doc241 - Schoenherr Home Page in Sunny Chula Vista

How they ought not to let Oregon get ahead of them, but
establish nurseries at once, where they could raise at
very trifling expense, all kinds of grafted fruit,
pears and apples, and cherries, and the most delicious
peaches, &c, &c, &c."
Listening to the stories told about him by old San Diegans, it becomes clear that
he was an incorrigible joker and player of pranks. One lady recalls that, having one day
climbed into an empty crockery cask, for fun, Derby slipped up and started the cask rolling
with her, so that her dress was sadly torn on the projecting nails. She and her husband
lived in upstairs rooms at the old Gila House, and Derby used to come into the
room below, when he knew she was alone, and rap on the ceiling with his cane, to
frighten her. Once while he and Mrs. Derby were calling on this lady and all sitting on
the hotel piazza, Derby climbed upon the head of an empty barrel and began to make a
burlesque speech. While he was in the midst of this, waving his arms and talking loud,
the head of the barrel suddenly fell in with him and he took a tumble, to the great
amusement of his audience. The house in which he and Mrs. Derby lived is still standing.
He had a very remarkable memory, could recite chapter after chapter of the Bible,
and, after hearing a sermon, could repeat it from beginning to end. It is said that he expected
the appointment to make the Pacific Railroad survey and was greatly disappointed
when he did not receive it.
Page 315
In later years he was employed in the erection of lighthouses on the coasts of
Florida and Alabama. He died May 15, 1861, in the prime of his years, and his friend
Ames died at San Bernardino two months later. His son, George McClellan Derby, is
now a lieutenant-colonel in the army.
Page 316
PART II. CHAPTER XIV. ABORTIVE ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH NEW SAN DIEGO
The site of old San Diego was by no means favorable for a seaport town. The
presidio was located on the hill above the river, at the outlet of Mission Valley, merely
because the place could be easily fortified and defended against the savages. Old Town
grew up upon the flat below Presidio Hill because it was originally only an overflow from
the garrison itself. La Playa took on some size and importance and flourished for a time
because it lay close to deep water, but its topography was such as to offer no encouragement
to the growth of a large city. San Diego simply could not have come into being
with anything like its present consequence and future promise where the Spanish
planted the seed of the city in 1769, nor where the seed was wafted and took root, on
Point Loma in the brief day of Mexican dominion.
These conditions were sure to become manifest when men of energy and ambition
should arrive and begin to study the possibilities of the region. Such men came with
the American flag and but little time elapsed before they were planning a new San Diego
at a far more eligible point on the shores of the beautiful bay. And yet, though these
men had the judgment to choose the best spot for the city and the imagination to behold