The Story of Kingston, California
Kingston, California - 1873
The story of Laton can not be told without also telling the story of Kingston. Kingston was the first town to be established on what is now Kings County soil, and yet the town of Kingston never was in Kings County. It started as a Tulare County settlement, but was in Fresno County after the formation of the county in 1856. However, no one knew for several years that it was not still in Tulare County. In 1859, the Tulare County supervisors granted O.H. Bliss a license to operate a ferry across the river at that point. The post office was established there in November 1859, supposedly in Tulare County; but during the next month, Visalia people read the shocking news that Kingston was in Fresno County.
L. A. Whitmore had come to Kings River in 1854 to raise cattle, but he soon started the first ferry that was ever operated at that point, probably in 1855. When the United States Cavalry undertook to round up all the Indians of the region and place them on reservations, they came to take Whitmore’s Indian wife. He offered resistance and was killed. The stern measures indicted by this incident did not result in the removal of all the Indians from the Kingston area. They were fairly numerous for years afteward.
Bliss’s ferrying charges were advertised in 1859 as follows: One horse and carriage - 75¢; Each additional horse - 25¢; Loose horses and cattle, 12 ½ ¢; Hogs and sheep - 5¢; A person on foot - 25¢.
After some years, Bliss replaced the ferry with the first bridge that spanned the river at that point. He finally sold his interests to the cattleman John Sutherland and left in 1873 (several authorities say) although he was reported present on December 26 of that year.
L. A. Whitmore had come to Kings River in 1854 to raise cattle, but he soon started the first ferry that was ever operated at that point, probably in 1855. When the United States Cavalry undertook to round up all the Indians of the region and place them on reservations, they came to take Whitmore’s Indian wife. He offered resistance and was killed. The stern measures indicted by this incident did not result in the removal of all the Indians from the Kingston area. They were fairly numerous for years afteward.
Bliss’s ferrying charges were advertised in 1859 as follows: One horse and carriage - 75¢; Each additional horse - 25¢; Loose horses and cattle, 12 ½ ¢; Hogs and sheep - 5¢; A person on foot - 25¢.
After some years, Bliss replaced the ferry with the first bridge that spanned the river at that point. He finally sold his interests to the cattleman John Sutherland and left in 1873 (several authorities say) although he was reported present on December 26 of that year.
Kingston Toll Bridge - ca 1873
James Edward Denny, who suggested the name for the post office, became the first postmaster and kept a trading post in connection with the office. Biographical sketches state that he purchased a ferry and operated it for about four years in partnership with W.G. Sanderson and he went to Visalia in 1884. Bliss’s connection with the ferry during these years is not clear. Possibly he owned it and leased it to the other men.
For many years, Kingston was an important trading point, to which freight was brought by wagon from Stockton. The post office was discontinued in November 1862, but was re-established in April 1966. The Overland Mail had been removed from the southern route in 1861 because of the Civil War. A plat of the old village showing several streets running east and west intersected by several running north and south, makes it look like a good-sized town, but most of those blocks contained no buildings. The last structure to remain was the old barn which stood until about 1930 on the south bank of the river near where the old bridge piles may still be seen – about a half-mile below the present Laton Bridge.
For many years, Kingston was an important trading point, to which freight was brought by wagon from Stockton. The post office was discontinued in November 1862, but was re-established in April 1966. The Overland Mail had been removed from the southern route in 1861 because of the Civil War. A plat of the old village showing several streets running east and west intersected by several running north and south, makes it look like a good-sized town, but most of those blocks contained no buildings. The last structure to remain was the old barn which stood until about 1930 on the south bank of the river near where the old bridge piles may still be seen – about a half-mile below the present Laton Bridge.
An idea of what Kingston was during it’s prosperous years may be had from the story of an exciting robbery which took place there on the day after Christmas in 1873. Just after dark the bandit gang of the notorious Tiburcio Vasquez left their horses, under guard, north of the river and crossed the bridge on foot. Meeting Mr. Bliss near the bridge, they tied him and left him lying on the ground. He complained that he was not comfortable and one of the bandits took a blanket from a wagon and placed it under his head. They met and tied John Potts, Presley Bozeman, and Milt Woods – and robbed them, of course. They placed guards at the store of Jacobs and Einstein, at that of Solomon Sweet, and at Reichert’s Hotel. In the barroom they tied down and robbed ten men, collecting about four hundred dollars. In the sitting room of the hotel, Ed Douglas of Visalia refused to be tied; but the bandit struck him on the head with a revolver, knocked him down and relieved him of his valuables.
Tiburcio Vasques
In the dining room a girl waitress screamed as one of the Mexican bandits entered. (Some of the gang were not Mexican.) Lancelot Gilroy, who was at the table, thinking that the man had insulted the girl, struck him with a chair and knocked him down. The bandit was soon up, and, swinging his revolver, dealt Gilroy a stunning blow on the head, which ended his resistence. According to one version, three members of the gang were in the clash with Gilroy.
A clerk in Jacobs and Einstein’s store shouted an alarm, but by that time the bandits had the situation well in hand. They demanded the keys to the store safe. Einstein denied having them, but being threatened with death, he gave them up. The safe yielded eight hundred dollars.
While they were looting the Sweet Store, a guard outside yelled that he had been shot. James W. Sutherland and James E. Flood, who lived near the village, had seen or heard things that made them suspicious. They collected a few mean and went to investigate, but one man, in his excitement, fired prematurely the shot that sent the bandits on their way. They had collected twenty-five hundred dollars in money and jewelry in the little town.
A posse of local men took up the trail the next morning, but the gang was not found. They caught one Mexican at the time, but ultimately at least three men served penitentiary terms for participation in the holdup. Vasquez, the leader, who was found guilty of many crimes, was captured about a year later in southern California. Although he was not regarded as a killer, he was convicted of murder — possibly the only murder of which he was guilty — and was hanged on Marcy 19, 1875.
The building of the Santa Fe Railroad resulted in the beginning of Laton, in Fresno County, and was the deathblow to Kingston. The old bridge, the second at that spot, fell long after the decay of the town, and a new one was built a half-mile upstream. Kingston, off the main road, became only a memory.
A clerk in Jacobs and Einstein’s store shouted an alarm, but by that time the bandits had the situation well in hand. They demanded the keys to the store safe. Einstein denied having them, but being threatened with death, he gave them up. The safe yielded eight hundred dollars.
While they were looting the Sweet Store, a guard outside yelled that he had been shot. James W. Sutherland and James E. Flood, who lived near the village, had seen or heard things that made them suspicious. They collected a few mean and went to investigate, but one man, in his excitement, fired prematurely the shot that sent the bandits on their way. They had collected twenty-five hundred dollars in money and jewelry in the little town.
A posse of local men took up the trail the next morning, but the gang was not found. They caught one Mexican at the time, but ultimately at least three men served penitentiary terms for participation in the holdup. Vasquez, the leader, who was found guilty of many crimes, was captured about a year later in southern California. Although he was not regarded as a killer, he was convicted of murder — possibly the only murder of which he was guilty — and was hanged on Marcy 19, 1875.
The building of the Santa Fe Railroad resulted in the beginning of Laton, in Fresno County, and was the deathblow to Kingston. The old bridge, the second at that spot, fell long after the decay of the town, and a new one was built a half-mile upstream. Kingston, off the main road, became only a memory.
The historical marker that stands at Kingston today reads as follow:
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KINGSTON
Founded in 1856 by L.A. Whitmore who operated first Kings River ferry crossing. After 1858 the town became stopping place for Butterfield stages. Toll bridge superseded ferry in 1873. On December 26, 1873, Tiburcio Vasquez and bandit gang made a bold raid on town, robbing entire village.
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KINGSTON
Founded in 1856 by L.A. Whitmore who operated first Kings River ferry crossing. After 1858 the town became stopping place for Butterfield stages. Toll bridge superseded ferry in 1873. On December 26, 1873, Tiburcio Vasquez and bandit gang made a bold raid on town, robbing entire village.
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This is an undated photo of a class at Kingston school, likely the first school attended by students in Kings County. The school district was established as early as 1860 and moved to the town of Hardwick around 1876. It can be assumed then that this photo was taken sometime after 1860 and before 1876.