Kern Valley Bank Robbery

On the evening of February 18, 1876, the Kern Valley Bank in Bakersfield was robbed of over $27,000 (approximately $600,000 in 2014 money). According to his accounts, S. J. Lansing, the bank’s secretary and cashier, had just finished a meeting with Mr. C. Brower and was preparing to go to bed in his quarters at the rear of the bank when there was a knock at the back door. Thinking Mr. Brower had forgotten something, Lansing opened the door, and two men entered. On hit Lansing on the forehead, over the left eye, and knocked him unconscious. Lansing lay unconscious on the floor while the men broke into the safe and stole about $27,206.95 in coin and gold notes. They left the silver coin untouched. At about 3am the next morning, Lansing awoke and managed to crawl to his bed. At 6am, Mr. H. C. Parke, the Wells, Fargo & Co agent who had an office at the bank, found Lansing shivering in bed.

Four detectives from San Francisco were immediately brought in. The detectives interviewed the bank trustees and those residing near the bank. They also examined the office of Br. Brower and the houses of H. A. Jastro (a friend of Lansing’s), Judge Colby (who lived next door to the bank), and Solomon Jewett (president of the bank). No clues were gathered from the interviews or searches. On the following weekend, two men left town for San Luis Obispo and, after a warrant was issued for their arrest, were brought back to Bakersfield for questioning. They were released when nothing could be found tying them to the robbery.

A week after the robbery, the detectives were about to give up and return to San Francisco but decided to talk to Lansing again. Along with a friend of Lansing’s, the detectives interviewed Lansing in his quarters at the rear of the bank, and Lansing cracked under the pressure. He admitted to stealing the money and hitting himself in the head. Lansing had hidden the coin in the wall of his room. He instructed the detectives to peel back a piece of wallpaper above his bureau and reach into a hole in the wall to find a nail with a piece of string attached. At the end of the string were four bags containing the coin. He then instructed them where to find the notes hidden in an old trunk in the shed outside.

Lansing was promptly arrested, but was later released when several of his friends - many of whom were associated with the bank - provided the $5,000 bail. When his case came up for trial in May, Lansing was no where to be found. Several of his bondsmen went to San Francisco to try to locate him and learned that he had left the state. It wasn’t until February 1878 that Bakersfield again heard word of Lansing but, by that time, Lansing was dead. In the fall of 1876, Lansing fled to Shanghai, China where he changed his name and died on February 9, 1877.

Dogs in Early Bakersfield

Bakersfield’s population almost doubled between 1890 and 1900 after the value of the area’s oil was realized. As the human population grew, so did the pet population. Faced with an overabundance of stray dogs, Bakersfield began requiring its citizens to pay $2.00 ($50.00 in today’s money) to license their animals; unlicensed dogs were impounded at the city pound, which had primarily been used to house stray horses and cows.

Fortunately for history, three of the early dog license books were donated to the Kern County Museum in Bakersfield. These books provide a wealth of information about dogs and their owners at the turn of the 20th century. The license books, which date from 1898, 1900, and 1901, record the owner, breed or description, and name of approximately 340 dogs. From saloon owners to bank tellers to madams to doctors and everyone in between – it seems that everyone in Bakersfield had a dog.

The books show that early residents were just as creative in the past as they are today in naming their animals. Contrary to what may be supposed, Fido and Spot were not popular names. In fact, the most prevalent name in the books is Prince, and it was bestowed on spaniels, setters, pugs, a poodle, and a bulldog. Naming a pet gives an owner an opportunity to illustrate his or her creativity, sense of humor, sophistication, and insight. On a more utilitarian level, names can signify the type of relationship between the animal and the owner. For example, while bank teller Charles Bickerdike may have taken his bird dog, Sport, with him while hunting, shoe-store owner Martin Gundlach’s pug, Mae, probably existed simply for the pleasure of her owner.

Interestingly, many of the names have a literary connection, indicating that early Bakersfield residents were well-read. Although not readily familiar to us today, Jip was one of the most popular names for dogs at this time; Jip became a trendy dog’s name after Charles Dickens featured a spoiled dog by that name in his novel David Copperfield Other literary dogs include Nemo (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), Jim (Huckleberry Finn), Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe), and James Whitcomb Riley (author of the poem “Little Orphant Annie”).

Most dogs live and die in relative obscurity, but because these dogs were licensed and records were donated to a museum, these much-loved dogs will be remembered for years to come.

Interesting and needing further research: most of the dogs in the books are male. Were early residents trying to control the dog population by killing most female pups?

Top Ten Dog Names in Turn-of-the-Century Bakersfield:

• Prince
• Jim
• Brownie
• Dick
• Sport
• Shep
• Bob
• Jack
• Jip
• Duke