California, the Mexican government decreed
that missions secularize. Mission holdings were then divided
up into land grants, or rancheros, and most Native Americans
went to work for the new landowners (Basin 1993:3,
Thompson and West 1878: 14-15). The land that was to
become Russell City was part of such a land grant given to
Francisco and Barbara Soto on October 10, 1842 by
Governors Alvarado and Micheltorena (Wood 1883: 433,
Basin 1993: 3). Their Rancho San Lorenzo covered 6,658 acres
(Basin 1993: 3).
California became American territory in 1846 (Chavez
1979: 11) and squatters began moving onto the Soto land in
the early 1850s. Some offered to purchase sections of the
ranchero when, in 1856, the Land Commission decreed the
land legally belonged to the Soto family. Squatter Joel
Russell, for whom Russell City was named, bought a oneseventh
share from the Sotos and sold about 700 of those
acres to several Danish families. The city had so many
Danish settlers it became known as ‘Little Copenhagen.’
Other prominent founding families included the Johnsons,
Pestdorfs, Jensens, Hansons, and the Christensens.
Joel Russell came to the Bay area after several failed
attempts at gold mining in Northern California’s Shasta
region. He held a teaching degree from Bethel Academy in
Massachusetts and was elected as a Justice of the Peace in
1854. Russell farmed his property while studying law and
earned admittance to the California State Bar. An activist that
opposed slavery, Joel Russell joined the Prohibitionist Party
after the Civil War (Figure 1). It was with this party that he
was nominated for Governor in 1866 (Baker 1914: 506-507).
His bid for the state house was unsuccessful but Russell was
again nominated on the Prohibitionist Ticket, this time for
Presidency (Sandoval 1991: 289). Russell received very few
votes nationwide and subsequently remained in California.
Joel Russell died Feb. 19, 1888 (Baker 1914: 508).
Captain Andrew Johnson, the first mayor of Russell City,
moved to the town in 1885. Soon after settling, Johnson
retired as a barge operator and became the station agent at the
crossing of the South Coast Pacific Railroad and Russell Road
(Figure 2). He also founded the first market in Russell City.
Johnson served in these various community roles until his
death in 1921. (Sandoval 1945)
During this time another enterprise was taking foot: salt
milling. Exploiting the same salt flats as the Yrgin, the new
tenants evaporated and then shipped salt to San Francisco and
abroad. “Most Danish families had their own salt ponds in the
marshes outside their home plots… about 50 to 100 acres per
SCA Newsletter 38(1)