Number One intersects said county line; thence following said easterly line of Township Number One southerly to the northern and eastern line of Township Number Two; thence following the line of said Township Number Two southeasterly to the meridian line; thence north one mile; thence west one and one-half miles; thence north one-half mile; thence west one mile; thence north two miles; thence west one mile; thence north to the southern corner of the Monte del Diablo Grant; thence following the grant line northeasterly to the southwest corner of section twenty-six, township two north, range one west; thence east one mile; thence north to the county line; thence westerly along said county line to the point of beginning.

TOWNSHIP NUMBER FOUR.-Commencing at a point in the county line where the eastern line of Township Number Three intersects said county line; thence following the easterly line of said Township Number Three in a southerly direction to the line of Township Number Two south, and east to the southeast corner of section twenty-five, township one north, range one east; thence north six miles; thence west one mile; thence north six miles; thence west two miles; thence north to the county line; thence westerly on said county line to the point of beginning.

TOWNSHIP NUMBER FIVE.-Commencing at a point in the county line where the eastern line of Township Number Four intersects said line; thence following the line of Township Number Four southerly to the line of Township Number Two; thence following the line of said Township Number Two east and south to the county line; thence easterly along the county line to the San Joaquin River; thence following the county line down said river to the point of beginning.

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.-Up until the passage of the Act of May 3, 1852, which created a Board of Supervisors for Contra Costa county, the Court of Sessions had full control of the affairs of the county. That Act was entitled "An Act to create a Board of Supervisors in the counties in this State, and to define their duties and powers." For better reference its ninth section is here reproduced in full: "The Board of Supervisors shall have power and jurisdiction in their respective counties: First. To make orders respecting the property of the county in conformity with any law of this State, and to take care of and preserve such property. Second-To examine, settle, and allow all accounts legally chargeable against the county, and to levy, for the purposes prescribed by law, such amount of taxes on the assessed value of real and personal property in the county as may be authorized by law; provided, the salary of the County Judge need not be audited by the Board, but the County Auditor shall, on the first judicial day of each month, draw his warrant on the County Treasurer in favor of the County Judge, for the amount due such Judge as salary for the month preceding. Third.-To examine and audit the accounts of all officers having

the care, management, collection or disbursement of any money belonging to the county, or appropriated by law, or otherwise, for its use and benefit. Fourth. To lay out, control and manage public roads, turnpikes, ferries and bridges within the county, in all cases where the law does not prohibit such jurisdiction, and to make such orders as may be requisite and necessary to carry its control and management into effect. Fifth.-To take care of and provide for the indigent sick of the county. Sixth.-To divide the county into townships, and to change the divisions of the same, and to create new townships, as the convenience of the county may require. Seventh. To establish and change election precincts, and to appoint inspectors and judges of elections. Eighth. To control and manage the property, real and personal, belonging to the county, and to receive by donation any property for the use and benefit of the county. Ninth. To lease or to purchase any real or personal property necessary for the use of the county; provided, no purchase of real property shall be made unless the value of the same be previously estimated by three disinterested persons, to be appointed for that purpose by the County Judge. Tenth.-To sell at public auction at the Court-house of the county, after at least thirty days' previous public notice, and cause to be conveyed, any property belonging to the county, appropriating the proceeds of such sale to the use of the same. Eleventh. To cause to be erected and furnished, a Court-house, jail, and such other public buildings as may be necessary, and to keep the same in repair; provided, that the contract for building the Court-house, jail, and such other public buildings, be let out at least after thirty days' previous public notice, in each case, of a readiness to receive proposals therefor, to the lowest bidder, who will give good and sufficient security for the completion of any contract which he may make respecting the same; but no bid shall be accepted which the Board may deem too high. Twelfth.-To control the prosecution and defense of all suits to which the county is a party. Thirteenth. To do any and perform all such other acts and things as may be strictly necessary to the full discharge of the powers and jurisdiction conferred on the Board."

In pursuance of this enactment an election was held June 14, 1852, for the election of a Board of Supervisors for Contra Costa county, when five gentlemen were chosen to fill the high office.

The Board maintained its position until March 25, 1854, when they were replaced by the Court of Sessions, who in turn, in accordance with the Act of the Legislature passed March 20, 1855, were succeeded by another conclave of Supervisors. To elect these the county was, by the County Clerk, County Assessor and County Surveyor, divided into three Supervisor Districts, since when these have conformed to the changes made in the redistribution of townships.

ELECTION PRECINCTS.-When the vote for the Old Constitution was taken on November 13, 1849, there were but three election precincts within what was then known as Contra Costa county-namely, at the Moraga Redwoods, Martinez and San Antonio (now Brooklyn, Alameda county.) For the election of April 1, 1850, the precinct of New York was added to those already created, while, on October 7th, of the same year, the precincts were Martinez, San Antonio, San Ramon (Dublin), and New York. The first record, however, which we can find of a distribution of voting precincts is for the election called for September 3, 1851, when the following polling places were established: At the Court-house in the town of Martinez, and the house of José Maria Amador, for the township of Martinez; the houses of Victor Castro and Vicente Peralta, in and for the township of San Antonio; and the house of William W. Smith in Antioch, and at the Lower Ferry on the San Joaquin river, in and for the township of New York. These, with a few additions, continued until the redistribution of the county into townships on August 10, 1854, when the following were created: Township No. 1.-At the Court-house in Martinez, and at the house of B. V. Merle at Pinole. Township No. 2.-At Prince's Mill in the Redwoods, and Hough's Store. Township No. 3.-At the hotel of Gabriel Castro. On August 8, 1855, the county being then partitioned into six townships, eleven voting precincts were established. These were again changed to ten precincts on the redistribution of the county into three townships and Supervisor Districts on October 16, 1856; while ten years later, June 5, 1866, the county was divided as follows: Township No. 1.—Martinez, San Pablo. Township No. 2.-La Fayette, San Ramon, Danville. Township No. 3.-Pacheco, Clayton, Nortonville, Somersville, Antioch. May 7, 1867, Pinole precinct was created; on August 5, 1868, the precincts of Walnut Creek and Point of Timber were added to the list.

Naturally, when the increase of population has been so great, the precincts enumerated above have proved insufficient for the wants of the voters, until, at the present writing, they are twenty in number, and are as follows: Martinez, Pinole, San Pablo, Port Costa, Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Danville, Tassajara, Pacheco, Concord, Clayton, Nortonville, Somersville, New York, Morgan Territory, Antioch, Empire, Webb's Landing, Point of Timber and Brentwood.

ROAD DISTRICTS.-Another criterion of the rapid development of a hitherto sparsely peopled country is the want immediately felt for carefully laid out roads and easy means of transport. He who has experienced such a desire can fully appreciate the comfort of well-graded thoroughfares and smoothly macadamized streets. The scarcely to be recognized trails give place, as if by magic, to the skill of the surveyor; the dangerous ford to the well-built bridge and the impenetrable undergrowth to the road-maker's

ax. In a few short years miraculous changes are worked, and science brings places within comfortable travel and neighbors within ken. Contra Costa in the pre-American days was not a whit better off than the neighboring counties; when the first roads were laid out, however, we have been unable to trace, but the records of the Court of Sessions inform us that as early as July 20, 1850, the county was partitioned into districts and the following roads declared Public Highways:

One and Two.-From Martinez to Pueblo de San José, divided into two districts, the first being from Martinez to the farm of Francisco Garcia; the second from thence to the line dividing the counties of Contra Costa and Santa Clara, the overseers appointed being respectively N. B. Smith and Joseph Rothenhostler. Three. The streets in the town of Martinez were declared to be District Number Three and placed under the supervision of A. Van Herne Ellis. Four.-The road then usually traveled from Martinez by the house of Salvio Pacheco to the town of New York of the Pacific was classed as District Number Four, with Henry F. Joye, Overseer. Five. The road from the Moraga Redwoods to that leading from Martinez to San José, terminating on said road nearly equidistant from Martinez to the house of Widow Welch, was established as District Number Five, and E. Miller appointed Overseer. Six.-The road usually traveled from the rancho of Vicente Castro by the rancho of Elam Brown, intersecting the road from the Moraga Redwoods to Martinez near the house of Jonah Bernell was defined as District Number Six, and Elam Brown appointed Overseer. Seven. The road leading from the crossing of the San Joaquin to the Pueblo de San José by the rancho of Robert Livermore, and to where it intersects that leading from Martinez to the Pueblo de San José, as belonged to the county of Contra Costa, was declared to be District Number Seven, and placed in charge of Greene Patterson, Overseer.

This same minute also orders all able-bodied males between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years to be called upon to work on these thoroughfares for five days in each year, or cause such amount of work to be done, when required by the Overseers or Supervisors of the respective districts. It will thus be seen that the matter once taken in hand, with the aid of the citizens, was pushed with becoming vigor. On July 15, 1852, directions for the laying out of the highway between Oakland and San Pablo were issued, while on the re-construction of the county on August 8, 1855, six road districts were established corresponding with the six townships then defined. Five years later, in 1860, we find that there were no less than seventeen road districts inside the county limits, and on May 21, 1861, the road tax for that year was increased to ten cents on the one hundred dollars of taxable property, in accordance with the provisions of an Act passed May 3, 1861, entitled "An Act to enable and require the Board of

Supervisors of the county of Contra Costa to complete the levy of taxes for road purposes in said county for the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one." November 4, 1862, it was ordered by the Board of Supervisors that the Auditor of the county cause to issue a warrant for the sum of twelve hundred dollars, payable out of the " Barber Fund," to be levied in accordance with an Act of the Legislature of the State of California, approved April 24, 1862, entitled "An Act to authorize the Board of Supervisors of the county of Contra Costa to audit and allow the claim of M. R. Barber, and to levy a Special Tax." It would appear that this action became necessary on account of a sum still remaining due to Mr. Barber for the construction of two bridges in the town of Martinez during the year 1853. At the time, he received a moiety of the amount due, when the City Fathers" accepted the responsibility of further payments, but as the corporation had dissolved into a phantom the onus of liquidating the debt devolved upon the county, and had to be met by the Board of Supervisors, hence the appeal to the Legislature, the passage of the Bill above quoted and the levy of a Special Tax to meet the liability.

But we have not the space at our disposal to follow the hundreds of petitions for road purposes, as they appear in the records of the Court of Sessions and Board of Supervisors. To give even an outline of each would more than fill a volume of no ordinary proportions. As the fertile districts were settled, each new arrival felt the want of some avenue of outlet from his homestead, connection was needed with the main arteries of traffic, the inevitable petition to the authorities was transmitted to the proper quarter, and, where the necessity was proved, never was the prayer rejected. With the opening out of fresh highways, more districts were imperatively necessary; with the creation of these districts, it was as necessary to appoint overseers, and now Contra Costa county is blessed with a large number of districts and a net-work of roads, better than which there are none in California.

SCHOOL DISTRICTS.-The first school districts in Contra Costa county were divided in consonance with the townships which then obtained, but such a partition embraced too large a territory, therefore alterations became necessary, like in the townships themselves. Boundaries and limitation lines were perpetually being altered at the solicitation of innumerable petitioners. The authorities, ever with an eye to the people's welfare, in most cases granted the prayer, until, after an infinity of rectifications, the present school districts of the county number thirty-nine, and are named: Alamo, Alhambra, Antioch, Bay Point, Brentwood, Briones, Carbondale, Central, Concord, Danville, Deer Valley, Eden Plain, Excelsior, Green Valley, Hot Spring, Iron House, Lafayette, Liberty, Lime Quarry, Lone Tree, Martinez, Moraga, Morgan Territory, Mount Diablo, Mount Pleasant, New York, Oak