Butte County
Biographies
CHARLES WICK
CHARLES F. WICK.--A well-known ranchman
born on the paternal farm, who sat up straight on a horse at six, and rode the range,
and who could rope a steer when ten years of age, Charles F. Wick first saw the
light six miles out from Oroville, on the Chico road, on August 25, 1861, the
son of Mose Wick, who was born in Ohio and came to
Illinois, where he married Miss Marie Fryer, a native of New York State. In
1850 he bade good-bye to the Middle West and sailed for San Francisco
by way of Panama;
and on arriving here, he went to the mining camps in the Sierras, where he
worked as a cook. For six months he prepared the meals for twenty men, and
received for his services an ounce of gold a day; and when he tired of that, he
returned to Illinois by way of Panama.
The lure of California, however,
drew him back here again, in 1852, and this time he brought with him his good
wife, the couple traveling with others in a huge wagon drawn by ox teams. It
was a six-months' trip, and the emigrants had trouble
with the Indians; but as the company was large, no lives were lost.
On September 3, 1852, Mr. Wick
located on what was later known as Wick's Ranch, but at that time familiar to
settlers as Antelope Springs; and commencing with one hundred sixty acres and a
small frame house, which he built himself, he soon made known the value of his
brand, W K, which his son now uses; for, as will be shown, he was the means of bringing the first full-blooded stock into California, and thus did a real service for the embryo state.
Later he added to his holdings six hundred forty acres. He put his ox teams to
a freight wagon and hauled goods from Sacramento
to the mines. In the meantime he improved his place, and began to raise grain
and hay. He also started in the butcher business, and supplied fresh meat to
the miners. In freighting he continued several years. The stock business,
however, was his chief enterprise. In 1870 he went back to
Ohio and bought two car-loads of thoroughbred Durham
cattle, which he sent to his California
ranch at a cost of six hundred forty dollars a car for freight, and with these,
the first full-blooded Durhams in that section, he
engaged in high-class breeding. He sold his cattle to settlers passing and to farmers roundabout, and even sent some into Oregon.
For some of the choicest, he paid as high as five hundred dollars a head, while
the average cost him probably half that sum each. For a thoroughbred bull he
owned, General Bidwell offered him fifteen hundred dollars, but this offer he
refused.
Finally, Mr. Wick lost his health,
and he disposed of the balance of his unsold cattle, large and small, to Miller
and Lux, at one hundred dollars a head. This was in
1885. He had many premium cattle, for he exhibited at state fairs, where he
took first prizes. He had other ranches in the neighborhood besides his main
ranch, where he died, in 1888, at the age of sixty-six, mourned by many,
especially by those in the ranks of the Odd Fellows. His helpful wife died on the same central ranch, on January
3, 1879, the mother of five children, two of whom are still living. One of
these is Ella, Mrs. A. E. Crum, of Chico.
Charles F. Wick was brought up on
the ranch, where he was born, and attended the public schools and then put in a
year at the Stockton Business
College. On his return home, he
continued assisting his father in the care of the cattle until, in 1884, he went to Eastern Oregon
where, near Lakeview, he had a horse ranch, branding his horses with the
letters, C. P. On the death of his father, he returned to California,
driving his herd of horses clear through to the home ranch. For about five
years he continued in the horse business, and then, disposing of his horses, he
began to raise cattle. He again bred only high grade stock, which he shipped to
San Francisco. He became owner of
the old Wick Ranch of six hundred forty acres, and also owned about fifteen
hundred other acres in the neighborhood. In 1906, he sold the home ranch. Since
then Mr. Wick has continued in the raising of cattle, for which purpose he uses
two ranches that he owns--one of four hundred forty acres four miles north of
Oroville, and the other of six hundred forty acres near Hurleton.
He also owns an orange grove, ten acres in extent and seventeen years old,
which he set out himself.
On December 8, 1889, and also on the
old home ranch, Mr. Wick was married to Miss Dolly Bushman, a native of Hardin
County, Iowa, and the daughter of John Bushman, who was
born in New York. The latter was
a farmer who died when Mrs. Wick was eight years old. In 1879, she came to California
with her mother and settled in Butte County;
and here she remained until her marriage.
A Republican and a citizen who has
served his time doing grand jury work, Mr. Wick also has been a trustee of the Oroville
Union High School,
from the Cottonwood district, serving from the
organizations and the building of the school.
Transcribed by Sande Beach.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 462-465, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2007 Sande Beach.
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