The valley is 3 leagues wide and paralleled by a tall mountain range running east and west. This stream and valley he named the San Miguel Archangel after the Patron Saint of the day, as was their custom.
However, he also referred to this area as The Azusa in his diary. Here roamed the Shoshonean-Indian, locally known as the Gabrieleno when the area of Azusa was first inhabited by white immigrants and homesteaders. Their community was known as Asuksa-nga. It is said Azusa was derived from the native American name.
Azusa Rancho de Dalton
An area of land some 3 miles square was given to Luis Arenas by the Mexican Government as a Mexican land grant in 1841. Arenas built an adobe home on the hill in the eastern part of the City, farmed and raised stock, and called his newly acquired possession El Susa Rancho. In addition, Arenas owned a 1 B third interest in the San Jose and San Jose Adicion with Ignacio Palomares and Ricardo Vejar. In 1844 Arenas sold all of his holdings to Henry Dalton, an Englishman who acquired his wealth in buying and shipping goods from Peru to Wilmington Harbor, now Los Angeles Harbor, and San Francisco. Don Enrique Dalton, after paying $7,000 to Arenas for El Susa Rancho, changed the name to Azusa Rancho de Dalton.
On the Azusa Rancho, Mr. Dalton planted a vineyard extending northward from the Dalton Hill to the Sierra Madre Mountains. He built a winery, a distillery, a vinegar house, a meat smokehouse, and a flour mill, importing the mill stones from France in 1854 and erecting his mill on a ranch ditch which delivered water to the south portion of his property. During the great flood years of 1861 and 1862, the flour mills along the various canyons from San Bernardino were washed out and most of the people brought their grain to the Azusa Rancho de Dalton for grinding.
El Doradoville: The City of Gold
During 1854, gold was discovered in the San Gabriel Canyon and a town named El Doradoville was built at the fork of the San Gabriel to take care of some 2,000 miners who had filed on gold claims along the east fork of the canyon. During the next 20 years, it is estimated that $12 million in gold was mined and shipped to various mints throughout the United States. The town of El Doradoville was destroyed by flood waters in 1861 and 1862.
Dalton Loss is Slauson Gain
In 1860, the United States Land Office sent an engineer from Washington, DC, who surveyed the Dalton Azusa Rancho, taking a mile and 1-half from its southern boundary and a mile and 1-half from its eastern boundary, making the property taken by the Federal Government subject to homesteading. An influx of people began streaming into the area, filing usually on 40, 80 or 120 acre lands for their homesteads. This Mr. Dalton considered unfair. He had not the money to fight the case through the courts and borrowed money from Jonathan S. Slauson, one of the early Los Angeles bankers.
Mr. Dalton had to make several trips to Washington, DC. The courts decided against him after 24 years of litigation. Consequently in 1880, Mr. Dalton turned the Azusa Rancho over to Mr. Slauson, who deeded a 55-acre homestead to Mr. Dalton at the head of Azusa Avenue and Sierra Madre Avenue.
In 1874, Henry Dalton and Captain J. R. Gordon imported from Italy 15 stands of Italian honey bees, considered the first honey bees imported into the United States. This developed into a large industry in the production of honey throughout the United States.
In 1868, the Azusa Valley had grown considerably and schooling for the children was getting to be a problem. A meeting was called on Dalton Hill and a citizens committee was formed to take the necessary steps to provide a Provisional School for the community.
The following excerpts from Henry Dalton diary tell of these days:
Monday, May 11, 1868: In the afternoon the people met at Williamson to determine about the erection of the Provisional School and it was determined to meet on Friday with wagons, tools, etc., to haul logs and brush necessary and on Saturday to raise the brush school house.
Friday, May 15: My man Burns was hauling brush for the school house. After a long debate it was decided to build the school house between the Dalton Hill and Williamson (which would now be located on the east side of the old squatter ditch and Third Street).
Wednesday, May 20: The school house was finished. Beckman and others prepared the stools, desks, etc., and prepared to hire a teacher.
Thursday, June 11: Went with Williamson to take a census of the children along the mountains as far as San Dimas. (A distance of 8 miles.) A School Board was appointed by the committee, consisting of Oliver Justice, President; Dutcher, Secretary; and Williamson.
