Tulare Lake- It's B-a-a-ck! by Zina Abbott

 

 

 

 

When I began research on my Mail-Order Mama book about two years ago, I decided to set the story in Sonora, California, where I recently had visited to do some research. One of the elements of this series was that the characters were to arrive at their destination by stagecoach. Even though I set my story in 1885, after railroad tracks reached many localities—including in California—stagecoach travel to Sonora was no issue. The train did not arrive there until 1899.

I found a great map that showed stagecoach routes throughout California from the 1850s to 1860s. Still helpful, since many stagecoach routes in the foothills and mountains still existed in later years. However, what really drew my attention was the big blue lake at the south end of San Joaquin Valley. I have lived in San Joaquin Valley for over fifty years, and I knew of no lake in that location. Curiosity piqued, I began my research.

That big blue dot was Tulare Lake, the largest lake by surface dimension west of the Mississippi River—larger than the Great Salt Lake or Lake Tahoe. It was the second-largest freshwater lake entirely in the United States based upon surface area.

 

Tulare Lake was at one time part of Lake Corcoran, which covered the Central Valley of California. 600,000 years ago. Although it is not known how, a new outlet formed in the present-day San Francisco Bay, which rapidly carving an outlet through Carquinez Strait. This drained the lake, leaving the Buena Vista Lake, Kern Lake, and Tulare Lakes as remnants.

1772 Southern San Joaquin Valley showing Tulare Lake

In 1773, Commandant Tagus, an Emissary for the Spanish Governor and the first white man to view the lake, named it "Los Tules." In 1825, the lake became public knowledge when the legendary Jedediah Smith led the first band of white settlers into the San Joaquin Valley.

 It was also called La Laguna de los Tulares by Spanish explorers, and covered more than 1,200 square miles. The Spanish word tulare refers to a field of tule rush, which aptly described the lake. This section of the southern San Joaquin Valley was the lowest in elevation. It was also the terminus of the Tule, Kaweah, Kings and Kern rivers.

Each spring, the area was transformed into a marsh full of tule elk and antelope, honkers, gray, and Canadian geese. Yokut hunters fished for salmon, perch and sturgeon using rafts and canoes made from the thick tule reeds. The women waded far into the water to dig for clams and mussels.

Riverboat Alta stranded on Tulare Lake

The lake was so bountiful that white settlers named the area Mussel Slough. In the 1870s, commercial fishermen went on the lake in schooners and steamboats to catch terrapin turtles, which were served as delicacies in San Francisco restaurants.

Shows early irrigation plans

 

Canals built to serve more and more agriculture affected the flow of the rivers so that Tulare Lake gradually grew smaller and, at times, dried up. Water was also diverted for municipal use. As the lakebed dried up, it was converted to agricultural uses. Canals and dams were built in an effort to keep it that way.

1854 California map by John C. Fremont shows Tulare Lake

However, in years of heavy rainfall, and heavy snowfall in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east, the lake reappears. In spite of multiple dams and reservoirs in the mountains and foothills, and diversion canals to funnel the water away from developed farmland, Tulare Lake reappears. 2023 has been one of those years. The Boswell Company, the biggest farming operation in the world, lost thousands of acres of crops to this year’s flood. I recall news reports a couple of months ago telling of dairy farmers moving 7,000 head of cattle within two days to save them from the flood. Even last night’s news—months after the worst of the flooding—featured houses sitting in the middle of the lake with water about four feet up the front doors and windows. Tulare County has allocated money to buy their own air boat instead of relying on those loaned by Pacific Gas and Electric, the local utility.

Tulare Lake Expedition before 1880

In the past, when there has been extensive flooding to the point Tulare Lake reemerged, it took a year or more—in some cases, close to two years—for the lake water to recede so the farmland could be reclaimed. This is one of those years.

Tulare Lake – it’s b-a-a- ck!

 

In September, I will be publishing a new book set in Sonora, California, titled A Watchman for Willow. It is part of the Mail Order Papa series, and will be a companion book to my Mail-Order Mama book, A Lawyer for Linton.

To find the book description and purchase options for A Lawyer for Linton, please CLICK HERE

 

A Watchman for Willow is currently on pre-order. To find the book description and pre-order purchase link, please CLICK HERE

  

Sources:

https://www.tularehistoricalmuseum.org/post/tulare-lake

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulare_Lake#

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-02-13-mn-28291-story.html

Early Lady Lawyers of California- Mary McHenry Keith by Zina Abbott

 

In earlier posts, I featured two of the first lady lawyers who were admitted to practice before the California Bar. The first was Clara Shortridge Foltz, and very soon afterward was Laura de Force Gordon. Both of these women, intent on expanding their knowledge of the law after already passing the bar, applied to the Hastings College of Law (Now the University of California). They were denied admission based on their gender. After filing a lawsuit, they won their case. Unfortunately, due to financial and other reasons, neither completed the course of study and graduated.

 

The first woman who attended and graduated from Hastings College of Law was Mary McHenry. Graduatating in 1882, Mary McHenry practiced law for only a few years, although she used her law degree throughout her life to advocate social justice issues, specifically woman suffrage, opposing white slavery and prostitution, and animal rights issues.

Mary McHenry

Mary McHenry Keith was born in San Francisco, California on November 20, 1855 to John McHenry (1809–1880) and Ellen Josephine Metcalfe McHenry (1827-1922). John McHenry was a Judge and Louisiana Supreme Court Justice who moved to California in 1850 and continued to work as a judge in San Francisco. Mary had three siblings, Elizabeth Harris McHenry Lamare (1850-1907), Emma McHenry Pond (1857-1934), and John McHenry (1858-1935). She attended San Francisco's Girl's High School before pursuing a college degree.

Mary's father was not supportive of women's work outside the home, but did not stop her from attending college. She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1879 at the University of California in Berkeley. Thanks to the efforts of the above-mentioned lady lawyers to make it possible for women to attend law school about the time she finished her undergraduate degree, and without telling her father, she enrolled in Hastings.

1883 Portrait of Mary-William Keith

For a short time after graduating from law school, Mary worked as a lawyer specializing in probates. She gave up being a lawyer in 1883 when she married prominent landscape artist, William Keith. Mr. Keith died in 1911, and Mary did not remarry.

Mary McHenry Keith focused activist work after her marriage. Her work in this area started when she was still a student and promoted the dress reform movement, which drew attention to the ways in which women’s clothing restricted the abilities of women to comfortably and effectively engage in the full range of activities available to male classmates. As a as president of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae, she addressed the importance of women receiving an education.

By the early 1890s, Mary was a prominent lecturer and member of the Berkeley Political Equality Club, serving as its President beginning in 1902. With a membership of over 200, the Berkeley Political Equality Club was one of the largest suffrage organizations in California and throughout the West Coast of the US.

 

Mary Keith at 1911 Amendment 8 Campaign in San Francisco

 

Mary firmly believed that women should develop themselves to their full potential, and that they should fully participate in society. In 1895, she organized the Woman's Congress (held in Berkeley) at which time she met Susan B. Anthony and began a regular correspondence about suffrage and women's rights. After the dismissal of the campaign in 1896, Mary revamped and retargeted the movement; publicly speaking to the right and need for co-education, centralizing suffrage as a primary cause in women organizations across the state, and integrating modern devices, such as cars and telephones as a way to reach and democratize rural areas. her leadership in Northern California provided a key role in securing the passage of suffrage for California women in 1911.  

In 1912, Mary was elected president of California’s Equal Suffrage Association. In this role, she expanded her experience and suffrage support to other states, such work contributed to the 19th amendment's ratification in 1920. 

Mary Keith 1910

Mary was an advocate for animal rights. She saw connections between women's and animals rights, and her thoughts on animal rights are reported to have had a strong influence on John Muir. Her advocacy for animal rights led to her service to the Humane Society, the California Audubon Society, as an officer for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and as a trustee of the Latham Foundation for the Promotion of Humane Education.

As a donor to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and William Keith’s widow, she also was recognized for her work cataloguing, preserving, and exhibiting his collected works.

Mary McHenry Keith lived until the age of ninety-one. She died in Berkeley, California, on October 13, 1947.

This includes my trio of blog posts about early California lady lawyers. I’ve been interested in women and the law in California for years. However, my research for my romance, A Lawyer for Linton inspired my learning more about these women who pioneered professional careers and held leadership positions advocating for a better, more equitable society.

 

 

You may find the book description and purchase link for A Lawyer for Linton by CLICKING HERE.

 

 

My latest book to be released tomorrow (preordered purchases will actually show up on most readers’ Kindles late tonight) is Lighthouse Escape. What a delight writing this romance turned out to be. I hope my readers will enjoy reading. You may find the book description and purchase link for this book by CLICKING HERE.

 

 

 

 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_McHenry_Keith

https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/saint-marys-college-museum-of-art/mary-mchenry-keith-suffrage

California’s Early Lady Lawyers-Laura de Force Gordon by Zina Abbott

 

Last month I blogged about California’s very first lady lawyer, Clara Shortridge Foltz. You may find that post by CLICKING HERE. Today, I wish to introduce you to Laura de Force Gordon, the second woman to pass the California State Bar and the second woman to pass the be able to argue before the Supreme Court. Those are but some of this woman’s accomplishments.

Laura de Force Gordon (August 17, 1838 – April 5, 1907) was a California lawyer, newspaper publisher, and a prominent suffragette. She was the first woman to run a daily newspaper in the United States (the Stockton Daily Leader, 1874), and the second female lawyer admitted to practice in California.

As an activist, Gordon, along with California’s first woman attorney, Clara Foltz, was a key proponent of the Woman’s Lawyer’s Bill, which allowed women to practice law in California. She also pushed for the inclusion of Article XX, Section 18, in the California Constitution that prohibited the state from barring women from practicing any "lawful business, avocation, or profession".

Laura de Force was born in Erie County, Pennsylvania to Abram de Force and Catherine Doolittle Allen. The family had nine children. Her father struggled with rheumatism, but the children (including at least two daughters) received education in the public schools.

After the death of one of the children, the family turned to Spiritualism in 1855. Starting at age fifteen, Laura toured the Northeast of the United States giving public speeches, including a speech in Boston at age eighteen. During one such event, she met a Scottish physician named Charles H. Gordon, and in 1862, they married. They gradually moved west. During the Civil War, they lived in New Orleans where he was posted. From there, they went to Nevada, and then, in 1870, to California.

In 1870, Laura she helped found the California Women’s Suffrage Society and gave more than 100 speeches on suffrage. She also worked for suffrage in Nevada, speaking throughout the state in the late 1860s and in front of the state legislature in 1871. One paper writing about her speaking at this time described her speaking as "like a stream of liquid fire".

        Gordon and Anthony escorted by Theo. Tilton to seats on Exposition Hall stage

Laura also traveled outside of the Southwest. She representing California at the 1872 National Woman Suffrage Association in New York City. At the 1872 Liberal Republican convention, alongside Susan B. Anthony, she asked the party to seat her as a representative from California. Although her request was responded to with laughter, she submitted a pro-suffrage resolution.

In 1873, Gordon became an editor and reporter for the Stockton Narrow Gauge. In 1874, she bought the Stockton Weekly Leader and converted into a daily newspaper. This made her the first female publisher of a paper in the United States, even though, by doing so, she recognized the difficulties for a woman running a newspaper, having “already experienced the pressure of the tide which a woman must work against, if she dare deviate from the old routine of dish-washing and cradle-rocking.”

Though the paper was successful, Gordon sold it in 1876 and began considering a more financially stable career in law. She did publish the Oakland Daily Democrat between 1876 and 1878 and she was a correspondent for the Sacramento Bee and other papers, with a press desk on the floor of the state Assembly. She also served as an organizer of the Pacific Coast Press Association.

Sometime before 1878, Laura divorced her husband on grounds of adultery. She later referred to herself frequently as a widow, rather than a divorcée, since widowhood was more socially acceptable.

After beginning her legal career in 1879, she continued her suffrage activism. She was elected president of the California State Suffrage Association from 1884–1894, and a paid speaker on behalf of the movement in the 1888 presidential election. In 1892, she spoke at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

In January 1879, Laura Gordon and Clara Foltz were briefly admitted to the recently opened Hastings College of Law and paid the $10 tuition. However, on the third day of classes, they were asked to leave, in part because the school's Dean felt their "rustling skirts" bothered the male students. In February, the women filed and argued a case that persuaded the state's Supreme Court to overturn that decision. However, because of work, activism, and family obligations, neither Gordon nor Foltz were able to graduate. The first female graduate of Hastings was Mary McHenry Keith.

At that time, law school graduation was not necessary for bar admission, so Gordon studied on her own. On December 6, 1879, she was admitted to the State Bar of California, becoming the second female attorney in the state (after Clara Foltz). In 1880 she established her own firm in San Francisco, where she specialized in general and criminal law. Her work included successful defenses in several murder cases. She was also the first woman in California to argue a case to a jury. This work attracted national attention, particularly in the case of George Wheeler, where Gordon assisted the defense and Foltz the prosecution, leading the New York’s National Police Gazette to write that it was a case where "two females will be allowed to wag their tongues to their heart's content".

On February 3, 1883, Laura became the second woman to be admitted to the bar of the United States Supreme Court, after Belva Lockwood. 

After beginning her legal career, Laura continued her suffrage activism. She was elected president of the California State Suffrage Association from 1884–1894. She was a paid speaker on behalf of the movement in the 1888 presidential election. 

Official portrait for Columbian Exposition

In 1892, she spoke at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago where she declared, “Woman is no longer content to remain a subject,” she said in the 1893 speech at a convention of women in Chicago.

Laura de Force Gordon retired from the legal profession in 1901. She spent her last years on her farm in Lodi, California. Her health deteriorated in 1906 after the premature death of her grandchild. She caught pneumonia in March 1907, and died in Lodi on April 5, 1907.

Gordon died about four years before women were granted the right to vote in California, and more than a decade before the 19th Amendment established that right for women across the United States. But she was always optimistic: “Woman suffrage is bound to come,” she wrote in 1896.

“There has never been a time when so many men and women took so deep an interest in the subject,” she wrote, “and I am happy in the thought that our day of political freedom is so near.”

 

I was prompted to write this series of posts about early California women attorneys as a result of my research for my novel, A Lawyer for Linton. The book description and purchase link for this sweet romance is available by CLICKING HERE.

 

 

 

Sources:

https://www.berfrois.com/2013/08/jill-norgren-american-rebels-women-lawyers-nineteenth-century/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_de_Force_Gordon