Willows Town

Download or read book Willows written by Museum Society of Willows and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hot, thirsty range cattle led cowboys to a shady, spring-fed pond midway between the coastal and sierra foothills in Northern California. The area was referred to as "the Willows." It was a place no doubt well known to the native Wintun Indians long before white men came exploring. Settlers began buying up land at $4 an acre after the Gold Rush. Milton French was ranching to the west of town as early as 1857. In June 1876, Johnson and Hochheimer opened a general store. Daniel Zumwalt provided land to railroad magnate Charlie Crocker, who extended train service to the "the Willows" by 1878. Broad streets were laid out in an east-to-west orientation. The town was on its way to becoming the center of one of the most productive agricultural areas in the state, thanks to the development of deep-water wells and the building of canals.