Riverside
County
Biographies
MATTHEW GAGE
Matthew Gage was a man to whom all
California may well pay a lasting tribute of honor, for he it was whose
initiative and enterprise made possible the cultivation and development of the navel
orange in the Riverside district, and incidentally led to the upbuilding of one
of the most important productive industries of the state. A man of sterling character, of marked civic
loyalty and public spirit, his influence was ever one of helpfulness, and he
commanded unqualified popular esteem.
His work and service widened in beneficent angle, and made possible the
winning of substantial fortunes by many other citizens of California. His supreme material interest in life was in
the development and progress of Riverside, and the canal which he constructed
and while still bears his name is the main artery of the irrigation systems
that gives life to the magnificent orange groves of this favored section of
California.
Mr. Gage was born in Coleraine, Ireland, January 11, 1844, and was a son of
James and Margaret Jane (Orr) Gage. His
father was a man of large business interests in his native land. He died shortly after his return to Ireland
with his family after a year’s visit to Canada.
His mother died at Riverside, California, in January, 1892, at the age
of eighty-two.
Matthew Gage was reared and educated
in Kingston, Canada, and was there actively engaged in business until
1881. In that year he came to Riverside,
which became his permanent residence.
Prior to settling here he had purchased twenty acres of orange and
deciduous groves on the corner of California Avenue and Jackson Street. Despite his earnest efforts this venture
proved unprofitable. Regardless of that
fact, his faith in the possibilities of Riverside was not weakened, and he
immediately directed his energies to other fields of development. On March 6, 1882 he filed a desert land entry
in the United States land office, covering section 30, lying east of the city
of Riverside, and on the 20th of March, 1882, purchased one hundred
and sixty acres of land from W. F. Green in Section 32 with the hope of
developing water thereon by means of wells for the reclamation of Section
30. On the same date he also purchased
Lot 1 of the Southern California Colony Association Lands from Hettie A. Green, where he established his residence, and
where he thereafter continuously resided until his death in 1916.
Failing to find water in sufficient
amount on Section 32, he began negotiations of J. Alphonso
Carit for the purchase of the Carit
tract (now known as Victoria) in 1885, and consummated the purchase of one
thousand acres of the same on March 1, 1886, for the sum of one hundred and
seventy-five thousand dollars. Upon this
tract he caused to be bored many artesian wells, some of which now constitute a
part of the water supply of the Gage Canal.
On July 27, 1885, Mr. Gage purchased six-sevenths of the Hunt and Cooley
ditch from George Cooley, Ambrose Hunt, James Stewart and Peter Filaux, which carried with it the right to take all the
water flowing in the Santa Ana River at the point of the intake. It was with his water that Mr. Gage intended
to reclaim Section 30. To convey this
water to his lands it was necessary to construct a canal twelve miles in
length. This required the boring of more
than a mile of tunnels through the bluffs to the south of the Santa Ana River
and the acquisition of rights of way over the lands of others. These rights of way were largely acquired by
conveying to the owners water rights in the canal to be built and necessitated
the development of water in amounts not only sufficient to reclaim Section 30,
but also to irrigate what was then known as East Riverside, but now called
Highgrove. The Gage Canal was thereafter
constructed and water therefrom supplied to the three thousand acres of land on
the Highgrove mesa, and conveyed to and upon Section 30. Unfortunately the time within the law
provides that desert land should be reclaimed expired before water was actually
placed upon Section 30. The day after
the expiration of this period four persons filed homestead and timber culture
entries upon each quarter section of Section 30, and thereby precipitated litigation
in the United States Land Office and in the courts, which ultimately was
determined in Mr. Gage’s favor by the issuance of a patent to him on April 1,
1896,
In his efforts to obtain water for
the reclamation of Section 30 the vision of Mr. Gage grew until in his mind’s
eye he could see not only Highgrove flourishing with groves, but also the six
thousand acres lying south of the Terquisquito Arroyo, now known as Arlington
Heights. On June 13, 1887, he secured an
option from S. C. Evans, Sr., for the purchase of this tract, and enlarged the
plans of the Gage Canal so as to permit the carrying of sufficient water not
only for the irrigation of Highgrove and Section 30, but also for the thousands
of acres of Arlington Heights. Unable to
secure financial assistance to carry out this project, he proceeded to England
in 1889, and there enlisted the aid of British capital. As a result of his efforts there the
Riverside Trust Company, Limited, was incorporated December 13, 1889, which
company purchased from Mr. Gage, Arlington Heights and all of the stock of the
Gage Canal Company, the latter company being organized in California for the
purpose of managing and operating the Gage Canal and its water sources. Mr. Gage reserved a large block of stock in
the Riverside Trust Company for his interests, and became its managing
director. The Gage Canal, which had been
in 1888 extended to cover Arlington Heights, was thereupon put into commission,
and the lands planted under Mr. Gage’s management; streets opened and graded;
and this development continued under his supervision until 1894, at which time
he resigned as an officer of the company, being succeeded as manager by William
Irving, his brother-in-law, who theretofore had been the engineer for the
company. For a considerable period after
1894 much of Mr. Gage’s time was taken up with litigation connected with his
varied interests and in the development of Section 30, three hundred acres of
which were still owned by him at the time of his death.
Mr. Gage was an earnest member of
the Calvary Presbyterian Church, which he was instrumental in organizing and
which in its early years was largely supported by him. In 1892 his wife presented to the church the
beautiful organ which is at the present time in use, and which was given in
memory of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Gage who had passed away at that time.
He was interested in all things that
touched the civic and material welfare and progress of his home city and
county. In subdividing the lands of
Arlington Heights, which prior to the construction of the Gage Canal were
covered with sage-brush and cactus, and having in mind the future development
and beautification of the community, he caused to be laid out Victoria Avenue,
a double road leading from Victoria Hill on the north to the lands of the San
Jacinto Land Company, eight miles below.
As managing director of the Riverside Trust Company he caused to be
constructed the Victoria Bridge, which spans the Terquisquito Arroyo, and
presented it to the city. He spared
neither time nor effort to beautify the properties under his control. Widely
traveled and deeply read in all forms of literature, with a deep appreciation
and love of music, and with a keen and sparkling wit, Mr. Gage was both a
delightful companion and a constant inspiration to all those who enjoyed his friendship.
Mr. Gage married on June 30, 1869,
Jane Gibson, of Kingston, Canada, a daughter of James and Jane Gibson, both of
whom were born in Belfast, Ireland. Mr.
Gibson was the owner of many acres of farming lands in Ontario, Canada. Mr. Gage left surviving him three children
and one grandson, Gage, so name after his grandfather, the son of his second
daughter, Maude Louise, who is Mrs. W. G. Irving. The eldest daughter, Margaret Jane Gage,
resides with her mother. His third
daughter, Anna Stewart, is the wife of H. S. Montgomery, mining engineer
residing at Lompoc, California. Five
children were lost to Mr. and Mrs. Gage:
Katherine MacKenzie, Horace James, Robert Condit, Edith Anna and Francis
Gibson.
Mr. Gage died January 22, 1916, and
was interred in the family burial ground in Olivewood Cemetery.
(From “History of
San Bernardino and Riverside Counties,” 1922.)
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. III, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 151-155, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles,
Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN
NUGGET'S RIVERSIDE BIOGRAPIES