"Whiskey is for Drinking; Water is for Fighting"
By Darrell Beck

Ethel Johnson (left), Darwin Duncan (right), unusual water system. Photo courtesy of Darrell Beck

Because there was no established water system in the region, the first pioneers who settled Santa Maria Valley and the surrounding back country generally located near living springs, seasonal streams, seeps or natural catch basins. As the town began to develop, newcomers began putting down hand-dug wells equipped with windmills, windlass and bucket or gasoline driven pumps.

An adequate supply of good water could usually be found as shallow ground water or in fissures at 10 to 30 feet below the surface. However, well digging was difficult work because most of the valley and foothills within the region are underlain by blue granite, requiring the ability to drill and blast.

Some of the settlers, who took up land in the foothills not having a seep or spring, or finding it impossible to put down a deep well, relied on their ingenuity to get water. Many of them directed rainwater from the roof, into gutters and downspouts, being collected into rain barrels or reservoirs. Others built catch basins, diverting rainwater into underground cisterns or hauled water from other sources.

A most fundamental and clever water collection system located in the foothills east of town may still be catching and storing water today. Here, the unknown innovator fashioned a unique water collection system by diverting rainwater and dew from the face of a large granite boulder into metal storage tanks. By using either a rope or a garden hose as a form, small curbs were laid following the contours of the boulder face, converging into a small cement basin and then into a hose connected to the storage tanks.

During those years of austerity, Charles F. Harper homesteaded land in the backcountry hills where he raised a family, dry farmed and kept bees. The only water supply on the ranch was a developed spring located in a deep canyon about three quarters of a mile from the ranch house. From there, Harper hauled water in 15-gallon milk cans using a horse-drawn stone boat (sled), making several trips a week during the summer.

Harper's water that was to be used for livestock and his very frugal irrigation system was stored at the ranch in a 50 gallon honey-extractor tank equipped with a spigot. One or two cans were placed in the kitchen where Mrs. Harper could dip water for drinking, cooking and washing.

Water was precious and hard to find. Most folks of that era didn't have indoor plumbing or running water and quickly learned how to wash the baby, the baby's clothes and the floor in that order, with the same bucket of water. Sometimes people bathed in a nearby stream, but more often than not, they learned how to take a bath by using a single dishpan of water. To make sure no water was wasted, the dishwater and bath water was hauled outside and used to irrigate the garden and flowers.

During those early days of the Old West, there was a saying that vividly described the importance of water: "Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting." And this was true as everywhere in the semi-arid southwest, the people jealously guarded and carefully conserved their water because water was life.

Darrell Beck is the author of "On Memory's Back Trail: A Story History of Ramona and the Backcountry of San Diego County." For information about the book, contact the author at 760-789-2534.