growth of agriculture, especially in the southern part of the state. It
provided that cattle and sheep should not be allowed to run loose
without a herder to keep them from trespassing. This saved the farmer
from the necessity of fencing his grain fields, a most important help in
a country where fence material was so scarce and expensive.

Colony Days

For some time after California's admission to the Union most of the
events of importance in its history took place around the Bay of San
Francisco and the junction of the Sacramento and San Joaquin; but early
in the seventies the south land awoke from its long sleep and took part
in history making, not in such stirring incidents as those of the days
of '49, but in a quieter growth that was yet of importance in the making
of the state. People in the East had begun to find out that southern
California had a mild, healthful climate and that, though the sands of
her rivers and rocks of her mountains were not of gold, still her
oranges, by aid of irrigation, could be turned into a golden harvest,
and that all her soil needed was water in order to yield most bountiful
crops.

As little land could be bought in small ranches, those wishing to settle
in the country chose the colony plan. A number of families would
contribute to a common sum, with which would be purchased a large piece
of land of several thousand acres with its water right. Each man
received from this a number of acres in proportion to the amount of
money he had invested. The first colony formed was that of Anaheim;
then followed Westminster, Riverside, Pasadena, and many others, and by
that time people began to come into southern California in large
numbers.