Cave Johnson Couts Papers, 1832-1951

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Summary

Creators:
Couts, Cave Johnson, 1821-1874.
Abstract:
This collection consists of the personal, family, and business papers of San Diego, California, rancher, businessman, and politician Cave Johnson Couts (1821-1874) and his son Cave Johnson Couts, Jr. (1856-1943). There is material concerning land and development in San Diego County and in greater Southern California, as well as significant amount of materials related to Native Americans in San Diego County.
Extent:
Approximately 16,000 pieces in 92 boxes; 171 volumes; 250 maps; and 1 roll
Language:
English.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of the personal, family and business papers of Cave Johnson Couts (1821-1874) and his son Cave Johnson Couts, Jr. (1856-1943). There is personal and business correspondence, army papers of Cave J. Couts (1837-1855), accounts, land papers, legal papers, survey correspondence and field notes of Cave J. Couts, Jr., family papers, photographs, ephemera, and 250 maps.

In this collection, the father, son, and grandson are distinguished as "a", "b" and "c":

  • Cave Johnson Couts a (1821-1874)
  • Cave Johnson Couts b (1856-1943)
  • Cave Johnson Couts c (born 1887)

Of note in the collection is a journal kept by Cave Johnson Couts (1821-1874) which documents his company's six-month march from Monterrey, Mexico, to California in 1848. Other military papers in the collection include the army papers (1852-1861) of Aaron B. Hardcastle, and correspondence between Couts and his siblings in Tennessee about the U.S. Civil War. Couts's letters give an informative view of the rigors of war in that state; Couts was a strong Confederate supporter.

The collection also contains a significant amount of materials related to Native Americans in San Diego County. Of note are papers about the 1851 San Diego County Indian uprising known as the Garra Revolt (led by Antonio Garra), and the involvement of Cave Johnson Couts (1821-1874) with the Indians as a sub-agent for the county from 1853-1855.

There is also material concerning land in San Diego County and in greater Southern California. It includes information on various ranchos, including Buena Vista, Guajome, among others, and the growth and development of various cities, including San Diego, Los Angeles, and Oceanside. There is also information about the San Luis Rey Mission, the creation of the Palomar Observatory (1930-38) and the activities of the Ranchito Mine in the Julian District purchased by Cave J. Couts, Jr. in 1895 (1895-1941). The land papers also contain materials regarding different estates, including the estate of Arcadia Bandini Stearns Baker, which included vast holdings of Los Angeles County land. Family papers in the collection include baptismal records, wedding announcements, biographical materials, etc. related to the Couts and Bandini families.

Additional correspondents represented in the collection include: John Forster, John S. Griffin, Benjamin I. Hayes, Charles Robinson Johnson, Ephraim W. Morse, George Allan Pendleton, Alfred Robinson, Abel Stearns, and Jonathan Trumbull Warner.

Note: Cave J. Couts b kept many papers together in groups by subject matter. These original groups have been kept together to preserve their relationships. For this reason the papers are not strictly alphabetical.

Biographical / historical:

Cave J. Couts (1821-1874) was born near Springfield, Tennessee, in November 1821. He was recommended by Rep. James K. Polk to the United States Military Academy, which he attended from 1838 to 1843. For four years, Couts served at posts in Louisiana and what is now Oklahoma, during which time he rose from second lieutenant of Riflemen to first lieutenant of First Dragoons.

In November 1847, in the closing moments of the Mexican-American War, Couts was sent to Monterrey, Mexico, too late to take part in any real confrontation with the enemy. In June 1848, after uneventful months of occupation duty, Couts' company began a six-month march to California from Monterrey during which Couts kept a journal chronicling the hardships the company faced.

Upon reaching California, Couts was stationed at Los Angeles and San Diego for several months, and in late 1849, he headed up the escort for the United States Boundary Commission survey team, which was mapping the U.S. border from San Diego to the Colorado-Gila River junction.

In 1851, after several more months of occupation duty in San Diego, Couts married Isidora Bandini, daughter of the very prominent Californiano Juan Bandini. Shortly thereafter, in October 1851, Couts resigned his Army commission and took over the operation of the San Diego County ranch Guajome, a wedding present of the bride's brother-in-law Abel Stearns.

In late 1851, Couts was second-in-command of the volunteer force which brought under control the San Diego County Indian uprising known as the Garra Revolt. In January 1852, he was the presiding judge at the court martial of the man who instigated that revolt, Antonio Garra. Couts was further involved with San Diego Indians as sub-agent for the county from 1853 to 1855.

As Couts turned his attentions toward setting up his ranch, he put his primary efforts into raising cattle, with the help of Abel Stearns. He proved quite successful as a cattleman, and acquired great wealth. He was later able to add the nearby ranches Buena Vista and Los Vallecitos de San Marcos to his land holdings. He was also a very well-respected man throughout California. A staunch Democrat, he was very active in county and state politics. He was several times a delegate to the state Democratic Convention, and he held numerous county positions, including that of Justice of the Peace (which he held from 1853 to 1863).

With the passing of the No-fence Law in Sacramento in 1872, Couts received a financial blow from which he never recovered. California laws had always favored the rancher and open-range methods of cattle raising. This new law, which Couts fought, placed on the cattlemen the responsibility for any damage to farmers' crops caused by free-roaming cattle. Thus, rather than farmers having to enclose their fields, ranchers had to enclose their cattle, or sell. Couts was forced to sell his herds at ruinous prices. Two years later, in June 1874, Couts died of aneurism at San Diego.

Cave J. Couts (1856-1943), fourth child of Cave J. Couts (1821-1874), was born at Rancho Guajome in San Diego County, California, in 1856. He received his schooling at St. Vincent's Academy in Los Angeles and at Stewart College in Clarksville, Tennessee (now Southwestern Presbyterian University).

Couts became a civil engineer, and in 1883 he and his brother-in-law, Chalmers Scott, went to Guatemala and El Salvador to work on the Central American Pacific Railroad. After his return in 1884 Couts was appointed Deputy Surveyor for San Diego County, and he actively surveyed the public lands for more than twenty-five years.

In February 1887, Couts married Elizabeth B. Clemens, niece of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Their only child, Cave Johnson Couts, was born late that same year. In June 1897, Couts and his wife were divorced. She later remarried, to Dr. Charles Schrader.

Couts' great pride, Rancho Guajome, was gradually acquired as a whole by him from other members of his family. The ranch had been divided up among the family following the death of the senior Couts. In times of financial reverses the family turned to Cave J. Couts Jr. for assistance, and in this way the land came into his hands. In 1927 he had the house and outbuildings completely restored. Couts' sense of history also led him to buy and renovate the Casa de Bandini in San Diego, home of his famous grandfather, Juan Bandini. Following its restoration in 1930 the house was opened as a hotel.

Couts owned or administered large parcels of land, a few of which gave him much worry and trouble. A heated battle over the Rancho Buena Vista caused Couts, as administrator of his father's estate, years of litigation (1889-1907). His problems were first centered around a dispute with the government over the final survey of the land, and later were focussed on an effort to buy the lands of the original ranch excluded from the final survey. There was also a great deal of family disagreement over the proper handling of the matter.

Another problem for Couts was the Ranchito Mine, a gold mine in the Julian District that he purchased in 1895. This was generally regarded as the richest mine in the Julian area, but it proved to be a great disappointment to Couts; he tried for many years to dispose of it, unsuccessfully.

In 1917 Couts nearly lost Rancho Guajome. In 1896, he had received a loan of a considerable sum from Richard O'Neill, Sr., manager of neighboring Rancho Santa Margarita y las Flores. At that time he had signed a note that amounted to a mortgage, although there was an unwritten understanding between the two friends that the note did not constitute a mortgage. At O'Neill's death in 1910 Richard O'Neill, Jr. inherited the Guajome note and insisted upon a literal interpretation of it. In 1917, the issue came to a head in a bitter legal battle.

Couts was involved in civic projects in San Diego city and county, including assuming the chairmanship of the committee which succeeded in establishing the famous Palomar Observatory. Couts was also quite active in the southern California business world. He took part in many ventures in San Diego and Los Angeles. The death of one of these figures, Arcadia (Bandini) Stearns Baker (Couts' aunt), involved a multi-million-dollar estate, including vast holdings of Los Angeles County land. Couts, as an heir, was caught up in the partition suits, which dragged on for more than nine years after the 1912 death of Mrs. Baker. Couts was a successful businessman, and he was a wealthy man most of his life. His business activity remained brisk until shortly before his death at the age of 87 in 1943.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from Ida Richardson in 1958.
Arrangement:

Arranged in the following series:

  • Correspondence, 1832-1941
  • Business correspondence of Cave J. Couts b., 1882-1943
  • Army papers of Cave J. Couts a., 1837-1855
  • Army papers of Aaron B. Hardcastle., 1852-1861
  • Accounts
  • Land papers
  • Legal papers
  • Survey correspondence of Cave J. Couts b
  • Field notes of Cave J. Couts b
  • Family papers
  • Photographs
  • Ephemera
  • Envelopes
  • Volumes
  • Maps

Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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