Full text of "History of the State of California and biographical record of Coast Counties, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from its earliest settlement to the present time"

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GENEALOGY COLLECTION

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3 1833 01148 2798

HISTORY

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD

SANTA CRUZ, SAN BENITO, MONTEREY AND SAN-
LUIS OBISPO COUNTIES

An Historical Story of the State's Marvelous Growth from its
Earliest Settlement to the Present Time

PROF. J. M. GUINN, A. M.,

Author of A History of Los Angeles and Vicinity, History of Southern California, Secretary and
Curator of the Historical Society of Southern California, Member of the Amer-
ican Historical Association, Washington, D. C.

Containing; Biographies of Well-known Citizens of
the Past and Present

THE CHAPMAN PUBLISHING CO.

CHICAGO
1003

CHAPMAN PUBLISHING CO.

1142742

PREFACE

HISTORICAL

THERE are very few states in the Union that have a more varied and a more interesting his-
tory than California ; and there are few if any whose history is so vaguely and so indefinitely
known. This is largely due to the fact that its colonization was effected by one race and its
evolution as a state by another.

In the rapid development of the state by the conquering race, the trials and struggles of the first
colonists have been forgotten. No forefathers' day keeps their memory green, and no observance
celebrates the anniversary of their landing. To many of its people, the history of California begins
with the discovery of gold, and all behind that is regarded of little importance. The race character-
istics of the two peoples who have dominated California differ widely ; and from this divergence
arises the lack of sympathetic unison. Perhaps no better expression for this difference can be given
than is found in popular bywords of each. The 'Toco tiempo" (by and by) of the Spaniard is sig-
nificant of a people who are willing to wait-who would rather defer till man a n*-tomorrow-
than hurry to-day. The "go ahead" of the American is indicative of haste, of rush, of a strenuous
struggle to overcome obstacles, whatever they may be, in the present.

In narrating the story of California, I have endeavored to deal justly with the different eras and
episodes of its history; to state facts ; to tell the truth without favoritism or prejudice; to g.ve
credit where credit is due and blame where it is deserved. In the preparation of this history I have
tried to make it readable. I have avoided dull details and have omitted cumbrous statistics.

The subject has been presented by topic, observing so far as possible the chronological order of
the events In collecting material for this work, I have visited all the large libraries of the state, have
consulted state and county archives, and have scanned thousands of pages of newspapers and maga-
zines Where extracts have been made, due credit has been given in the body of the work. I have
received valuable assistance from librarians, from pioneers of the state, from editors, and others. To
all who have assisted me, I return my sincere thanks. J- ■

Los Angeles, January i, 1903.

PREFACE

BIOGRAPHICAL

THE high standing of these counties is due not alone to ideal climate and rare beauty of
scenery. Other regions boasting an environment as attractive, have nevertheless re-
mained unknown to the great world of commerce and of thought. When we study the
progress made in this section of our country, especially during the past two decades of the nine-
teenth century and the opening years of the twentieth century, we are led to the conclusion that
the present gratifying condition is due to the enterprise of public-spirited citizens. They have
not only developed commercial possibilities and horticultural resources, but they have also main-
tained a commendable interest in public affairs, and have given to their commonwealth some of
its ablest statesmen. The prosperity of the past has been gratifying; and, with the building of
the canal to connect the Atlantic and the Pacific, with the increasing of railroad facilities, with the
further development of local resources, there is every reason to believe that the twentieth century
will witness the most marvelous growth this region has ever made.

In the compilation of this work and the securing of necessary data, a number of writers have
been engaged for months. They have visited leading citizens and used every endeavor to produce
a work accurate and trustworthy in every detail. ( hving to the great care exercised, and to the
fact that every opportunity was given to those represented to secure accuracy in their biographies,
the publishers believe they are giving to their readers a volume containing few errors of conse-
quence. The biographies of a number of representative citizens will be missed from the work.
In some instances this was caused by their absence from home when our writers called, and in
some instances was caused by a failure on the part of the men themselves to understand the
scope of the work. The publishers, however, have done all within their power to make this
work a representative one.

The value of the data herein presented will grow with the passing years. Posterity will pre-
serve the volume with care, from the fact that it perpetuates biographical history that otherwise
would be wholly lost. In those now far-distant days will be realized, to a greater extent than at
the present time, the truth of Macaulay's statement. "The history oi a country is best told in the
lives of its people." CHAPMAN PUBLISHING COMPANY.

Chicago.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PAGE

Spanish Explorations and Discoveries 33

Romance and Reality — The Seven Cities of Cibola — The Myth of Quivera — El Dorado —
Sandoval's Isle of the Amazons — Mutineers Discover the Peninsula of Lower California
— Origin of the Name California — Cortes's Attempts at Colonization — Discovery of the
Rio Colorado — Coronado's Explorations — Ulloa's Voyage.

,-t Jt ,*

CHAPTER II.
Alta or Nueva California 37

Voyage of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo — Enters the Bay of San Diego in Alta California-
Discovers the Islands of San Salvador and Vitoria — The Bay of Smokes and Fires — The
Santa Barbara Islands — Reaches Cape Mendocino — His Death and Burial on the Island of
San Miguel — Ferrolo Continues the Voyage — Drake, the Sea King of Devon — His Hatred
of the Spaniard — Sails into the South Sea — Plunders the Spanish Settlements of the South
Pacific — Vain Search for the Straits of Anian — Refits His Ships in a California Harbor —
Takes Possession of the Country for the English Queen — Sails Across the Pacific Ocean
to Escape the Vengeance of the Spaniards — Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeni i Attempts a
Survey of the California Coast — Loss of the San Agustin — Sufferings of the Shipwrecked
Mariners — Sebastian Viscaino's Explorations — Makes No New Discoveries — Changes the
Names Given by Cabrillo to the Bays and Islands — Some Boom Literature — Failure of
His Colonization Scheme — His Death.

Jt .Jt ,*

CHAPTER III.
Colonization of Alta California 43

Jesuit Missions of Lower California — Father Kino or Kuhn's Explorations — Expulsion of
the Jesuits — Spain's Decadence — Her Northwestern Possessions Threatened by the Rus-
sians and English — The Franciscans to Christianize and Colonize Alta California — Galvez
Fits Out Two Expeditions— Their Safe Arrival at San Diego— First Mission Founded—
Portola's Explorations— Fails to Find Monterey Bay— Discovers the Bay of San Fran-
cisco — Return of the Explorers — Portola's Second Expedition — Founding of San Carlos
Mission and the Presidio of Monterey.

•J* £ Jt

CHAPTER IV.

Aborigines of California.

Inferiority of the California Indian— No Great Tribes— Indians of the San Gabriel Valley-
Hugo Reid's Description of Their Government— Religion and Customs— Indians of the
Santa Barbara Channel— Their God Chupu— Northern Indians— Indian Myths and Tra-
ditions.

20 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.

PAGE

Franciscan Missions of Alta California 56

Founding of San Diego de Alcala — San Carlos Barromeo — San Antonio de Padua — San
Gabriel Arcangel — San Luis Obispo — San Francisco de Asis — San Juan Capistrano — Santa
Clara — San Buenaventura — Santa Barbara — La Purisima Concepcion — Santa Cruz — La
Soledad — San Jose — San Juan Bautista — San Miguel — San Fernando del Rey, San Luis
Rey, Santa Ynez — San Rafael — San Francisco Solano — Architecture — General Plan of the
Missionary Establishments — Houses of the Neophytes — Their Uncleanliness.

J* J* jt

CHAPTER VI.
Presidios of California 66

Presidio in Colonization— Founding of San Diego— General Plan of the Presidio— Found-
ing of Monterey— Rejoicing over the Event— Hard Times at the Presidio— Bear Meat Diet
— Two Hundred Immigrants for the Presidio — Founding of the Presidio of San Francisco

— Anza's Overland Route from Sonora — Quarrel with Rivera — Anza's Return to Sonora

Founding of Santa Barbara— Disappointment of Father Serra— Quarrel of the Captain with
the Missionaries over Indian Laborers — Soldiers' Dreary Life at the Presidios.

Jt ^t <£

CHAPTER VII.

Pueblos

Pueblo Plan of Colonization— Necessity for Agricultural Colonies— Governor Filipe de
Neve Selects Pueblo Sites— San Jose Founded— Named for the Patron Saint of California
—Area of the Spanish Pueblo— Government Supplies to Colonists— Founding of the
Pueblo of Los Angeles— Names of the Founders— Probable Origin of the Name— Sub-
divisions of Pueblo Lands— Lands Assigned to Colonists— Founding of Branciforte, the
last Spanish Pueblo.

CHAPTER VIII.
The Passing of Spain's Domination

rlusiveness— The First Foreign Ship in Monterey Bay— Vancouver's Visit—
Government Monopoly of the Fur Trade— American Smugglers— The Memorias— Russian
Aggression— Famine at Sitka— Rezanoff's Visit— A Love Affair and Its Tragic Ending—
' Failure of the Russian Colony Scheme— The War of Mexican Independence-

Governor— California Loyalists— The Year of Earthquakes— Bouchard
ns Monterey— The Lima Tallow Ships— Hard Times— No Money and
I Ik- Friars Supreme.

CHAPTER IX.

Him if the Revolutionists— Plan of Iguala—

ntces Hi, I mpire- Downfall of Agustin I.— Rise of the Republic—
101 Sola ...1,1 the Friars— Disloyalty of the Mission
giance— Arguella, Governor— Advent of Foreign-
ers—Coming of the Hide Droghers— Indian Outbreak.

CONTENTS. 21

CHAPTER X.

PAGE

First Decade of Mexican Rule g^

Echeandia Governor— Make San Diego His Capital— Padres of the Four Southern Mis-
sions Take the Oath of Allegiance to the Republic— Friars of the Northern Missions
Contumacious— Arrest of Padre Sarria— Fxpulsion of the Spaniards— Clandestine De-
parture of Padres Ripoll and Altimira— Exile of Padre Martinez— The Diputacion—
Queer Legislation— The Mexican Congress Attempts to Make California a Penal Colony-
Liberal Colonization Laws— Captain Jedediah S. Smith, the Pioneer of Overland Travel,
Arrives— Is Arrested— First White Man to Cross the Sierra Nevadas— Coming of the
Fur Trappers— The Pattie Party— Imprisoned by Echeandia— Death of the Elder Pattie—
John Ohio Pattie's Bluster— Peg Leg Smith — Ewing Young— The Solis Revolution— A
Bloodless Battle — Echeandia's Mission Secularization Decree— He Is Hated by the Friars
— Dios y Libertad — The Fitch Romance.

CHAPTER XI.
Revolutions — The Hijar Colonists 93

Victoria, Governor — His Unpopularity — Defeated by the Southern Revolutionists — Abdi-
cates and is Shipped out of the Country — Pio Pico. Governor — Echeandia, Governor of
Abajenos (Lowers) — Zamarano of the Arribanos (Uppers) — Dual Governors and a No
Man's Land — War Clouds — Los Angeles the Political Storm Center — Figueroa Appointed
Gefe Politico — The Dual Governors Surrender — Figueroa the Right Man in the Place —
Hijar's Colonization Scheme — Padres, the Promoter — Hijar to be Gefe Politico — A Fa-
mous Ride — A Cobbler Heads a Revolution — Hijar and Padres Arrested and Deported —
Disastrous End of the Compania Cosmopolitana — Death of Figueroa.

CHAPTER XII.
The Decline and Fall of the Missions 96

Sentiment vs. History — The Friars' Right to the Mission Lands Only That of Occupa-
tion — Governor .Borica's Opinion of the Mission System — Title to the Mission Domains —
Viceroy Bucarili's Instructions — Secularization — Decree of the Spanish Cortes in 1813 —
Mission Land Monopoly — No Land for Settlers — Secularization Plans, Decrees and Regla-
mentos — No Attempt to Educate the Neophytes — Destruction of Mission Property,
Ruthless Slaughter of Cattle — Emancipation in Theory and in Practice — Depravity of the
Neophytes — What Did Six Decades of Mission Rule Accomplish? — What Became of the
Mission Estates — The Passing of the Neophytes.

CHAPTER XIII.
The Free and Sovereign State of Alta California .

Castro, Gefe Politico— Nicolas Gutierrez. Comandante and Political Chief— Chico. "Gober-
nador Propritario" — Makes Himself Unpopular — His Hatred of Foreigners — Makes
Trouble Wherever He Goes— Shipped Back to Mexico— Gutierrez Again Political Chief-
Centralism His Nemesis— Revolt of Castro and Alvarado— Gutierrez Besieged— Surrenders
and Leaves the Country— Declaration of California's Independence— El Estado Libre y
Soberano de La Alta California— Alvarado Declared Governor— The Ship of State

CONTENTS.

Launched— Encounters a Storm— The South Opposes California's Independence— Los An-
geles Made a City and the Capital of the Territory by the Mexican Congress— The Capital
Question the Cause of Opposition — War Between the North and South — Battle of San
Buenaventura — Los Angeles Captured — Peace in the Free State — Carlos Carrillo, Gov-
ernor of the South — War Again — Defeat of Carrillo at Las Flores — Peace — Alvarado
Appointed Governor by the Supreme Government— Release of Alvarado's Prisoners of
State— Exit the Free State.

CHAPTER XIV.

Decline and Fall of Mexican Domination

Hijos del Pais in Power — The Capital Question — The Foreigners Becoming a Menace —
Graham Affair — Micheltorena Appointed Governor — His Cholo Army — Commodore Jones
Captures Monterey — The Governor and the Commodore Meet at Los Angeles — Extrava-
gant Demands of Micheltorena — Revolt Against Micheltorena and His Army of Chicken
Thieves — Sutter and Graham Join Forces with Micheltorena — The Picos Unite with
Alvarado Mid Castro — Battle of Cahuenga — Micheltorena and His Cholos Deported — Pico,
Governor — Castro Rebellious — The Old Feud Between the North and the South — Los
Angeles the Capital — Plots and Counter-Plots — Pico Made Governor by President Herrera
— Immigration from the United States.

CHAPTER XV.

Municipal Government — Homes and Home Life of the Californians 114

I he ".Mm [lustre ^.yuntamiento," or Municipal Council — Its Unlimited Power, Queer Cus-
toms and Quaint Usages— Blue Laws— How Office Sought the Man and Caught Him—
Architecture of the Mission Age Not Aesthetic— Dress of the Better Class— Undress of
the Neophyte and the Peon— Fashions That Changed but Once in Fifty Years— FiliaJ
Ri pect -Honor Thy Father and Mother— Economy in Government — When Men's Pleas-
ures and Vices Paid the Cost of Governing— No Fire Department— No Paid Police— No

CHAPTER XVI.
rial Expansion b\ Co q i 119

!ii Wi in Wai Wore Slave Territory Needed— Hostilities Begun in Texas— Trouble

1 alifornia — Fremont at Monterey— Fremont and Castro Quarrel— Fremont'

Men Depart Arrival oi Lieutenant Gillespie— Follows Fremont— Fremont's Re-

Revoll Seizure of Sonoma— A Short-Lived Republic— Commodore

m\ Retreats S. uthward— Meets Pico's Advancing

North' 1 os Angeles Stockton and Fremont Invade the South— Pico and

Vainly Attempl People— Pico's Humane Proclamation— Flight of

1 ■ ;■ ■ Lo \ngeles— Issues a Proclamation— Some His-

Pul I bed in California.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVII.

Revolt of the Californians I2 5

Stockton Returns to His Ship and Fremont Leaves for the North— Captain Gillespie,
Comandante, in the South— Attempts Reforms— Californians Rebei— The Americans Be-
siege'd on Fort Hill— Juan Flaca's Famous Ride— Battle of Chino— Wilson's Company
Prisoners— Americans Agree to Evacute Los Angeles — Retreat to San Pedro— Cannon
Thrown into the Bay — Flores in Command of the Californians.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Defeat and Retreat of Mervine's AIex 129

Mervine, in Command of the Savannah, Arrives at San Pedro — Landing of the Troops —
Mervine and Gillespie Unite Their Forces— On to Los Angeles— Duvall's Log Book— An
Authentic Account of the March, Battle and Retreat— Names of the Killed and Wounded—
Burial of the Dead on Dead Man's Island— Names of the Commanding Officers— Flores
the Last Gefe Politico and Comandante-General — Jealousy of the Hijos del Pais — Hard
Times in the Old Pueblo.

CHAPTER XIX.
Final Conquest of California

Affairs in the North— Fremont's Battalion— Battle of Natividad— Bloodless Battle of Santa
Clara— End of the War in the North— Stockton at San Pedro— Carrillo's Strategy— A Re-
markable Battle — Stockton Arrives at San Diego — Building of a Fort — Raid on the
Ranchos — The Flag Episode — General Kearny Arrives at Warner's Pass — Battle of San
Pasqual — Defeat of Kearny — Heavy Loss — Relief Sent Him from San Diego — Ereparing
tor the Capture of Los Angeles— The March— Battle of Paso de Bartolo— Battle of La
Mesa — Small Losses— American Names of These Battles Misnomers.

CHAPTER XX.

Capture and Occupation of the Capital 141

Surrender of Los Angeles — March of the Victors — The Last Volley — A Chilly Recep-
tion — A Famous Scold — On the Plaza — Stockton's Headquarters — Emory's Fort — Fre-
mont's Battalion at San Fernando — The Flight of Flores — Negotiations with General Pico — .
Treaty of Cahuenga — Its Importance — Fremont's Battalion Enters the City — Fremont.
Governor — Quarrel Between Kearny and Stockton — Kiarny Departs for San Diego and
Stockton's Men for San Pedro.

CHAPTER XXI.

Transition and Transformation 144

Colonel Fremont in Command at Los Angeles — The Mormon Battalion — Its Arrival at
San Luis Rey, Sent to Los Angeles — General Kearny Governor at Monterey — Rival
Governors — Col. R. B. Mason, Inspector'of the Troops in California — He Quarrels with
Fremont— Fremont Challenges Him— Colonel Cooke Made Commander of the Military

24 CONTENTS.

PACE

District of the Smith— Fremont's Battalion Mustered Out— Fremont Ordered to Report
Returns to the States with Kearny— Placed Under Arrest— Court-Martialed
—Found Guilty— Pardoned by the President— Rumors ol a Mexican Invasion— Building
of a Fort— Col. J. B. Stevenson Commands in the Southern District— A Fourth of July
ration— The Fort Dedicated and Named Fort Moore— The New York Volunteers-
Company F, Third U. S. Artillery. Arrives— The Mormon Battalion Mustered Out-
Commodore Shubrick and General Kearny Jointly Issue a Proclamation to the People-
Col. R. B. Mason. Military Governor of California— A Policy of Conciliation— Varela.
Agitator and Revolutionist, Makes Trouble— Overland Immigration Under Mexican Rule—
The First Train— Dr. Marsh'? Meanness— The Fate of the Donner Party.

^ J* Jt

CHAPTER XXII.

Mexican Laws and American Officials 150

Richard A. Mason. Commander of the Military Forces and Civil Governor of California —
Civil and Military Laws — The First Trial by Jury — Americanizing the People — Perverse
Electors and Contumacious Councilmen — Absolute Alcaldes — Nash at Sonoma and Bill
Blackburn at Santa Cruz — Queer Decisions — El Canon Perdidc of Santa Barbara — Ex-
ernor Pio Pico Returns — Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo — Peace Proclaimed — The
News Reaches California — Country Acquired by the Treaty — The Volunteers Mustered
Out.

J* ■*« J

CHAPTER XXIII.
Gold! Gold! Gold! 155

Traditii ns of Early Gold Discoveries in California — The First Authenticated Discovery —

Marshall's Discovery at Colomas— Disputed Dates and Conflicting Stories About the

Discovi r: Sutter's Account— James W. Marshall— His Story— The News Travels Slowly—

-lit— The Rush Begins— San Francisco Deserted— The Star and the

.111 Suspend Publication— The News Spreads— Sonorian Migration— Oregonians

the States— A Tea Caddy Full of Gold at the War Office,

Washington— Seeing Is Believing— Gold Hunters Come by Land and Sea— The Pacific

Mail Steamship Company— Magical Growth of San Francisco— The Dry Diggings— Some

Remarkable Yields— Forty Dollars for a Butcher Knife— Extent of the Gold Fields.

CHAPTER XXIV.
a State 162

Bennett Riley, Governor— Unsatisfactory Form of Government— Semi-Civil and Semi-Mil-
Does X< 'thing— The Slave-Holding Faction Prevents Action— Growing
" ' Co ini-11 Constitution Making— The .Great Seal— Election of

11 BuTnett, Governor— Inauguration of a State Government— The
tituted Stati The Pro-Slavery Faction in Congress— Op-
pose thi 1 Defeat 1 the Obstructionists— California Admitted into
;ne Unil ficenl Procession— California Full Grown at Birth—
The Capital Qu< 1 Losi th< Capital— Vallejo Wins— Goes to' Sacramento-
Question in the Courts— Sacramento Wins— Capitol Building
Begun in i860— Completed in 1869.

CONTENTS. 25

CHAPTER XXV.

PAGE

The Argonauts 169

Who First Called Them Argonauts — How They Came and From Where They Came —
Extent of the Gold Fields — Mining Appliances — Bateas, Gold Pans, Rockers, Long Toms,
Sluices — Useless Machines and Worthless Inventions — Some Famous Gold Rushes — Gold
Lake — Gold Bluffs — Kern River — Frazer River — Washoe — Ho for Idaho! — Social Level-
ing — Capacity for Physical Labor the Standard — Independency and Honesty of the Argo-
nauts.

CHAPTER XXVI.

San Francisco 175

The First House — A Famous Fourth of July Celebration — The Enterprise of Jacob P. Leese
— General Kearny's Decree for the Sale of Water Lots — Alcalde Bartlett Changes the
Name of the Town from Yerba Buena to San Francisco — Hostility of the Star to the
Change — Great Sale of Lots in the City of Francisca, now Benicia — Its Boom Bursts —
Population of San Francisco September 4, 1847 — Vocations of Its Inhabitants — Population
March, 1848 — Vioget's Survey — O'Farrell's Survey — Wharves — The First School House—
The Gold Discovery Depopulates the City— Reaction— Rapid Growth— Description of the
City in April, 1850 — Great Increase in Population — How the People Lived and Labored —
Enormous Rents — High Priced Real Estate — Awful Streets — Flour Sacks, Cooking Stove
and Tobacco' Box Sidewalk — Ships for Houses — The Six Great Fires — The Boom of 1853 —
The Burst of 1855— Harry Meigs— Steady Growth of the City.

J* jt Jjt

CHAPTER XXVII.
Crime, Criminals and Vigilance Committees 182

But Little Crime in California Under Spanish and Mexican Rule— The First Vigilance
Committee of California— The United Defenders of Public Safety— Execution of Alispaz
and Maria del Rosario Villa — Advent of the Criminal Element — Criminal Element in the
Ascendency— Incendiarism, Theft and Murder— The San Francisco Vigilance Committee
of 1851 — Hanging of Jenkins — A Case of Mistaken Identity — Burdue for Stuart — Arrest,
Trial and Hanging of Stuart— Hanging" of Whittaker and McKenzie— The Committee
Adjourns but Does Not Disband — Its Work Approved — Corrupt Officials — James King
of William Attacks Political Corruption in the Bulletin — Richardson killed by Cora —
Scathing Editorials— Murders and Thefts— Attempts to Silence King— King Exposes
James P. Casey's State's Prison Record— Cowardly Assassination of King by Casey—
Organization of the Vigilance Committee of 1856— Fatal Mistake of the Herald— Casey
and Cora in the Hands of the Committee— Death of King— Hanging of Casey and Cora-
Other Executions— Law and Order Party— Terry and His Chivalrous Friends— They Are
Glad to Subside — Black List and Deportations — The Augean Stable Cleaned — The Com-
mittee's Grand Parade — Vigilance Committees in Los Angeles — Joaquin Murrieta and His
Banditti— Tiburcio Vasquez and His Gang.

J* J* J*

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Filibusters and Filibustering.

The Origin of Filibustering in California— Raousset-Boulbon's Futile Schemes
ecution— William Walker— His Career as a Doctor, Lawyer and Journalist— Recruits Fili-
busters— Lands at La Paz— His Infamous Conduct in Lower California— Failure of His

CONTENTS.

Schemi \ Farcical Trial — Lionized in San Francisco — His Operations in Nicaragua-
Battles — Decree- Slavery in Nicaragua — Driven Out of Nicaragua — Tries Again — Is Cap-
tured and Shot — Crabb and His Unfortunate Expedition — Massacre of the Misguided
Adventurers — Filibustering Ends When Secession Begins.

CHAPTER XXIX.
From Gold to Grain and Fruits 199

Mexican Farming — But Little Fruit and Few Vegetables — Crude Farming Implements —
The Agricultural Capabilities of California Underestimated — Wheat the Staple in Central
California — Cattle in the South — Gold in the North — Big Profits in Grapes — Orange Culture
Begun in the South — Apples, Peaches, Pears and Plums — The Sheep Industry — The Famine
Years of 1863 and 1864 Bring Disaster to the Cattle Kings of the South — The Doom of
Their Dynasty — Improvement of Domestic Animals — Exit the Mustang — Agricultural Col-

CHAPTER XXX.
Civil War — Loyalty and Disloyalty

State Division and What Became of It — Broderick's Early Life — Arrival in California-
Enters the Political Arena — Gwin and Broderick — Duel Between Terry and Broderick-
Death of Broderick — Gwin-Latham Combination — Firing on Fort Sumter — State Loyal-
Treasonable Utterance — A Pacific Republic — Disloyalty Rampant in Southern California-
l in. hi Sentiments Triumphant — Confederate Sympathizers Silenced.

CHAPTER XXXI.

Trade, Travel and Transportation

Spanish Trade— Fixed Prices— No Cornering the Market— Mexico's Methods of Trade—
II., MM, Droghers— Trade— Ocean Commerce and Travel— Overland Routes— Overland
Stage Routes— Inland Commerce— The Pony Express— Stage Lines— Pack Trains— Camel
Caravans— The Telegraph and the Railroad— Express Companies.

Railroads 2I g

R Iroad Scheme— The Pacific Railroad in Politics— Northern
Routes and Southern Rout in 1 Railroad in California— Pacific Railroad Rills in Con-
V Decade -1 Vgitation and No Road The Central and Union Pacific Railroads-
Ac' '" |S| '-' Subsidies The Southern Pacific Railroad System— Its Incorporation and
Charlei It- Growth and Development -The Santa Fe System— Other Railroads.

CONTENTS. 27

CHAPTER XXXIII.

The Indian Question.

The Spaniards and Mexicans Not Town Builders — Francisca. on the Straits of Carquinez,
the First American City — Its Brilliant Prospects and Dismal Failure — San Francisco — Its
Population and Expansion — Los Angeles, the Only City in California Before the Conquest
— Population and Development — Oakland, an American City — Population — Sacramento.
the Metropolis of the Mines — San Jose, the Garden City — Stockton, the Entrepot of the
Southern Alines — San Diego, the Oldest City — Fresno — Vallejo — Nevada City — Grass Val-
ley — Eureka — Marysville — Redding — Pasadena— Pomona — San Bernardino — Riverside.

229

Treatment of the Indians by Spain and Mexico— A Conquista— Unsanitary Condition of the
Mission Villages— The Mission Neophyte and What Became of Him— Wanton Outrages on
the Savages— Some So-Called Indian Wars— Extermination of the Aborigines— Indian
Island Massacre— The Mountaineer Battalion— The Two Years' War— The Modoc War.

CHAPTER XXXIV.
Some Political History

Advent of the Chinese— Kindly Received at First— Given a Public Reception— The "China
Boys" Become Too Many— Agitation and Legislation Against Them— Dennis Kearney
and the Sand Lot Agitation— Kearney's Slogan, "The Chinese Must Go"— How Kearney
Went— The New Constitution— A Mixed Convention— Opposition to the Constitution—
The Constitution Adopted — Defeat of the Workingmen's Party — A New Treaty with
China— Governors of California, Spanish, Mexican and American.

CHAPTER XXXV.

Education and Educational Institution 235

Public Schools in the Spanish Era — Schools of the Mexican Period — No Schools for the
Neophytes— Early American Schools— First School House in San Francisco— The First
American Teacher — The First School Law — A Grand School System — University of the
Pacific— College of California— University of California— Stanford University— Normal
Schools.

CHAPTER XXXVI.
Cities of California — Their Origin and Growth

NDEX.

PAGE

Abbott, C. S 573

Adcock, J. A. G 670

Albright, Joseph 546

Alexander, Elmer P 589

Alexander, Hon. J. K 381

Allen, Thomas F 728

Alzina, Enoch 673

Anderson, C. L., M. D 502

Anderson, Capt. Gilbert L 508

Anderson, J. L 595

Andresen, J 3 l 9

Andrews, Perry M 54S

Andrews, Truman 299

Angell, F. A 502

Anthony, Hon. Elihu 667

Arentz, Rev. Theodore 646

Arguello, Luis L 727

Atteridge, Arthur 633

Austin, F. Sands 547

Baker, William A 564

Baldwin, Alfred 271

Baldwin, Levi K 679

Barbree, J. M 288

Barbree, W. R 288

Bardin, Charles 642

Bardin, Henry 647

Barneberg, J. # W 648

Barnhardt, J. P 727

Barrett, Thomas 586

Bartholomew, Lewis L 557

Bedell, Alexander 498

Beebee, William D 347

Beebee, William L 347

Beilby, Joseph W 652

Bennett, W. C 558

Bentley, William H 653

Besse, John N 648

Besse, Milton 674

Bias, William H 512

Bierer, Benjamin B 597

Bixby, A. William, M. D 556

Black, W. W 670

Blackburn, Jacob A 297

Blackburn, Judge William 639

PAGE

Blessing Brothers 722

Bliss, Moses B 698

Bloom, Irvin T 734

Booth, A. R 306

Bosse, Henry 556

Boston, Joseph 497

Boysen, John J 558

Bradbury, Frank R 554

Brassell, Hans P 552

Bray, John H 563

Breen, John 596

Brendlin, August 654

Brewer, Lyman 548

Bridgewater, Cyrus W 553

Briggs, Hon. H. W 283

Brooks, Benjamin 554

Brooks, M. -H 562

Brooks, Truman 369

Brown, James A 492

Buffington, J. Q 562

Burke, Mrs. Mary 653

Burnett, J. K 654

Burnett, M. D 401

Butler, George 492

Butler, George R 552

Call, Silas B 298

Callihan, William 568

Carr, E. M 534

Carr, Hon. Jesse D 265

Casey, William 561

Cass, James 321

Chamberlain, Charles G 277

Chaney, William 7 2 6

Chappell, Dr. J. A 530

Chappell, Thomas 605

Chope, Mrs. Nellie M 526

Clark, David C 681

Clark, George D 531

Clark, H. H., M. D 675

Clark, William W 491

Clough, David M 533

Cochran, J. D 532

Congdon, Willis R„ M. D.... 661

Cook. William A 532

Cooley, William R 545

PAGE

Cooper, William B 530

Corey, Hiram 465

Corey, Josiah P 282

Costello, Abraham 564

Cowles. Horace H 682

Cowles, Timothy 355

Cox, Abraham P 455

Cox, Peter 685

Daugherty, G A 709

Davis, Mrs. E 456

Davis, George L 459

Davis, Hiram L 621

DeHart, William 282

Demartini, Paul B 456

Dodge, William R 433

Donati, Samuel 726

Dool, William H 721

Dooling, Hon. M. T 569

Doud, Francis 461

Driscoll, Bartholomew L 646

Eardley, B. A 593

Eaton, E. A 462

Eaton, Robert W 568

Edgar, Joseph 467

Egan, Judge Martin 467

Ehnert, August 721

Elberg, Mark 315

Elliott, William T 700

Ellis, Ozro M 400

Ely, William H 488

Enright, Joseph D 490

Estabrook, C. R 7-'o

Estudillo, Jose V 466

Esty, J. D 488

Evans, W. H 461

Fagen, Mrs. Mary E..

509

Feliz, Hon. F. P

275

Felts, J. M

468

Fiedler, John F

468

Field, Thomas J

36l

INDEX.

PAGE

Filipponi. Dennis 359

Fletcher, H. S 278

Flint. R. G 356

Flint, Thomas, Jr 719

Foreman, Solomon W 337

Foster. Jacob 720

Foster, Stephen T 44°

Fowler, James D 363

Fredson, A. H 598

Freeman, Frank W 361

Fuller, James H 676

Gagnon, Michael 5-9

Galbraith, Archibald M., M. D. 274

Galligan, Peter C 73°

Garcia, A. C 7i&

Gardner. W. M 378

Cause, Frank E 377

Geil, Samuel F 551

Gibson, Alexander C 372

Gilkey, William T 37'J

Gingg, G. C 37i

Gonzales, Miss B 370

Gonzales, M. E., M. D 370

Gordon, S. B., M. D 366

Grant, Miss E. May 600

Graves, Thomas 365

Graves, Hon. William 718

Greene, Harry A 272

Greene, William E 717

Gregg, Joseph W 364

Griswold, William 309

Guthrie, Samuel 362

Haight, N. H., M. D 393

Hall, Hon. James A 276

Hall. Richard F 275

Hamilton, Robert E 508

Handley, J. J 393

Hanson, S. H 655

Hardie, Angus M 384

Harloe, Capt. Marcus 289

Hartman. Isaiah 645

Hassett, Rev. P 318

Hatton. William 603

Hawkins, Thomas S 577

Hazard, Robert J 411

Hebert, Cheri 7. 523

Hebert, Zephrin 523

Helgesen, S., M. D 382

Hersom, John A 383

Higby, Hon. William 717

Hihn, Frederick A 259

Hildebrant, Noah 37«

Hill, Prof. Charles C 277

PAGE

Hill, Hon. W. J 736

Hitchcock, Benjamin 294

Hoffmann, Christian 669

Hollingsworth. Thomp-~.ui L - 208

Hollister, Hon. John H 317

Hollister, j. Hubbard 311

Holohan. Richard 384

Houghton, F. K 392

Hoyt, Hazen 388

Hudner, John L 576

Hudson, Mark A 386

Hudson, Hon. W. G 387

Hughes, Alfred 570

Hughes, M 386

Hunter, John 385

Hushbeck, Lewis 57°

Hutson, N 711

Iverson, E. P 331

I verson, John 580

Iverson, J. B 331

Ivins, E. C 673

Jack, R. E 304

James, William W 397

Jeff ery, James 735

Jenkins. Miss Isabelle M 396

Jessen & Petersen 396

Johnson, Hon. Charles H 295

Johnson, R. F 712

Johnson, W. G 395

Jordan, John 394

Jordan, Patrick 394

Joy, John G 267

Judd. A. N 578

Kaetzel, Philip 39S

Kalar, J. D 401

Kane, John 510

Karner, Zadock 705

Km. M. R 710

Kellogg, Frank F." 316

Kellogg, Giles P 316

Kelly, Edward 513

Kennaugh, John 513

Kent, John T 300

Kerns, Mr-. Mary 511

King, James 1 485

King, Thomas A 685

K.rk, Edward W 402

Knight, Benjamin K 514

Kuhlitz, Charles 733

Kunitz, Johan E 651

Lacy. C. F 702

Lambert, Capt. T. G 402

Lamborn, Josiah W 403

Landrum, Mark L 404

Lathrop. R. P 656

Lee, Hon. Julius 405

Lee, Tom 406

Leese, David 507

Leese, Jacob P 503

Leonard, J. J. C 518

Lewis, J. J 406

Lincoln, Orlando J 517

Lindsay, Carl E 707

Linscott, John W 687

Littlefield, Edward E 407

Loeber, Henry F 536

Long, Samuel B 445

Lorenzen, Lawrence 519

Lucas, Frederick W 686

Lull, George W 417

Lynch, Sedgwick J 708

Lynskey, Walter 688

-McCarthy. Charles P 706

McCollum, Joseph 6S9

McCurry, Dr. J. M 353

McDougall, James H 284

McFadden, Charles 615

McGowan, William J 447

McGuire, John A., M. D 688

McKinnon, Duncan 539

McLean, Allan 587

McManus, L. M 448

Mann, Christopher 454

Mann, Ezekiel J 710

Mann, Jackson 701

Mansfield, C. H 453

Manuel. A. A 583

Margetts, Charles U 447

Martin, Charles M 449

Martin, Hon. Edward 604

Martinelli, Louis 450

Mason, S. J., Sr 610

Mattison, Frank 524

Meadowcroft, William H 450

Meder, Moses A 698

Menke, J. H 354

Merritt, Hon. Josiah 289

Merritt, Manuel R 310

Miller, Capt. Charles F 599

Monteith, A 460

Moreland, Samuel 391

Moretti, Louis 600

Morgan. John W 606

Morcy, James 610

INDEX.

PAGE

Muma, B. Frank 455

Murphy, John D 702

Muscio, Abram 662

Nelson, Albert 728

Nelson, Herbert 412

Nelson, Henry 408

Newsom, Davis F 443

Nichols, Urial S 611

Norris, B. F 407

O'Brien, William 414

Oliver, Joseph K 413

Orcutt, Jacob H 342

Ord, George M 611

Palmer, Charles A 734

Palmer, George F 570

Palmtag, Christian 430

Palmtag, William 584

Pardee, Hon. George 343

Parker, W. E 429

Parsons, George W 428

Parsons, Henry F 616

Parsons, Worthington 627

Paterson, Alexander 42S

Patten, J. A 414

Patterson, Benjamin F 731

Patton, John W 418

Payne, Ernest M 419

Peery, Joseph W 690

Pell, James A 427

Pence, Wallace M 567

Perry, Elliott D 617

Peterson, Peter 691

Pfister, Albert 312

Phillips, Thomas E 426

Phillips, W. C 426

Pickles, Shelley 424

Pierce, B. B 680

Pinho, A. G 425

Pope, Horace W 615

Porter, B. F 612

Porter, Robert 423

Porter, Warren R 696

Potter, David W 424

Prinz, Herman J. 420

Putnam, R. W 419

Quick, M. W 618

Quirk, Michael 535

PAGE

Radcliff, Hon. George G 349

Rambo, Samuel H 658

Rankin, J. E„ M. D 706

Redman, James 622

Redman, K. F 309

Reed, Charles C 354

Reed, Charles H 430

Renison, Hon. Thomas. ....'.. 344

Rianda, Stephen 618

Ring, Joseph H 735

Riordan, Thomas J 732

Rist, Henry M 732

Robertson, Robert 658

Rodgers, James M 487

Rodrick, David 542

Rogers, Robert J 536

Rogge, Henry T 579

Romie, Charles T 689

Roselip, Albert 305

Ross, Hugh, M. D 545

Rowe, George W 586

Rowe, James H 525

Rowe, Marion T 520

Ryan, John M 583

Sally, Abraham 739

Sanborn, Lucian 334

Sanborn, L. W 334

Sanborn, William A 340

Sargent, Bradley V 725

Sargent, J. P 595

Sawyer, E. A 697

Scaroni, Pio 624

Scott, J. B 590

Scott, William T 589

Sebastian, R M 697

Shackelford, R. M 588

Shelby, Granville C 622

Shipsey, William 334

Short, Cyrus 662

Simmler, Hon. J. J 281

Smith, A. W 663

Smith. Leonard J 628

Smyth, Rev. B 736

Spence, Rudolph B 664

Spencer, W. H 341

Spurrier, George F 668

Steele, Edgar W 7-'9

Steele, Hon. George 338

Stewart, Neil 585

Stocking, Joseph C 486

Stoesser, Otto 359

Stoffers, Henry 624

Storm, Christian F 738

Storm, Peter 475

PAGE

Stoters, Rev. Peter 485

Sullivan, William 482

Swanton, A. P 623

Swanton, Fred W 741

Swenson, Christian S 482

Tarleton, Thomas S 629

Telleen, Charles A 481

Tennant, John 730

Therwachter, Fred 470

Thompson, Christopher 730

Thompson, Edward D 629

Thompson, Joseph A 73S

Thompson, John H 480

Thompson, Richard 627

Thompson, Uriah W 633

Tidball, Capt. Thomas T 375

Titamore, Herbert E 479

Tognazzini, A 477

Tognazzini, Peter 478

Tollett, Henry C 517

Tompkins, Heman 475

Trafton, John E 423

Trafton, William A 287

Trescony, Julius A 501

Tuttle, Daniel 472

Turtle, Iowa H 476

Turtle, Morris B 628

Tuttle, Owen 593

Tuttle, Owen S 4;-'

Tynan, Michael 471

Underwood, A. R 471

Underwood, Charles 470

Vanderhurst, William 293

Van Gordon, Gilbert 319

Van Gordon, Ira 318

M.-l >owell R }.^2

Villegas, Y. P 469

Vorbeck, Fritz 469

Wagner. John 641

Wahrlich, William 333

Waite, H. U 436

Warden, I lor. km M 325

Warden. William II 699

Waters, James. . - 49s

Watkins, E. C

Walters. P. K.. M. D 434

David 446

1 homas J 695

INDEX.

PAGE

Weferling, Frederick E 440

Welch. Richard R 439

Werner, Charles 439

Wessel, H 43§

Whicher, John 35°

White. Almon 635

White, Edward 326

White, William A 641

Wideman, Alfred 74°

Wilder, Deloss D 630

PAGE

Wiley, Henry 3°5

Wilkins. Peter V 634

Willey, R. H 322

Williams. E. L 640

Willits, L. V 437

Wilson, Singleton W 320

Winkle, Henry 635

Wood, Hiram J 437

Wood, William F 636

Woods, Victor H 740

PAGE

Work, T. A 600

Wright, S. V 435

York, Andrew 328

Younger, Charles B 715

Younglove, C. A 446

Zabala. Pedro 303

, ■yk^t^^^v 7

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

CHAPTER 1.

SPANISH EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES.

FOR centuries there had been a vague tra-
dition of a land lying somewhere in the
seemingly limitless expanse of ocean
stretching westward from the shores of Europe.
The poetical fancy of the Greeks had located in
it the Garden of Hesperides. where grew the
Golden Apples. The myths and superstitions of
the middle ages had peopled it with gorgons
and demons and made it the abode of lost souls.

When Columbus proved the existence of a
new world beyond the Atlantic, his discovery
did not altogether dispel the mysteries and su-
perstitions that for ages had enshrouded the
fabled Atlantis, the lost continent of the Hesperi-
des. Romance and credulity had much to do
with hastening the exploration of the newly dis-
covered western world. Its interior might hold
wonderful possibilities for wealth, fame and con-
quest to the adventurers who should penetrate
its dark unknown. The dimly told traditions of
the natives were translated to fit the cupidity or
the credulity of adventurers, and sometimes
served to promote enterprises that produced re-
sults far different from those originally intended.

The fabled fountain of youth lured Ponce
de Leon over many a league in the wilds of
Florida; and although he found no spring spout-
ing forth the elixir of life, he explored a rich
and fertile country, in which the Spaniards
planted the first settlement ever made within the
territory now held by the United States. The
legend of El Dorado, the gilded man of the
golden lake, stimulated adventurers to brave tin-
horrors of the miasmatic forests of the Amazon
and the Orinoco; and the search for that gold-

covered hombre hastened, perhaps, by a hun-
dred years, the exploration of the tropical re-
gions of South America. Although the myth of
Ouivira that sent Coronado wandering over des-
ert, mountain and plain, far into the interior of
North America, and his quest for the seven cities
of Cibola, that a romancing monk, Marcos de
Niza, "led by the Holy Ghost," imagined he
saw in the wilds of 1'imeria, brought neither
wealth nor pride of conquest to that adventur-
ous explorer, yet these myths were the indirect
cause of giving to the world an early km >u
of the vast regions to the .north of Mexico.

When Cortes' lieutenant, Gonzalo de Sando-
val, gave his superior officer an account of a
wonderful island ten days westward from the
Pacific coast of Mexico, inhabited by women
only, and exceedingly rich in pearls and gold,
although he no doubt derived his story from
Montalvo's romance, "The Sergias of Esplan-
dian," a popular novel of that day. yet Cortes
seems to have given credence to his subordi-
nate's tale, and kept in view the conquest of the
island.

To the energy, the enterprise ami the genius
of llernan Cortes i- due the early exploration
of the northwest coast of North America. In
[522, eighty-five years before the English
planted their first colony in America, and nearly
a century before the landing i f the Pilgrims on
Plymouth rock, Cortes had established a ship-
yard at Zacatula, the most northern port on the
Pacific • country that he had just

red. I lere he intended to build si
explore the upper coast of the South S

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the Pacific Ocean was then called), but his good
fortune, that had hitherto given success to his
undertakings, seemed to have deserted him. and
disaster followed disaster. His warehouse,
filled with material for shipbuilding, that with
great labor and expense had been packed on
muleback from Vera Cruz, took fire and all was
destroyed. It required years to accumulate an-
other supply. He finally, in 1527, succeeded in
launching four ships. Three of these were taken
possession of by the king's orders for service in
the East Indies. The fourth and the smallest
made a short voyage up the coast. The com-
mander. Maldonado, returned with glowing re-
ports of a rich country he had discovered. 1 le
imagined he had seen evidence of the existence
of gold and silver, but he brought none with
him.

In 1528 Cortes was unjustly deprived of the
government of the country he had conquered.
His successor, Nuno de Guzman, president of
the royal audiencia, as the new form of gov-
ernment for New Spain (Mexico) was called, had
pursued him fur years with the malignity of a
demon. Cortes returned to Spain to defend
himself against the rancorous and malignant
charges of his enemies. He was received at
court with a show of high honors, but which in
reality were hollow professions of friendship
and insincere expressions of esteem. He was
rewarded by the bestowal of an empty title. He
was empowered to conquer and colonize coun-
tries at his own expense, for which he was to
receive the twelfth part of the revenue. Cortes
returned to Mexico ami in 1532 he had two ships
fitted out. which sailed from Acapulco, in June
of that year, up the coast of Jalisco. Portions
of the crews of each vessel mutinied. The mu-
tineers were put aboard of the vessel com-
manded by Mazuela and the other vessels, com-
manded by Hurtardo, continued the voyage as
far as the Yaqui country. Here, having landed
in search of provisions, tin- natives massacred
the commander and all the crew. The crew of
the other vessel shared the same fate lower
down the coast. The stranded vessel was after-
wards plundered and dismantled by Nuno de
(in/man, who was about as much of a savage
the predatorj and murderous natives.

In 1533 Cortes, undismayed by his disasters,
fitted out two more ship.s for the exploration
of the northern coast of Mexico. On board one
of these ships, commanded by Bercerra de Men-
doza, the crew, headed by the chief pilot, Jim-
inez, mutinied. Mendoza was killed and all
who would not join the mutineers were forced
to go ashore on the coast of Jalisco. The muti-
neers, to escape punishment by the authorities,
under the command of the pilot. Fortuno Jim-
inez, sailed westerly away from the coast of
tlie main land. After several days' sailing out
of sight of land, they discovered what they sup-
posed to be an island. They landed at a place-
now known as La Paz, Lower California. Here
Jiminez and twenty of his confederates were
killed by the Indians, or their fellow mutineers,
it is uncertain which. The survivors of the ill-
fated expedition managed to navigate the vessel
back to Jalisco, where they reported the dis-
ci lyery of an island rich in gold and pearls. This
fabrication doubtlessly saved their necks. There
is no record of their punishment for mutiny.
Cortes' other ship accomplished even less than
the one captured by the mutineers. Grixalvo,
the commander of this vessel, discovered a des-
olate island, forty leagues south of Cape San
Lucas, which he named Santo Tomas. But the
discovery that should immortalize Grixalvo, and
place him in the category with the romancing
Monk, de Xiza and Sandoval of the Amazonian
isle, was the seeing of a merman. It swam about
about the ship for a long time, playing antics
like a monkey for the amusement of the sailors,
washing its face with its hands, combing its hair
with its fingers: at last, frightened by a sea
bird, it disappeared.

Cortes, having heard of Jiminez's discovery,
and possibly believing it to be Sandoval's isle
of tin- Amazons, rich with gold ami pearls, set
about building more ships for exploration and
for the colonization of the island. He ordered
the building of three ships at Tehauntepec. The
royal audencia having failed to give him any
redress or protection against his enemy. Nuno
de Guzman, he determined to punish him him-
self. Collecting a considerable force of cava-
liers and soldiers, he marched to Chiametla.
There he found his vessel. La Concepcion, lying

1142742

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

on her beam ends, a wreck, ami plundered of
everything of value. He failed to find Guzman.
that worthy having taken a hasty departure be-
fore his arrival. His ships having conic up
from Tehauntepec, he embarked as many sol-
diers and settlers as his vessels would carry, and
sailed away for Jiminez's island. May 3, 1535,
he landed at the port where Jiminez and his fel-
low mutineers were killed, which he named
Santa Cruz. The colonists were landed on the
supposed island and the ships were sent back
to Chiametla for the remainder of the settlers.
His usual ill luck followed him. The vessels
became separated on the gulf in a storm and
the smaller of the three returned to Santa Cruz.
Embarking in it, Cortes set sail to find his miss-
ing ships. He found them at the port of Guaya-
bal, one loaded with provisions, the other dis-
mantled and run ashore. Its sailors had de-
serted and those of the other ship were aboul
to follow. Cortes stopped this, took command
of the vessels and had them repaired. When the
repairs were completed he set sail for his colony.
But misfortune followed him. His chief pile it
was killed by the falling of a spar when scarce
out of sight of land. Cortes took command of
the vessels himself. Then the ships encountered
a terrific storm that threatened their destruc-
tion. Finally they reached their destination,
Santa Cruz. There again misfortune awaited
him. The colonists could obtain no sustenance
from the barren soil of the desolate island.
Their provisions exhausted, some of them died
of starvation and the others killed themselves
by over-eating when relief came.

Cortes, finding the interior of the supposed
island as desolate and forbidding as the coast,
and the native inhabitants degraded and brutal
savages, without houses or clothing, living on
vermin, insects and the scant products of the
sterile land, determined to abandon his coloniza-
tion scheme. Gathering together the wretched
survivors of his colony, he embarked them on
his ships and in the early part of 1537 landed
them in the port of Acapulco.

At some time between 1535 and 1537 the
name California was applied to the supposed
island, but whether applied by Cortes to en-
courage his disappointed colonists, or whether

given by them in derision, is an unsettled ques-
tion. 1 he name itself is derived from a Spanish
romance, the "Sergas de Esplandian," written
by Ordonez de Montalvo and published in Se-
ville, Spain, about the year 1510, The pa ag
in which the name California occurs is as fol-
lows: "Know thai on the right hand of the In-
dies there is an island called California, very near
the terrestrial paradise, which was people 1 with
black women, without an) men among them,
because they were accustomed to live after the
fashion of Amazons. The) were of strong and
hardened bodies, of ardent courage and great
force. The island was the strongest in the
world from its steep rocks and great cliffs.
Their arms were all of gold and so were the
caparison of the wild beasts which they rode,
after having trained them, for in all the island
there is no other metal." The "steep rocks and
great cliffs" of Jiminez's island may have sug-
gested to Cortes or to his colonists some fan-
cied resemblance to tin California of Montalvo's
romance, but there was no other similarity.

For years Cortes had been fitting out ex-
peditions by land and sea to explore the un
known regions northward of that portion of
Mexico which he had conquered, but disaster
after disaster had wrecked his hopes and im-
poverished his purse. The last expedition sent
out by him was one commanded by Francisco
Ulloa', who. in 1539. with two ships, sailed up
the Gulf of California, or Sea of Cortes,
Sonora side, to its head. Thence he proceeded
down the inner coast of Lower California to
the cape at its southern extremity, which he
doubled, and then sailed up the outer coast to
Cabo del Engano, the "Cape of Deceit." Fail-
ing to make any progress against the head
winds, April 5. 1510. the two ships parted com-
pany in a storm. The smaller one. the Santa
Agueda. returned safely to Santiago. 'I In-
larger, La Trinidad, after vainly endeavoring to
continue the voyage, turned back. The fate of
Ulloa and of the vessel too. is uncertain. One
authority says he was assassinated alter n
ing the coast ' liers,

who. for some trivial can
death ; anothi r accounl saj - that
known of his fate, nor is it certain!'

;:i;

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

whether his vessel ever returned. The only
thing accomplished by this voyage was to dem-
onstrate that Lower California was a peninsula.
Even this fact, although proved by Ulloa's voy-
age, was not fully admitted by geographers until
two centuries later.

In 1540 Cortes returned to Spain to obtain, if
possible, some recognition and recompense from
the king for his valuable services. His declin-
ing years had been tilled with bitter disappoint-
ments. Shipwreck and mutiny at sea; disaster
and defeat to his forces on land; the treachery
of his subordinates and the jealousy of royal of-
ficials continually thwarted his plans and wasted
his substance. After expending nearly a million
dollars in explorations, conquests and attempts
at colonization, fretted and worried by the in-
difference and the ingratitude of a monarch foi
whom he had sacrified so much, disappointed,
disheartened, impoverished, he died at an ob-
scure hamlet near Seville, Spain, in December,
1547-

The next exploration that had something to
do with the discovery of California was that of
Hernando de Alarcon. With two ships he sailed
from Acapulco, May 9. 1540, up the Gulf of Cal-
ifornia. His object was to co-operate with the
expedition of Coronado. Coronado, with an
army of four hundred men, had marched from
Culiacan. April 22, 1540. to conquer the seven
cities of Cibola. In the early part of 1537 Al-
varo Nunez Cabaza de Vaca and three compan-
ions 1 the only survivors of six hundred men that
Panfilo de Narvaes, ten years before, had landed
in Florida for the conquest of that province)
after almost incredible sufferings and hardships
arrived in Culiacan on the Pacific coast. On
their long journey passing from one Indian tribe
to another they had seen many wondrous things
and had heard of many more. Among others
they had been told of seven great cities in a
country called Cibola that were rich in gold and
silver and precious stones.

\ Franciscan friar, Marcos de Niza, having
heard their wonderful stories determined to find
the seven cities. Securing the service of
Estevanico, a negro slave, who was one of Ca-
beza de Vaca's party, he sel out in quest of the
cities. With a number of Indian porters and

Estevanico as a guide, he traveled northward
a hundred leagues when he came to a desert
that took four days to cross. Beyond this he
found natives who told him of people four days
further away who had gold in abundance. He
sent the negro to investigate and that individual
sent back word that Cibola was yet thirty days'
journey to the northward. Following the trail
of his guide, Xiza travelled for two weeks cross-
ing several deserts. The stories of the magnifi-
cence of the seven cities increased with every
tribe of Indians through whose country he
passed. At length, when almost to the prom-
ised land, a messenger brought the sad tidings
that Estevanico had been put to death with all
of his companions but two by the inhabitants of
Cibola. To go forward meant death to the
monk and all his party, but before turning back
he climbed a high mountain and looked down
upon the seven cities with their high houses and
teeming populations thronging their streets.
Then he returned to Culiacan to tell his wonder-
ful stories. His tales fired the ambition and
stimulated the avarice of a horde of adventurers.
At the head of four hundred of these Coronado
penetrated the wilds of Pimeria (now Arizona).
He found seven Indian towns but no lofty
houses, no great cities, no gold or silver. Cibola
was a myth. Hearing of a country called Ouivira
far to the north, richer than Cibola, with part of
his force he set out to find it. In his search he
penetrated inland as far as the plains of Kansas,
but Ouivira proved to be as poor as Cibola, and
Coronado returned disgusted. The Friar tie
Niza had evidently drawn on his imagination
which seemed to lie quite rich in cities.

Alarcon reached the head of the Gulf of Cal-
ifornia. Seeing wdiat he supposed to be an in-
let, but the water proving too shallow for his
>hips to enter it. he manned two boats and
found his supposed inlet to be the mouth of a
great river. He named it Buena Guia (Good
Guide) now the Colorado. He sailed up it some
distance and was probably the first white man to

1 Fool upon the soil of Upper California. He
heard of Coronado in the interior but was unable
to establish communication with him. He de-
scended the river in his boats, embarked on his
vessels and returned to Mexico. The Yicerov

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Mendoza, who had fitted out the expedition of
Alarcon, was bitterly disappointed on the re-
turn of that explorer. He had hoped to find the
ships loaded with the spoils of the seven cities.

The report of the discovery of a great river did
not interest his sordid soul. Alarcon found him-
self a disgraced man. He retired to private life
and not long after died a broken hearted man.

CHAPTER II.

ALTA OR NUEVA CALIFORNIA,

WHILE Coronado was still wandering
in the interior of the continent search-
ing for Quivira and its king, Tatar-
rax, who wore a long beard, adored a gol-
den cross and worshipped an image of the
queen of heaven, Pedro de Alvarado, one of
Cortes' former lieutenants, arrived from Guate-
mala, of which country he was governor, with a
fleet of twelve ships. These were anchored in
the harbor of Navidad. Mendoza, the viceroy,
had been intriguing with Alvarado against
Cortes; obtaining an interest in the fleet, he
and Alvarado began preparations for an ex-
tensive scheme of exploration and conquest. Be-
fore they had perfected their plans an insurrec-
tion broke out among the Indians of Jalisco, and
Pedro de Alvarado in attempting" to quell it
was killed. Mendoza fell heir to the fleet. The
return of Coronado about this time dispelled the
popular beliefs in Cibola and Quivira and put
an end to further explorations of the inland re-
gions of the northwest.

It became necessary for Mendoza to find
something for his fleet to do. The Islas de
Poiniente, or Isles of the Setting Sun (now the
Philippines), had been discovered by Magellan.
To these Mendoza dispatched five ships of the
fleet under command of Lopez de Yillalobos to
establish trade with the natives. Two ships of
the fleet, the San Salvador and the Yitoria, were
placed under the command of Juan Rodriguez
Cabrillo, reputed to be a Portuguese by birth and
dispatched to explore the northwest coasl of
the Pacific. Cabrillo sailed from Navidad, June
27, 1542. Rounding the southern extremity of
the peninsula of Lower California, he sailed up
its outer coast. August 20 he reached Cabo d< I
Engano, the most northerly point of CJlloa's ex
proration. On the 28th df September, 1542. he

entered a bay which he named San Miguel (now
San Diego), where he found "a land locked and
very good harbor." lie remained in this harbor
until October 3. Continuing his voyage he sailed
.along the coast eighteen leagues, discovering
two islands about seven leagues from the main
land. These he named San Salvador and Yitoria
after his ships (now Santa Catalina and San
Clemente). On the 8th of October he crossed
the channel between the islands and main land
and anchored in a bay which he named Bahia
de los Fumos y Fuegos, the Bay of Smokes and
Fires (now known as the Bay of San Pedro).
Heavy clouds of smoke hung over the head-
lands of the coast; and inland, fierce fires were
raging. The Indians either through accident
or design had set fire to the long dry grass that
covered the plains at this season of the year.

After sailing six leagues further up the coast
he anchored in a large ensenada or bight, now
the Bay of Santa Monica. It i- uncertain
whether he landed at either place. The next
day he sailed eight leagues to an Indian town
which he named the Pueblo de las Canoa
town of Canoes). This town was located on or
near the present site of San Buenaventura.
Sailing northwestward he passed through the
Santa Barbara' Channel, discoverin
of Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and San s
Continuing up the coast lie passed a long nar-
row point of land extending into the sea, which
from its resemblance to a galley beat lie named
Cabo de la Galera, the Cape of ili'- Gallei
called Point < Baffled by head

winds, the explorers slowl) beat their way up
the coast. On the 17th of November, tin

. which the)
J, i,. I'm.. , tl Bay of Pirn 1 th Ba

Finding it impos ibl< to laud on

:;s

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

account of the heavj sea Cabrillo continued hi--
northward. Alter reaching a point on
the coast in 40 degrees north latitude, accord-
ing to his reckoning, the increasing cold and
the storms becoming more frequent, he turned
back and ran down the coast to the island of
San Miguel, which he reached November 23.
Here he decided to winter.

While on the island in October, he had broken
his arm by a fall. Suffering from his broken
arm he had continued in command. Exposure
and unskilful -urger\ caused his death. He
died January 3. 1543, ami was buried on the
island. His last resting place is supposed to
be on the shore of Curler's harbor, on the»
island of San Miguel. Xo trace of his grave
has ever been found. His companions named
the island Juan Rodriguez, but he has been
rubbed of even this slight tribute to his mem-
ory. It would be a slight token of regard if
the state would name the island Cabrillo. Saint
Miguel has been well remembered in California
and could spare an island.

I abrillo on his death bed urged Iris successor
in command, the pilot Bartolome Ferrolo, to
continue the exploration. Ferrolo prosecuted
the voyage of discovery with a courage and dar-
ing equal to that of Cabrillo. About the middle
of February he left the harbor where he had
spent most of the winter and after having made
a short voyage in search of more islands he
-ailed up the coast. February 28, he discover d
a cape which lie named Mendocino in honor of
the viceroy, a name it -till bears. Passing the
cape he encountered a fierce storm which drove
him violently to the northeast, greatl) endanger-
ing his ships. On March ist, the fog partially
lifting, he discovered a cape which he named
Blanco, in the southern part of what i- now the
-tat' of < iregon. The weather continuing stormj
and the he sailed northward,

1 .-nolo reluctantly turned back. Running
down thi reached the island of San

nte. There in a storm the ships parted

company and Ferrolo, after a search, gave up

the \ 'itoria as lost. The ships, however, came

.md from there, in

for provisions, the explorers

: Xavidad April IS, 1543. Oil the discov-

eries made by Cabrillo and Ferrolo the Span-
iards claimed the territory on the Pacific coast
of North America up to the forty-second degree
of north latitude, a claim that they maintained
for three hundred years.

The next navigator who visited California was
Francis Drake, an Englishman. He was not
seeking new lands, but a way to escape the
\engeance of the Spaniard.-. Francis Drake,
the "Sea King of Devon," was one of the brav-
est men that ever lived. Early in his maritime
life he had suffered from the cruelty and injus-
tice of the Spaniards. Throughout his subse-
quent career, which reads more like romance
than reality, he let no opportunity slip to pun-
ish his old-time enemies. It mattered little to
Drake whether his country was at peace or war
with Spain; he considered a Spanish ship or a
Spanish town his legitimate prey. On one of
his predatory expeditions he captured a Spanish
town on the isthmus of Panama named El Xom-
bre de Dios, The Name of God. Its holy name
did not protect it from Drake's rapacity. While
on the isthmus he obtained information of the
Spanish settlement.- of the South Pacific and
from a high point of land saw the South sea, as
the Pacific ocean was then called. On his re-
turn to England he announced his intention of
fitting out a privateering expedition against the
Spaniards of the South Pacific. Although Spain
and England were at peace, he received encour-
agement from the nobility, even Queen Eliza-
beth herself secretly contributing a thousand
crown towards the venture.

Drake sailed out of Plymouth harbor, Eng-
land, December 13, 1577. in command of a licet
of live small vessels, bound for the Pacific coasl
of South America. Some of his' vessel- were
lost at sea and others turned back, until when
fn emerged from the Strait- of .Magellan he had
but one left, the Pelican, lie changed its name
to the Golden Hind. It was a ship of only one
hundred ton.-' burden. Sailing up the South
Pacific coast, he spread terror and devastation
the Spanish settlements, robbing towns
and capturing ships until, in the quainl language
of a chronicler of the expedition, he "had loaded
hi- \es-el with a fabulous amount of title wares
ol Asia, precious stones, church ornaments,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

gold plate and so mooch silver as did ballas the
Goulden Hinde."

From one treasure ship, the Caca Fuego, he
obtained thirteen chests of silver, eighty pounds
weight of gold, twenty-six tons of uncoined sil-
ver, two silver drinking vessels, precious stones
and a quantity of jewels; the total value of his
prize amounted to three hundred ami sixty
thousand pesos (dollars). Having spoiled the
Spaniards of treasure amounting to "eight hun-
dred si.xty-six thousand pesos of silver *
a hundred thousand pesos of gold * * *
and other things of great worth, he thought it
not good to return by the streight (Magellan)
* * * least the Spaniards should there waite
and attend for him in great numbers and
strength, whose hands, he being left but one
ship, he could not possibly escape."

Surfeited with spoils and his ship loaded with
plunder, it became necessary for him to find the
shortest and safest route home. To return by
the way he came was to invite certain destruc-
tion to his ship and death to all on board. At
an island off the coast of Nicaragua he over-
hauled and refitted his ship. He determined to
seek the Straits of Anian that were believed to
connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Strik-
ing boldly out on an unknown sea, he sailed
more than a thousand leagues northward. En-
countering contrary winds and the cold in-
creasing as he advanced, he gave up his search
for the mythical straits, and, turning, he ran
down the northwest coast of North America to
latitude 38°, where "hce found a harborrow for
his ship." He anchored in it June 17, 1579.
This "convenient and fit harborrow" is under
the lee of Point Reyes and is now known as
Sir Francis Drake's Bay.

Fletcher, the chronicler of Drake's voyage, in
his narrative, "The World Encompassed," says:
"The 3rd day following, viz., the 21st, our ship
having received a leake at sea was brought to
anchor neerer the shoare that her goods being
landed she might be repaired; but for that we
were to prevent any danger that might chance
against our safety our Generall first of all
landed his men with necessary provision to build
tents and make a fort for defense of ourselves
and goods; and that we might under the shel-

ter of it with more safety (whatsoever should
befall) end our business."

The ship was drawn upon the beach, careened
on its .side, caulked and refitted. While the
crew were repairing the ship the natives visited
them in great numbers. From some of their ac-
tions Drake inferred that they regarded himself
and his men as gods. To disabuse them of this
idea, Drake ordered his chaplain, Fletcher, to
perform divine service according to the English
Church Ritual and preach a sermon. The In-
dians were greatly delighted with the psalm
singing, but their opinion of Fletcher's sermon
is not known.

From certain ceremonial performance Drake
imagined that the Indians were offering him the
sovereignty of their land and themselves as sub-
jects of the English crown. Drake gladly ac-
cepted their proffered allegiance and formally
took possession of the country in the name of
the English sovereign, Queen Elizabeth. He
named it Xew Albion, "for two causes: the one
in respect of the while bankes and cliffes which
ly towardes the sea: and the other because it
might have some affinitie with our own country
in name which sometimes was so called."

Having completed the repairs to his ship.
Drake made ready to depart, but before leav-
ing "Our Generall with his company made a
journey up into the land. The inland we found
to be farre different from the shoare; a goodly
country and fruitful soyle, stored with many
blessings fit for the use of man; infinite was the
company of very large and fat deere which
there we saw by thousands as we supposed in a
heard."* They saw great numbers of small bur-
rowing animals, which they called conies, but
which were probably ground squirrels. Before
departing. Drake set up a monument to shov
thathe had taken possession of the country. To a
large post firml) sel in the ground he nailed a
brass plate on which was engraved the nai
the English Queen, the date of his arrival and the
statement thai the king and p< 1 iple 1 if thi
try had voluntarily b& of the Eng-

lish crown; a new sixpence was fastened to the
plate ti 1 shi -.', thi < )u en's likeness.

World i

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

After a sta\ oi thirty-six days, Drake took
his departure, much to the regret of the Indians.
He stopped at the Farallones islands for a short
time to lay in a supply of seal meat; then he
sailed for England by the v.a\ of the Cape of
Good Hope. After encountering many perils,
he arrived safely at Plymouth, the port from
which he sailed nearly three years before, hav-
ing "encompassed" or circumnavigated the
globe. His exploits and the booty he brought
back made him the most famous naval hero of
his time. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth
and accorded extraordinary honors by the na-
tion. He believed himself to be the first dis-
coverer of the country he called New Albion.
"The Spaniards never had any dealings or so
much as set foote in this country; tire utmost
of their discoveries reaching only to many de-
grees southward of this place."* The English
founded no claim on Drake's discoveries. The
land hunger that characterizes that nation now
had not then been developed.

Fifty years passed after Cabrillo's visit to Cal-
ifornia before another attempt was made by the
Spaniards to explore her coast. Through all
these years on their return voyage far out be-
yond the islands the Manila galleons, freighted
with the wealth of "Ormus and Ind," sailed
down the coast of Las Californias from Cape
Mendocino to Acapulco. Often storm-tossed
mil always scourged with that dread malady of
the sea, the scurvy, there was no harbor of ref-
uge lor them to put into because his most Cath-
olic Majesty, the King of Spain, had no money
to spend in exploring an unknown coast where
there was no return to be expected except per-
haps the saving of a few sailors' lives.

In 1593, the question of a survey of the < 'ali
fornia coast for harbors to accommodate the in-
creasing Philippine trade was agitated and Don
Luis de Vela mo, yiceroj oi New Spain, in a let-
ter dati d at Mexico, April 8, [593, thus «r tes to
hi- majest) : "In order to make the exploration
or demarcation of the harbors of this m
far as the Philippine islands, as your majesty
■ rdei , money is lacking, and if it be not taken
from the royal strong box it cannot be supplied,

A 1 irld Kncompassed.

as for some time past a great deal of money has
been owing to the royal treasury on account
oi fines forfeited to it, legal cost and the like."
Don Luis fortunately discovers a way to save
the contents of the royal strong box and hastens
10 acquaint his majesty with his plan. In a let-
ter written to the king from the City of Mexico,
April 6, 1594, he says: "I ordered the navigator
who at present sails in the flag ship, who is
named Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeno, and who
is a man of experience in his calling, one who
can be depended upon and who has means of
his own, although he is a Portuguese, there
being no Spaniards of his profession whose serv-
ices are available, that he should make the ex-
ploration and demarcation, and I offered, if he
would do this, to give him his remuneration in
the way of taking on board merchandise; and
I wrote to the governor (of the Philippines)
that he should allow him to put on board the
ship some tons of cloth that he might have the
benefit of the freight-money." The result of
Don Luis's economy and the outcome of at-
tempting to explore an unknown coast in a
hcavil) iaden merchant ship are given in a para-
graph taken from a letter written by a royal offi-
cer from Acapulco, February 1, 1596, to the
viceroy Conde de Monterey, the successor of
Yelasco: "On Wednesday, the 31st of January
of this year, there entered this harbor a vessel
of the kind called in the Philippines a viroco,
having on board Juan de Morgana, navigating
officer, four Spanish sailors, five Indians and a
negro, who brought tidings that the ship San
Agustin, of the exploring expedition, had been
lost on a coast where she struck and went to
pieces, ami that a barefooted friar and another
person of those on board had been drowned and
that the seventy men or more who embarked in
this small vessel only these came in her, be-
cause tlte captain of said ship, Sebastian Rodri-
guez Cermeno, and the others went ashore at
the port of Xavidad, and, as they understand,
have already arrived 111 that city (Mexico). An
accounl oi the voyage and of the loss of the
ship, together with the statement made under
oath by said navigating officer, Juan de Mor-
gana, accompany this. We visited officially the
vessel, finding 110 kind of merchandise on hoard.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and that the men were almost naked. The ves-
sel being so small it seems miraculous that she
should have reached this country with so many
people on board." A viroco was a small vessel
without a deck, having one or two square sails,
and propelled by sweeps. Its hull was formed
from a single tree, hollowed out and having the
sides built up with planks. The San Agustin
was wrecked in what is now called Francis
Drake's Bay, about thirty miles north of San
Francisco. To make a voyage from there to
Acapulco in such a vessel, with seventy men on
board, and live to tell the tale, was an exploit
that exceeded the most hazardous undertakings
of the Argonauts of '49.

The viceroy, Conde de Monte Rey, in a let-
ter dated at Mexico, April 19, 1596, gives the
king tidings of the loss of the San Agustin. He
writes: ''Touching the loss of the ship, San
Agustin, which was on its way from the islands
of the west (the Philippines) for the purpose of
making the exploration of the coast of the South
Sea, in accordance with your Majesty's orders
to Viceroy, Don Luis de Yelasco, I wrote to
Your Majesty by the second packet (mailship)
what I send as duplicate with this." He then
goes on to tell how he had examined the offi-
cers in regard to the loss of the vessel and that
they tried to inculpate one another. The navi-
gating officer even in the viroco tried to ex-
plore the principal bays which they crossed, but
on account of the hunger and illness they expe-
rienced he was compelled to hasten the voyage.
The viceroy concludes: "Thus I take it, as to
this exploration the intention of Your Majesty
has not been carried into effect. It is the gen-
eral opinion that this enterprise should not be
attempted on the return voyage from the islands
and with a laden ship, but from this coast and
by constantly following along it." The above
account of the loss of the San Agustin is taken
from Volume II, Publications of the Historical
Society of Southern California, ami is the only
correct account published. In September, 1595,
just before the viceroy. Don Luis de Velasco,
was superseded by Conde de Monte Rey, he
entered into a contract with certain parties of
whom Sebastian Viscaino, a ship captain, was
the principal, to make an expedition up the Gulf

of California "for the purpose of fishing for
pearls." There was also a provision in the con-
tract empowering Viscaino to make explorations
and take possession of his discoveries for the
crown of Spain. The Conde de Monte Rey
seems, from a letter written to the King, to have
seriously doubted whether Viscaino was the
right man for so important an expedition, but
finally allowed him to depart. In September,
1596, Viscaino sailed up the gulf with a fleet of
three vessels, the flag ship San Francisco, the
San Jose and a Lancha. The flag ship was dis-
abled and left at La Paz. With the other two
vessels he sailed up the gulf to latitude 29°. He
encountered severe storms. At some island he
had trouble with the Indians and killed several.
As the long boat was departing an Indian
wounded one of the rowers with an arrow. The
sailor dropped his oar, the boat careened and
upset, drowning twenty of the twenty-six sol-
diers and sailors in it.

Viscaino returned without having procured
any pearls or made any important discoveries.
He proposed to continue his explorations of the
Californias, but on account of his misfortunes
his request was held in abeyance. He wrote a
letter to the king in 1 597, setting forth what
supplies he required for the voyage. His in-
ventory of the items needed is interesting, but
altogether too long for insertion here. Among
the items were "$35,000 in money"; "eighty ar-
robas of powder": "twenty quintals of lead";
"four pipes of wine for mass and' sick friars";
"vestments for the clergy and $2,000 to be in-
vested in trifles for the Indians for the purpose
of attracting them peaceably to receive the holy
gospel." Viscaino's request was not granted at
that time. The viceroy and the royal audiencia
at one time ordered his commission revoked.
Philip II died in 1598 and was succeeded by
Philip III. After five years' waiting, Yiscaino
was allowed to proceed with his explorations.
From Acapulco on the 5th of May. 1602, he
writes to the king that he is ready to sail with
his ships "for the discovery of harbors and bays
of the coast of the South Sea as far as Cape
Mendocino." "I report," lie says, "merely that
the said VicerO) (Conde de Monterey) has en-
trusted to me the accomplishment of the same

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in two ships, a lancha and a barcoluengo,
manned with sailors and soldiers and provi-
sioned for eleven months. To-day being Sun-
day, the 5th of May, I sail at five o'clock m the
nanus of God and his blessed mother and your
majesty."

\ iscaino followed the same course marked
out by Cabrillo sixty years before. November
10, 1602, he anchored in Cabrillo's Bay of San
Miguel. Whether the faulty reckoning of Ca-
brillo left him in doubt of the points named by
the first discoverer, or whether it was that he
might receive the credit of their discovery, Vis-
caino changed the names given by Cabrillo to
the islands, bays and headlands along the Cali-
fornia coast. Cabrillo's Bahia San Miguel be-
came the Bay of San Diego; San Salvador and
Yitoria were changed to Santa Catalina and
San Clemente, and Cabrillo's Bahia de los
Fumos y Fuegos appears on Yiscaino's map as
the Ensenada de San Andres, but in a descrip-
tion of the voyage compiled by the cosmog-
rapher, Cabrero Bueno, it is named San Pedro.
It is not named for the Apostle St. Peter, but
for St. reter, Bishop of Alexandria, whose day
in the Catholic calendar i.s November 26, the
day (jf the month Viscaino anchored in the Bay
of San Pedro.

Sailing up the coast, Viscaino passed through
the Santa Barbara channel, which was so named
by Antonio de la Ascencion, a Carmelite friar,
who was chaplain of one of the ships. The ex-
pedition entered the channel December 4, which
is the day in the Catholic calendar dedicated to
Santa Barbara. lie visited the mainland near
Point Concepcion where the Indian chief of a
populous rancheria offered each Spaniard who
would become .1 resident of his town ten wives.
This generous offer was rejected. December
15, 1602, In reached Point Pinos, so named 1,\
Cabrillo, and cast anchor in the ba\ formed by
its projection. This bay he named Monterey,
in honoi eroy, Conde de Monte Rev.

Many if his men were sick with the scurw and
his provisions were becoming exhausted; so,
placing the sick and disabled on the San Tomas,
he sent them b ilco; but few .if them

1 a< hed th< ii di itination. On the 3d of
January, 1603, with two ships, he proceeded on

his search for Cape Mendocino, the northern
limit of his survey. The Manila galleons on
their return voyage from the Philippines sailed
up the Asiatic coast to the latitude of Japan,
when, taking advantage of the westerly winds
and the Japan current, they crossed the Pacific,
striking the North American coast in about the
latitude of Cape Mendocino, and from there
they ran down the coast of Las Californias and
across the gulf to Acapulco. After leaving
Point Reyes a storm separated his ships and
drove him as far north as Cape Blanco. The
smaller vessel, commanded by Martin de Agui-
lar, was driven north by the storm to latitude
43 , where he discovered what seemed to be
the mouth of a great river; attempting to enter
it, he w r as driven back by the swift current.
Aguilar. believing he had discovered the western
entrance of the Straits of Anian, sailed for
New Spain to report his discovery. He, his
chief pilot and most of his crew died of scurvy
before the vessel reached Navidad. Viscaino,
after sighting Cape Blanco, turned and sailed
down the coast of California, reaching Acapulco
March 21, 1603.

Viscaino, in a letter to the King of Spain,
dated at the City of Mexico, May 23, 1603,
grows enthusiastic over California climate and
productions. It is the earliest known specimen
of California boom literature. After depicting
the commodiousness of Monterey Bay as a port
of safety for the Philippine ships, he says: "This
port is sheltered from all winds, while on the im-
mediate shores there arc pines. from which masts
of any desired size can 1 e obtained, as well as
live oaks and white oaks, rosemary, the vine, the
rose of Alexandria, a great variety of game, such
as rabbits, hare, partridges and other sorts and
species found in Spain. This land has a genial
climate, its waters are good and it is fertile,
judging from the varied and luxuriant growth
■ if trees and plants; and it is thickly settled with
people whom I found to be of gentle disposition,
peaceable and docile. * * * Their food con-
sists of seeds which they have in great abun-
dance and variety, and of the flesh of game such
as deer, which arc larger than cows, and hear,
ind of neal cattle and bisons ami many other
animals. The Indians are of good stature and

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

fair complexion, the women being somewhat
less in size than the men, and of pleasing counte-
nance. The clothing of the people of the coast
lands consists of the skins of the sea wolves
(otter) abounding there, which they tan and
dress better than is done in Castile; they pos-
sess also in great quantity flax like that of Cas-
tile, hemp and cotton, from which they make
fishing lines and nets for rabbits and hares.
They have vessels of pine wood, very well made,
in which they go to sea with fourteen paddle-
men of a side, with great dexterity in very
stormy weather. * :; ; They are well ac-
quainted with gold and silver and said that
these were found in the interior."

The object of Viscaino's boom literature of
three hundred years ago was the promotion of a
colony scheme for the founding of a settlement
on Monterey Bay. He visited Spain to obtain the
consent of the king and assistance in planting
a colony. After many delays, Philip III, in
1606, ordered the viceroy of New Spain to fit
out immediately an expedition to be com-
manded by Viscaino for the occupation and set-
tlement of the port of Monterey. Before the ex-
pedition could be gotten ready Viscaino died and
his colonization scheme died with him. Had he
lived to carry out his scheme, the settlement of
California would have antedated that of James-
town, Ya., bv one year.

CHAPTER III.

COLONIZATION OF ALTA CALIFORNIA.

A HUNDRED and sixty years passed after
the abandonment of Viscaino's coloniza-
tion scheme before the Spanish crown
made another attempt to utilize its vast posses-
sions in Alta California. The Manila galleons
sailed down the coast year after year for more
than a century and a half, yet in all this long
space of time none of them so far as we know
ever entered a harbor or bay on the upper Cali-
fornia coast. Spain still held her vast colonial
possessions in America, but with a loosening
grasp. As the years went by she had fallen
from her high estate. Her power on sea and
land had weakened. Those brave old sea kings,
Drake, Hawkins and Frobisher, had destroyed
her invincible Armada and burned her ships in
her very harbors. The English and Dutch pri-
vateers had preyed upon her commerce on the
high seas and the buccaneers had robbed her
treasure ships and devastated her settlements on
the islands and the Spanish main, while the free-
booters of many nations had time and again
captured her galleons and ravished her colonies
on the Pacific coast. The energy and enterprise
that had been a marked characteristic of her
people in the days of Cortes and Pizarro were
ebbing away. The cruelty and religious intol-

erance of her kings, her nobles and her clergy,
had sapped the bravery of her people. The fear
hi her Holy Inquisition palsied effort and sub-
stituted in her people cringing for courage. For
three centuries the rack and the thumb-screw
of her Holy Office had never been allowed to
rust from disuse nor its fires to burn out for
want of victims. In trying to kill heresy her
rulers were slowly but surely killing Spain.
Proscriptive laws and the fear of the inquisition
had driven into exile the most enterprising and
the most intelligent classes of her people. Spain
was decaying with the dry rot of bigotry. ( )ther
nations stood ready to take advantage of her
decadence. Her old-time enemy, England, which
had gained in power as Spain had lost, was ever
on the alert to take advantage of her weakness;
and another power, Russia, almost unknown
among the powers of Europe when Spain was
in her prime, was threatening her possessions in
Alta California. To hold this vast country it
must be colonized, but her restrictions on com-
merce and her proscriptive laws against foreign
immigrants had shut the door to her colonial
possessions againsl colonists from all other na-
tion Her sparse settlements in Mexico could
spare no colonists. The indigenous inhabitants

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of California must be converted to Christianity
and made into citizens. Poor material indeed
were these degraded savages, but Spain's needs
were pressing and missionary zeal was powerful.
Indeed, the pristine courage and daring of the
Spanish soldier seemed to have passed to her
missionary priest.

The Jesuits had begun missionary work in
160.7 among the degraded inhabitants of Lower
California. With a perseverance that was highly
commendable and a bravery that was heroic,
under their devoted leaders, Salvatierra, Kino,
I '-arte. Piccolo and their successors, they
founded sixteen missions on the peninsula.
Father Kino (or Kuhn), a German Jesuit, be-
sides his missionary work, between 1694 and
1702. iiad made explorations around the head
of the Gulf of California and up the Rio Colo-
rado to the mouth of the Gila, which had clearly
demonstrated that Lower California was a pen-
insula and not an island. Although Ulloa had
sailed down the inner oast and up the outer
coasl of Lower California and Domingo del
Castillo, a Spanish pilot, had made a correct
map showing it to be a peninsula, so strong was
the belief in the existence of the Straits of
Anian that one hundred and sixty year- after
Ulloa's voyage Las Californias were still be-
lieved to be islands and were sometimes called
Lslas Carolinas, or the islands of Charles, named
so for Charles II. of Spain. Father Kino had
formed the design of establishing a chain of mis-
sions from Sonora around the head of the gulf
and down the inner coast of Lower California to
ban Lucas, lie did not live to complete
his ambitious project. The Jesuit missions of
Baja California never grew rich in Hocks and
herds. The country was sterile and the few
small valleys of fertile land around the missions
gave the padres and the neophytes al best but a
frugal return for their labors.

For years there had hem, in the Catholic
countries of Europe, a -rowing fear and dis-
trust of the Jesuits. Portugal had declared them
rnment and had banished
them in [759 from her dominions. France had
suppn ' 1 in her domains in 1764.

In [767, King (.ulos in.. |, x a pragmatic sanc-
1 red their expulsion from

Spain and all her American colonies. So great
and powerful was the influence of the order that
the decree for their expulsion was kept secret
until the moment of its execution. Throughout
all parts of the kingdom, at a certain hour of
the night, a summons came to every college,
monastery or other establishment where mem-
bers of the order dwelt, to assemble by com-
mand of the king in the chapel or refectory
immediately. The decree of perpetual banish-
ment was then read to them. They were hastily
bundled into vehicles that were awaiting them
outside and hurried to the nearest seaport,
where they were shipped to Rome. During
their journey to the sea-coast they were not al-
lowed to communicate with their friends nor
permitted to speak to persons they met on the
way. By order of the king, any subject who
should undertake to vindicate the Jesuits in writ-
ing should be deemed guilty of treason and con-
demned to death.

The Lower California missions were too dis-
tant and too isolated to enforce the king's de-
cree with the same haste and secrecy that was
observed in Spain and Mexico. To Governor
( iaspar de Portola was entrusted the enforce-
ment of their banishment. These missions were
transferred to the Franciscans, but it took time
to make the substitution. He proceeded with
great caution and care lest the Indians should
become rebellious and demoralized. It was not
until February, 1768, that all the Jesuit mis-
sionaries were assembled at La Paz; from there
they were sent to Mexico and on the 13th of
April, at Vera Cruz, they bade farewell to the
western continent.

At the head of the Franciscan contingent that
came to Bahia, Cal., to lake charge of the aban-
doned missions, was Father Junipero Scrra, a
man of indomitable will and great missionary
zeal. Miguel Jose Serra was horn on the island of

Majoriea in the year 1713. After completing his
studies in the I.ullian University, at the age of
eighteen he became a monk and was admitted
into the order of Franciscans, (hi taking or-
ders he assumed the name of Junipero (Juniper).

\.mong the disciples of St. Francis was a very
zealous and devoted monk who bore the name
of Junipero, of whom St. Francis once said,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

"Would to God, my brothers, that I had a whole
forest of such Junipers." Serra's favorite study
was the "Lives of the Saints," and no doubt the
study of the life of the original Junipero influ-
enced him to take that saint's naijie. Serra's
ambition was to become a missionary, but it was
not until he was nearly forty years of age that
his desire was gratified. In 1740. he came to
Mexico and January 1, 1750, entered the College
of San Fernando. A few months later he was
given charge of an Indian mission in the Sierra
Gorda mountains, where, with his assistant and
lifelong friend, Father Palou, he remained nine
years. Under his instructions the Indians were
taught agriculture and the mission became a
model establishment of its kind. From this
mountain mission Serra returned to the city of
Mexico. He spent seven years in doing mis-
sionary work among the Spanish population of
the capital and surrounding country. His suc-
cess as a preacher and his great missionary zeal
led to his selection as president of the missions
of California, from which the Jesuits had been
removed. April 2, 1768, he arrived in the port of
Loreto with fifteen associates from the College
of San Fernando. These were sent to the dif-
ferent missions of the peninsula. These mis-
sions extended over a territory seven hundred
miles in length and it required several months
to locate all the missionaries. The scheme for
the occupation and colonization of Alta Cali-
fornia was to be jointly the work of church and
state. The representative of the state was Jose
de Galvez, visitador-general of Xew Spain, a
man of untiring energy, great executive ability,
sound business sense and, as such men are and
ought to be, somewhat arbitrary. Galvez
reached La Paz in July, 1768. lie immediately
set about investigating the condition of the
peninsula missions and supplying their needs.
This done, he turned his attention to the north-
ern colonization. He established his headquar-
ters at Santa Ana near La Faz. Here he sum-
moned Father Junipero for consultation in
regard to the founding of missions in Alta Cali-
fornia. It was decided to proceed to the initial
points San Diego and Monterey by land and sea.
Three ships were to be dispatched carrying tin-
heavier articles, such as agricultural imple-

ments, church ornaments, and a supply of provi-
sions for the support of the soldiers and priest
after their arrival in California. The expedi-
tion by land was to take along cattle and
horses to stock the country. This expedition
was divided into two detachments, the advance
one under the command of Rivera y Moncada,
who had been a long time in the country, and
the second division under Governor Caspar de
Portola, who was a newcomer. Captain Rivera
was sent northward to collect from the missions
ail the live stock and supplies that could be
spared and take them to Santa Maria, the most
northern mission of the peninsula. Stores of
all kinds were collected at La Faz. Father
Serra made a tour of the missions and secured
such church furniture, ornaments and vestments
as could be spared.

The first vessel fitted out for the expedition
by sea was the San Cailos, a ship of about
two hundred tons burden, leaky and badly con-
structed. She sailed from La Faz January <).
176(1, under the command of Vicente Vila. In
addition to the crew there were twenty-five Cat-
aionian soldiers, commanded by Lieutenant
Fages, Pedro Prat, the surgeon, a Franciscan
friar, two blacksmiths, a baker, a cook and two
tortilla makers. Galvez in a small vessel acc< im-
panied the San Carlos to Cape San Lucas, where
he landed and set to work to fit out the San
Antonio. On the 15th of February this vessel
sailed from San Jose del Cabo (San Jose of the
Cape), under the command of Juan Perez, an
expert pilot, who had been engaged in the Phil-
ippine trade. On this vessel went two Franciscan
friars, Juan Yiscaino and Francisco Gomez
Captain Rivera y Moncada, who was to pioneer
the way. had collected supplies and cattle at Yel-
icata on the northern frontier. From here, with
a small force of soldiers, a gang of neophytes
and three muleteers, and accompanied l>\ Padre
Crespi, he began his march to San Diego on the
_'4th of March, [769.

The second land expedition, commanded In
Governor Caspar de Portola in person, began
its march from Loreto, March 9, 1701,. Father
Sciia, who was to have accompanied it. was de-
tained at Loreto b) a sore leg. He joined the
expedition at Santa Maria. May 5. where it had

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

been waiting for him sonic time. It then pro-
ceeded to Rivera's camp at Velicata, sixty miles
further north, where Serra founded a mission,
naming it San Fernando. Campa Coy, a friar
who had accompanied the expedition tints far,
was left in charge. This mission was intended
as a frontier post in the travel between the pen-
insula missions and the Alta California settle-
ments. On the 15th of May Portola began his
northern march, following the trail of Rivera.
Galvez had named, by proclamation, St. Joseph
as the patron saint of the California expeditions.
Santa Maria w^ designated as the patroness of
conversions.

The San Antonia, the last vessel to sail, was
the first to arrive at San Diego. It anchored in
the bay April 11, 1769; after a prosperous voy-
age of twenty-four days. There she remained
at anchor, awaiting the arrival of the San Car-
los, the ilag ship of the expedition, which had
sailed more than a month before her. On the
29th of April the San Carlo,, after a disastrous
1 of one hundred and ten days, drifted
into the Hay of San Diego, her crew prostrated
with the scurvy, not enough able-bodied men
being left to man a boat. Canvas tents were
pitched and the afflicted men taken ashore.
When the disease had run its course nearly all
of the crew of the San Carlos, half of the sol-
dier- who had come on her, and nine of the
sailors of the San Antonio, were dead.

On the 14th of .May Captain Rivera y Mon-
cada's detachment arrived. The expedition had
made the journey from Velicata in fifn one
days. On the first of July the second division.
commanded bj Portola, arrived. The journej
had been uneventful. The four divisions of the
grand expedition were now united, but its num-
bers had been greatly reduced. ( >ut of two
hundred and nineteen who had set out by land
and sea onl) one hundred and twenty-six re-
mained; death from scurv} and the desertion of
the neophytes had reduced the numbers nearly
one-half. Thi the scurv) had de-

the en w of one of the vessels and
greatly crippled that of ibe other, so it was im-
possible to pri ' to Monterey, the

tive point of the expedition. A
council of the officers was held and it was de-

cided to send the San Antonia back to San Bias
for supplies and sailors to man the San Carlos.
The San Antonia sailed on the 9th of July and
after a voyage of twenty days reached her des-
tination; but short as the voyage was, half of
the crew died of the scurvy on the passage. In
early American navigation the scurvy was the
most dreaded scourge of the sea, more to be
feared than storm and shipwreck. These might
happen occasionally, but the scurvy always made
its appearance on long voyages, and sometimes
destroyed the whole ship's crew. Its appearance
and ravages were largely due to the neglect of
sanitary precautions and to the utter indiffer-
c-nce of those in authority to provide for the
comfort and health of the sailors. The interces-
sion of the saints, novenas, fasts and penance
were relied upon to protect and save the vessel
and her crew, while the simplest sanitary meas-
ures were utterly disregarded. A blind, unrea-
soning faith that was always seeking interposi-
tion from some power without to preserve and
ignoring the power within, was the bane and
curse of that age of superstition.

If the mandates of King Carlos III. and the
instructions of the visitador-general, Jose de
Galvez, were to be carried out, the expedition
for the settlement of the second point designated
(Monterey) must be made by land: accordingly
Governor Fortola set about organizing his
forces for the overland journey. On the 14th
of July the expedition began its march. It con-
sisted of Governor Tortola. Padres Crespi and
Gomez, Captain Rivera y Moncada, Lieutenant
Pedro 1 ages. Engineer Miguel Constanso. sol-
diers, muleteers and Indian servants, number-
ing in all sixty-two pers. ins.

On the 16th of Jul}", two days after th< de-
parture of Governor Portola, Father Junipero,
assisted by Padres \ iscaino and Parron, founded
the mission of San Diego. The site selected
was in what is now ( lid Town, near the tempo-
rary presidio, which had been hastily con-
structed before the departure of Governor Tor-
tola. A hut of boughs had been constructed
and in this the ceremonies of founding were
held. The Indians, while interested in what was
going on, manifested no desire to be converted.
They were willing to receive gifts, particularly

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of cloth, but would not taste the food of the
Spaniards, fearing that it contained poison and
attributing the many deaths among the soldiers
and sailors to the food. The Indians had a great
liking for pieces of cloth, and their desire to
obtain this led to an attack upon the people of
the mission. On the 14th of August, taking
advantage of the absence of Padre Parron and
two soldiers, they broke into the mission and
began robbing it and the beds of the sick. The
four soldiers, a carpenter and a blacksmith ral-
lied to the defense, and after several of their
numbers had fallen by the guns of the soldiers,
the Indians fled. A boy servant of the padres
was killed and Father Yiscaino wounded in the
hand. After this the Indians were more cau-
tious.

We now return to the march of Portola's ex-
pedition. As the first exploration of the main
land of California was made by it, I give con-
siderable space to the incidents of the journey.
Crespi, Constanso and Fages kept journals of
the march. I quote from those of Constanso
and Crespi. Lieutenant Constanso thus de-
scribes the order of the march. "The setting-
forth was on the 14th day of June* of the cited
year of '69. The two divisions of the expedition
by land marched in one, the commander so ar-
ranging because the number of horse-herd and
packs was much, since of provisions and victuals
alone they carried one hundred packs, which he
estimated to be necessary t'o ration all the folk
during six months; thus providing against a
delay of the packets, altho' it was held to be
impossible that in this interval some one of
them should fail to arrive at Monterey. On
the marches the following order was observed:
At the head went the commandant with the offi-
cers, the six men of the Catalonia volunteers,
who added themselves at San Diego, and some
friendly Indians, with spades, mattocks, crow-
bars, axes and other implements of pioneers, to
chop and open a passage whenever necessary.
After them followed the pack-train, divided into
four bands with the muleteers and a competent
number of garrison soldiers for their escort with
each band. In the rear guard with the rest of

♦Evidently an error; it should be July 14th.

the troops and friendly Indians came the cap-
tain, Don Fernando Rivera, convoying the
horse-herd and the- mule herd for relays."
* * *

"It must be well considered that the marches
of these troops with such a train and with such
embarrassments thro' unknown lands and un-
used paths could not be long ones ; leaving aside
the other causes which obliged them to halt
and camp early in the afternoon, that is to say,
the necessity of exploring the land one day for
the next, so as to regulate them (the marches)
according to the distance of the watering-places
and to take in consequence the proper precau-
tions; setting forth again on special occasions
in the evening, after having given water to the
1, easts in that same hour upon the sure informa-
tion that in the following stretch there was no
water or that the watering place was low, or the
pasture scarce. The restings were measured by
the necessity, every four days, more or less,
according to the extraordinary fatigue occa-
sioned by the greater roughness of the road,
tlie toil of the pioneers, or the wandering off of
the beasts which were missing from the horse
herd and which it was necessary to seek by their
tracks. At other times, by the necessity of
humoring the sick, when there were any, and
with time there were many who yielded up their
strength to the continued fatigue, the excessive
heat and cruel cold. In the form and according
to the method related the Spaniard- executed
their marches; traversing immense lands more
fertile and more pleasing in proportion as they
penetrated more to the north. Al! in general are-
peopled with a multitude of Indians, who came
out to meet them and in some parts accompa-
nied them from one sta^c of the journey to the
next; a folk very docile and tractable chiefly
from San Diego onward."

Constanso's description of the Indians of
Santa Barbara will be found in the chapter on the
"Aborigines of California." "From the chan-
nel of Santa Barbara onward the lands arc not
so populous nor the Indian- so industrious, but
they are equally affable and tractable. The
Spaniards pursued their voyage without opposi
tion up to the Sierra ol Santa Lucia, which they
contrived to cross with much hardship. At the

■IS

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

loot of said Sierra on the north side is to be
found the port of .Monterey, according to an-
cient reports, between the Point of Pines and
that of Aiio Nuevo (New Year). The Spaniards
caught sight of said points on the ist of October
of the year '69, and, believing they had arrived
al the end of their voyage, the commandant sent
the scouts forward to reconnoitre the Point of
Pines; in whose near vicinity lies said Port in

36 degrees and 40 minutes North Latitude. But
the scant tokens and equivocal ones which are
given of it by the Pilot Cabrera Bueno, the only
clue of this voyage, and the character of this
Port, which rather merits the name of Bay,
being spacious (in likeness to that of Cadiz),
not corresponding with ideas which it is natural
to form in reading the log of the aforemen-
tioned Cabrera Bueno, nor with the latitude of

37 degrees in which he located it, the scouts were
persuaded that the Port must be farther to the
north and they returned to the camp which our
people occupied with the report that what they
sought was not to be seen in those parts."

They decided that the Port was still further
north and resumed their march. Seventeen of
their number were sick with the scurvy, some of
whom, Constanso says, seemed to be in their
last extremity; these had to be carried in lit-
ters. To add to their miseries, the rains began
in the latter part of October, and with them
came an epidemic of diarrhea, "which spread to
all without exception; and it came to be feared
that this sickness which prostrated their powers
and left the persons spiritless, would finish with
the expedition altogether. Put it turned out
quite to the contrary." Those afflicted with the
scurvy began to mend and in a short time they
were rest iredto health, Constanso thus describes
the discovery of the Bay of San Francisco:
"The lasl 1 of ictoberthe Expedition by land
came in sight of Punta de Los Reyes and the
Farallones of the Port of San Francisco, whose
landmarks, compared with those related by
! 'ill 1 l 1I1: era Bueno, were found
Thereupon it became of evident knowl-
hai thi Porl of Mi mterej had been left
behind; there being few who stuck to the
-> opinion. Nevertheless the comman
ilant resolved to send to reconnoitre the

land as far as Point de los Reyes. The scouts
who were commissioned for this purpose found
themselves obstructed by immense estuaries,
which run extraordinarily far back into the land
and were obliged to make great detours to get
around the heads of these. * * Having

arrived at the end of the first estuary and recon-
noitered the laud that would have to be followed
to arrive at the Point de Los Reyes, interrupted
with new estuaries, scant pasturage and fire-
wood and having recognized, besides this, the
uncertainty of the news and the misapprehen-
sion the scouts had labored under, the com-
mandant, with the advice of his officers, resolved
upon a retreat to the Point of Pines in hopes of
finding the Port of Monterey and encountering
in it the Packet San Jose or the San Antonia,
whose succor already was necessary; since of
the provisions which had been taken in San
Diego no more remained than some few sacks of
Hour of which a short ration was issued to each
individual daily."

"< In the eleventh day of November was put
into execution the retreat in search of Mon-
terey. The Spaniards reached said port and
the Point of Pines on the 28th of Novem-
ber. They maintained themselves in this place
until the 10th of December without any ves-
sel having appeared in this time. For which
reason and noting also a lack of victuals, and
that the sierra of Santa Lucia was covering
itself with snow, the commandant, Don Caspar
de Portola, saw himself obliged to decide to
continue the retreat unto San Diego, leaving
it until a better occasion to return to the enter-
prise. On this retreat the Spaniards experi-
enced some hardships and necessities, because
they entirely lacked provisions, and because the
long marches, which necessity obliged to make
to reach San Diego, gave no time for seeking
sustenance by the chase, nor did game abound
equallj everywhere. At this juncture they killed
twelve mules of the pack-train on whose meat
the folk nourished themselves unto San Diego,
at which new establishment they arrived, all in
health, on the 24th of January, 1770."

The San Jose, the third ship fitted out by
Visitador-General Galvez, and which Governor
Portola expected to find in the Bay of Monte-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

rey, sailed from San Jose del Cabo in May,
1770, with supplies and a double crew to sup-
ply the loss of sailors on the other vessels, but
nothing was ever heard of her afterwards. Pro-
visions were running low at San Diego, no ship
had arrived, and Governor Portola had decided
to abandon the place and return to Loreto.
Father Junipero was averse to this and prayed
unceasingly for the intercession of Saint Joseph,
the patron of the expedition. A novena or nine
days' public prayer was instituted to terminate
with a grand ceremonial on March 19th, which
was the saint's own day. But on the 23rd of
March, when all were ready to depart, the
packet San Antonia arrived. She had sailed
from San Bias the 20th of December. She en-
countered a storm which drove her four hun-
dred leagues from the coast; then she made
iand in 35 degrees north latitude. Turning her
prow southward, she ran down to Point Concep-
cion, where at an anchorage in the Santa Bar-
bara channel the captain, Perez, took on water
and learned from the Indians of the return of
Portola's expedition. The vessel then ran down
to San Diego, where its opportune arrival
prevented the abandonment of that settle-
ment.

With an abundant supply of provisions and a
vessel to carry the heavier articles needed in
forming a settlement at Monterey, Portola or-
ganized a second expedition. This time he took
with him only twenty soldiers and one officer,
Lieutenant Pedro Fages. He set out from San
Diego on the 17th of April and followed his trail
made the previous year. Father Serra and the
engineer, Constanso, sailed on the San Antonia,
which left the port of San Diego on the 16th of
April. The land expedition reached Monterey
on the 23d of May and the San Antonia on the
31st of the same month. On the 3d of June,
1770, the mission of San Carlos Borromeo de
Monterey was formally founded with solemn
church ceremonies, accompanied by the ringing
of bells, the crack of musketry and the roar of
cannon. Father Serra conducted the church
services. Governor Portola took possession of
the land in the name of King Carlos III. A
presidio or fort of palisades was built and a few
huts erected. Portola, having formed the nu-
cleus of a settlement, turned over the command
of the territory to Lieutenant Fages. On the
9th of July, 1770, he sailed on the San Antonia
for San Bias. He never returned to Alta Cali-
fornia.

CHAPTER IV.

ABORIGINES OF CALIFORNIA.

WHETHER the primitive California In-
dian was the low and degraded being
that some modern writers represent
him to have been, admits of doubt. A mis-
sion training continued through three gen-
erations did not elevate him in morals at least.
When freed from mission restraint and brought
in contact with the white race he lapsed into a
condition more degraded and more debased than
that in which the missionaries found him.
Whether it was the inherent fault of the Indian
or the fault of his training is a question that is
useless to discuss now. If we are to believe the
accounts of the California Indian given by Vis-
caino and Constanso, who saw him before he

had come in contact with civilization he was not
inferior in intelligence to the nomad aborigines
of the country east of the Rocky mountains.

Sebastian Viscafno thus describes the In-
dians he found on the shores of Monterey Bay
three hundred years ago:

"The Indians are of good stature and fair
complexion, the women being somewhat less in
size than the men and of pleasing countenance.
The clothing of the people of the coast lands
consists of the skins of the sea-wolves (otter)
abounding there, which they tan and dress bet-
ter than is done in Castile; they possess also,
in great quantity, flax like thai of Castile, hemp
and cotton, from which they make fishing-lines

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL Rll'URU.

- for rabbits and hares. They have ves-
pine wood very well made, in which they
go to sea with fourteen paddle men on a side
with great dexterity, even in stormy weather."
Indians who could construct boats of pine
boards that took twenty-eight paddle men to
row were certainly superior in maritime craft
to the birch bark canoe savages of the east.
We might accuse Yiscaino, who was trying to
induce King Philip III. to found a colony on
Monterey Bay, of exaggeration in regard to
the Indian boats were not his statements con-
firmed by the engineer, Miguel Constansc'>, who
accompanied Portola's expedition one hundred
and sixty-seven years after Yiscaino visited the
coast. Constanso, writing of the Indians of the
Santa Barbara Channel, says, "The dexterity
and skill of these Indians is surpassing in the
construction of their launches made of pine
planking. They are from eight to ten varas
(twenty-three to twenty-eight feet) in length,
including their rake and a vara and a half (four
feet three inches) beam. Into their fabric enters
no iron whatever, of the use of which they know
little. But the) fasten the boards with firmness,
one to another, working their drills just so far
apart and at a distance of an inch from the edge,
the holes in the upper boards corresponding
with those in the lower, and through these holes
they pass strong lashings of deer sinews. They
pitch and calk the seams, and paint the whole
in sightly colors. They handle the boats with
equal cleverness, and three or four men go out
to sea to fish in them, though they have capacity
to carry eight or ten. They use long oars with
two blade- and row with unspeakable lightness
and velocity. The) know all the arts of fishing,
and fish abound along their coasts as has bet n
["he; have communication
and commerce with the native- of the islands,
whence they gel tin '■• ol coral which are

current in pla through these lands,

although they hold in more esteem the glass
which the Spaniards gave them, and of-
fered in exchange for these whatever the) had
like trays, otter skins, baskets and wooden
* *

"They are likewise great hunters. To kill
dee: and antelope they avail themselves of an

admirable ingenuity. They preserve the hide
of the head and part of the neck of some one
of these animals, skinned with care and leaving
the horns attached to the same hide, which they
stuff with grass or straw to keep its shape.
They put this said shell like a cap upon the head
and go forth to the woods with this rare equip-
age. On sighting the deer or antelope they go
dragging themselves along the ground little by
little with the left hand. In the right they carry
the bow and four arrows. They lower and raise
the head, moving it to one side and the other,
and making other demonstration:, so like these
animals that they attract them without difficulty
to the snare; and having them within a short
distance, they discharge their arrows at them
with certainty of hitting."

In the two chief occupations of the savage,
hunting and fishing, the Indians of the Santa
Barbara Channel seem to have been the equals
if not the superiors of their eastern brethren.
In the art of war they were inferior. Their
easy conquest by the Spaniards and their tame
subjection to mission rule no doubt had much
to do with giving them a reputation for infe-
riority.

The Indians of the interior valleys and those
of the coast belonged to the same general fam-
ily. There were no great tribal divisions like
those that existed among the Indians east of the
Rocky mountains. Each rancheria was to a
certain extent independent of all others, al-
though at times they were known to combine
for war or plunder. Although not warlike, they
sometimes resisted the whites in battle with
great bravery. Each village had its own terri-
tory in which to hunt and fish and its own sec-
tion in which to gather nuts, seeds and herbs.
While their mode of living was somewhat no-
madic the) seem to have had a fixed location for
their rancherias.

The early Spanish settlers of California and
the mission padres have left but very meager
accounts of the manners, customs, traditions,
government and religion of the aborigines. The
pa Ires were too intent upon driving out the old
religious beliefs of the Indian and instilling new
lines to care much what the aborigine had for-
merly believed or what traditions or myths he

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

r,l

had inherited from his ancestors. They ruth-
lessly destroyed his fetiches and his altars
wherever they found them, regarding them as
inventions of the devil.

The best account that has come down to us
of the primitive life of the Southern California
aborigines is found in a series of letters written
by Hugo Rcid and published in the Los An-
geles Star in 1851-52. Reid was an educated
Scotchman, who came to Los Angeles in 1834.
He married an Indian woman. Dona Victoria, a
neophyte of the San Gabriel mission. She was
the daughter of an Indian chief. It is said that
Reid had been crossed in love by some high
toned Spanish seriorita and married the Indian
woman because she had the same name as his
lost love. It is generally believed that Reid was
the putative father of Helen Hunt Jackson's
heroine, Ramona.

From these letters, now in the possession of
the Historical Society of Southern California,
I briefly collate some of the leading character-
istics of the Southern Indians:

GOVERNMENT.

"Before the Indians belonging to the greater
part of this country were known to the whiles
they comprised, as it were, one great family
under distinct chiefs; they spoke nearly the same
language, with the exception of a few words,
and were more to be distinguished by a local
intonation of the voice than anything else. Be-
ing related by blood and marriage war was
never carried on between them. When war was
consequently waged against neighboring tribes
of no affinity it was a common cause.*'

"Die government of the people was invested
in the hands of their chiefs, each captain com-
manding his own lodge. The command was
hereditary in a family. If the right line of de-
scent ran out they elected one of the same kin
nearest in blood. Laws in general were made
as required, with some few standing ones. Rob-
bery was never known among them. Murder
was of rare occurrence and punished with death.
Incest was likewise punished with death, being
held in such abhorrence that marriages between
kinsfolk were not allowed. The manner of put-
ting to death was by shooting the delinquent

with arrows. If a quarrel ensued between two
parties the chief of the lodge took cognizance
111 the case and decided according to the testi-
mony produced. But if a quarrel occurred
between parties of distinct lodges, each chief
heard the witnesses produced by his own people,
and then, associated with the chief of the oppo-
site side, they passed sentence. In case the)
could not agree an impartial chief was called in,
who heard the statements made by both ami lie
alone decided. There was no appeal from his de-
cision. Whipping was never resorted to as a
punishment. All fines and sentences consisted in
delivering shells, money, food and skins."

"They believed in one God, the Maker and
Creator of all things, whose name was and is
held so sacred among them as hardly ever to be
used, and when used only in a low voice. That
name is Oua-o-ar. When they have to use the
name of the supreme being on an ordinary oc-
casion they substitute in its stead the word
V-yo-ha-rory-nain or the Giver of Life. They
have only one word in designate life and
si ml."

"The world was at one time in a state of chaos,
until God gave it its present formation, fixing
it on the shoulders of seven giants, made ex-
pressly for this end. They have their names,
and when they move themselves an earthquake
is the consequence. Animals were then formed,
and lastly man and woman were formed, separ-
ately from earth and ordered to live together.
The man's name was Tobahar and the woman's
Probavit. God ascended to Heaven immediately
afterward, where he receives the souls of all who
die. They had no bad spirits connected with
their creed, and never heard of a 'devil' or a
'hell' until the coming of the Spaniards. They
believed in 110 resurrection whatever"

"Chiefs had one. two or three wives, as their
inclination dictated, the subjects onl) one. When
a person wished to marry and had -el
suitable partner, lie advertised the same to all
his relatives, even to the nineteenth cousin ' m
a day appointed the male portion of the lodge

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

brought in a collection of money heads. All the
relations having come in with their share,
the) (the males) proceeded in a body to the resi-
dence of the bride, to whom timely notice had
been given. All of the bride's female relations
had been assembled and the money was equally
divided among them, the bride receiving noth-
ing, as it was a sort of purchase. After a few
davs the bride's female relations returned the
compliment by taking to the bridegroom's
dwelling baskets of meal made of chia, which
was distributed among the male relatives. These
preliminaries over, a day was fixed for the cere-
mony, which consisted in decking out the bride
in innumerable strings of beads, paint, feathers
and skins. ( )n being ready she was taken up
in the arms of one of her strongest male rela-
tives Alio carried her. dancing, towards her
lover's habitation. All of her family, friends and
neighbors accompanied, dancing around, throw-
ing food and edible seeds at her feet at every
step. These were collected in a scramble by the
spectators as best they could. The relations
of the bridegroom met them half way. and, tak-
ing the bride, carried her themselves, joining in
the ceremonious walking dance. ( )n arriving at
the bridegroom's (who was sitting within his
hut) she was inducted into her new residence by
being placed alongside of her husband, while
baskets of seeds were liberally emptied on their
heads to denote blessings and plenty. This was
likewise scrambled for by the spectators, who,
on gathering up all the bride's seed cake, de-
parted, leaving them to enjoy their honeymoon
according to usage. A -rand dance was given
on the occasion, the warriors doing the danc-
ing, the young women doing the singing. The
wife never visited her relatives from that day
forth, although they were at liberty to visit her."

"When a person died all the kin collected to
mourn his or her loss. Each one had his own
peculiar mode of crying or howling, as easil) dis
tinguished the one from the other as one song
is from another. After lamenting awhile a
mourning dirge was sung in a low whining tone.
panied by a shrill whistle produced by
blowing into the tube of a deer's leg hone.

Dancing can hardly be said to have formed a
part of the rites, as it was merely a monotonous
action of the foot on the ground. This was con-
tinued alternately until the body showed signs
of decay, when it was wrapped in the covering
used in life. The hands were crossed upon the
breast and the body tied from head to foot. A
grave having been dug in their burial ground,
the body was deposited with seeds, etc., accord-
ing to the means of the family. If the deceased
were the head of the family or a favorite son,
the hut in which he lived was burned up, as
likewise were all his personal effects."

FEUDS THE SONG FIGHTS.

"Animosity between persons or families was
of long duration, particularly between those of
different tribes. These feuds descended from
father to son until it was impossible to tell of
how many generations. They were, however,
harmless in themselves, living merely a war of
songs, composed and sung against the conflict-
ing party, and they were all of the most obscene
and indecent language imaginable. There are
two families at this day (1851) whose feud com-
menced before the Spaniards were ever dreamed
of and they still continue singing and dancing
against each other. The one resides at the mis-
sion of San Gabriel and the other at San Juan
Capistrano; they both lived at San Bernardino
when the quarrel commenced. During the sing-
ing they continue stamping on the ground to
express the pleasure they would derive from
tramping on the graves of their foes. Eight days
was the duration of the song fight."

UTENSILS.

"From the bark of nettles was manufactured
thread for nets, fishing lines, etc. Needles, fish-
hooks, awls and many other articles were made
of either hone or shell; for cutting up meat a
knife of cane was invariably used. Mortars and
pestles were made of granite. Sharp stones and
perseverance were the only things used in their
manufacture, and so skillfully did they combine
the two that their work was always remarkably
uniform. Their pots 1,, cook in were made of
soapstone of about an inch in thickness and
procured from the Indians of Santa Catalina.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Their baskets, made out of a certain species of
rush, were used only for dry purposes, although
they were water proof. The vessels in use for
liquids were roughly made of rushes and plas-
tered outside and in with bitumen or pitch."

INDIANS OF THE SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL.

Miguel Constanso, the engineer who accom-
panied Portola's expedition in 1769, gives us the
best description of the Santa Barbara Indians
extant.

"The Indians in whom was recognized more
vivacity and industry are those that inhabit the
islands and the coast of the Santa Barbara
channel. They live in pueblos (villages) whose
houses are of spherical form in the fashion of a
half orange covered with rushes. They are up
to twenty varas (fifty-five feet) in diameter. Each
house contains three or four families. The
hearth is in the middle and in the top of the
house they leave a vent or chimney to give exit
for the smoke. In nothing did these gentiles
give the lie to the affability and good treatment
which were experienced at their hands in other
times (1602) by the Spaniards who landed upon
those coasts with General Sebastian Vizcayno.
They are men and women of good figure and as-
pect, very much given to painting and staining
their faces and bodies with red ochre.

"They use great head dresses of feathers and
some panderellas (small darts) which they bind
up amid their hair with various trinkets and
beads of coral of various colors. The men go
entirely naked, but in time of cold they sport
some long capes of tanned skins of nutrias (ot-
ters) and some mantles made of the same skins
cut in long strips, which they twist in such a
manner that all the fur remains outside: then
they weave these strands one with another,
forming a weft, and give it the pattern referred
to.

"The women go with more decency, girt
about the waist with tanned skins of deer which
cover them in front and behind more than half
down the leg, and with a mantelet of nutria over
the body. There are some of them with good
features. These are the Indian women win.
make the trays and vases of rushes, to which
they give a thousand different forms and grace-

ful patterns, according to the uses to which they
are destined, whether it be for eating, drinking,
guarding their seeds, or for other purposes; for
these peoples do not know the use of earthen
ware as those of San Diego use it.

"The men work handsome trays of wood, with
finer inlays of coral or of bone: and some vases
of much capacity, closing at the mouth, which
appear to be made with a lathe — and with this
machine they would not come out better hol-
lowed nor of more perfect form. They give, the
whole a luster which appears the finished handi-
work of a skilled artisan. The large vessels
which hold water are of a very strong weave of
rushes pitched within: and they give them the
same form as our water jars.

"To eat the seeds which they use in place of
bread they toast them first in great trays, put-
ting among the seeds some pebbles or small
stones heated until red: then they move and
shake the tray so it may not burn ; and getting
the seed sufficiently toasted they grind it in mor-
tars or almireses of stone. Some of these mor-
tars were of extraordinary size, as well wrought
as if they had had for the purpose the best steel
tools. The constancy, attention to trifles, and
labor which they employ in finishing these pieces
are well worth}- of admiration. The mortars are
so appreciated among themselves that for those
who, dying, leave behind such handiworks, they
are wont to place them over the spot where they
are buried, that the memory of their skill and
application may not be lost.

"They inter their dead. They have their cem-
eteries within the very pueblo. The funerals of
their captains they make with great pump, and
set up over their bodies some rods or poles, ex-
tremely tall, from which they hang a variety of
utensils and chattels which were used by them.
They likewise put in the same place some great
planks of pine, with various paintings and fig-
ures in which without doubt they explain the
exploits and prowesses of the personage.

"Plurality of wives is not lawful among these
peoples. Only the captains have a right t"
marry two. In all their pueblos the attention
was taken by a species of men who lived like the
women, kept company with them, dressed in the
same garb, adonted themselves with bead-, pen-

.-,1

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

dants, necklaces and other womanish adorn-
ments, and enjoyed great consideration among
the people. The lack ot an interpreter did not
permit us to find out what class of men they
were, or to what ministry they were destined,
though all suspect a defect in sex, or some
abuse among those gentiles.

"In their houses the married couples have
their separate beds on platforms elevated from
the ground. Their mattresses arc some simple
petates (mats) of rushes and their pillows are
of the same petates roiled up at the head of the
bed. Ail these beds are hung about with like
mats, which serve for decency and protect from
the cold."

From the descriptions given by Yiscaino and
Constanso of the coast Indians they do not ap-
pear to have been the degraded creatures that
some modern writers have pictured them. In
mechanical ingenuity they were superior to the
Indians of the Atlantic seaboard or those of the
Mississippi valley. Much of the credit that has
been given to the mission padres for the patient
training they gave the Indians in mechanical
arts should be given to the Indian himself. He
was no mean mechanic when the padre- took
him in hand.

Bancroft says "the Northern California In-
dians were in every way superior to the central
and southern tribes." The difference was more
in climate than in race. Those of Northern Cal-
ifornia living in an invigorating climate were
more active and more warlike than their
sluggish brethren of the south. They gained
their living by hunting larger game than
tlio-c i if the south whose subsistence was derived
from acorns, seeds, small game and fish.
Those of the interior valleys of the north were
of ligln< r ' i mple ii in and had better forms and
features than their southern kinsmen. They
divided into numerous small tribes or
clans, like those of central and Southern Cali-
i irnia. Tin Spaniards never penetrated very
far into the Indian country of the north and
quently know little or nothing about the
and customs of the aborigines there.
the discover) of gold the miner- invaded
their country in search of the precious metal.
The Indians at first were not hostile, but ill

treatment soon made them so. When they re-
taliated on the whites a war of extermination
was waged against them. Like the mission In-
dians of the south they are almost extinct.

All of the coast Indians seem to have had
some idea of a supreme being. The name dif-
fered with the different tribes. According to
Hugo Reid the god of the San Gabriel Indian
was named Ouaoar. Father Boscana, who
wrote "A Historical Account of the Origin,
Customs and Traditions of the Indians" at the
missionary establishment of San Juan Capis-
trano, published in Alfred Robinson's "Life in
California," gives a lengthy account of the relig-
ion of those Indians before their conversion to
Christianity. Their god was Chinigchinich. Evi-
dently the three old men from whom Boscana
derived his information mixed some of the
religious teachings of the padres with their
own primitive beliefs, and made up for the father
a nondescript religion half heathen and half
Christian. Boscana was greatly pleased to find
so many allusions to Scriptural truths, evidently
never suspecting that the Indians were imposing
upon him.

The religious belief of the Santa Barbara
Channel Indians appears to have been the most
rational of any of the beliefs held by the Cali-
fornia aborigines. Their god, Chupu, was the
deification of good; and Nunaxus, their Satan,
the personification of evil. Chuputhe all-powerful
created Nunaxus, who rebelled against his cre-
ator and tried to overthrow him; but Chupu, the
almighty, punished him by creating man who, by
devouring the animal and vegetable products of
the earth, checked the physical growth of
Nunaxus, who had hoped by liberal feeding to
become like unto a mountain. Foiled in his am-
bition, Nunaxus ever afterwards sought to in-
jure mankind. To secure Chupu's protection,
offerings were made to him and dances were
instituted in his honor. Mutes and other in-
struments were played to attract his attention.
When Nunaxus brought calamity upon the In-
dians in the shape of dry years, which caused a
dearth of animal and vegetable products, or sent
- to afllicl them, their old men interceded
with Chupu to protect them: and to exorcise
their Satan they shot arrows and threw

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

stones in the direction in which he was sup-
posed to be.

Of the Indian myths and traditions Hugo
Reid says: "They were of incredible length
and contained more metamorphoses than Ovid
could have engendered in his brain had he lived
a thousand years."

The Cahuilla tribes who formerly inhabited
the mountain districts of the southeastern part
of the state had a tradition of their creation. Ac-
cording to this tradition the primeval Adam and
Eve were created by the Supreme Being in the
waters of a northern sea. They came up out
of the water upon the land, which they found to
be soft and miry. They traveled southward for
many moons in search of land suitable for their
residence and where they could obtain susten-
ance from the earth. This they found at last on
the mountain sides in Southern California.

Some of the Indian myths when divested of
their crudities and ideas clothed in fitting
language are as poetical as those of Greece or
Scandinavia. The following one which Hugo
Reid found among the San Gabriel Indians
bears a striking resemblance to the Grecian
myths of Orpheus and Eurydice but it is not at
all probable that the Indians ever heard the
Grecian fable. Ages ago, so runs this Indian
myth, a powerful people dwelt on the banks of
the Arroyo Seco and hunted over the hills and
plains of what are now our modern Pasadena
and the valley of San Fernando. They com-
mitted a grievous crime against the Great Spirit.
A pestilence destroyed them all save a boy and
girl who were saved by a foster mother pos-
sessed of supernatural powers. They grew to
manhood and womanhood and became husband
and wife. Their devotion to each other angered
the foster mother, who fancied herself neglected.
She plotted to destroy the wife. The young
woman, divining her fate, told her husband that
should he at any time feel a tear drop on his
shoulder, he might know that she was dead.
While he was away hunting the dread signal
came. He hastened back to destroy the hag who
had brought death to his wife, but the sorceress
had escaped. Disconsolate he threw himself on
the grave of his wife. For three days he neither
ate nor drank. On the third day a whirlwind

arose from the grave and moved toward the
south. Perceiving in it the form of his wife, he
hastened on until he overtook it. Then a voice
came out of the cloud saying: "Whither I go,
thou canst not come. Thou art of earth but I
am dead to the world. Return, my husband,
return!" He plead piteously to be taken with
her. She consenting, he was wrapt in the cloud
with her and borne across the illimitable sea that
separates the abode of the living from that of
the dead. When they reached the realms of
ghosts a spirit voice said: "Sister, thou comest
to us with an odor of earth; what dost thou
bring?" Then she confessed that she had
brought her living husband. "Take him away!"
said a voice stern and commanding. She plead
that he might remain and recounted his many
virtues. To test his virtues, the spirits gave him
four labors. First to bring a feather from the
top of a pole so high that its summit was in-
visible. Xext to split a hair of great length and
exceeding fineness ; third to make on the ground
a map of the constellation of the lesser bear and
locate the north star and last to slay the celestial
deer that had the form of black beetles and were
exceedingly swift. With the aid of his wife he
accomplished all the tasks.

But ne) mortal was allowed to dwell in the
abodes of death. "Take thou thy wife and re-
turn with her to the earth." said the spirit. "Vet
remember, thou shalt not -peak to her: thou
shah not touch her until three suns have |
A penalty awaits thy disobedience." He prom
ised. They pass from the spirit land and travel
to the confines of matter. By day she is invis-
ible but by the flickering light of his camp-fire
lie sees tlie dim outline .if her form. Three days
pa--. As the sun sinks behind the western hills
he builds his camp-fire. She appears '
him in all the beauty of life, lie stretches forth
his anus to embrace her. She is snatched from
his grasp. Although invisible to him yet the
upper rim of the great orb of day hung above
the western \ erge. 1 le hid bn iken hi
ise. Like Orpheus, disconsolate, he wai
over the earth until, relenting, the spirit- senl
their servant Heath to bring him to Tecupar
i I leaven).

Idie following myth of the mountain lndian<

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of the north bears a strong resemblance to the
Norse fable of Gyoll the River of Death and its
glittering bridge, over which the spirits of the
dead pass to Hel, the land of spirits. The In-
dian, however, had no idea of any kind of a
bridge except a foot log across a stream. The
myth in a crude form was narrated to me many
years ago by an old pioneer.

According to this myth when an Indian died
his spirit form was conducted by an unseen
guide over a mountain trail unknown and inac-
cessible to mortals, to the rapidly flowing river
which separated the abode of the living from
that of the dead. As the trail descended to the
river it branched to the right and left. The right
hand path led to a foot bridge made of the mas-

sive trunk of a rough barked pine which spanned
the Indian styx; the left led to a slender, fresh
peeled birch pole that hung high above the roar-
ing torrent. At the parting of the trail an in-
exorable fate forced the bad to the left, while
the spirit form of the good passed on to the
right and over the rough barked pine to the
happy hunting grounds, the Indian heaven. The
bad reaching the river's brink and gazing long-
ingly upon the delights beyond, essayed to cross
the slippery pole — a slip, a slide, a clutch at
empty space, and the ghostly spirit form was
hurled into the mad torrent below, and was
borne by the rushing waters into a vast lethean
lake where it sunk beneath the waves and was
blotted from existence forever.

CHAPTER V.

FRANCISCAN MISSIONS OF ALTA CALIFORNIA.
Sax Diego de Alcala'.

THE two objective points chosen by Vis-
itador General Galvez and President
Junipero Serra to begin the spiritual
conquest and civilization of the savages of Alia
California, were San Diego and .Monterey. The
expeditions sent by land and sea were all united
at San Diego July i, 1769. Father Serra lost no
time in beginning the founding of mi sions.
< Mi i he [6th <>f Jul\', 1769, he founded the mis-
sion of San Diego de Alcala. It was the first
link in the chain of missionary establishments
that eventually stretched northward from San
Diego tn Solano, a distance "i seven hundred
miles, a chain that was fifty-five years in forging.
The first site of tin- San Diego mission was at
a place called by the Indian- "I osoy." It was
located near the presidio established by Gov-
ernor Portola before lie sel mi: in search of
Monterey. The locality is now known as Old
Town.

Temporary buildings were erected hen but

proved unsuitable and in August,

1771. tin- mission was removed about two

up the San I )iegi 1 river to a place called

by the natives "Nipaguay." Here a dwelling for

the padres, a store house, a smithy and a

•" Ii 11 church 18x57 tl -' et were erected.

The mission buildings at Cosoy were given
up to the presidio except two rooms, one for
the visiting priests and the other for a temporary
store room for mission supplies coming by sea.
The missionaries had been fairly successful in
the conversions of the natives and some prog-
ress had been made in teaching them to labor.
( In the night of November 4. 1775. without any
previous warning, the gentiles or unconverted
Indians in great numbers attacked the mission.
( tne of the friars, I-"ra\ Funster, escaped to the
soldiers' quarters; the other. Father Jaume, was
killed by the savages. The blacksmith also was
killed; the carpenter succeeded in reaching the
soldiers. The Indians set fire to the buildings
which were nearly all of wood. The soldiers, the
priest and carpenter were driven into a small
adobe building that had been used as a kitchen.
Two nf the soldiers were wounded. The cor-
poral, one soldier ami the carpenter were all
that were left to hold at bay a thousand howl-
ing fiends. The corporal, who was a sharp
shooter, did deadly execution on the savatjes.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Father Funster saved the defenders from being
blown to pieces by the explosion of a fifty pound
sack of gunpowder. He spread his cloak over
the sack and sat on it, thus preventing the pow-
der from being ignited by the sparks of the
burning building. The fight lasted till daylight,
when the hostiles fled. The Christian Indians
who professed to have been coerced by the sav-
ages then appeared and made many protesta-
tions of sorrow at what had happened. The mili-
tary commander was not satisfied that they were
innocent but the padres believed them. New
buildings were erected at the same place, the
soldiers of the presidio for a time assisting the
Indians in their erection.

The mission was fairly prosperous. In 1800
the cattle numbered 6,960 and the agricultural
products amounted to 2,600 bushels. From
1769 to 1834 there were 6,638 persons baptized
and 4,428 buried. The largest number of cat-
tle possessed by the mission at one time was
9,245 head in 1822. The old building now stand-
ing on the mission site at the head of the valley
is the third church erected there. The first,
built of wood and roofed with tiles, was erected
in 1774; the second, built of adobe, was com-
pleted in 1780 (the walls of this were badly
cracked by an earthquake in 1803); the third was
begun in 1808 and dedicated November 12,
1813. The mission was secularized in 1834.

SAN CARLOS DE BORROMEO.

As narrated in a former chapter, Governor
Portola, who with a small force had set out from
San Diego to find Monterey Bay, reached that
port May 24, 1770. Father Serra, who came
up by sea on the San Antonia, arrived at the
same place May 31. All things being in readi-
ness the Presidio of Monterey and the mission
of San Carlos de Borromeo were founded on
the same day — June 3, 1770. The boom of ar-
tillery and the roar of musketry accompani-
ments to the service of the double founding
frightened the Indians away from the mission
and it was some time before the savages could
muster courage to return. In June, 1771 , the
site of the mission was moved to the Carmelo
river. This was done by Father Serra to re-
move the neophytes from the contaminating in-

fluence of the soldiers at the presidio. The erec-
tion of the stone church still standing was be-
gun in 1793. It was completed and dedicated
in 1797. The largest neophyte population at
San Carlos was reached in 1794, when it num-
bered nine hundred and seventy-one. Between
1800 and 1810 it declined to seven hundred and
forty-seven. In 1820 the population had de-
creased to three hundred and eighty-one and
at the end of the next decade it had fallen to
two hundred and nine. In 1834, when the de-
cree of secularization was put in force, there were
about one hundred and fifty neophytes at the
mission. At the rate of decrease under mission
rule, a few more years would have pro-
duced the same result that secularization did,
namely, the extinction of the mission Indian.

SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA.

The third mission founded in California was
San Antonio de Padua. It was located about
twenty-five leagues from Monterey. Here, on
the 14th of June, 1771, in La Canada de los
Robles, the canon of oaks beneath a shelter of
(■ranches, Father Serra performed the services
of founding. The Indians seem to have been
more tractable than those of San Diego or Mon-
terey. The first convert was baptized one
month after the establishment of the mission.
San Antonio attained the highest limit of its
neophyte population in 1805, when it had
twelve hundred and ninety-six souls within its
fold. In 183 1 there were six hundred and sixty-
one Indians at or near the mission. In 1834, the
date of secularization, there were five hundred
and sixty-seven. After its disestablishment the
property of the mission was quickly squandered
through inefficient administrators. The build-
ings are in ruins.

SAN GABRIEL ARCANGEL.

San Gabriel Arcangel was the fourth mission
founded in California. Father Junipero Serra.
as previously narrated, had gone north in 1770
and founded the mission of San Carlos Bor-
romeo on Monterey Pay and the following year
he established the mi n Vntonio de

Padua on the Salinas river about twenty-five
leagues south of Monterey.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

( >n the 6th of August, 1771, a cavalcade of
soldiers and musketeers escorting Padres
Somero and Cambon set out from San Diego
over the trail made by Portola's expedition in
1769 (when it went north in search of Monterey
Bay) to found a new mission on the River Jesus
de los Temblores or to give it its full name, El
Rio del Dulcisimo Nombre de Jesus de los
Temblores, the river of the sweetest name of
Jesus of the Earthquakes. Not finding a suit-
able location on that river (now the Santa Ana)
they pushed on to the Rio San Miguel, also
known as the Rio de los Temblores. Here
they selected a site where wood and water were
abundant. A stockade of poles was built inclos-
ing a square within which a church was erected,
covered with boughs.

September 8, 1 771 , the mission was formally
founded and dedicated to the archangel Gabriel.
The Indians who at the coming of the Spaniards
were docile and friendly, a few days after the
founding of the mission suddenly attacked two
soldiers who were guarding the horses. One of
these soldiers had outraged the wife of the chief
who led the attack. The soldier who committed
the crime killed the chieftain with a musket ball
and the other Indians fled. The soldiers then
cut off the chief's head and fastened it to a pole
at the presidio gate. From all accounts the sol-
diers at this mission were more brutal and bar-
barous than the Indians and more in need of
missionaries to convert them than the Indians.
The progress of the mission was slow. At the
end of the second year only seventy-three chil-
dren and adults had been baptized. Father Serra
attributed the lack of conversions to the bad
(.induct nf the soldiers.

The first buildings at the mission Yicja were
all of wood. The church was 45x18 feet, built of
logs and covered with tule thatch. The church
and other wooden buildings used by the padres
stood within a square inclosed by pointed stakes.
In 1776. five years after its founding, the mis-
sion was moved from its first location to a new
site about a league distant from the old one.
'Idle old site was subject to overllow by the
river. The adobe ruins pointed out to tourists
as th r foundations of the old mission are the
debris of a building erected for a ranch house

about sixty years ago. The buildings at the
mission Yieja were all of wood and no trace of
them remains. A chapel was first built at the
new site. It was replaced by a church built of
adobes one hundred and eight feet long by
twenty-one feet wide. The present stone church,
begun about 1794, and completed about 1806,
is the fourth church erected.

The mission attained the acme of its impor-
tance in 1817. when there were seventeen hun-
dred and one neophytes in the mission fold.

The largest grain crop raised at any mission
was that harvested at San Gabriel in 1821, which
amounted to 29,400 bushels. The number of cat-
tle belonging to the mission in 1830 was 25,725.
During the whole period of the mission's exist-
ence, i. e., from 1771 to 1834, according to sta-
tistics compiled by Bancroft from mission rec-
ords, the total number of baptisms was 7,854,
of which 4,355 were Indian adults and 2,459
were Indian children and the remainder gente de
razon or people of reason. The deaths were
5.656, of which 2,916 were Indian adults and
2,363 Indian children. If all the Indian children
born were baptized it would seem (if the sta-
tistics are correct) that but very few ever grew
up to manhood and womanhood. In 1834, the
year of its secularization, its neophyte popula-
tion was 1,320.

The missionaries of San Gabriel established
a station at old San Bernardino about 1820. It
was not an asistencia like pala, but merely an
agricultural station or ranch headquarters. The
buildings were destroyed by the Indians in 1834.

SAX LUIS OBISPO DE TOLOSA.

On his journey southward in 1782, President
Serra and Padre Cavalier, with a small escort of
soldiers and a few Lower California Indians, on
September 1, 1772, founded the mission of San
Luis Obispo de Tolosa (St. Louis, Bishop of
Tolouse). The site selected was on a creek
twenty-five leagues southerly from San An-
tonio. The soldiers and Indians were set at
work to erect buildings. Padre Cavalier was left
in charge of the mission, Father Serra continu-
ing his journey southward. This mission was
never a very important one. Its greatest popu-
lation was in 1803. when there were eight

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

hundred and fifty-two neophytes within its juris-
diction. From that time to 1834 their number
declined to two hundred and sixty-four. The
average death rate was 7.30 per cent of the pop-
ulation — a lower rate than at some of the more
populous missions. The adobe church built in
1793 is still in use, but has been so remodeled
that it bears but little resemblance to the church
of mission days.

SAN FRANCISCO DE ASIS.

The expedition under command of Portola
in 1769 failed to find Monterey Bay but it passed
on and discovered the great bay of San Fran-
cisco. So far no attempt had been made to
plant a mission or presidio on its shores. Larly
in 1775, Lieutenant Ayala was ordered to ex-
plore the bay with a view to forming a settle-
ment near it. Rivera had previously explored
the land bordering on the bay where the city
now stands. Captain Anza, the discoverer of the
overland route from Mexico to California via
the Colorado river, had recruited an expedition
of two hundred persons in Sonora for the pur-
pose of forming a settlement at San Francisco,
He set out in 1775 and reached Monterey March
10, 1776. A quarrel between him and Rivera,
who was in command at Monterey, defeated for
a time the purpose for which the settlers had
been brought, and Anza, disgusted with the
treatment he had received from Rivera, aban-
doned the enterprise. Anza had selected a site
for a presidio at San Francisco. After his de-
parture Rivera changed his policy of delay that
had frustrated all of Anza's plans and decided at
once to proceed to the establishment of a pre-
sidio. The presidio was formally founded Sep-
tember 17, 1776, at wdiat is now known as Fort
Point. The ship San Carlos had brought a num-
ber of persons; these with the settlers who had
come up from Monterey made an assemblage of
more than one hundred and fifty persons.

After the founding of the presidio Lieutenant
Moraga in command of the military and Captain
Quiros el' the San Carlos, set vigorousl) at work
to build a church for the mission. A wooden
building having been constructed on the oth of
October, 1776, the mission was dedicated.
Father Palou conducting the service, assisted by

Fathers Cambon, Nocedal and Peha. The site
selected for the mission was on the Laguna de
los Dolores. The lands at the mission were not
very productive. The mission, however, was
fairly prosperous. In 1820 it owned 11,240 cat-
tle and the total product of wheat was 114.480
bushels. In 1820 there were 1,252 neophytes
attached to it. The death rate was very heavy —
the average rate being 12.4 per cent of the pop-
ulation. In 1832 the population had decreased
to two hundred and four and at the time of
secularization it had declined to one hundred
and fifty. A number of neophytes had been
taken to the new mission of San Francisco So-
lano.

SAX JUAN CAPISTRANO.

The revolt of the Indians at San Diego de-
layed the founding of San Juan Capistrano a
year. October 30. 1775, the initiatory services
of the founding had been held when a messenger
came with the news of the uprising of the sav-
ages and the massacre of Father Jaume and
others. The bells which had been hung on a
tree were taken down and buried. The soldiers
and the padres hastened to San Diego. Novem-
ber 1, 177''. Fathers Serra, Mugartegui and
Amurrio, with an escort of soldiers, arrived at
the site formerly selected. The bells were dug up
and hung on a tree, an enramada of boughs was
constructed and Father Serra said mass. The
first location of the mission was several miles
northeasterly from the present site at the foot
of the mountain. The abandoned site is still
known a la Mision Vieja (the Old Mission).
Just when the change of location was made is
not known.

The erection of a stone church was begun in
February, 1797. and completed in [806 \
master builder had been brought from Mexico
and under his superintendence the neophytes
did the mechanical labor. It was the largi
handsomest church in California and was the
pride of mission architecture. The year 1S12
was known in California as el ano de los tem-
earthquakes. For months
the seismic disturbance was almost continuous.
( )u Sunday, December 8, [812, a severe shock
threw down the lofty church tower, which
crashed through the vaulted roof on the congre-

i;o

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

gation below. The padre who was celebrating
mass escaped through the sacristy. Of the fifty
persons present only live or six escaped. The
church was never rebuilt. "There is not much
doubt," says Bancroft, "that the disaster was
due rather to faulty construction than to the
violence of the temblor." The edifice was of the
usual cruciform shape, about 90x180 feet on
the ground, with very thick walls and arched
dome-like roof all constructed of stones imbed-
ded in mortar or cement. The stones were not
hewn, but of irregular size and shape, a kind of
structure evidently requiring great skill to en-
sure solidity. The mission reached its maxi-
mum in 1819; from that on till the date of its
secularization there was a rapid decline in the
numbers of its live stock and of its neophytes.

This was one of the missions in which Gov-
ernor Figueroa tried his experiment of forming
Indian pueblos of the neophytes. For a time
the experiment was a partial success, but even-
tually it went the way of all the other missions.
Its lands were granted to private individuals
and the neophytes scattered. Its picturesque
ruins are a great attraction to tourists.

SANTA CLARA.

The mission of Santa Clara was founded Jan-
uary i_\ 1777. The site had been selected some
time before and two missionaries designated for
service at it, but the comandante of the terri-
tory. Rivera y Moncada, who was an exceed-
ingly obstinate per,-, in, had opposed the found-
ing on various pretexts, but posititve orders
coming from the viceroy Rivera did not longer
delay, so on the 6th of January, 1777, a detach-
ment of soldiers under Lieutenant Moraga, ac-
companied by Father Pefia, was sent from San
Francisco to the site selected which was about
sixteen leagues south of San Francisco. Here
under an enramada the services of dedication
were held. The Indians were not averse to re-
ceiving a new religion and at the close of the
year sixty-seven had been baptized.

The mission was quite prosperous and be-
came one of the most important in the territory.
Il was located in the heart of a rich agricul-
tural district. The total product of wheat was
175,800 bushels. In [828 the mission docks and

herds numbered over 30,000 animals. The

neophyte population in 1S27 was 1,464. The

death rate was high, averaging 12.63 P er cent

of the population. The total number of bap-
tisms was 8,640; number of deaths 6,950. In

1834 the population had declined to 800.
Secularization was effected in 1837.

SAN BUENAVENTURA.

The founding of San Buenaventura had been
long delayed. It was to have been among the
first missions founded by Father Serra; it proved
to be his last. On the 26th of March, 1782,
Governor de Neve, accompanied by Father
Serra (who had come down afoot from San
Carlos), and Father Cambon, with a convoy of
soldiers and a number of neophytes, set out
from San Gabriel to found the mission. At the
first camping place Governor de Neve was re-
called to San Gabriel by a message from Col.
Pedro Fazes, informing him of the orders of the
council of war to proceed against the Yumas
who had the previous year destroyed the two
missions on the Colorado river and massacred
the missionaries.

On the 29th, the remainder of the company
reached a place on the coast named by Portola
in 1769, Asuncion de Nuestra Sehora, which
had for some time been selected for a mission
site. Near it was a large Indian rancheria. On
Easter Sunday, .March 31st, the mission was for-
mally founded with the usual ceremonies and
dedicated to San Buenaventura (Giovanni de
Fidanza of Tuscany), a follower of St. Francis,
the founder of the Franciscans.

The progress of the mission was slow at first,
only two adults were baptized in 1782, the
yeai of its founding. The first buildings built
oi wood were destroyed by fire. The church
still used for service, built of brick and adobe,
was completed and dedicated. September 9, 1809.
The earthquake of December 8, 1812, damaged
the church to such an extent that the tower
and part of the facade had to be rebuilt. After
the earthquake the whole site of the mission
for a time seemed to be sinking. The inhabi-
tants, fearful of being engulfed by the sea, re-
moved to San Joaquin \ Santa Ana, where they
remained several months. The mission at-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tained its greatest prosperity in 1816, when its
neophyte population numbered 1.330 and it
owned 23.400 cattle.

SAXTA BARBARA.

Governor Felipe de Neve founded the presidio
of Santa Barbara April 21, 1782. Father Sena
had hoped to found the mission at the same time,
but in ihis he was disappointed. His death in
1784 still further delayed the founding and it
was not until the latter part of 1786 that every-
thing was in readiness for the establishing of
the new mission. On the 22d of November
Father Lasuen, who had succeeded Father
Serra as president of the missions, arrived at
Santa Barbara, accompanied by two missiona-
ries recently from Mexico. He selected a site
about a mile distant from the presidio. The
place was called Taynagan (Rocky Hill) by the
Indians. There was a plentiful supply of stone
on the site for building and an abundance of
water for irrigation.

On the 15th of December, 1786, Father
Lasuen. in a hut of boughs, celebrated the first
mass; but December 4, the day that the fiesta of
Santa Barbara is commemorated, is considered
the date of its founding. Fart of the services
were held on that day. A chapel built of adobes
and roofed with thatch was erected in 1787. Sev-
eral other buildings of adobe were erected the
same year. In 1788, tile took the place of
thatch. In 1789, a second church, much larger
than the first, was built. A third church of adobe
was commenced in 1793 and finished in 1794.
A brick portico was added in 1795 and the walls
plastered.

The great earthquake of December, 1812, de-
molished the mission church and destroyed
nearly all the buildings. The years 1813 and
1814 were spent in removing the debris of the
ruined buildings and in preparing for the erec-
tion of new ones. The erection of the presenl
mission church was begun in 181 5. It was com-
pleted and dedicated September 10, 1820.

Father Caballeria, in his History of Santa
Barbara, gives the dimensions of the church as.
follows: "Length (includintj walls), sixty varas;
width, fourteen varas; height, ten varas (a vara
is thirty-four inches)." The walls arc of stone

and rest on a foundation of rock and cement.
They are six feet thick and are further strength-
ened by buttresses. Notwithstanding the build-
ing has withstood the storms of four score years,
it is still in an excellent state of preservation.
Its exterior has not been disfigured by attempts
at modernizing.

The highest neophyte population was reached
at Santa Barbara in 1803, when it numbered
1,792. The largest number of cattle was 5,200 in
1809. In 1834, the year of secularization, the
neophytes numbered 556, which was a decrease
of 155 from the number in 1830. At such a rate
of decrease it would not, even if mission rule
had continued, have taken more than a dozen
years to depopulate the mission.

LA PURISIMA CONCEPCIOX.

Two missions, San Buenaventura and Santa
Barbara, had been founded on the Santa Bar-
bara channel in accordance with Neve's report of
1777, in which he recommended the founding of
three missions and a presidio in that district.
It was the intention of General La Croix to con-
duct these on a different plan from that prevail-
ing in the older missions. The natives were not
to be gathered into a missionary establishment,
but were to remain in their rancherias, which
were to be converted into mission pueblos. The
Indians were to receive instruction in religion,
industrial arts and self-government while com-
paratively free from restraint. The plan which
no doubt originated with Governor de Neve,
was a good one theoretically, and possibly might
have been practically. The missionaries were
bitterly opposed to it. Unfortunately it was
tried first in the Colorado river missions among
the fierce and treacherous Vumas. The mas-
sacre of the padres and soldiers of these mis-
sions was attributed to this innovation.

In establishing the channel missions the mis-
sionaries opposed tlu inauguration of this plan
and by their persistence succeeded in setting it
aside; and the old system was adopted. La
Purisima Concepcion. or the Immaculate Con-
ception of the Blessed Virgin, the third of the
channel mission-, was founded December 8,
17S7. by Father Lasuen at a place called by the
natives Algsacupi. Its location i- about twelve

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

miles from the ocean on the Santa Ynez river.
Three years after its founding three hundred
converts had been baptized but not all of them
lived at the mission. The first church was a
temporary structure. The second church, built
of adobe and roofed with tile, was completed in
1802. December 21, 1812. an earthquake de-
molished the church and also about one hundred
adobe houses of the neophytes. A site across
the river and about four miles distant from the
former one, was selected for new buildings. A
temporary building for a church was erected
there. A new church, built of adobe and roofed
with tile, was completed and dedicated in t8i8.

The Indians revolted in 1824 and damage 1
the building. They took possession of it and a
battle lasting four hours was fought between one
hundred and thirty soldiers and four hundred
Indians. The neophytes cut loop holes in the
church and used two old rusty cannon and a
few guns they possessed; but, unused to lire
anus, they were routed with the loss of several
killed. During the revolt which lasted several
months four white men and fifteen or twenty In-
dians were killed. The hostiles, most of whom
lied to the Tulares, were finally subdued. The
leaders were punished with imprisonment and
the others returned in their missions.

This mission's population was largest in 1804,
• when it numbered 1,520. In 1834 there were but
407 neophytes connected with it. It was secular-
ized in February, 1835. During mission rule
from 1787 to 1834, the total number of Indian
children baptized was 1 .402 : died 902, which was
a lower death rale than at most of the southern

Santa Cruz, one o) I t of the twenty-

one missions of California, was founded Septem-
ber 2},, [790. The mission was never very pros-
perous. In [798 many of the neophyt< di
and the same year a flood covered the
fields and damaged the church. In 1812
the neophytes murdered the missionary in
charge, Padre Andres Quintana. They claimed
that he had treated them with great cruelly.
Five of those implicated in the murder received
two hundred lashes each and were sentenced to
work in chains from two to ten years. Only

one survived the punishment. The maximum
of its population was reached in 1798, when
there were six hundred and forty-four Indians
in the mission fold. The total number bap-
tized from the date of its founding to 1834 was
2,466; the total number of deaths was 2,034. The
average death rate was 10.93 P er cent °f tlle
population. At the time of its secularization in
[834 there were only two hundred and fifty In-
dians belonging to the mission.

LA SOLEDAD.

The mission of our Lady of Solitude was
founded September 29, 1791. The site selected
had borne the name Soledad (solitude) ever
since the first exploration of the country. The
location was thirty miles northeast of San Car-
los de Monterey. La Soledad, by which name
it was generally known, was unfortunate in its
early missionaries. One of them, Padre Gracia,
was supposed to be insane and the other, Padre
Rubi, was very immoral. Rubi was later on ex-
pelled from his college for licentiousness. At
the close of the century the mission had become
fairly prosperous, but in 1802 an epidemic broke
out and five or six deaths occurred daily. The
Indians in alarm fled from the mission. The
largest population of the mission was seven
hundred and twenty-five in 1805. At the time
of secularization its population had decreased to
three hundred. The total number of baptisms
during its existence was 2,222; number of deaths
1.803.

SAX JOSE.

St. Joseph had been designated by the visita-
dor General Galvez and Father Junipero Serra
as the patron saint of the mission colonization of
California. Thirteen missions had been founded
and yet none had been dedicated to San Jose.
( )rders came from Mexico that one be estab-
lished and named for him. Accordingly a de-
tail of a corporal and five men, accompanied by
Father Lasuen, president of the missions, pro-
ceeded to the site selected, which was about
twelve miles northerly from the pueblo of San
Jose. There, on June 11, 1707. the mission was
founded. The mission was well located agricul-
turally and became one of the most prosperous
in California. In 1820 it had a population of

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1,754, the highest of any mission except San
Luis Rey. The total number of baptisms from
its founding to 1834 was 6,737; deaths 5,109.
Secularization was effected in 1836-37. The to-
tal valuation of the mission property, not in-
cluding lands or the church, was $155,000.

SAN JUAN BAUTISTA.

In May, 1797, Governor Borica ordered the
comandante at Monterey to detail a corporal
and five soldiers to proceed to a site that had
been previously chosen for a mission which was
about ten leagues northeast from Monterey.
Here the soldiers erected of wood a church,
priest's house, granary and guard house. June
24, 1797, President Lasuen, assisted by Fathers
Catala and Martiari, founded the mission of
San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist). At
the close of the year, eighty-five converts had
been baptized. The neighboring Indian tribes
were hostile and some of them had to be killed
before others learned to behave themselves. A
new church, measuring 60x160 feet, was com-
pleted and dedicated in 1812. San Juan was the
only mission whose population increased between
1820 and 1830. This was due to the fact that its
numbers were recruited from the eastern tribes,
its location being favorable for obtaining new-
recruits from the gentiles. The largest popula-
tion it ever reached was 1,248 in 1823. In 1834
there were but 850 neophytes at the mission.

SAN MIGUEL.

Midway between the old missions of San An-
tonio and San Luis Obispo, on the 25th of July,
1797, was founded the mission of San Miguel
Arcangel. The two old missions contributed
horses, cattle and sheep to start the new one.
The mission had a propitious beginning; fifteen
children were baptized on the day the mission
was founded. At the close of the century the
number of converts reached three hundred and
eighty-five, of whom fifty-three had died. The
mission population numbered 1,076 in 1X14:
after that it steadily declined until, in 1834, there
were only 599 attached to the establishment.
Total number of baptisms was 2,588: deaths
2,038. The average death rate was 6.91 per
cent of the population, the lowest rate in any

of the missions. The mission was secularized
in 1836.

SAN FERNANDO REY DE ESPANA.

In the closing years of the century explora-
tions were made for new mission sites in Cali-
fornia. These were to be located between mis-
sions already founded. Among those selected
at that time was the site of the mission San Fer-
nando on the Encino Rancho, then occupied by
Francisco Reyes. Reyes surrendered whatever
right he had to the land and the padres occupied
his house for a dwelling while new buildings
were in the course of erection.

September 8. 1797, with the usual ceremo-
nies, the mission was founded by President
Lasuen, assisted by Father Dumetz. According
tc instructions from Mexico it was dedicated to
San Fernando Rey de Esparia (Fernando III.,
King of Spain, 12 17-125 1). At the end of the
year 1797, fifty-five converts had been gathered
into the mission fold and at the end of the cen-
tury three hundred and fifty-two had been bap-
tized.

The adobe church began before the close of
the century was completed and dedicated in De-
cember, 1806. It had a tiled roof. It was but
slightly injured by the great earthquakes of De-
cember, 1812, which were so destructive to the
mission buildings at San Juan Capistrano, Santa
Barbara, La Purisima and Santa Vnez. This
mission reached its greatest prosperity in i8ig,
when its neophyte population numbered 1,080.
The largest number of cattle owned by it at one
time was 12,800 in 1819.

Its decline was not so rapid as that of some
of the other missions, but the death rate, espe-
cially among the children, was fully as high. Of
the 1.367 Indian children baptized there during
the existence of mission rule 965, or over seventy
per cent, died in childhood. It was not strange
that the fearful death rate both of children and
adults at the missions sometimes frightened
the neophytes into running away.

SAX LUIS REY DE IK VNCI.A

Several explorations had been made i"i a mis
sion site between San Diego and San Juan
1 apistrano. There was quite a large Indian

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

population that had not been brought into the
folds of either mission. In October, 1797, a
new exploration of this territory was ordered
and a site was finally selected, although the ag-
ricultural advantages were regarded as not sat-
isfactory.

Governor Borica, February 28, 1798. issued
orders to the comandante at San Diego to
furnish a detail of soldiers to aid in erecting the
necessary buildings. June 13. 1798. President
Lasuen, the successor of President Serra, as-
sisted by Fathers Peyri and Santiago, with the
usual services, founded the new mission. It
was named San Luis Rev de Francia (St. Louis,
King of France). Its location was near a river
on which was bestowed the name of the mis-
sion. The mission flourished from its very be-
ginning. Its controlling power was Padre An-
tonio Peyri. He remained in charge of it from
its founding almost to its downfall, in all thirty-
three years. He was a man of great executive
abilities and under his administration it be-
came one of the largest and most prosperous
missions in California. It reached its maximum
in 1826, when its neophyte population numbered
2,869, the largest number at one time connected
with any mission in the territory.

The asLtencia or auxiliary mission of San
Antonio was established at l'ala, seven leagues
easterly from the parent mission. A chapel was
erected here and regular services held. One of
the padres connected with San Luis Rev was
in charge of this station. Father Peyri left Cal-
ifornia in 1831, with the exiled Governor Vic-
toria. He went to Mexico and from there to
Spain and lastly to Rome, wdiere he died. The
mission was converted into an Indian pueblo in
[834, but the pueblo was not a success. Most
.if the neophytes drifted to Los Angeles and
San Gabriel. Luring the Mexican conquest
American troops weir stationed there. It has
recently been partially repaired and is now used
for a Franciscan school under charge of Father
J. J. O'Keefe.

SANTA YNEZ.

Santa Ynez was the last mission founded in
Southern California. It was established Sep-
tember 17. [804. Its location is about forty miles

northwesterly from Santa Barbara, on the east-
erly side of the Santa Ynez mountains and
eighteen miles southeasterly from La Purisima.
Father Tapis, president of the missions from
1803 to 1812, preached the sermon and was
assisted in the ceremonies by Fathers Cipies,
Calzada and Gutierrez. Carrillo, the comandante
at the presidio, was present, as were also a num-
ber of neophytes from Santa Barbara and La
Purisima. Some of these were transferred to
the new mission.

The earthquake of December, 1812, shook
down a portion of the church and destroyed a
number of the neophytes' houses. In 1815 the
erection of a new church was begun. It was built
of adobes, lined with brick, and was completed
and dedicated July 4. 1817. The Indian revolt of
[824, described in the sketch of La Purisima,
broke out first at this mission. The neophytes
took possession of the church. The mission
guard defended themselves and the padre. At
the approach of the troops from Santa Barbara
the Indians fled to La Purisima.

San Ynez attained its greatest population.
770, in 1816. In 1834 its population had de-
creased to 334. From its founding in 1804 to
[834, when the decrees of secularization were
put in force, /$~ Indian children were baptized
and 519 died, leaving only 238, or about thirty
per cent of those baptized to grow up.

S \X RAFAEL.

San Rafael was the first mission established
north of the Bay of San Francisco. It was
founded December 14, 1817. At first it was an
asistencia or branch of San Francisco. An epi-
demic had broken out in the Mission Dolores
and a number of the Indians were transferred to
San Rafael to escape the plague. Later on it
attained to the dignity of a mission. In 1828 its
population was 1,140. After 1830 it began to
decline and at the time of its secularization in
1834 there were not more than 500 connected
with it. In the seventeen years of its existence
under mission rule there were 1,873 baptisms and
698 deaths. The average death rate was 6.09
per cent of the population. The mission was
secularized in 1834. All traces of the mission
building have disappeared.

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

r,:,

SAN FRANCISCO SOLANO.

The mission of San Francisco de Asis had
fallen into a rapid decline. The epidemic that
had carried off a number of the neophytes and
had caused the transfer of a considerable num-
ber to San Rafael had greatly reduced its popu-
lation. Besides, the sterility of the soil in the
vicinity of the mission necessitated going a long-
distance for agricultural land and pasturage for
the herds and Hocks. On this account and also
for the reason that a number of new converts
might be obtained from the gentiles living in
the district north of the bay. Governor Arguello
and the mission authorities decided to establish
a mission in that region. Explorations were
made in June and July. 1823. On the 41 li of
July a site was selected, a cross blessed and
raised, a volley of musketry fired and mass said
at a place named New San Francisco, but after-
wards designated as the Mission of San Fran-
cisco Solano. On the 25th of August work was
begun on the mission building and on the 4th of
April, 1824, a church, 24x105 feet, built of wood,
was dedicated.

It had been intended to remove the neophytes
from the old mission of San Francisco to the
new; but the padres of the old mission opposed
its depopulation and suppression. A com-
promise was effected by allowing all neophytes
of the old mission who so elected to go to the
new. Although well located, the Mission of
Solano was not prosperous. Its largest popula-
tion, 996, was reached in 1832. The total num-
ber of baptisms were 1,315; deaths, 651. The
average death rate was 7.8 per cent of the pop-
ulation. The mission was secularized in 1835, at
which time there were about 550 neophytes at-
tached to it.

The architecture of the missions was Moorish
— that is, if it belonged to any school. The
padres in most cases were the architects and mas-
ter builders. The main feature of the buildings
was massiveness. Built of adobe or rough stone,
their walls were of great thickness. Most of tin.'
church buildings were narrow, their width 1" ing
out of proportion to their length. This was
necessitated by the difficulty of procuring j « > i - 1 -^
and rafters of sufficient length for wide build
ings. The padres had no means or perhaps no

knowledge of trussing a roof, and the width
of the building had to be proportioned to the
length of the timbers procurable. Some of the
buildings were planned with an eye for the pic-
turesque, others for utility only. The sites se-
lected for the mission buildings in nearly every
case commanded a fine view of the surrounding
country. In their prime, their white walls loom-
ing up on the horizon could be seen at long
distance and acted as beacons to guide the trav-
eler to their hospitable shelter.

Col. J. J. Warner, who came to California in
1831, and saw the mission buildings before they
had fallen into decay, thus describes their gen-
eral plan: "As soon after the founding of a
mission as circumstances would permit, a large
pile of buildings in the form of a quadrangle,
composed in part of burnt brick-, but chiefly of
sun-dried ones, was erected around a spacious
court. A large and capacious church, which
usually occupied one of the outer corners of the
quadrangle, was a conspicuous part of the pile.
In this massive building, covered with red tile,
was the habitation of the friars, rooms for guests
and for the major domos and their families. In
other buildings of the quadrangle were hospital
wards, storehouses and granaries, rooms for
carding, spinning and weaving of woolen fab-
rics, shops for blacksmiths, joiners and carpen-
ters, saddlers, shoemakers and soap boilers, and
cellars for storing the product (wine and brandy)
of the vineyards. Near the habitation of the
friars another building of similar material was
placed and used as quarters for a small number
— about a corporal's guard — of soldiers under
command of a non-commissioned officer, to hold
the Indian neophytes in cheek as well as to pro-
tect the mission from the attacks of hostile In-
dians." The Indians, when the buildings of the
establishment were complete, lived in adobe
houses buill in lines near the quadrangle. Some
of the buildings of the square were occupied by
die alcaldes or Indian bosses. When the In-
dians . 1 into the mis
the) lived in brush shanties a msti ui ted in the
-ante manner as their forefathers had built them
for generations. In some of the missions these
huts were not replaced by adobe buildin

ration or more. Vancouver, who visited

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the Mission of San Francisco in 1792, sixteen
Mar.- aitcr its founding, describes the Indian
village with its brush-built huts. He says:
"'These miserable habitations, each of which was
allotted for the residence of a whole family,
were erected with some degree of uniformity
about three or four feet asunder in straight rows,
leaving lanes or passageways at right angles be-
tween them; but these were so abominably in-
fested with every kind of filth and nastiness as
to be rendered no less offensive than degrading
to the human species."

Of the houses at Santa Clara, Vancouver
says: "The habitations were not so regularly
disposed nor did it (the village) contain so many
as the village of San Francisco, yet the same
horrid state of uncleanliness and laziness seemed
to pervade the whole." Better houses were then
in the course of construction at Santa Clara.
"Each house would contain two rooms and a
garret with a garden in the rear." Vancouver

visited San Carlos de Monterey in 1792, twenty-
two \ears after its founding. He says: "Not-
withstanding these people are taught and em-
ployed from time to time in many of the occu-
pations most useful to civil society, they had not
made themselves any more comfortable habita-
tions than those of their forefathers; nor did
they seem in any respect to have benefited by
the instruction they had received."

Captain Beechey, of the English navy, who
visited San Francisco and the missions around
the bay in t8jS, found the Indians a: San Fran-
cisco still living in their filthy hovels and grind-
ing acorns for food. "San Jose (mission)." he
says, "on the other hand, was all neatness, clean-
liness and comfort." At San Carlos he found
that the filthy hovels described by Vancouver
had nearly all disappeared and the Indians were
comfortably housed. He adds: "Sickness in
general prevailed to an incredible extent in all
the missions."

CHAPTER VI.

PRESIDIOS OF CALIFORNIA.

THE presidio was an essential feature 'if
the Spanish colonization of America. It
was usually a fortified square of brick or
stone, inside of which were the barracks of the
soldiers, the officers' quarters, a church, store
houses for provisions and military supplies. The
gates at the entrance were closed at night, and
it was usually provisioned for a siege. In the
colonization of California there were four pre-
sidios established, namely: San Diego, Monte-
rey, San Francisco and Santa Barbara. Each
was the headquarters of a military district and
besides a bod) of troops kept at the presidio
it furnished guards for the missions in its re-
pective districl and also for the pueblos if there
in) in the district. The first presidio was
founded at San Diego. \- stated in a previous
chapter, the two -hips of the expedition by sea
for the settlement of California arrived at the
port of San Diego in a deplorable condition

from scurvy. The San Antonia, after a voyage
of fifty-nine days, arrived on April 11; the San
Carlos, although she had sailed a month earlier,
did not arrive until April 29. consuming one
hundred and ten days in the voyage. Don
Miguel Constanso, the engineer who came on
this vessel, says in his report: "The scurvy had
infected all without exception: in such sort that
cm entering San Diego already two men had
died of the said sickness: most of the seamen,
and half of the troops, found themselves pros-
trate in their beds; only four mariners remained
<m their feet, ami attended, aided by the troops,
to trimming and furling the sails and other
working of the ship." "The San Antonia." says
Constanso, "had the half of its crew equally
affected b) the scurvy, of which illness two men
had likewise died." This vessel, although it had
arrived at the port on the 1 1th of April, had evi-
dently not landed any of its sick. < hi the 1st of

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

May, Don Pedro Fages, the commander of the
troops, Constanso and Estorace, the second cap-
tain of the San Carlos, with twenty-five soldiers,
set out to find a watering place where they could
fill their barrels with fresh water. "Following
the west shore of the port, after going a mat-
ter of three leagues, they arrived at the banks
of a river hemmed in with a fringe of willows
and cottonwoods. Its channel must have been
twenty varas wide and it discharges into an
estuary which at high tide could admit the
launch and made it convenient for accomplish-
ing the taking on of water." * * :i "Hav-
ing reconnoitered the watering place, the Span-
iards betook themselves back on board the
vessels and as these were found to be very far
away from the estuary in which the river dis-
charges, their captains, Vicente Vila and Don
Juan Perez, resolved to approach it as closely
as they could in order to give less work to the
people handling the launches. These labors
were accomplished with satiety of hardship; for
from one day to the next the number of the sick-
kept increasing, along with the dying of the
most aggravated cases and augmented the fa-
tigue of the few who remained on their
feet."

"Immediate to the beach on the side toward
the east a scanty enclosure was constructed
formed of a parapet of earth and fascines, which
was garnished with two cannons. They disem-
barked some sails and awnings from the packets
with which they made two tents capacious
enough for a hospital. At one side the two offi-
cers, the missionary fathers and the surgeon put
up their own tents; the sick were brought in
launches to this improvised presidio and hospi-
tal." "But these diligencies," says Constanso,
"were not enough to procure them health."
* * * "The cold made itself felt with rigor at
night in the barracks and the sun by day. alter-
nations which made the sick suffer cruelly, two
or three of them dying every day. And this
whole expedition, which had been composed of
more than ninety men, saw itself reduced to only
eight soldiers and as many mariners in a state to
attend to the safeguarding of the barks, the
working of the launches, custody of the camp
and service of the sick."

Rivera y Moncada, the commander of the
first detachment of the land expedition, arrived
at San Diego May 14. It was decided by the
officers to remove the camp to a point near the
river. This had not been done before on ac-
count of the small force able to work and the
lack of beasts of burden. Rivera's men were all
in good health and after a day's rest "all were
removed to a new camp, which was transferred
one league further north on the right side of
the river upon a hill of middling height."

Here a presidio was built, the remains of
which can still be seen. It was a parapet of
earth similar to that thrown up at the first camp,
which, according to Bancroft, was probably
within the limits of New Town and the last one
in Old Town or Xorth San Diego.

While Portola's expedition was away search-
ing for the port of Monterey, the Indians made
an attack on the camp at San Diego, killed a
Spanish youth and wounded Padre Yiscaino, the
blacksmith, and a Lower California neophyte.
The soldiers remaining at San Diego sur-
rounded the buildings with a stockade. Con-
stanso says, on the return of the Spaniards of
Portola's expedition; "They found in good con-
dition their humble buildings, surrounded with
a palisade of trunks of trees, capable of a good
defense in Case of necessity."

"In 1782, the presidial force at San Diego, be-
sides the commissioned officers, consisted of five
corporals and forty-six soldiers. Six men were
constantly on duty at each of the three missions
of the district, San Diego, San Juan Capistrano
and San Gabriel ; while four served at the pueblo
of Los Angeles, thus leaving a sergeant, two
corporals and about twenty-five men to garrison
the fort, care for the horses and a small herd of
cattle, and to carry the mails, which latter dut)
was the hardest connected with the presidio
service in time of peace. There were a carpenter
and blacksmith constantly employed, besides a
few servants, mosth nativ< ion of

the district in 1790, not including Indians, was
220."*

Before the close of the century the wooden
palisades had been replaced by a thick adobe

♦Bancroft's History of California. Vol. I.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

wall, but even then the fort was not a very for-
midable defense. Vancouver, the English navi-
gator, who visited it in 1793, describes it as
"'irregularly built on very uneven ground, which
makes it liable to some inconveniences without
the obvious appearance of any object for select-
ing such a spot." It then mounted three small
brass cannon.

Gradually a town grew up around the pre-
sidio. Robinson, who visited San Diego in
[829, thus describes it: "On the lawn beneath
the hill on which the presidio is built stood
about thirty houses of rude appearance, mostly
occupied by retired veterans, not so well con-
structed in respect either to beauty or stability
as the houses at Monterey, with the exception of
that belonging to our Administrador, Don Juan
Bandini, whose mansion, then in an unfinished
state, bid fair, when completed, to surpass any
other in the countr) ."

Under Spain there was attempt at least to
keep the presidio in repair, but under Mexican
domination it fell into decay. Dana describes it
as he saw it in 1836: "The first place we went
to was the old ruinous presidio, which stands on
rising ground near the village which it over-
looks. It is built in the form of an open square,
like all the other presidios, and was in a most
ruinous state, with, the exception of one side,
in which the comandante lived with his family.
There were only two guns, one of which was
spiked and the other had no carriage. Twelve
half clothed and half starved looking fellows
composed the garrison; and they, it was said,
had 11., t a musket apiece. The small settlement
lav directly below the fort composed of about
fort) dark brown looking huts or houses and
three or four larger ones whitewashed, which
d to the -elite de razon."

THE PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY .

In a previous chapter has been narrated the
Stori oi Portola's expedition in search of Mon-
terey Bay, how the e\plorer>. failing to recog-
nize it, passed on to the northward and discov-
ered the greal Ba) of San Francisco. On their
return the) set up a cross at what they supposed
was the Baj of Monterey: and at the fo.it of
the cross buried a letter giving information to

any ship that might come up the coast in search
of them that they had returned to San Diego.
They had continually been on the lookout for
the San Jose, which was to co-operate with
them, but that vessel had been lost at sea with
all on board. On their return to San Diego, in
January. 1770, preparations were made for a
return as soon as a vessel should arrive. It
was not until the 16th of April that the San An-
tonia. the only vessel available, was ready to
depart for the second objective point of settle-
ment. On the 17th of April, Governor Portola,
Lieutenant Fages, Father Crespi and nineteen
soldiers took up their line of inarch for Monte-
rey. They followed the trail made in 1769 and
reached the point where they had set up the
cross April 24. They found it decorated with
feathers, bows and arrows and a string of fish.
Evidently the Indians regarded it as the white
man's fetich and tried to propitiate it by offer-
ings.

The San Antonia, bearing Father Serra,
Pedro Prat, the surgeon, and Miguel Constanso,
the civil engineer, and supplies for the mission
and presidio, arrived the last day of May. Por-
tola was still uncertain whether this was really
Monterey Bay. It was hard to discover in the
open roadstead stretching out before them Vis-
caino's land-locked harbor, sheltered from all
winds. After the arrival of the San Antonia the
officers of the land and sea expedition made a
reconnaissance of the bay and all concurred that
at last they had reached the destined port. They
located the oak under whose wide-spreading
branches Padre Ascension, Yiscaino's chaplain,
had celebrated mass in 1602, and the springs of
fresh water near by. Preparations were begun
at once for the founding of mission and presidio.
A shelter of boughs was constructed, an altar
raised and the bells hung upon the branch of a
tree. Father Serra sang mass and as they had
no musical instrument, salvos of artillery and
volleys of musketry furnished an accompani-
ment to the service. After the religious services
the royal standard was raised and Governor
Portola took possession of the country in the
name of Kin- Carlos 111.. King of Spain. The
ceremoii) closed with the pulling of grass and
the casting of stones around, significant of en-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tire possession of the earth and its products.
After the service all feasted.

Two messengers were sent by Portola with
dispatches to the city of Mexico. A day's jour-
ney below San Diego they met Rivera and
twenty soldiers coming with a herd of cattle and
a flock of sheep to stock the mission pastures.
Rivera sent back five of his soldiers with Por-
tola's carriers. The messengers reached Todos
Santos near Cape San Lucas in forty-nine days
from Monterey. From there the couriers w : ere
sent to San Bias by ship, arriving at the city of
Mexico August 10. There was great rejoicing
at the capital. Marquis Le Croix and Yisitador
Galvez received congratulations in the King's
name for the extension of his domain.

Portola superintended the building of some
rude huts for the shelter of the soldiers, the
officers and the padres. Around the square
containing the huts a palisade of poles was con-
structed. ' July 9, Portola having turned over
the command of the troops to Lieutenant Pages,
embarked on the San Antonia for San Bias;
with him went the civil engineer, Constanso,
from whose report I have frequently quoted.
Neither of them ever returned to California.

The difficult} of reaching California by ship
on account of the head winds that blow down
the coast caused long delays in the arrival oi
vessels with supplies. This brought about a
scarcity of provisions at the presidios and mis-
sions.

In 1772 the padres of San Gabriel were re-
duced to a milk diet and what little they could
obtain from the Indians. At Monterey and San
Antonio the padres and the soldiers were obliged
to live on vegetables. In this emergency Lieu-
tenant Pages and a squad of soldiers went on a
bear hunt. They spent three months in the
summer of 1772 killing bears in the Canada de
los Osos (Bear Canon). The soldiers and mis-
sionaries had a plentiful supply of bear meat.
There were not enough cattle in the countr) 1-1
admit of slaughtering any for food. The pre-
sidial walls which were substituted for the pal-
isades were built of adobes and stone. The
inclosure measured one hundred and ten yards
011 each side. The buildings were roofed with
tiles. "On the north were the main entrance.

the guard house, and the warehouses ; on the
west the houses of the governor comandante
and other officers, some fifteen apartments in
all; on the east nine houses for soldiers, and a
blacksmith shop; and on the south, besides
nine similar houses, was the presidio church,
opposite the main gateway."*

The military force at the presidio consisted of
cavalry, infantry and artillery, their numbers
varying from one hundred to one hundred and
twenty in all. These soldiers furnished guards
for the missions of San Carlos, San Antonio,
San Miguel, Soledad and San Luis Obispo. The
total population of gente de razon in the district
at the close of the century numbered four hun-
dren and ninety. The rancho "del rey" or
rancho of the king was located where Salinas
City now stands. This rancho was managed by
the soldiers of presidio and was intended to
furnish the military with meat and a supply of
horses for the cavalry. At the presidio a num-
ber of invalided soldiers who had served out
their time were settled; these were allowed to
cultivate land and raise cattle on the unoccu-
pied lands of the public domain. A town grad-
ually grew up around the presidio square.

Vancouver, the English navigator, visited the
presidio of Monterey in 1792 and describes it as
it then appeared: "The buildings of the pre-
sidio form a parallelogram or long square com-
prehending an area of about three hundred
yards long by two hundred and fifty wide, mak-
ing one entire enclosure. The external wall is
of the same magnitude and built with the same
materials, and except that the officers' apart-
ments are covered with red tile made in the
neighborhood, the whole presents the same
lonely, uninteresting appearance as that already
described at San Francisco. Like that estab-
lishment, the several buildings for the use of the
officers, soldiers, an ! tor the protection of stores
and provisions are erected along the wall- on
the inside of the inclosure, which admits of but
one entrance for carriages or persons on
back: this, as at San Francisco, is on the side
of the square fronting the church which was
rebuilding with -tone like thai at San (

croft's Hi-!-

Til

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

"At each comer of the square is a small kind
of block house raised a little above the top of
the wall where swivels might be mounted, for its
protection. On the outside, before the entrance
into the presidio, which fronts the shores of
the bay. are placed seven cannon, four nine and
three three-pounders, mounted. The guns are
planted on the open plain ground without
breastwork or other screen for those employed
in working them or the least protection from the
weather."

THE PRESIDIO OE SAN FRANCISCO.

In a previous chapter I have given an account
of the discovery of San Francisco Bay by Por-
tola's expedition in 1769. The discovery of that
great bay seems to have been regarded as an
unimportant event by the governmental offi-
cials. While there was great rejoicing at the
city of Mexico over the founding of a mission
for the conversion of a few naked savages, the
discovery of the bay was scarcely noticed, ex-
cept to construe it into some kind of a miracle.
Father Serra assume,! that St. Francis had con-
cealed Monterey from the explorers and led
them to the discovery of the bay in order that
lie (St. Francis) might have a mission named
for him. Indeed, the only use to which the
discovery could be put, according to Serra's
ideas, was a site for a mission on its shores, dedi-
cated to the founder of the Franciscans. Several
explorations were made with this in view. In
1772, Lieutenant Fages, Father Crespi and six-
teen soldiers passed up the western side of the
bay and in 1774 Captain Rivera, Father Palou
and a squad of soldiers passed up the eastern
shore, returning by way of Monte Diablo,
Amador valley and Alameda creek to the Santa
Clara valley.

In the latter part of the year 1774, viceroy
Bucureli ordered the founding of a mission and
pre Tlio at San Francisco. Hitherto all explora-
tions of the bay had been made by land expedi-
tions. No one had ventured on its waters. In
1775 Lieutenant Juan <le Ayala of the royal
navy was sent in the old pioneer mission ship,
the San Carlos, to make a survey of it. August
5. 1775, he passed through the ( '.olden Gate.
He moored his ship at an island called by him

Nuestra Sehora de los Angeles, now Angel
Island. He spent forty days in making explora-
tions. His ship was the first vessel to sail upon
the great Bay of San Francisco.

In 1774, Captain Juan Bautista de Anza, com-
mander of the presidio of Tubac in Sonora, had
made an exploration of a route from Sonora via
the Colorado river, across the desert and
through the San Gorgonia pass to San Gabriel
mission. From Tubac to the Colorado river the
route hail been traveled before but from the
Colorado westward the country was a terra in-
cognita. He was guided over this by a lower
California neophyte who had deserted from San
Gabriel mission and alone had reached the
rancherias on the Colorado.

After Anza's return to Sonora he was com-
missioned by the viceroy to recruit soldiers and
settlers for San Francisco. October 23, 1775,
Anza set out from Tubac with an expedition
numbering two hundred and thirty-five persons,
composed of soldiers and their families, colon-
ists, musketeers and vaqueros. They brought
with them large herds of horses, mules and cat-
tle. The journey was accomplished without loss
of life, but with a considerable amount of suf-
fering. January 4. 1776, the immigrants ar-
rived at San Gabriel mission, where they stopped
to rest, but were soon compelled to move on,
provisions at the mission becoming scarce. They
arrived at Monterey March 10. Here they went
into camp. Anza with an escort of soldiers pro-
ceeded to San Francisco to select a presidio
site. Having found a site he returned to Mon-
terey. Rivera, the commander of the territory,
had manifested a spirit of jealousy toward Anza
and had endeavored to thwart him in his at-
tempts to found a settlement. Disgusted with
the action of the commander, Anza, leaving his
colonists to the number of two hundred at Mon-
terey took his departure from California. Anza
in his explorations for a presidio site had fixed
upon what is now Fort Point.

\iter his departure Rivera experienced a
change of heart and instead of trying to dela)
the founding he did everything to hasten it. The
.imperative orders of the viceroy received at
aboul this time brought about the change. He
ordered Lieutenant Moraga, to whom Anza had

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

turned over the command of his soldiers and
colonists, to proceed at once to San Francisco
with twenty soldiers to found the fort. The San
Carlos, which had just arrived at Monterey, was
ordered to proceed to San Francisco to assist
in the founding. Moraga with his soldiers ar-
rived June 27, and encamped on the Laguna
de los Dolores, where the mission was a short
time afterwards founded. Moraga decided to
located the presidio at the site selected by Anza
but awaited the arrival of the San Carlos before
proceeding to build. August 18 the vessel ar-
rived. It had been driven down the coast to the
latitude of San Diego by contrary winds and
then up the coast to latitude 42 degrees. On the
arrival of the vessel work was begun at once on
the fort. A square of ninety-two varas (two
hundred and forty-seven feet) on each side was
inclosed with palisades. Barracks, officers'
quarters and a chapel were built inside the
square. September 17, 1776, was set apart for
the services of founding, that being the da) of
the "Sores of our seraphic father St. Francis."
The royal standard was raised in front of the
square and the usual ceremony of pulling grass
and throwing stones was performed. Posses-
sion of the region round about was taken in the
name of Carlos III., King of Spain. Over one
hundred and fifty persons witnessed the cere-
mony. Vancouver, who visited the presidio in
November, 1792, describes it as a "square area
whose sides were about two hundred yards in
length, enclosed by a mud wall and resembling
a pound for cattle. Above this wall the thatched
roofs of the low small houses just made their
appearance." The wall was "about fourteen feet
high and five feet in breadth and was first
formed by upright and horizontal rafters of
large timber, between which dried sods and
moistened earth were pressed as close and hard
as possible, after which the whole was cased with
the earth made into a sort of mud plaster which
gave it the appearance of durability."

In addition to the presidio there was another
fort at Fort Point named Castillo de San Joa-
quin. It was completed and blessed December
8, 1794. "It was of horseshoe shape, about one
hundred by one hundred and twenty feet." The
structure rested mainly on sand: the brick-faced

adobe walls crumbled at the shock whenever a
salute was fired; the guns were badly mounted
and for the most part worn out, only two of the
thirteen twenty-four-pounders being serviceable
or capable of sending a ball across the entrance
of the fort.*

PRESIDIO OF SANTA BARBARA.

Cabrillo, in 1542, found a large Indian popula-
tion inhabiting the main land of the Santa Bar-
bara channel. Two hundred and twenty-seven
years later, when Portola made his exploration,
apparently there had been no decrease in the
number of inhabitants. No portion of the coast
offered a better field for missionary labor and
Father Serra was anxious to enter it. In ac-
cordance with Governor Felipe de Neve's report
of 1777, it had been decided to found three mis-
sions and a presidio on the channel. Various
causes had delayed the founding ami it was not
until April 17. 1782, that Governor de Neve
arrived at the point where he had decided to
locate the presidio of Santa Barbara. The
troops that were to man the fort reached San
Gabriel in the fall of 1781. It was thought best
for them to remain there until the rainy sea-
son was over. March 26, 1782, the governor and
Father Serra, accompanied by the largest body
of troops that had ever before been collected in
California, set out to found the mission of San
Buenaventura and the presidio. The governor,
as has been stated in a former chapter, was re-
called to San Gabriel. The mission was founded
and the governor having rejoined the cavalcade
a few weeks later proceeded to find a location
for the presidio.

"On reaching a point nine leagues from San
Buenaventura, the governor called a halt and in
company with Father Serra at once procei
select a site for the presidio. The choice re-
sulted in the adoption of the square now
formed by city blocks 130. 140, 155 anil 150.
and bounded in common by the following
streets: Figueroa, Canon Perdido, Garden and
Anacapa. A large community of Indians were
residing there but orders were given to leave
them undisturbed. M>. soldiers were at once

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

directed to hew timbers and gather brush to
erect temporary barracks which, when com-
pleted, were also used as a chapel. A large
wooden cross was made that it might be planted
in the center of the square and possession of
the country was taken in the name of the cross,
the emblem of Christianity.

April 21, 1782, the soldiers formed a square
and with edifying solemnity raised the cross and
secured it in the earth. Father Serra blessed
and consecrated the district and preached a ser-
mon. The royal standard of Spain was un-
furled."*

An inclosure, sixty varas square, was made of
palisades. The Indians were friendly, and
through their chief yanoalit, who controlled thir-
teen rancherias, details of them were secured
to assist the soldiers in the work of building.
The natives were paid in food and clothing for
their labor.

Irrigation works were constructed, consisting
of a large reservoir made of stone and cement,
with a zanja for conducting water to the pre-
sidio. The soldiers, who had families, cultivated
small gardens which aided in their support.
Lieutenant ( )rtega was in command of the pre-
sidio for two years after its founding. He was
succeeded by Lieutenant Felipe de Goycoechea.
After the. founding of the mission in [786, a
bitter feud broke out between the padres and
the comandante of the presidio. Goycoechea
claimed the right to employ the Indians in the
building of the presidio as he had dune before
the coming of the friars. This they denied.
After an acrimonious controversy the dispute
was finally compromised by dividing the Indian-
into two bands, a mission band and a presidio
band.

Gradually the palisades were replaced by an
adobe wall twelve feet high. It had a stone
foundation and was strongly built. The plaza or
inclosed square was three hundred and thirty
feet on each side. On two -ides of this inclos-
ure were ranged the family houses of the sol-
diers, averaging in size 15x25 feet. < )n one side
1 I th< -mm ei's' quarters and the church. ( >n

Father Cabelleria's Hi tor} oi Santa Barbara.

the remaining side were the main entrance four
varas wide, the store rooms, soldiers' quarters
and a guard room; and adjoining these outside
the walls were the corrals for cattle and horses.
A force of from fifty to sixty soldiers was kept
at the post. There were bastions at two of the
corners for cannon.

The presidio was completed about 1790, with
the exception of the chapel, which was not fin-
ished until i/'j". Many of the soldiers when
they had served out their time desired to re-
main in the country. These were given permis-
sion to build houses outside the walls of the
presidio and in course of time a village grew up
around it.

At the close of the century the population of
the gente de razon of the district numbered
three hundred and seventy. The presidio when
completed was the best in California. Van-
couver, the English navigator, who visited it in
November, 1793, says of it: "The buildings ap-
peared to be regular and well constructed; the
walls clean and white and the roofs of the houses
were covered with a bright red tile. The pre-
sidio excels all the others in neatness, cleanli-
ness and other smaller though essential com-
forts; it is placed on an elevated part of the
plain and is raised some feet from the ground
by a basement story which adds much to its
pleasantness."

During the Spanish regime the settlement at
the presidio grew in the leisurely way that all
Spanish towns grew in California. There was
but little immigration from Mexico and about
the only source of increase was from invalid
soldiers and the children of the soldiers grow-
ing up to manhood and womanhood. It was a
dreary and monotonous existence that the sol-
diers led at the presidios. A few of them had
their families with them. These when the coun-
try became more settled had their own houses
adjoining the presidio and formed the nuclei
of the towns that grew up around the different
forts. There was l, u t little fighting to do and
tlie soldiers' service consisted mainly of a round
of guard duty at the forts and missions. Oc-
casionallj there were conquistas into the In-
dian country to secure new material for con-
verts from the gentiles. The soldiers were oc-

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

casionally employed in hunting hindas or run-
aways from the missions. These when brought
back were thoroughly flogged and compelled to
wear clogs attached to their legs. Once a month
the soldier couriers brought up from Loreta a
budget of mail made up of official bandos and a

few letters. These contained about all the news
that reached them from their old homes in
Mexico. But few of the soldiers returned to
Mexico when their term of enlistment expired.
In course of time these and their descendants
formed the bulk of California's population.

CHAPTER VII

PUEBLOS.

THE pueblo plan of colonization so com-
mon in Hispano-American countries did
not originate with the Spanish-Amer-
ican colonists. It was older even than Spain
herself. In early European colonization, the
pueblo plan, the common square in the center
of the town, the house lots grouped round it,
the arable fields and the common pasture lands
beyond, appears in the Aryan village, in the an-
cient German mark and in the old Roman
praesidium. The Puritans adopted this form in
their first settlements in Xew England. Around
the public scpiare or common where stood the
meeting house and the town house, they laid off
their home lots and beyond these were their
cultivated fields and their common pasture lands.
This form of colonization was a combination of
communal interests and individual ownership.
Primarily, no doubt, it was adopted for protec-
tion against the hostile aborigines of the coun-
try, and secondly for social advantage. It re-
versed the order of our own western coloniza-
tion. The town came first, it was the initial
point from which the settlement radiated: while
with our western pioneers the town was an after-
thought, a center point for the convenience of
trade.

When it had been decided to send colonists
to colonize California the settlements naturally
took the pueblo form. The difficulty of obtain-
ing regular supplies for the presidios front Mex-
ico, added to the great expense of shipping such
a long distance, was the principal cause that in-
fluenced the government to establish pueblos de
gente de razon. The presidios received their
shipments of grain for breadstuff from San Bias

by sailing vessels. The arrival of these was un-
certain. Unce when the vessels were unusually
long in coming, the padres and the soldiers at
the presidios and missions were reduced to liv-
ing on milk, bear meat and what provisions they
could obtain from the Indians. 'When Felipe de
Xeve was made governor of Aha or Nueva
California in 1776 he was instructed by the vice-
roy to make observations on the agricultural
possibilities of the country and the feasibility of
founding pueblos where grain could be produced
to supply the military establishments.

On his journey from San Diego to San Fran-
cisco in 1777 he carefully examined the coun-
try; and as a result of his observations recom-
mended the founding of two pueblos; one on the
Rio de Porciuncula in the south, and the other
on the Rio de Guadalupe in the north. I >n the
29th of November, 1777. the Pueblo of San
Jose de Guadelupe was Founded. Hie colonists
were nine of the presidio soldiers from San
Francisco and Monterey, who had some knowl-
edge of farming and live of Anza's pobladores
who had come with his expedition the previous
years to found the presidio of San Francisco,
making with their families sixty-one persons in
ail. The pueblo was named for the patron saint
of Calif irnia, San Jose (St. Joseph), husband of
Santa Maria. Queen of the Angeles.

The site selected for the town was about a
mile and a quarter north of the center of the
present city. Tin first houses were built >n' pal-
isades and the interstices plastered with mud.
These huts were- roofed with earth and the floor
was the hard beaten ground. Each head of a
family was given a suerte or sowing lot of two

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

hundred varas square, a house lot, "ten dollars
a month and a soldier's rations." Each, also,
received a yoke of oxen, two cows, a mule, two
sheep and two goats, together with the neces-
sary implements and seed, all of which were to
be repaid in products of the soil delivered at the
royal warehouse. The first communal work
done by the pobladores (colonists) was to dam
the river, and construct a ditch to irrigate their
sowing fields. The dam was not a success and
the first sowing of grain was lost. The site se-
lected for the houses was low and subject to
overflow 7 .

During wet winters the inhabitants were com-
pelled to take a circuitous route of three leagues
to attend church service at the mission of Santa
Clara. After enduring this state of affairs
through seven winters they petitioned the
governor for permission to remove the pu-
eblo further south on higher ground. The gov-
ernor did not have power to grant the request.
The petition was referred to the comandante-
general of the Intendencia in Mexico in 1785.
He seems to have studied over the matter two
years and having advised with the asesor-general
"finally issued a decree, June 21, 1787, to Gov-
ernor Fages, authorizing the settlers to remove
to the "adjacent loma (hill) selected by them as
more useful and advantageous without chang-
ing or altering, for this reason, the limits and
boundaries of the territory or district assigned
to said settlement and to the neighboring Mis-
sion of Santa Clara, as there is no just cause
why the latter should attempt to appropriate to
herself that land."

Having frequently suffered from floods, it
would naturally be supposed that the inhabi-
tants, permission being granted, moved right
away. They did nothing of the kind. Ten years
passed and they were still located on the old
marshy site, still discussing the advantages of
the new site on the other side of the river.
Whether the padres of the Mission of Santa
Clara opposed the moving does not appear in
the records, but from the last clause of tin- com-
andante-general's decree in which he says "there
is nnt just cause why the latter i the Mission of
Santa Clara) should attempt to appropriate to
herself the land," it would seem that the mission

padres were endeavoring to secure the new site
or at least prevent its occupancy. There was a
dispute between the padres and the pobladores
over the boundary line between the pueblo and
mission that outlived the century. After hav-
ing been referred to the titled officials, civil and
ecclesiastical, a boundary line was finally estab-
lished, July 24, 1801, that was satisfactory to
both. "According to the best evidence I have
discovered," says Hall in his History of San
Jose, "the removal of the pueblo took place in
1707." just twenty years after the founding. In
1798 the juzgado or town hall was built. It
was located on Market street near El Dorado
street.

The area of a pueblo was four square leagues
(Spanish) or about twenty-seven square miles.
This was sometimes granted in a square and
sometimes in a rectangular form. The pueblo
lands were divided into classes: Solares, house
lots; suertes (chance), sowing fields, so named
because they were distributed by lot; propios,
municipal lands or lands the rent of which went
to defray municipal expenses; ejidas, vacant
suburbs or commons; dehesas, pasture where
the large herds of the pueblo grazed; realenges,
nival lands also used for raising revenue; these
were unappropriated lands.

From various causes the founding of the sec-
ond pueblo had been delayed. In the latter part
of 1779, active preparations were begun for car-
rying out the plan of founding a presidio and
three missions on the Santa Barbara Channel
and a pueblo on the Rio Forciuncula to be
named "Reyna de Los Angeles." The comand-
ante-general of the Four Interior Provinces of
the West (which embraced the Californias, So-
nora, Xew Mexico and Viscaya), Don Teodoro
de Croix or "El Cavallero de Croix," "The
Knight of the Cross," as he usually styled him-
self, gave instructions to Don Fernando de Ri-
vera v Moncada to recruit soldiers and settlers
for the proposed presidio and pueblo in Xueva
California. 1 le, Rivera, crossed the gulf and be-
gart recruiting in Sonora and Sinaloa. His in-
structions were to secure twenty-four settlers,
whn were heads of families. They must be ro-
bust and well behaved, so that they might set
a good example to the natives. Their families

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

must accompany them and unmarried female
relatives must be encouraged to go, with the
view to marrying them to bachelor sol-
diers.

According to the regulations drafted by Gov-
ernor Felipe de Neve, June i, 1779, for the gov-
ernment of the province of California and ap-
proved by the king, in a royal order of the 24th
of October, 1781, settlers in California from the
older provinces were each to be granted a house
lot and a tract of land for cultivation. Each
poblador in addition was to receive $116.50 a
year for the first two years, "the rations to be
understood as comprehended in this amount,
and in lieu of rations for the next three years
they will receive $60 yearly."

Section 3 of Title 14 of the Reglamento pro-
vided that "To each poblador and to the com-
munity of the pueblo there shall be given under
condition of repayment in horses and mules fit
to be given and received, and in the payment of
the other large and small cattle at the just prices,
which are to be fixed by tariff, and of the tools
and implements at cost, as it is ordained, two
mares, two cows, and one calf, two sheep and
two goats, all breeding animals, and one yoke of
oxen or steers, one plow point, one hoe, one
spade, one axe, one sickle, one wood knife, one
musket and one leather shield, two horses and
one cargo mule. To the community there shall
likewise be given the males corresponding to
the total number of cattle of different kinds dis-
tributed amongst all the inhabitants, one forge
and anvil, six crowbars, six iron spades or shov-
els and the necessary tools for carpenter and
cast work." For the government's assistance to
the pobladores in starting their colony the set-
tlers were required to sell to the presidios the
surplus products of their lands and herds at fair
prices, which were to be fixed by the govern-
ment.

The terms offered to the settlers were cer-
tainly liberal, and by our own hardy pioneers,
who in the closing years of the last century were
making their way over the Alleghany mountains
into Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, they would
have been considered munificent; but to the in-
dolent and energyless mixed breeds of Sonora
and Sinaloa thev were no inducement. After

spending nearly nine months in recruiting, Ri-
vera was able to obtain only fourteen pobladores,
but little over half the number required, and two
of these deserted before reaching California.
The soldiers that Rivera had recruited for Cal-
ifornia, forty-two in number, with their families,
were ordered to proceed overland from Alamos,
in Sonora, by way of Tucson and the Colorado
river to San Gabriel Mission. These were com-
manded by Rivera in person.

Leaving Alamos in April, 1781, they arrived
in the latter part of June at the junction of the
Gila and Colorado rivers. After a short delay
to rest, the main company was sent on to San
Gabriel Mission. Rivera, with ten or twelve
soldiers, remained to recruit his live stock before
crossing the desert. Tw-o missions had been es-
tablished on the California side of the Colorado
the previous year. Before the arrival of Rivera
the Indians had been behaving badly. Rivera's
large herd of cattle and horses destroyed the
mesquite trees and intruded upon the Indians'
melon patches. This, with their previous quar-
rel with the padres, provoked the savages to an
uprising. They, on July 17, attacked the two
missions, massacred the padres and the Spanish
settlers attached to the missions and killed Ri-
vera and his soldiers, forty-six persons in all.
The Indians burned the mission buildings.
These were never rebuilt nor was there any at-
tempt made to convert the Yumas. The hos-
tility of the Yumas practicall) closed the Colo-
rado route to California for many years.

The pobladores who had been recruited for
the founding of the new pueblo, with their fami-
lies and a military escort. all under the command
of Lieut. Jose Zuniga. crossed the gulf from
Guaymas to Loreto, in Lower California, and 1>>
the 16th of May were ready for their long jour
ney northward. In the meantime two of the re-
cruits had deserted and one was left behind at
Loreto. On the [8th of August the eleven who
had remained faithful to their contract, with
their families, arrived at San Gabriel. On ac-
count of smallpox among some of the children
the 1 ompanj was pla intine about a

league from the mission.

On the 26th of August, 1781, from San Ga-
briel, Governor de Neve issued his instructions

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RFCORD.

for the founding of Los Angeles, which gave
some additional rules in regard to the distribu-
tion of lots not found in the royal reglamento
previously mentioned.

( In the 4th of September, 1781, the colonists,
with a military escort headed by Governor Fe-
lip de Neve, took up their line of march from
the Mission San Gabriel to the site selected for
their pueblo on the Rio de Porciuncula. There,
with religious ceremonies, the Pueblo de Nues-
tra Senora La Reina de Los Angeles was for-
mally founded. A mass was said by a priest
from the Mission San Gabriel, assisted by the
choristers and musicians of that mission. There
were salvos of musketry and a procession with
a cross, candlestick, etc. At the head of the
procession the soldiers bore the standard of
Spain and the women followed bearing a ban-
ner with the image of our Lady the Queen of
the Angels. This procession made a circuit of
the plaza, the priest blessing it and the building
lots. At the close of the services Governor de
Neve made an address full of good advice to the
colonists. Then the governor, his military es-
corj and the priests returned to San Gabriel and
the colonists were left to work out their
destiny.

Few of the great cities of the land have had
such humble founders as Los Angeles. Of the
eleven pobladores who built their huts of poles
and tule thatch around the plaza vieja one hun-
dred and twenty-two years ago, not one could
read or write. Not one could boast of an un-
mixed ancestry. They were mongrels in race,
Caucasian, Indian and Negro mixed. Poor in
purse, poor in blood, poor in all the sterner qual-
ities of character that our own hardy pioneers
of the wot possessed, they left no impress on
the city they founded; and the conquering race
that possesses the land that they colonized has
for-.. t ten them. No street or landmark in the
city bears the name of any one of them. No
monument or tablet marks the spot where they
planted the germ of their settlement. No Fore-
fathers' daj preserves the memory of their serv-
ice- and sacrifices. Their name-, race and the
number of persons in each family have been
preserved in the archives of California. They
are as follows:

i. Jose de Lara, a Spaniard (or reputed to be
"lie. although it is doubtful whether he was of
pure blood) had an Indian wife and three chil-
dren.

-'. Jose Antonio Navarro, a Mestizo, forty-
two years old; wife a mulattress; three children.

3. Pasilio Rosas, an Indian, sixty-eight years
old, had a mulatto wife and two children.

4. Antonio Mesa, a negro, thirty-eight years
old; had a mulatto wife and two children.

5. Antonio Felix Yillavicencio, a Spaniard,
thirty years old; had an Indian wife and one
child.

6. Jose Yanegas, an Indian, twenty-eight
years old; had an Indian wife and one child.

7. Alejandro Rosas,an Indian, nineteen vcars
old, and had an Indian wife. (In the records,
' wife, Coyote-Indian.")

8. Pablo Rodriguez, an Indian, twenty-five
years old; had an Indian wife and one child.

9. Manuel Camero, a mulatto, thirty years
old; had a mulatto wife.

10. Luis Ouintero, a negro, fifty-five years
old, and had a mulatto wife and five children.

1 1 . Jose Morena, a mulatto, twenty-two
years old, and had a mulatto wife.

Antonio Miranda, the twelfth person described
in the padron (list) as a Chino, fifty years old
and having one child, was left at Loreto when
the expedition marched northward. It would
have been impossible for him to have rejoined
the colonists before the founding, Fresumablv
his child remained with him, consequently there
were but forty-four instead of "forty-six persons
in all." Col. J. J. Warner, in his "Historical
Sketch of Los Angeles," originated the fiction
that one of the founders (Miranda, the Chino.)
was born in China. Chino, while it does mean a
( hiuaman, is also applied in Spanish-American
countries to persons or animals having curly
hair. Miranda was probably of mixed Spanish
and Negro blood, and curly haired. There is
no record to show that Miranda ever came to
\lta California.

When Jose de Galvez was fitting out the ex-
pedition for occupying San Diego and Monte-
rey, he issued a proclamation naming St. Jo-
seph a- the patron saint of his California colon-
ization scheme. Hearing this fact in mind, no

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

doubt, Governor de Neve, when he founded San
Jose, named St. Joseph its patron saint. Hav-
ing named one of the two pueblos for San Jose
it naturally followed that the other should be
named for Santa Maria, the Queen of the An-
gels, wife of San Jose.

On the ist of August, 1769, Portola's expedi-
tion, on its journey northward in search of Mon-
terey Bay, had halted in the San Gabriel valley
near where the Mission Yieja was afterwards lo-
cated, to reconnoiter the country and "above
all," as Father Crespi observes, "for the purpose
of celebrating the jubilee of Our Lady of the
Angels of Porciuncula." Xext day, August 2,
after traveling about three leagues (nine miles).
Father Crespi, in his diary, says: "We came to
a rather wide Canada having a great many Cot-
tonwood and alder trees. Through it ran a
beautiful river toward the north-northeast and
curving around the point of a cliff it takes a di-
rection to the south. Toward the north-north-
east we saw another river bed which must have
been a great overflow, but we found it dry. This
arm unites with the river and its great floods
during the rainy season are clearly demon-
strated by the many uprooted trees scattered
along the banks." (This dry river is the Arroyo
Seco.) "We stopped not very far from the river,
to which we gave the name of Porciuncula."
Porciuncula is the name of a hamlet in Italy-
near which was located the little church of Our
Lady of the Angels, in which St. Francis of As-
sisi was praying when the jubilee was granted
him. Father Crespi, speaking of the plain
through which the river flows, says: "This is
the best locality of all those we have yet seen
for a mission, besides having all the resources
required for a large town." Padre Crespi was
evidently somewhat of a prophet.

The fact that this locality had for a number
of years borne the name of "( lur Lady of the
Angels of Porciuncula" may have influenced
Governor de Neve to locate his pueblo here.
The full name of the town, El Pueblo de Nuestra
Seiiora La Reyna de Los Angeles, was seldom
used. It was too long for everyday use. In the
earlier years of the town's history it seems to
have had a variety of names. It appears in the
records as El Pueblo de Nuestra Sefiora de I os

Angeles, as El Pueblo de La Reyna de Los An-
geles and as El Pueblo de Santa Maria de Los
Angeles. Sometimes it was abbreviated to
Santa Maria, but it was most commonly spoken
of as El Pueblo, the town. At what time the
name of Rio Porciuncula was changed to Rio'
Los Angeles is uncertain. The change no doubt
was gradual.

The site selected for the pueblo of Lis An-
geles was picturesque and romantic. From
where Alameda street now is to the eastern
bank of the river the land was covered with a
dense growth of willows, cottonwoods and al-
ders: while here and there, rising above the
swampy copse, towered a giant aliso (sycamore I.
Wild grapevines festooned the branches of the
trees and wild roses bloomed in profusion. Be-
hind the narrow shelf of mesa land where the
pueblo was located rose the brown hills, and in
the distance towered the lofty Sierra Madre
mountains.

The last pueblo founded in California undei
Spanish domination was Villa de Branciforte,
'ocated on the opposite side of the river from
the Mission of Santa Cruz. It was named after
the Viceroy Branciforte. It was designed as a
coast defense and a place to colonize discharged
soldiers. The scheme was discussed for a con
siderable time before anything was done. Gov-
ernor Borica recommended "that an adobe
house be built for each settler so that the prev-
alent state of things in San Jose and Los An-
geles, where the settlers still live in tule huts, he
ing unable to build better dwellings without
neglecting their fields, may he prevented, the
houses to cost not over two hundn

The first detachment of the colonists arrived
Ma\ u, 1707. on the Concepcion in a destitute
condition. Lieutenant Moraga was sent to su
perintend the construction of houses for the
ci 1I1 mists. I le was instructed to build temporary
huts for himself and the guard, then to build
some larger buildings to accommodate fifteen or
twenty families each. These were to he tem-
porary. ( )nly nine families came and they were
of a vagabond class that bad a constitutional
antipathy to work. The settlers received

•■Bancroft's 1 1

of Califoi

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

same amount of supplies and allowance of
money as the colonists of San Jose and Los
Angeles. Although the colonists were called
Spaniards and assumed to be of a superior race
to the first settlers of the other pueblos, they
made less progress and were more unruly than
the mixed and mongrel inhabitants of the older
pueblos.

Although at the close of the century three
decades had passed since the first settlement was
made in California, the colonists had made but
little progress. Three pueblos of gente de razon
had been founded and a few ranchos granted to
e*-soldiers. Exclusive of the soldiers, the white
population in the year 1S00 did not exceed six
hundred. The people lived in the most primi-
tive manner. There was no commerce and no
manufacturing except a little at the missions.
Their houses were adobe huts roofed with tule
thatch. The floor was the beaten earth and the

scant furniture home-made. There was a scarcity
of cloth for clothing. Padre Salazar relates that
when he was at San Gabriei Mission in 1795 a
man who had a thousand horses and cattle in
proportion came there to beg cloth for a shirt,
for none could be had at. the pueblo of Los An-
geles nor at the presidio of Santa Barbara.

Hermanagildo Sal, the comandante of San
Francisco, writing to a friend in 1799. says, "I
send you. by the wife of the pensioner Jose
Barbo, one piece of cotton goods and an ounce
of sewing silk. There are no combs and I have
no hope of receiving any for three years." Think
of waiting three years for a comb!

Eighteen missions had been founded at the
close of the century. Except at a few of the
older missions, the buildings were temporary
structures. The neophytes for the most part
were living in wigwams constructed like those
they had occupied in their wild state.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE PASSING OF SPAIN'S DOMINATION.

THE Spaniards were not a commercial peo-
ple. I heir great desire was to be let alone
in their American possessions. Philip II.
once promulgated a decree pronouncing death
upon any foreigner who entered the Gulf of
Mexico. It was easy to promulgate a decree or
to pass restrictive laws against foreign trade, but
quite another thing to enforce them.

\iht the first settlement of California seven-
teen years passed before a foreign vessel entered
any of its ports. The first to arrive were the
two vi ssels of the French explorer, La Perouse,
who anchored in the harbor of Monterey, Sep-
tember 15. 1786. Being of the same faith, and
France having been an ally of Spain in former
limes, he was well received. During his brief
stay he made a study of the mission system and
his observations on it are plainly given. He
found a similarity in it to the slave plantations
of Santo Domingo. November 14. 170J, the
English navigator, Capt. George Vancouver, in
the >liip Discovery, entered the l'a\ of San

Francisco. He was cordially received by the
comandante of the port, Hermanagildo Sal, and
the friars of the mission. On the 20th of the
month, with several of his officers, he visited the
Mission of Santa Clara, where he was kindly
treated. He also visited the Mission of San
Carlos de Monterey. He wrote an interesting
account of his visit and his observations on the
country. Vancouver was surprised at the back-
wardness of the country and the antiquated cus-
toms of the people. He says: "Instead of find-
ing a country tolerably well inhabited, and far
advanced in cultivation, if we except its natural
pastures, flocks of sheep and herds of cattle,
there is not an object to indicate the most re-
mote connection with any European or other
civilized nation." On a subsequent visit. Cap-
tain Vancouver met a chilly reception from the
acting governor, Arrillaga. The Spaniards sus-
pected him of spying out the weakness of their
defenses. Through the English, the Spaniards
became acquainted with the importance and

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

value of the fur trade. The bays and lagoons of
California abounded in sea otter. Their skins
were worth in China all the way from $30 to
$100 each. The trade was made a government
monopoly. The skins were to be collected from
the natives, soldiers and others by the mission-
aries, at prices ranging from $2.50 to $10 each,
and turned over to the government officials ap-
pointed to receive them. All trade by private
persons was prohibited. The government was
sole trader. But the government failed to make
the trade profitable. In the closing years of
the century the American smugglers began to
haunt the coast. The restrictions against trade
with foreigners were proscriptive and the penal-
ties for evasion severe, but men will trade under
the most adverse circumstances. Spain was a
long way off, and smuggling was not a very
venal sin in the eyes of layman or churchman.
Fast sailing vessels were fitted out in Boston
for illicit trade on the California coast. Watch-
ing their opportunities, these vessels slipped
into the bays and inlets along the coast. There
was a rapid exchange of Yankee notions for sea
otter skins, the most valued peltry of California,
and the vessels were out to sea before the rev-
enue officers could intercept them. If success-
ful in escaping capture, the profits of a smug-
gling voyage were enormous, ranging from 500
to 1,000 per cent above cost on the goods ex-
changed; but the risks were great. The smug-
gler had no protection ; he was an outlaw. He
was the legitimate prey of the padres, the peo-
ple and the revenue officers. The Yankee smug-
gler usually came out ahead. His vessel was
heavily armed, and when speed or stratagem
[ailed he was ready to fight his way out of a
scrape.

Each year two ships were sent from San
Bias with the memorias — mission and presidio
supplies. These took back a small cargo of the
products of the territory, wheat being the prin-
cipal. This was all the legitimate commerce
allowed California.

The fear of Russian aggression had been one
of the causes that had forced Spain to attempt
the colonization of California. Bering, in 1741.
had discovered the strait that bears his name
and had taken possession, for the Russian gov

eminent, of the northwestern coast of America.
Four years later, the first permanent Russian
settlement, Sitka, had been made on one of the
coast islands. Rumors of the Russian explora-
tions and settlements had reached Madrid and
in 1774 Captain Perez, in the San Antonia, was
sent up the coast to find out what the Russians
were doing.

Mad Russian America contained arable land
where grain and vegetables could have been
grown, it is probable that the Russians and
Spaniards in America would not have come in
contact; for another nation, the United States,
had taken possession of the intervening coun-
try, bordering the Columbia river.

The supplies of breadstuffs for the Sitka col-
onists had to be sent overland across Siberia
or shipped around Cape Horn. Failure of sup-
plies sometimes reduced the colonists to sore
straits. In 1806, famine and diseases incident
to starvation threatened the extinction of the
Russian colony. Count Rezanoff, a high officer
of the Russian government, had arrived at the
Sitka settlement in September, 1805. The des-
titution prevailing there induced him to visit
California, with the hope of obtaining relief for
the starving colonists. In the ship Juno (pur-
chased from an American trader), with a scurvy
afflicted crew, he made a perilous voyage down
the stormy coast and on the 5th of April, 1806,
anchored safely in the Bay of San Francisco.
He had brought with him a cargo of goods for
exchange but the restrictive commercial regula-
tions of Spain prohibited trade with foreigners.
Although the friars and the people needed the
goods the governor could not allow the ex-
change. Count Rezanoff would be permitted to
purchase grain for cash, but the Russian's ex-
chequer was nol plethoric and his ship was al-
ready loaded with g Is. Love thai laughs at

locksmiths eventually unlocked the sh
that hampered commerce Rezanoff fell in love
with Dona Concepcion, the beautiful daughter
of Don Jose Arguello, the comandante of San
Francisco, and an old lime friend of the gov-
ernor, Vrrillaga. The attraction was mutual.
Through the influem 1 ncepcion, the

friars and \i gi \ ernor was ;•

to sanction a plan by which cash was the sup-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

posed medium of exchange on both sides, but
grain on the one side and goods on the other
were the real currency.

The romance of Rezanoff and Dona Concep-
cion had a sad ending. On his journey through
Siberia to St. Petersburg to obtain the consent
of the emperor to his marriage he was killed
by a fall from his horse. It was several years
before the news of his death reached his af-
fianced bride. Faithful to his memory, she never
married, but dedicated her life to deeds of char-
ity. After Rezanoff's visit the Russians came
frequently to California, partly to trade, but
more often to hunt otter. While on these fur
hunting expeditions they examined the coast
north of San Francisco with the design of plant-
ing an agricultural colony where they could
raise grain to supply the settlements in the far
north. In 1812 they founded a town and built
a fort on the coast north of Bodega Cay, which
they named Ross. The fort mounted ten guns.
They maintained a fort at Bodega Bay and also
a small settlement on Russian river. The Span-
iards protested against this aggression and
threatened to drive the Russians out of the ter-
ritory, but nothing came of their protests and
they were powerless to enforce their demands.
The Russian ships came to California for sup-
plies and were welcomed by the people and the
friars if not by the government officials. The
Russian colony at Ross was not a success. The
ignorant soldiers and the Aluets who formed
the bulk of its three or four hundred inhab-
itants, knew little or nothing about farming and
were too stupid to learn. After the decline of
fur hunting the settlement became unprofitable.
In 1841 the buildings and the stock were sold
by the Russian governor to ("apt. John A. Sut-
ter for S^i.ooo. The settlement was abandoned
and the fort and tin- town arc in ruins.

On the 15th of September, 1810, the patriot
priest, .Miguel Hidalgo, struck the first blow
for Mexican independence. The revolution
which began in the province of Guanajuato was
at firM regarded by the authorities as a mere
riot of ignorant Indians thai would be speedily
suppressed. But the insurrection spread rap-
idly. Foul; years of oppression ami cruelty hail
instilled into the hearts of the people an undy-

ing hatred for their Spanish oppressors. Hidalgo
soon found himself at the head of a motley
army, poorly armed and undisciplined, but its
numbers swept away opposition. Unfortunately
through over-confidence reverses came and in
March, 181 1, the patriots met an overwhelming
defeat at the bridge of Calderon. Hidalgo was
betrayed, captured and shot. Though sup-
pressed for a time, the cause of independence
was not lost. For eleven years a fratricidal war
was waged — cruel, bloody and devastating. Al-
lende, Alina. Moreles, Alama, Rayon and other
patriot leaders met death on the field of battle
or were captured and shot as rebels, but "Free-
dom's battle" bequeathed from bleeding sire to
son was won at last.

Of the political upheavals that shook Spain
in the first decades of the century only the faint-
est rumblings reached far distant California.
Notwithstanding the many changes of rulers
that political revolutions and Napoleonic wars
gave the mother country, the people of Califor-
nia remained loyal to the Spanish crown, al-
though at times they must have been in doubt
who wore the crown.

Arrillaga was governor of California when
the war of Mexican independence began. Al-
though born in Mexico he was of pure Spanish
parentage and was thoroughly in sympathy with
Spain in the contest. He did not live to see the
end of the war. He died in 1814 and was suc-
ceeded by Pablo Vicente de Sola. Sola was
Spanish born and was bitterly opposed to the
revolution, even going so far as to threaten
death to any one who should speak in favor of
it. Fie had received his appointment from
Viceroy Calleja, the butcher of Guanajuato, the
crudest and most bloodthirsty of the vice regal
governors of new Spain. The friars were to a
man loyal to Spain. The success of the repub-
lic meant tin- downfall of their domination.
The) hated republican ideas and regarded
their dissemination as a crime. They were the
ruling power in California. The governors
and the people were subservient to their
wishes.

The decade between 1810 and 1820 was
marked by two important events, the year of the
earthquakes and the year of the insurgents.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

The year 1812 was the Ano de los Temblores.
The seismic disturbance that for forty years or
more had shaken California seemed to concen-
trate in power that year and expend its force
on the mission churches. The massive church
of San Juan Capistrano, the pride of mission
architecture, was thrown down ami forty per-
sons killed. The wails of San Gabriel Mission
were cracked and some of the saints shaken out
of their niches. At San Buenaventura there
were three heavy shocks which injured the
church so that the tower and much of the facade
had to be rebuilt. The whole mission site
seemed to settle and the inhabitants, fearful
that they might be engulfed by the sea, moved
up the valley about two miles, where they re-
mained three months. At Santa Barbara both
church and the presidio were damaged and at
Santa Inez the church was shaken down. The
quakes continued for several months and the
people were so terrified that they abandoned
their houses and lived in the open air.

The other important epoch of the decade was
El Ano de los Insurgentes, the year of the in-
surgents. In November, 18 18, Bouchard, a
Frenchman in the service of Buenos Ayres and
provided with letters of marque by San Mar-
tain, the president of that republic, to prey upon
Spanish commerce, appeared in the port of
Monterey with two ships carrying sixty-six
guns and three hundred and fifty men. He at-
tacked Monterey and after an obstinate re-
sistance by the Californians, it was taken by the
insurgents and burned. Bouchard next pillaged
Ortega's rancho and burned the buildings.
Then sailing down the coast he scared the Santa
Barbaranos; then keeping on down he looked
into San Pedro, but finding nothing there to
tempt him he kept on to San Juan Capistrano.
There he landed, robbed the mission of a few
articles and drank the padres' wine. Then he
sailed away and disappeared. He left six of his
men in California, among them Joseph Chap-
man of Boston, the first American resident of
California.

In the early part of the last century there
was a limited commerce with Lima. That

being a Spanish dependency, trade with it was
not prohibited. Gilroy, who arrived in Califor-
nia in 1814. says in his reminiscences:*

"The only article of export then was tallow,
of which one cargo was sent annually to Callao
in a Spanish ship. This tallow sold for $1.50
per hundred weight in silver or $2.00 in trade
or goods. Hides, except those used for tallow
bags, were thrown away. Wheat, barley and
beans had no market. Nearly everything con-
sumed by the people was produced at home.
There was no foreign trade."

As the revolution in Mexico progressed
times grew harder in California. The mission
niemorias ceased to come. Xo tallow ships from
Callao arrived. The soldiers' pay was years in
arrears and their uniforms in rags. What little
wealth there was in the country was in the
hands of the padre.. 'I hey were supreme. "The
friars," says Gilroy, "had even thin- their own
way. The governor and the military were ex-
pected to do whatever the friars requested. The
missions contained all the wealth of the coun-
try." The friars supported the government and
supplied the troops with food from the products
of the neophytes' labor. The crude manufac-
turers of the missions supplied the people with
cloth for clothing and some other necessities.
The needs of the common people were easily
satisfied. They were not used to Iuxurii
were they accustomed to what we would now
consider necessities. Gilroy, in the reminis-
cences heretofore referred to, states that at the
time of his arrival (1814) "There was not a saw-
mill, whip .-aw or spoked wheel in California.
Such lumber as was used was cut with an axe.

Chairs, tables and w 1 flooi

lound except in the governor's house. Plates
were rare unless that name could be applied to
the tiles used instead. Money was a rarity.
There were no stores and no merchandise to
sell. There was no employment for a laborer.
The neophytes did all the work and all the busi-
ness of tlie country was in the hands of the
friars."

*Alta California, June 25, 1865.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

CHAPTER IX.

FROM EMPIRE TO REPUBLIC.

THE condition of affairs in California stead-
ily grew worse as the revolution in Mex-
ico progressed. Sola had made strenuous
efforts to arouse the Spanish authorities of New
Spain to take some action towards benefiting the
territory. Alter the affair with the insurgent
Bouchard he had appealed to the viceroy for re-
inforcements. In answer to his urgent entreaties
a force of one hundred men was sent from Ma-
zatlan to garrison San Diego and an equal force
from San Bias for Monterey. They reached Cal-
ifornia in August, 1819, and Sola was greatly-
rejoiced, but his joy was turned to deep disgust
when he discovered the true character of the re-
inforcement and arms sent him. The only equip-
ments of the soldiers were a few hundred did
worn-out sabers that Sola declared were unfit
for sickles. He ordered them returned to the
comandante of San Bias, who had sent them.
The troops were a worse lot than the arms sent.
They had been taken out of the prisons or con-
scripted from the lowest class of the population
of the cities. They were thieves, drunkards and
vagabonds, who, as soon as landed, resorted to
robberies, brawls and assassinations. Sola wrote
to the viceroy that the outcasts called troops
sent him from the jails of Tepic and San Bias
by their vices caused continual disorders; their
evil example had debauched the minds of the
Indians and that the cost incurred in their col-
let! inn ami transportation had been worse than
thrown away, lie could not get rid of them,
s<> he had to control them as best he could.
Governor Sola labored faithfully to benefit the
country over which be had been placed and to
arouse the Spanish authorities in Mexico to do
something tor the advancement of California;
but the government did nothing. Indeed it was
in no condition to ,1,. anything. The revolution
would not down. No sooner was one revolution-
ary leader suppressed and the rebellion ap-
parently crushed than there was an uprising in

some other part of the country under a new
leader.

Ten years of intermittent warfare had been
waged — one army of patriots after another had
been defeated and the leaders shot; the strug-
gle for independence was almost ended and the
royalists were congratulating themselves on the
triumph of the Spanish crown, when a sudden
1 hange came and the vice regal government
that lor three hundred years had swayed the
destinies of Xew Spain went down forever.
Agustin Iturbide, a colonel in the royal army,
who in February, 1821, had been sent with a
corps of five thousand men from the capital to
the Sierras near Aeapulco to suppress Guerrero,
the last of the patriot chiefs, suddenly changed
his allegiance, raised the banner of the revolu-
tion and declared for the independence of Mex-
ico under the plan of Iguala, so named for the
town where it was first proclaimed. The central
ideas of the plan were "Union, civil and re-
ligious liberty."

There was a general uprising in all parts of
the country and men rallied to the support of the
Army of the Three Guarantees, religion, union,
independence. Guerrero joined forces with
Iturbide and September 21. 1821, at the head
of sixteen thousand men, amid the rejoicing of
the people, they entered the capital. The viceroy
was compelled to recognize the independence of
Mexico. A provisional government under a
regency was appointed at first, but a few months
later Iturbide was crowned emperor, taking the
title of his most serene majesty, Agustin I., by
divine providence and by the congress of the
nation, first constitutional emperor of Mexico.

Sola had heard rumors of the turn affairs
were taking in Mexico, but he had kept the re-
ports a secret and still hoped and prayed for
the success of the Spanish arms. At length a
vessel appeared in the harbor of Monterey float-
ing an unknown flag, and cast anchor beyond

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the reach of the guns of the castillo. The sol-
diers were called to arms. A boat from the ship
put off for shore and landed an officer, who de-
clared himself the bearer of dispatches to Don
Pablo Vicente de Sola, the governor of the
province. "I demand," said he, "to be con-
ducted to his presence in the name of my sov-
ereign, the liberator of Mexico, General Agustin
de Iturbide." There was a murmur of applause
from the soldiers, greatly to the surprise of their
officers, who were all loyalists. Governor Sola
was bitterly disappointed. Only a few days be-
fore he had harangued the soldiers in the square
of the presidio and threatened "to shoot down
any one high or low without the formality of a
trial who dared to say a word in favor of the
traitor Iturbide."

For half a century the banner of Spain had
floated from the flag staff of the presidio of
Monterey. Sadly Sola ordered it lowered and
in its place was hoisted the imperial flag of the
Mexican Empire. A few months pass, Iturbide
is forced to abdicate the throne of empire and
is banished from Mexico. The imperial stand-
ard is supplanted by the tricolor of the republic.
Thus the Californians, in little more than one
year, have passed under three different forms
of government, that of a kingdom, an empire
and a republic, and Sola from the most
loyal of Spanish governors in the kingdom
of Spain has been transformed in a Mexican
republican.

The friars, if possible, were more bitterly dis-
appointed than the governor. They saw in the
success of the republic the doom of their estab-
lishments. Republican ideas were repulsive to
them. Liberty meant license to men to think
for themselves. The shackles of creed ami the
fetters of priestcraft would be loosened by the
growth of liberal ideas. It was not strange,
viewing the question from their standpoint, that
they refused to take the oath of allegiance to
the republic. Nearly all of them were Spanish
born. Spain had aided them to plant their mis-
sions, had fostered their establishments ami had
made them supreme in the territory. Their al-
legiance was due to the Spanish crown. They
would not transfer it to a republic and th'ey did
not; to the last they were loyal to Spain in

heart, even if they did acquiesce in the ob-
servance of the rule of the republic.

Sola had long desired to be relieved of the
governorship. He was growing old and was in
poor health. The condition of the country wor-
ried him. He had frequently asked to be re-
lieved and allowed to retire from military duty.
His requests were unheeded; the vice regal
government of New Spain had weightier mat-
ters to attend to than requests or the complaints
of the governor of a distant and unimportant
province. The inauguration of the empire
brought him the desired relief.

Under the empire Alta California was allowed
a diputado or delegate in the imperial congress.
Sola was elected delegate and took his de-
parture for Mexico in the autumn of 1822. Luis
Antonio Arguello, president of the provincial
diputacion, an institution that had come into ex-
istence after the inauguration of the empire, be-
came governor by virtue of his position as
president. He was the first hijo del pais or na-
tive of the country to hold the office of gov-
ernor. He was born at San Francisco in 17S4,
while his father, an ensign at the presidio, was
in command there. His opportunities for ob-
taining an education were extremely meager,
but he made the best use of what he had. lie
entered the army at sixteen and was, at the time
he became temporary governor, comandante at
San Francisco.

The inauguration of a new form of govern-
ment had brought no relief to California. The
two Spanish ships that had annually brought
los memorias del rev (the remembrances of the
king) had long since ceased to come with their
supplies of money and goods for the soldiers.
The California ports were closed to foreign com-
merce. There was no sale for the products of
the country. So the missions had 10 throw open
their warehouses and relieve the necessities of
the government.

The change in the form of government had
made no change in the dislike of foreigners,
that was a characteristic of the Spaniard. 1 lur-
ing the Spanish era very few foreigners had
been allowed to remain in California. Run-
awa\ sailors an ed mariners, notwith-

standing they might wish to remain in the coun-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

try and become Catholics, were shipped to
Mexico and returned to their own country.
John Gilroy, whose real name was said to be
John Cameron, was the first permanent English
speaking resident of California. When a boy
of eighteen he was left by the captain of a Hud-
son Bay company's ship at Monterey in 1814.
He was sick with the scurvy and not expected
to live. Nursing and a vegetable diet brought
him out all right, but he could not get away.
He did not like the country and every day for
several years he went down to the beach and
scanned the ocean for a foreign sail. When one
did come he had gotten over his home-sickness,
had learned the language, fallen in love, turned
Catholic and married.

In 1822 William E. P. Hartnell, an English-
man, connected with a Lima business house,
visited California and entered into a contract
with Padre Payeras, the prefect of the missions,
for the purchase of hides and tallow. Hartnell
a few years later married a California lady and
became a permanent resident of the territory.
Other foreigners who came about the same time
as Hartnell and who became prominent in Cal-
ifornia were William A. Richardson, an Eng-
lishman; Capt. John R. Cooper of Boston and
William A. Gale, also of Boston. Gale had first
visited California in 1810 as a fur trader. He
returned in 1822 on the ship Sachem, the pioneer
Boston hide drogher. The hide drogher was
in a certain sense the pioneer emigrant ship
of California. It brought to the coast a
number of Americans who became permanent
residents of the territory. California, on ac-
count of its long distance from the world's
marts of trade, had but few products for ex-
change that would bear the cost of shipment.
Its chief commodities for barter during the
Mexican era were hides and tallow. The vast
range of country adapted to cattle raising made
that its most profitable industry. Cattle in-
creased rapidly and required but little care or
on from their owners. Vs the native Cal-
ifornians were averse to hard labor cattle rais-
ing became almost the sole industry of the
country.

\fh>- the inauguration of a republican form
of government in Mexico some of the most

burdensome restrictions on foreign commerce
were removed. The Mexican Congress of 1824
enacted a colonization law, which was quite
liberal. Under it foreigners could obtain land
from the public domain. The Roman Catholic
religion was the state religion and a foreigner,
before he could become a permanent resident of
the country, acquire property or marry, was
required to be baptized and embrace the doc-
trines of that church. After the Mexican Con-
gress repealed the restrictive laws against for-
eign commerce a profitable trade grew up
between the New England ship owners and the
Californians.

Vessels called hide droghers were fitted out
in Boston with assorted cargoes suitable for the
California trade. Making the voyage by way of
Cape Horn they reached California. Stopping
at the various ports along the coast they ex-
changed their stocks of goods and Yankee
notions for hides and tallow. It took from two
to three years to make a voyage to California
and return to Boston, but the profits on the
goods sold and on the hides received in ex-
change were so large that these ventures paid
handsomely. The arrival of a hide drogher
with its department store cargo was heralded
up and down the coast. It broke the monotony
of existence, gave the people something new
to talk about and stirred them up as nothing
else could do unless possibly a revolution.

'*On the arrival of a new vessel from the
United States," says Robinson in his "Life in
California," "every man, woman, boy and girl
took a proportionate share of interest as to the
qualities of her cargo. If the first inquired for
rice, sugar or tobacco, the latter asked for prints,
silks and satins; and if the boy wanted a Wil-
son's jack knife, the girl hoped that there might
be some satin ribbons for her. Thus the whole
population hailed with eagerness an arrival. Even
the Indian in his unsophisticated style asked for
Panas Colorados and Abalaris — red handker-
chiefs and beads.

"After the arrival of our trading vessel (at San
Pedro) our friends came in the morning flock-
ing on board from all quarters; and soon a busy
scene commenced afloat and ashore. Boats
were passing to the beach, and men, women

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and children partaking in the general excite-
ment. On shore all was confusion, cattle and
carts laden with hides and tallow, gente de razon
and Indians busily employed in the delivery of
their produce and receiving in return its value
in goods. Groups of individuals seated around
little bonfires upon the ground, and horsemen
racing over the plains in every direction. Thus
the day passed, some arriving, some departing,
till long after sunset, the low white road, lead-
ing across the plains to the town (Los Angeles),
appeared a living panorama."

The commerce of California during the Mex-
ican era was principally carried on by the hide
droghers. The few stores at the pueblos and
presidios obtained their supplies from them
and retailed their goods to customers in the in-
tervals between the arrivals of the department
store droghers.

The year 1824 was marked by a serious out-
break among the Indians of several missions.
Although in the older missionary establish-
ments many of the neophytes had spent half a
century under the Christianizing influence of
the padres and in these, too, a younger genera-
tion had grown from childhood to manhood
under mission tutelage, yet their Christian train-
ing had not eliminated all the aboriginal sav-
agery from their natures. The California Indians
were divided into numerous small tribes, each
speaking a different dialect. The}- had never
learned, like the eastern Indians did, the ad-
vantages of uniting against a common enemy.
When these numerous small tribes were gath-
ered into the missions they were kept as far as
it was possible separate and it is said the padres
encouraged their feuds and tribal animosities to
prevent their uniting against the missionaries.
Their long residence in the missions had de-
stroyed their tribal distinctions and merged
them into one body. It had taught them, too,
the value of combination.

How long the Indians had been plotting no
one knew. The conspiracy began among the
neophytes of Santa Ynez and La Purisima, but
it spread to the missions of San Luis < ibispo,
Santa Barbara, San Buenaventura, San Fer-
nando and San Gabriel. Their plan was to mas-
sacre the padres and the mission guard and

having obtained arms to kill all the genie de
razon and thus free themselves from mission
thralldom and regain their old time freedom.
The plotting had been carried on with great
secrecy. Rumors had passed from mission to
mission arranging the details of the uprising
without the whites suspecting anything. Sunday,
February 22, [824, was the day set for begin-
ning the slaughter. At the hour of celebrating
mass, when the soldiers and the padre- were
within the church, the bloody work was to be-
gin. The plot might have succeeded had not
the Indians at Santa Ynez began their work
prematurely. One account (Hindi's History of
California) says that on Saturday afternoon be-
fore the appointed Sunday they determined to
begin the work by the murder of Padre- Fran-
cisco Xavier Una, who was sleeping in a cham-
ber next the mission church. He was warned
by a faithful page. Springing from his couch
and rushing to a window he saw the Indians ap-
proaching. Seizing a musket from several that
were in the room he shot the first Indian that
reached the threshold dead. He seized a sec-
ond musket and laid another Indian low. The
soldiers now rallied to his assistance and the
Indians were driven back: they set fire to the
mission church, but a small body of troops un-
der Sergeant Carrillo, sent from Santa Barbara
to reinforce the mission guard, coming up at
this time, the Indians lied to Purisima. The
fire was extinguished before the church was
consumed. At Purisima the Indians were more
successful. The mission was defended by Cor-
poral Tapia and five soldiers. The Indians de-
manded that Tapia surrender, but tin- corporal
refused. The tight began and continued all
night. The Indians set fire to the building, but
all they could burn was the rafters. Tapia. by a
strategic movement, succeeded in collecting all
the soldiers and the women and children inside
the walls of one of the largest buildings from
which the roof had been burnt. From this the
Indians could nol dislodge him. The fighl was
kept up till morning, when one of the Indians,
who had been a mission alcade, made a prop-
osition to the corporal to surrender, Tapia re-
fused to consider it, Km Father Bias I >rdaz in-
terfered and insisted 1 imise. After

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

much contention Tapia found himself overruled.
The Indians agreed to spare the lives of all on
condition that the whites laid down their arms.
The soldiers laid down their arms and sur-
rendered two small cannon belonging to the
church. The soldiers, the women and the chil-
dren were then allowed to march to Santa Ynez.
While the fight was going on the Indians killed
four white men, two of them, Dolores Sepulveda
and Ramon Satelo, were on their way to Los
Angeles and came to the mission not suspecting
any danger. Seven Indians were killed in the
fight and a number wounded.

The Indians at Santa Barbara began hostilities
according to their prearranged plot. They made
an attack upon the mission. Captain de la
( iuerra, who was in command at the presidio,
marched to the mission and a fight of several
hours ensued. The Indians sheltered them-
selves behind the pillars of the corridor and
fought with guns and arrows. After losing sev-
eral of their number they lied to the hills. Four
soldiers were wounded. The report of the up-
rising reached Monterey and measures were
taken at once to subdue the rebellious
neophytes. A force of one hundred men was
sent under Lieut. Jose Estrada to co-operate
with Captain de la Guerra against the rebels.
( )n the t6th of .March the soldiers surrounded
the Indians who had taken possession of the
mission church at Purisima and opened fire
Upon them. The Indians replied with their cap-
tured cannon, muskets and arrows. Estrada's
artillery battered down the walls of the church.
The Indian-, unused to arms, did little execu-
tion. Driven out of the wrecked building, they
attempted to make their escape by llight, but
wire intercepted by tlie cavalry which had been
deployed for that purpose. Finding themselves

hemmed in on all sides the neophytes sur-
rendered. They had lost sixteen killed and a
large number of wounded. Seven of the prison-
ers were shot for complicity in the murder of
Sepulveda and the three other travelers. The
four leaders in the revolt, Mariano Pacomio,
Benito and Bernabe, were sentenced to ten
years hard labor at the presidio and eight oth-
ers to lesser terms. There were four hundred
Indians engaged in the battle.

The Indians of the Santa Barbara missions
and escapes from Santa Ynez and Purisima
made their way over the mountains to the
Tulares. A force of eighty men under com-
mand of a lieutenant was sent against these.
The troops had two engagements with the reb-
els, whom they found at Buenavista Lake and
San Emigdio. Finding his force insufficient to
subdue them the lieutenant retreated to Santa
Barbara. Another force of one hundred and
thirty men under Captain Portilla and Lieuten-
ant Valle was sent after the rebels. Father
Ripoll had induced the governor to offer a gen-
eral pardon. The padre claimed that the In-
dians had not harmed the friars nor committed
sacrilege in the church and from his narrow-
view these were about the only venal sins they
could commit. The troops found the fugitive
neophytes encamped at San Emigdio. They
now professed repentance for their misdeeds and
were willing to return to mission life if they
could escape punishment. Padres Ripoll and
Sarria, who had accompanied the expedition,
entered into negotiations with the Indians; par-
don was promised them for their offenses. They
then surrendered and marched back with the
soldiers to their respective missions. This was
the last attempt of the Indians to escape from
mission rule.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

CHAPTER X.

FIRST DECADE OF MEXICAN RULE.

JOSE MARIA ECHEANDIA, a lieutenant
colonel of the Mexican army, was ap-
pointed governor of the two Californias,
February i, 1825. With his staff officers and
a few soldiers he landed at Loreto June
22. After a delay of a few months at Lo-
reto he marched overland to San Diego,
where he arrived about the middle of October.
He summoned Arguello to meet him there,
which he did and turned over the government,
October 31, 1825. Echeandia established his
capital at San Diego, that town being about the
center of his jurisdiction. This did not suit the
people of Monterey, who become prejudiced
against the new governor. Shortly after his
inauguration he began an investigation of the
attitude of the mission friars towards the re-
public of Mexico. He called padres Sanches,
Zalvidea, Peyri and Martin, representatives of
the four southern missions, to San Diego and
demanded of them whether they would take the
oath of allegiance to the supreme government.
They expressed their willingness and were ac-
cordingly sworn to support the constitution of
1824. Many of the friars of the northern mis-
sions remained contumacious. Among the
most stubborn of these was Padre Vicente
Francisco de Sarria, former president of the
missions. He had resigned the presidency to
escape taking the oath of allegiance and still
continued his opposition. He was put under ar-
rest and an order issued for his expulsion by
the supreme government, but the execution of
the order was delayed for fear that if he were
banished others of the disloyal padres would
abandon their missions and secretly leave the
country. The government was not ready yet to
take possession of the missions. The friars
could keep the neophytes in subjection and
make them work. The business of the country
was in the hands of the friars and any radical
change would have been disastrous.

The national government in 1827 had issued
a decree for the expulsion of Spaniards from
Mexican territory. There were certain classes
of those born in Spain who were exempt from
banishment, but the friars were not among the
exempts. The decree of expulsion reached Cal-
ifornia in 1828; but it was not enforced for the
reason that all of the mission padres except
three were Spaniards. To have sent these out
of the country would have demoralized the mis-
sions. The Spanish friars were expelled from
Mexico; but those in California, although some
of them had boldly proclaimed their willingness
to die for their king and their religion and de-
manded their passports to leave the country,
were allowed to remain in the country. Their
passports were not given them for reasons
above stated. Padres Ripoll and Altimira made
their escape without passports. They secretly
took passage on an American brig lying at
Santa Barbara. Orders were issued to seize the
vessel should she put into any other harbor on
the coast, but the captain, who no doubt had
been liberally paid, took no chance of capture
and the padres eventually reached Spain in
safety. There was a suspicion that the two
friars had taken with them a large amount of
money from the mission funds, but nothing was
proved. It was certain that they carried away
something more than the bag and staff, the onl)
property allowed them by the rules of their
order.

The most bitter opponenl of the new govern-
ment was Father Luis Antonio Martinez of San
Luis Obispo. Before the clandestine departure
of Ripoll and Altimira there were rumors that
he meditated a secret departure From the coun-
try. The mysterious shipment of $6,000 in gold
belonging to the mission on a vessel called the
Santa Apolonia gave credence to the repi
1 tided flight. 1 le had been given a
port hill -till remained in the territory. His

HISTORICAL AXD UK )GRAPHICAL RECORD.

outspoken disloyalty and his well known suc-
cess in evading the revenue laws and smuggling
goods ini" i lie country had made him particu-
larly obnoxious to the authorities. Governor
Echeandia determined to make an example of
him. He was arrested m February, 1830, and
confined in a room at Santa Barbara. In his
trial before a council of war an attempt was
made to connect him with complicity in the Solis
revolution, but the evidence against him was
weak. P.\ a vote of live to one it was decided
to send him out of the country. He was put
on board an English vessel bound for Callao and
there transferred to a vessel bound for Europe;
he finally arrived safely at Madrid.

Under the empire a diputacion or provincial
legislature had been established in California.
Arguello in 1825 had suppressed this while he
was governor. Echeandia, shortly after his ar-
rival, ordered an election for a new diputacion.
The diputacion made the general laws of the
territory. It consisted of seven members called
vocals. These were chosen by an electoral
junta, the members .if which were elected by
the people. The diputacion chose a diputado or
delegate to the Mexican Congress. As it was a
long distance for some of the members to travel
tu the territorial capital a suplente or substitute
was chosen for each member, so as to assure a
quorum. The diputacion called by Echeandia
met at Monterey, June 14, 1828. The sessions,
of which there were two each week, were held in
the governor's palacio. This diputacion passed
a rather peculiar revenue law. It taxed domestic
aguardiente (grape brandy) $5 a barrel and
wine half that amount in the jurisdictions of
Monterey and San Francisco; but in the juris-
dictions of Santa Barbara and San Diego the
rates were doubled, brandy was taxed $10
a barrel and wine $5. San Diego, Los An-
geles and Santa Barbara were wine producing
districts, while Monterej and San Francisco
wire nut. As there was a larger consumption of
the product in the wine producing district- than
in the others the law was enacted for revenue
and not for prevention of drinking.

Another peculiar freak of legislation perpe-
trated by this diputacion was the attempt to
change the name of the territory. The supreme

government was memorialized to change the
name of Aha California to that of Montezuma
and also that of the Pueblo de Xuestra Seriora
de los Angeles to that of Villa Victoria de la
Reyna de los Angeles and make it the capital
of the territory. A coat of arms was adopted
for the territory. It consisted of an oval with
the figure of an oak tree on one side, an olive
tree on the other and a plumed Indian in the
center with his bow and quiver, just in the
act of stepping across the mythical straits
of Anian. The memorial was sent to Mexico,
but the supreme government paid no attention
to it.

The political upheavals, revolutions and coun-
ter revolutions that followed the inauguration
of a republican form of government in Mexico
demoralized the people and produced a prolific
crop of criminals. The jails were always full
and it became a serious question what to do
with them. It was proposed to make California
a penal colony, similar to England*s Botany
Bay. Orders were issued to send criminals to
California as a means of reforming their mor-
als. The Californians protested against the
sending of these undesirable immigrants, but in
vain. In February, 1830, the brig Maria Ester
brought eighty convicts from Acapulco to San
Diego. They were not allowed to land there
and were taken to Santa Barbara. What to
do with them was a serious question with the
Santa Barbara authorities. The jail would not
hold a tenth part of the shipment and to turn
them loose in the sparsely settled country was
dangerous to the peace of the community. Fin-
ally, about thirty or forty of the worst of the
bad lot were shipped over to the island of Santa
Cruz. They were given a supply of cattle, some
fishhooks and a few tools and turned loose on
the island to shift for themselves. They staid
mi the island until they had slaughtered and
eaten the cattle, then they built a raft and
drifted back to Santa Barbara, where they
quartered themselves on the padres of the mis-
sion. Fifty more were sent from Mexico a few
months later. These shipments of prison exiles
were distributed around among the settlements.
Some served out their time and returned to their
native land, a few escaped over the border,

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

others remained in the territory after their time
was up and became fairly good citizens.

The colonization law passed by the Mexican
Congress August 18, 1824, was the first break
in the proscriptive regulations that had pre-
vailed in Spanish-American countries since their
settlement. Any foreigner of good character
who should locate in the country and become a
Roman Catholic could obtain a grant of public
land, not exceeding eleven leagues; but no for-
eigner was allowed to obtain a grant within
twenty leagues of the boundary of a foreign
country nor within ten leagues of the sea coast.
The law of April 14, 1828, allowed foreigners
to become naturalized citizens. The applicant
was required to have resided at least two years
in the country, to be or to become a Roman
Catholic, to renounce allegiance to his former
country and to swear to support the constitution
and laws of the Mexican republic. Quite a
number of foreigners who had been residing
a number of years in California took advantage
of this law and became Mexican citizens by nat-
uralization. The colonization law of Novem-
ber 18, 1828, prescribed a series of rules and
regulations for the making of grants of land.
Colonists were required to settle on ami culti-
vate the land granted within a specified time or
forfeit their grants. Any one residing outside
of the republic could not retain possession of
his land. The minimum size of a grant as de-
fined by this law was two hundred varas square
of irrigable land, eight hundred varas square
of arable land (depending on the seasons) and
twelve hundred varas square grazing land. The
size of a house lot was one hundred varas
square.

The Californians had grown accustomed to
foreigners coming to the country by sea, but
they were not prepared to have them come over-
land. The mountains and deserts that inter-
vened between the United States and California
were supposed to be an insurmountable barrier
to foreign immigration by land. It was no doubt
with feelings of dismay, mingled with anger,
that Governor Echeandia received the advance
guard of maldito estranjeros, who came across
the continent. Echeandia hated foreigners and
particularly Americans. The pioneer of over-

land travel from the United States to California
was Capt. Jedediah S. Smith. Smith was born
in Connecticut and when quite young came
with his father to Ohio and located in Ashtabula
county, where he grew to manhood amid the
rude surroundings of pioneer life in the west.
By some means he obtained a fairly good educa-
tion. We have no record of when he began the
life of a trapper. We first hear of him as an
employe of General Ashley in 1822. He had
command of a band of trappers on the waters of
the Snake river in 1824. Afterwards he became
a partner of Ashley under the firm name of
Ashley & Smith and subsequently one of the
members of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company.
The latter company had about 1825 established
a post and fort near Great Salt Lake. From
this, August 22, 1826, Captain Smith with a
band of fifteen hunters and trappers started on
his first expedition to California. His object
was to find some new country that had not been
occupied by a fur company. Traveling in a south-
westerly direction he discovered a river which
he named Adams (after President John Ouincy
Vdams) now known as the Rio Virgin. This
stream he followed down to its junction with
the Colorado. Traveling down the latter river
he arrived at the Mojave villages, where he
rested fifteen days. Here he found two wander-
ing neophytes, who guided his party across the
desert to the San Gabriel mission, where he and
his men arrived safely early in December, 1826.
The arrival of a party of armed Americans
from across the mountains and deserts alarmed
the padres and couriers were hastily dispatched
to Governor Echeandia at San Diego. The
Americans were placed under arrest and com-
pelled to give up their arms. Smith was taken
to San Diego to give an account of himself. 1 [e
claimed that he had been compelled to enter
the territory on account of the loss of horses
and a scarcity of provisions, lie was finally re-
leased from prison upon the endorsement of
several American ship captains and supercar-
goes who were then at San Diego, lie was a!
lowed to return to San Gabriel, where he pur-
chased horses and supplies. He moved his camp
to San Bernardino, where he remained until
February. The authorities had grown uneasy

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

at his continued presence in the country and
orders were sent to arrest him, but before this
could be done he left for the Tulare country by
way of Cajon Pass. He trapped on the tribu-
taries of the San Joaquin. By the ist of May
he and his party had reached a fork of the Sac-
ramento (near where the town of Folsom now
stands). Here he established a summer camp
and the river ever since has been known as the
American fork from that circumstance.

Here again the presence of the Americans
worried the Mexican authorities. Smith wrote
a conciliatory letter to Padre Duran, president
of the missions, informing him that he had
"made several efforts to pass over the moun-
tains, but the snow being so deep I could not
succeed in getting over. I returned to this
place, it being the only point to kill meat, to
wait a few weeks until the snow melts so that I
can go on." "On May 20, 1827," Smith writes,
"with two men, seven horses and two mules, I
started from the valley. In eight days we
crossed Mount Joseph, losing two horses and
one mule. After a march of twenty days east-
ward from Mount Joseph (the Sierra Xevadas)
I reached the southwesterly corner of the Great
Salt Lake. The country separating it from the
mountains is arid and without game. ( Iften we
had no water for two days at a time. When
we reached Salt Lake we had left only one horse
and one mule, so exhausted that they could
hardl) carry our slight baggage. We had been
forced to eat the horses that had succumbed."

Smith's route over the Sierras to Salt Lake
was substantially the same as that followed bythe
overland emigration of later years. He discov-
ered the Humboldt, which he named the Mary
river, a name it bore until changed by Fremont
in 1S45. lie was the first white man to cross
the Sierra Xevadas. Smith left his partv of
trappers excepl the two who accompanied him
in the Sacramento valley. He returned next
year with reinforcements and was ordered out
of the country by the governor. He traveled up
the coast towards Oregon. On the Umpqua
river he was attacked b) the Indians. All his
part) except himself and two others were mas-
sacred, lie lost all of his horses and furs, lie
reached Fort Vancouver his clothing torn to

rags and almost starved to death. In 1831 he
started with a train of wagons to Santa Fe on a
trading expedition. While alone searching for
water near the Cimarron river he was set upon
by a party of Indians and killed. Thus perished
by the hands of cowardly savages in the wilds of
Xew Mexico a man who. through almost in-
credible dangers and sufferings, had explored
an unknown region as vast in extent as that
which gave fame and immortality to the African
explorer, Stanley; and who marked out trails
over mountains and across deserts that Fre-
mont following years afterwards won the title
of " Pathfinder of the Great West." Smith led
the advance guard of the fur trappers to Cali-
fornia. Notwithstanding the fact that they were
unwelcome visitors these adventurers continued
to come at intervals up to 1845. They trapped
on the tributaries of the San Joaquin, Sacramento
and the rivers in the northern part of the terri-
tory. A few of them remained in the country
and became permanent residents, but most of
them sooner or later met death by the savages.

Capt. Jedediah S. Smith marked out two of
the great immigrant trails by which the overland
travel, after the discover) of gold, entered Cal-
ifornia, one by way of the Humboldt river over
the Sierra Xevadas, the other southerly from
Salt Lake, Utah Lake, the Rio Virgin, across
the Colorado desert, through the Cajon Pass to
Los Angeles. A third immigrant route was
blazed by the Pattie party. This route led from
Santa Fe, across New Mexico, down the Gila
to the Colorado and from thence across the
desert through the San Gorgonio Pass to Los
Angeles.

This party consisted of Sylvester Pattie,
James Ohio Pattie, his son, Nathaniel M.
Pryor, Richard Laughlin, Jesse Furguson, Isaac
Slover, William Pope and James Puter. The
Patties left Kentucky in 1S24 and followed trap-
ping in Xew Mexico and Arizona until 1827:
the elder Pattie for a time managing the cop-
per mines of Santa Rita. In May. 1827, Pattie
the elder, in command of a part)' of thirty trap-
pers and hunters, set out to trap the tributaries
of the Colorado. Losses by Indian hostilities,
b) dissensions and desertions reduced the party
to eight persons. December ist, 1827, while

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

!)l

these were encamped on the Colorado near the
mouth of the Gila, the Yuma Indians stole all
their horses. They constructed rafts and floated
down the Colorado, expecting to find Spanish
settlements on its hanks, where they hoped to
procure horses to take them back to Santa Fe.
They floated down the river until they encoun-
tered the flood tide from the gulf. Finding it
impossible to go ahead on account of the tide
or back on account of the river current, they
landed, cached their furs and traps and with
two days' supply of beaver meat struck out
westerly across the desert. After traveling for
twenty-four days and suffering almost incredible
hardships they reached the old Mission of Santa
Catalina near the head of the Gulf of California.
Here they were detained until news of their ar-
rival could be sent to Governor Echeandia at
San Diego. A guard of sixteen soldiers was sent
for them and they were conducted to San Diego,
where they arrived February 27, 1828. Their
arms were taken from them and they were put
in prison. The elder Pattie died during their
imprisonment. In September all the party ex-
cept young Pattie, who was retained as a host-
age, were released and permitted to go after
their buried furs. They found their furs had been
ruined by the overflow of the river. Two of the
party, Slover and Pope, made their way back
to Santa Fe; the others returned, bringing with
them their beaver traps. They were again im-
prisoned by Governor Echeandia, but were fin-
ally released.

Three of the party, Nathaniel M. Pryor,
Richard Laughlin and Jesse Furguson, became
permanent residents of California. Young Pat-
tie returned to the United States by way of
Mexico. After his return, with the assistance
of the Rev. Timothy Flint, he wrote an account
of his adventures, which was published in Cin-
cinnati in 1833, under the title of "Pattie's Nar-
rative." Young Pattie was inclined to exaggera-
tion. In his narrative he claims that with vac-
cine matter brought by his father from the
Santa Rita mines he vaccinated twenty-two
thousand people in California. In Los Angeles
alone, he vaccinated twenty-five hundred.
which was more than double the population of
the town in 1828. He took a contract from the

president of the missions to vaccinate all the
neophytes in the territory. When his job was
finished the president offered him in pay five
hundred cattle and five hundred mules
with land to pasture his stock on condition
he would become a Roman Catholic and
a citizen of Mexico. Pattie scorned the of-
fer and roundly upbraided the padre for taking
advantage of him. He had previously given
Governor Eacheandia a tongue lashing and had
threatened to shoot him on sight. From his
narrative he seems to have put in most of his
time in California blustering and threatening to
shoot somebody.

Another famous trapper of this period was
"Peg Leg" Smith. His real name was Thomas
L. Smith. It is said that in a fight with the
Indians his leg below the knee was shattered by
a bullet. He coolly amputated his leg at the
knee with no other instrument than his hunting
knife. He wore a wooden leg and from this
came his nickname. He first came to California
in 1829. He was ordered out of the country.
He and his party took their departure, but with
them went three or four hundred California
horses, lie died in a San Francisco hospital in
1866.

Ewing Young, a famous captain of trappers,
made several visits to California from [830 to
[837. In 1831 he led a party of thirty hunters
and trappers, among those of his party who
remained in California was Col. J. J. Warner,
who became prominent in the territory and
state. In 1837 Ewing Young with a party of
sixteen men came down from Oregon, where
he finally located, to purchase cattle for the new
settlements on the Willamette river. They
bought seven hundred cattle at $3 per head from
the government and drove them overland to
( Iregon, reaching there after a toilsome journey
of four months with six hundred. Young died
!i' ( >regon in [841.

From the downfall of Spanish domination in
1822, to the close of thai decade there had been
but few political disturbances in California. The
only one of any consequence was Solis' and
Herrera's attempt to revolutionize the territory
and seize the government. Jose Maria Herrera
had come to Califoi - missioner of

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the commissary department, but after a short
term of service had been removed from office
for fraud. Joaquin Solis was a convict who was
serving a ten years sentence of banishment from
Mexico. The ex-official and the exile with oth-
ers of damaged character combined to overturn
the government.

On the night of November i_\ 82
with a band of soldiers that he had induced to
join his standard, seized the principal govern-
ment officials at Monterey and put them in
prison. At Solis' solicitation Herrera drew up
a pronunciamento. It followed the usual line
of such documents. It began by deploring the
evils that had come upon the territory through
Echeandia*s misgovernment and closed widt
promises of reformation if the revolutionists
should obtain control of the government. To
obtain the sinews of war the rebels seized
S3.000 of the public funds. This was dis-
tributed among the soldiers and proved a great
attraction to the rebel cause. Solis with twen-
ty men went to San Francisco and :
diers there joined his standard. Xext he
marched against Santa Barbara with an army
of one hundred and fifty men. Echeandia on
hearing of the revolt had marched northward
with all the soldiers he could enlist. The two
armies met at Santa Ynez. Solis opened fire on
the governor's army. The fire was returned.
Solis' men began to break away and soon the
army and its valiant leader were in rapid flight.
Pacheco's cavalry captured the leaders of the
revolt. Herrara. Solis and thirteen others were
shipped to Mexico under arrest to be tried for
their crimes. The Mexican authorities, always
lenient to California revolutionists, probably
from a fellow feeling, turned them all loose
and Herrera was sent back to fill his former
office.

Xear the close of his term Governor
Echeandia formulated a plan for converting the
mission into pueblos. To ascertain the fitness
of the neophytes for citizenship he made an in-
vestigation to find out how many could read and
write. He found so very few that he ordered
schools opened at the missions. A pretense was
made of establishing schools, but very little was
accomplished. The padres' were opposed to edu-

cating the natives for the same reason that the
southern slave-holders were opposed to educat-
ing the negro, namely, that an ignorant people
were more easily kept in subjection. Echeandia's
plan of secularization was quite elaborate and
dealt fairly with the neophytes. It received the
sanction of the diputacion when that body met
in July, 1S30, but before anything could be done
towards enforcing it another governor was ap-
pointed. Echeandia was thoroughly hated by
the mission friars and their adherents. Robin-
son in his "Life in California" calls him a man
of vice and makes a number of damaging asser-
tions about his character and conduct, which
are not in accordance with the facts. It was dur-
ing Echeandia's term as governor that the motto
of Mexico, Dios y Libertad (God and Liberty),
was adopted. It became immensely popular
and was used on all public documents and often
in private correspondence.

A romantic episode that has furnished a
theme for fiction writers occurred in the last
year of Echeandia's rule. It was the elopement
of Henry D. Fitch with Dona Josefa, daughter
of Joaquin Carrillo of San Diego. Fitch was a
native of Xew Bedford, Mass. He came to Cal-
ifornia in 1826 as master of the Maria Ester.
He fell in love with Dona Josefa. There were
legal obstructions to their marriage. Fitch was
a foreigner and a Protestant. The latter objec-
tion was easily removed by Fitch becoming a
Catholic. The Dominican friar who was to per-
form the marriage service, fearful that he might
incur the wrath of the authorities, civil and cler-
ical, refused to perform the ceremony, but sug-
gested that there were other countries where
5 were less strict and offered to go beyond
the limits of California and marry them. It is
said that at this point Dona Josefa said: "Why
don't you carry me off, Don Enrique?'' The
suggestion was quickly acted upon. The next
night the lady, mounted on a steed with her
cousin, Pio Pico, as an escort, was secretly
taken to a point on the bay shore where a boat
was waiting for her. The boat put off to the
Vulture, where Captain Fitch received her on
board and the vessel sailed for Valparaiso,
where the couple were married. A year later
Captain Fitch returned to California with his

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

wile and infant son. At Monterey Fitch was
arrested on an order of Padre Sanchez of San
Gabriel and put in prison. His wife was also
placed under arrest at the house of Captain
Cooper. Fitch was taken to San Gabriel for trial.
"his offenses being most heinous." At her in-
tercession, Governor Echeandia released Mrs.
Fitch and allowed her to go to San Gabriel,
where her husband was imprisoned in one of the
rooms of the mission. This act of clemency
greatly enraged the friar and his fiscal. Pa-
lomares, and they seriously considered the ques-
tion of arresting the governor. The trial
dragged along for nearly a month. Many wit-
nesses were examined and many learned points
of clerical law discussed. Yicar Sanchez finally
gave his decision that the marriage at Val-
paraiso, though not legitimate, was not null and
void, but valid. The couple were condemned

to do penance by "presenting themse!.
church with lighted candles in their hands to
hear high mass for three feast days an<;
together for thirty days one-third of the rosary
of the holy virgin."* In addition to these joint
penances the vicar inflicted an additional pen-
alty on Fitch in these words: "Yet considering
the great scandal which Don Enrique has
caused in this province I condemn him to give
as penance and reparation a bell of at leasl
pounds in weight for the church at Los An-
geles, which barely has a borrowed one."" Fitch
and his wife no doubt performed the joint pen-
ance imposed upon them, but the church .
Angeles had to get along with its borrowed bell.
Don Enrique never gave it one of fifty pounds
or anv other weight.

►Bancroft's History of California, Vol. III-144.

CHAPTER XI,

REVOLUTIONS— THE HIJAR COLONISTS.

JiK ANUEL VICTORIA was appointed
/'\ governor in March. 1S30, but did not
reach California until the last month
of the year. Victoria very soon became un-
popular. He undertook to overturn the civil
authority and substitute military rule. He
recommended the abolition of the ayunta-
mientos and refused to call together the ter-
ritorial diputacion. He exiled Don Abel
Stearns and Jose Antonio Carrillo: and at dif-
ferent times, on trumped-up charges, had half
a hundred of the leading citizens of Los An-
geles incarcerated in the pueblo jail. Alcalde
Vicente Sanchez was the petty despot of the
pueblo, who carried out the tyrannical
of his master. Victoria. Among others who
were imprisoned in the cuartel was Jose Maria
Avila. Avila was proud, haughty and over-
bearing. He had incurred the hatred of both
Victoria and Sanchez. Sanchez, under orders
from Victoria, placed Avila in prison, and to
humiliate him put him in irons. Avila brooded
over the indignities inflicted upon him and
vowed to be revenged.

\ ictoria's persecutions became so unbearable
that Pio Pico, Juan Bandini and Jose Antonio
Carrillo raised the standard of revolt at San
Diego and issued a pronunciamento, in which
- .-: forth the reasons why they felt them-
selves obliged to rise against the tyrant, Vic-
toria. Pablo de Portilla, comandante of the
presidio of San Diego, and his officers, with a
force of fifty soldiers, joined the revolutionists
and marched to Los Angeles. Sanchez's pris-
oners were released and he was chained up in
the pueblo jail. Here Per: as re-

cruited to two hundred men. Avila and a num-
ber of the other released prisoners joined the
revolutionists, and all marched forth to meet
Victoria, who was moving southward with an
armed force t .. The

two forces met on the plains of Cahuenga. west
of the pueblo, at a place known as the Lomitas
de la Canada de Breita. The sight of his per-
furiated Avila that alone he rushed
upon him to run him through wit
Captain Pache ff, parried the

lance thrust. m dead with one of

1)4

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

his pistols and again attacked the governor and
succeeded in wounding him, when he himself
received a pistol ball that unhorsed him. After
a desperate struggle (in which he seized Vic-
toria by the foot and dragged him from his
horse) he was shot by one of Victoria's soldier-.
Tortilla's arm}- fell back in a panic to Los An-
geles and Victoria's men carried the wounded
governor to the Mission San Gabriel, where
his wounds were dressed by Joseph Chapman,
who, to his many other accomplishments, added
that of amateur surgeon. Some citizens who
had taken no part in the fight brought the
lx idies i if Avila and Pacheco to the town.
"They were taken to the same house, the same
hands rendered them the last sad rites, and
they were laid side by side. 'Side by side knelt
their widows and mingled their tears, while
sympathizing countrymen chanted the solemn
prayers of the church for the repose of the
souls of these untimely dead. Side by side be-
neath the orange and the olive in the little
churchyard upon the plaza sleep the slayer and
the slain."*

Next day, Victoria, supposing himself mor-
tally wounded abdicated and turned over the
governorship of the territory to Echeandia. He
resigned the office December 9, 1831, having
been governor a little over ten months. When
Victoria was able to travel he was sent to San
Diego, from where he was deported to Mexico,
San Diego borrowing $125 from the ayunta-
miento of Los Angeles to pay the expense of
shipping him out of the country. Several years
afterwards the money had not been repaid, and
the town council began proceedings to recover
it, but there is no record in the archives to show
that it was ever paid. And thus it was that
California got rid of a bad governor and Los
Angeles incurred a bad debt.

Januar) 10, [832, the territorial legislature
nut at Los Angeles to choose a "gefe politico,"
or governor, for the territory. Echeandia was
invited to preside but replied from San Juan
Capistrano that he was busy getting Victoria
out of the country. The diputacion, after wait-
ing some time and receiving no satisfaction

♦Stephen C. Foster,

from Echeandia whether he wanted the office
or not, declared l'io l'ico, by virtue of his office
of senior vocal, "gefe politico."

Xo sooner had Pico been sworn into office
than Echeandia discovered that he wanted the
office and wanted it badly. He protested against
the action of the diputacion and intrigued
against Pico. Another revolution was threat-
ened. Los Angeles favored Echeandia, al-
though all the other towns in the territory had
accepted Pico. (Pico at that time was a resi-
dent of San Diego.) A mass meeting was called
on February 12. 1832, at Los Angeles, to dis-
cuss the question whether it should be l'ico or
Echeandia. I give the report of the meeting in
the quaint language of the pueblo archives:

"The town, acting in accord with the Most
Illustrious Ayuntamiento, answered in a loud
voice, saying they would not admit Citizen Pio
Pico as 'gefe politico," but desired that Lieut. -
Col. Citizen Jose Maria Echeandia be retained
in office until the supreme government appoint.
Then the president of the meeting, seeing the
determination of the people, asked the motive or
rea on of refusing Citizen Pio Pico, who was
of unblemished character. To this the people
responded that while it was true that Citizen
Pio Pico was to some extent qualified, yet they
preferred Lieut. -Col. Citizen Jose M. Echean-
dia. The president of the meeting then asked
the people whether they had been bribed, or
was it merely insubordination that they op-
posed the resolution of the Most Excellent Di-
putacion? Whereupon the people answered
that they had not been bribed, nor were they
insubordinate, but that they opposed the pro-
posed 'gefe politico' because he had not been
named by the supreme government."

At a public meeting February 19 the matter
was again brought up. Again the people cried
out "they would not recognize or obey any
other gefe politico than Echeandia." The Most
Illustrious Ayuntamiento opposed Pio Pico for
two reasons: "First, because his name appeared
first on the plan to oust Gefe Politico Citizen
Manuel Victoria," and "Second, because he.
Pico, had not sufficient capacity to fulfil the
duties of the office." Then Jose Perez and Jose
Antonio Carrillo withdrew from the meeting,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

saying they would not recognize Echeandia as
"gefe politico." Pico, after holding the office
for twenty days, resigned for the sake of peace.
And this was the length of Pico's first term as
governor.

Echeandia, by obstinacy and intrigue, had ob-
tained the coveted office, "gefe politico," but he
did not long enjoy it in peace. News came
from Monterey that Capt. Agustiri V. Zamo-
rano had declared himself governor and was
gathering a force to invade the south and en-
force his authority. Echeandia began at once
marshaling his forces to oppose him. Ybarra,
Zamarano's military chief, with a force of one
hundred men, by a forced march, reached Paso
de Bartolo, on the San Gabriel river, where,
fifteen years later, Stockton fought the Mexican
troops under Flores. Here Ybarra found Cap-
tain ISorroso posted with a piece of artillery and
fourteen men. He did not dare to attack him.
Echeandia and Borroso gathered a force of a
thousand neophytes at Paso de Bartolo, where
they drilled them in military evolutions. Ybar-
ra's troops had fallen back to Santa Barbara,
where he was joined by Zamorano with rein-
forcements. Ybarra's force was largely made up
of ex-convicts and other undesirable characters,
who took what they needed, asking no questions
of the owners. The Angelenos, fearing those
marauders, gave their adhesion to Zamorano's
plan and recognized him as military chief of the
territory. Captain Borroso, Echeandia's faith-
ful adherent, disgusted with the fickleness of
the Angelenos, at the head of a thousand
mounted Indians, threatened to invade the re-
calcitrant pueblo, but at the intercession of the
frightened inhabitants this modern Coriolanus
turned aside and regaled his neophyte retainers
on the fat bullocks of the Mission San Gabriel,
much to the disgust of the padres. The neo-
phyte warriors were disbanded and sent to their
respective missions.

A peace was patched up betwen Zamorano
and Echeandia. Alta California was divided
into two territories. Echeandia was given juris-
diction over all south of San Gabriel and Zamo-
rano all north of San Fernando. This division
apparently left a neutral district, or "no man's
land," between. Whether Los Angeles was in

this neutral territory the records do not show.
If it was, it is probable that neither of the gov-
ernors wanted the job of governing the rebel-
lious pueblo.

In January, 1833, Governor Figueroa arrived
in California. Echeandia and Zamorano each
surrendered his hah of the divided territory to
the newly appointed governor, and California
was united and at peace. Figueroa proved to
be the right man for the times. He conciliated
the factions and brought order out of chaos.
The two most important events in Figueroa's
term of office were the arrival of the Hijar Col-
ony in California and the secularization of the
missions. These events were most potent fac-
tors in the evolution of the territory.

In 1833 the first California colonization
scheme was inaugurated in Mexico. At the
head of this was Jose Maria Hijar, a Mexican
gentleman of wealth and influence. He was
assisted in its promulgation by Jose M. Padres,
an adventurer, who had been banished from
California by Governor Victoria. Padres, like
some of our modern real estate boomers, pic-
tured the country as an earthly paradise — an
improved and enlarged Garden of Eden.
Among other inducements held out to the colo-
nists, it is said, was the promise of a division
among them of the mission property and a dis-
tribution of the neophytes for servants.

Headquarters were established at the city
of Mexico and two hundred and fifty colonists
enlisted. Each family received a bonus of
$10, and all were to receive free transporta-
tion to California and rations while on the jour-
ney. Each head of a family was promised a
farm from the public domain, live stock and
farming implements; these advances to be paid
for on the installment plan. The orignal plan was
to found a colon) somewhere north of San
Francisco bay, but this was not carried out.
Two vessels were dispatched with the colonists
— the Morelos and the Natalia. The latter was
compelled to put into San Diego on account of
sickness on board. She reached that port Sep-
tember 1, 1834. A part of the colonists on
hoard her were senl to San 1'edro and from
there they were taken to Los Vngeles and San
Gabriel. The Morelos readied Monterey Sep-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tember 25. Hijar had been appointed governor
of California by President Farias, but after the
sailing of the expedition, Santa Ana, who had
succeeded Farias, dispatched a courier over-
land with a countermanding order. By one of
the famous rides of history, Amador, the courier,
made the journey from the city of [Mexico to
Monterey in forty days and delivered his mes-
sage to Governor Figueroa. When Hijar ar-
rived he found to his dismay that he was only
a private citizen of the territory instead of its
governor. The colonization scheme was aban-
doned and the immigrants distributed them-
selves throughout the territory. Generally they
were a good class of citizens, and many of them
became prominent in California affairs.

That storm center of political disturbances,
Los Angeles, produced but one small revolution
during Figueroa's term as governor. A party
of fifty or sixty Sonorans, some of whom were
Hijar colonists who were living either in the
town or its immediate neighborhood, assembled
at Los Nietos on the night of March 7, 1835.
They formulated a pronunciamiento against
Don Jose Figueroa, in which they first vigor-
ously arraigned him for sins of omission and
commission and then laid down their plan of
government of the territory. Armed with this
formidable document and a few muskets and
lances, these patriots, headed by Juan Gallado,
a cobbler, and Felipe Castillo, a cigarmaker. in
the gray light of the morning, rode into the
pueblo, took possession of the town hall and
the big cannon and the ammunition that had

been stored there when the Indians of San Luis
Rey had threatened hostilities. The slumbering
inhabitants were aroused from their dreams of
peace by the drum beat of war. The terrified
citizens rallied to the juzgado, the ayuntamiento
met, the cobbler statesman, Gallado, presented
his plan; it was discussed and rejected. The
revolutionists, after holding possession of the
pueblo throughout the day, tired, hungry and
disappointed in not receiving their pay for sav-
ing the country, surrendered to the legal author-
ities the real leaders of the revolution and
disbanded. The leaders proved to be Torres,
a clerk, and Apalategui, a doctor, both supposed
to be emissaries of Hijar. They were imprisoned
at San Gabriel. When news of the revolt
reached Figueroa he had Hijar and Padres ar-
rested for complicity in the outbreak. Hijar,
with half a dozen of his adherents, was shipped
back to Mexico. And thus the man who the
year before had landed in California with a
commission as governor and authority to take
possession of all the property belonging to the
missions returned to his native land an exile.
His grand colonization scheme and his "Com-
pania Cosmopolitana" that was to revolutionize
California commerce were both disastrous fail-
ures.

Governor Jose Figueroa died at Monterey
on the 29th of September, 1835. He is generally
regarded as the best of the Mexican governors
sent to California. He was of Aztec extraction
and took a great deal of pride in his Indian
blood.

CHAPTER XII.

THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE MISSIONS.

THE Franciscan Missions of Aha Califor-
nia have of late been a prolific theme
for a certain class of writers and espe-
cially have they dwelt upon the secularization
of these establishments. Their productions
have added little or nothing to our previous
knowledge of these institutions. Carried away
li\ sentiment these writers draw pictures of mis-
sion life that are unreal, that are purely imag-

inary, and aroused to indignation at the injus-
tice they fancy was done to their ideal institu-
tions they deal out denunciations against the
authorities that brought about secularization as
unjust as they arc undeserved. Such expres-
sions as "the robber hand of secularization," and
"the brutal and thievish disestablishment of the
missions," emanate from writers who seem to
be ignorant of the purpose for which the mis-

HISTORICAL .VXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

sions were founded, and who ignore, or who
do not know, the causes which brought about
their secularization.

It is an historical fact known to all acquainted
with California history that these establishments
were not intended by the Crown of Spain to
become permanent institutions. The purpose
for which the Spanish government fostered and
protected them was to Christianize the Indians
and make of them self-supporting citizens. Very
early in its history Governor Borica, Fages and
other intelligent Spanish officers in California
discovered the weakness of the mission system.
Governor Borica, writing in 1796, said: "Ac-
cording to the laws the natives are to be free
from tutelage at the end of ten years, the mis-
sions then becoming doctrinairs, but those of
New California, at the rate they are advancing,
will not reach the goal in ten centuries; the rea-
son God knows, and men, too, know something
about it."

The tenure by which the mission friars held
their lands is admirably set forth in William
Carey Jones' "Report on Land Titles in Cali-
fornia," made in 1850. He says, "It had been
supposed that the lands they (the missions) oc-
cupied were grants held as the property of the
church or of the misson establishments as cor-
porations. Such, however, was not the case;
all the missions in VJpper California were estab-
lished under the direction and mainly at the
expense of the government, and the missionaries
there had never any other right than to the
occupation and use of the lands for the purpose
of the missions and at the pleasure of the gov-
ernment. This is shown by the history and
principles of their foundation, by the laws in
relation to them, by the constant practice of
the government toward them and, in fact, by the
rules of the Franciscan order, which forbid its
members to possess property."

With the downfall of Spanish domination in
Mexico came the beginning of the end of mis-
sionary rule in California. The majority of the
mission padres were Spanish born. In the war
of Mexican independence their sympathies were
with their mother country. Spain. After Mex-
ico attained her independence, some of them
refused to acknowledge allegiance to the repub
7

lie. The Mexican authorities feared and dis-
trusted them. In this, in part, they found a pre-
text for the disestablishment of the missions and
the confiscation of the mission estates. There
was another cause or reason for secularization
more potent than the loyalty of the padres to
Spain. Few forms of land monopoly have ever
exceeded that in vogue under the mission system
of California. From San Diego to San Fran-
cisco hay the twenty missions established under
Spanish rule monopolized the greater pan of the
fertile land between the coast range and the sea.
The limits of one mission were said to cover
the intervening space to the limits of the next.
There was but little left for other settlers. A
settler could not obtain a grant of land if the
padres of the nearest mission objected.

The twenty-four ranchos owned by the Mis-
sion San Gabriel contained about a million and
a half acres and extended from the sea to the
San Bernardino mountains. The greatest
neophyte population of San Gabriel was in 1S17.
when it reached 1,701. Its yearly average for
the first three decades of the present century
did not exceed 1,500. It took a thousand acres
of fertile land under the mission system to .up-
port an Indian, even the smallest papoose of the
mission flock. It is not strange that the people
clamored for a subdivision of the mission estates;
and secularization became a public necessity.
The most enthusiastic admirer of the missions
to-day, had he lived in California scveim
ago, would no doubt have hern among the loud-
est in his wail againsl the mission system.

The abuse heaped upon the Mexican authori-
ties for their secularization of these institutions
is as unjust as it is unmerited. The act of the
Mexican Congress of August 17. 1833, was
not the initiative movement towards their dis-
establishment. Indeed in their Foundation their
secularization, their subdivision into pu
was provided for and the local authorities were
never without lawful authority over them. In
the very beginning 'if missionary work in Aha
California the process of secularizing the mis-
sion establishments was mapped out in the fol-
lowing "Instructions given : Bucarili
August 17. 177. v to the comandante of the new
establishments of Sa nd Monterey.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Article 15, when it shall happen that a mission
is to be formed into a pueblo or village the
comandante will proceed to reduce it to the civil
and economical government, which, according
to the laws, is observed by other villages of this
kingdom; their giving it a name and declaring
for its patron the saint under whose memory
and protection the mission was founded."

The purpose for which the mission was
founded was to aid in the settlement of the
country, and to convert the natives to Christian-
ity. 'These objects accomplished the mission-
ary's labor was considered fulfilled and the es-
tablishment subject to dissolution. This view
of their purpose and destiny fully appears in
the tenor of the decree of the Spanish Cortes
of September 13, 1813. It was passed in conse-
quence of a complaint by the Bishop of Guiana
of the evils that affected that province on ac-
count of the Indian settlements in charge of
missions not being delivered to the ecclesiastical
ordinary, although thirty, forty and fifty years
had passed since the reduction and conversion
of the Indians."

The Cortes decreed 1st, that all the new
reduciones y doctrinairs (settlements of newly
converted Indians) not yet formed into parishes
of the province beyond the sea which were in
charge of missionary monks and had been ten
years subjected should be delivered immediately
to the respective ecclesiastical ordinaries (bish-
ops) without resort to any excuse or pretext
conformably to the laws and cedulas in that
respect. Section 2nd, provided that the secular
clergy should attend to the spiritual wants of
these curacies. Section 3rd. the missionary
monks relieved from the converted settlements
shall proceed to the conversion of other
heathen."

The decree of the Mexican Congress, passed
November 20, [833, for the secularization of the
missions of Upper and Lower California, was
very similar in its provisions to the decree of the
Spanish ( ortes of September, 1813. Th< \l<-.
ican government simply followed the example
of Spain and in the conversion of the missions
into pueblos was attempting to enforce a prin-

*William Carey Join

ciple inherent in the foundation of the mission-
ary establishments. I hat secularization resulted
disastrously to the Indians was not the fault
of the Mexican government so much as it was
the defect in the industrial and intellectual
training of the neophytes. Except in the case
of those who were trained for choir services in
the churches there was no attempt made to
teach the Indians to read or write. The padres
generally entertained a poor opinion of the
neophytes' intellectual ability. The reglamento
governing the secularization of the missions,
published by Governor Echeandia in 1830. but
not enforced, and that formulated by the diputa-
cion under Governor Figueroa in 1834, approved
by the Mexican Congress and finally enforced
in 1834-5-6, were humane measures. These reg-
ulations provided for the colonization of the
neophytes into pueblos or villages. A portion of
the personal property and a part of the lands
held by the missions were to be distributed
among the Indians as follows:

"Article 5 — To each head of a family and all
who are more than twenty years old, although
without families, wdl be given from the lands
of the mission, whether temporal (lands depend-
ent on the seasons) or watered, a lot of ground
not to contain more than four hundred varas
(yards) in length, and as many in breadth not
less than one hundred. Sufficient land for water-
ing the cattle will be given in common. The
outlets or roads shall be marked out by each vil-
lage, and at the proper time the corporation
lands shall be designated." This colonization
of the neophytes into pueblos would have
thrown large bodies of the land held by the mis-
sions open to .settlement by white settlers. The
personal property of missionary establishments
was to have been divided among their neophyte
retainers thus: "Article 6. Among the said in-
dividuals will he distributed, ratably and justly,
according to the discretion of the political chief,
the half of the movable property, taking as a
basis the last inventory which the missionaries
have presented of all descriptions of cattle. Arti-
cle 7. One-half or less of the implements and
seeds indispensable for agriculture shall be al-
lotted to them."

The political government of the Indian pu-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

eblos was to be organized in accordance with
existing laws of the territory governing other
towns. The neophyte could not sell, mortgage
or dispose of the land granted him; nor could
he sell his cattle. The regulations provided that
"Religious missionaries shall be relieved from
the administration of temporalities and shall
only exercise the duties of their ministry so far
as they relate to spiritual matters." The nunner-
ies or the houses where the Indian girls were
kept under the charge of a duena until they
were of marriageable age were to be abolished
and the children restored to their parents. Rule
7 provided that "What is called the 'priest-
hood' shall immediately cease, female children
whom they have in charge being handed over
to their fathers, explaining to them the care
they should take of them, and pointing out their
obligations as parents. The same shall be done
with the male children."

Commissioners were to be appointed to take
charge of the mission property and superintend
its subdivision among the neophytes. The con-
version of ten of the missionary establishments
into pueblos was to begin in August, 1835. That
of the others was to follow as soon as possible.
San Gabriel, San Fernando and San Juan Capis-
trano were among the ten that were to be
secularized first. For years secularization had
threatened the missions, but hitherto something
had occurred at the critical time to avert it.
The missionaries had used their influence
against it, had urged that the neophytes were
unfitted for self-support, had argued that the
emancipation of the natives from mission rule
would result in disaster to them. Through all
the agitation of the question in previous years
the padres had labored on in the preservation
and upbuilding of their establishments; but with
the issuing of the secularization decree by the
Mexican Congress, August 17, 1833. the or-
ganization of the Hijar Colony in Mexico and
the instructions of acting president Farias to
Hijar to occupy all the property of the missions
and subdivide it among the colonists on their
arrival in California, convinced the missionaries
that the blow could no longer be averted. The
revocation of Hijar's appointment as governor
and the controversv which followed between

him and Governor Figueroa and the diputacion
for a time delayed the enforcement of the de-
cree.

In the meantime, with the energy born of de-
spair, eager at any cost to outwit those who
sought to profit by their ruin, the mission fath-
ers hastened to destroy that which through
more than half a century thousands of human
beings had spent their lives to accumulate. The
wealth of the missions lay in their herds of cat-
tle. The only marketable products of thes
the hides and tallow. Heretofore a certain num-
ber of cattle had been slaughtered each week
to feed the neophytes and sometimes when the
ranges were in danger of becoming over-
stocked cattle were killed for their hides and
tallow, and the meat left to the coyotes and the
carrion crows. The mission fathers knew that
if they allowed the possession of their herds to
pass to other hands neither they nor the
neophytes would obtain any reward for years of
labor. The blow was liable to fall at any time.
Haste was required. The mission butchers could
11.it .slaughter the animals fast enough. Con-
tracts were made with the rancheros to kill
on shares. The work of destruction began at
the missions. The country became a mighty
shambles. The matansas were no longer used.
An animal was lassoed on the plain, thrown, its
throat cut and while yet writhing in death agony,
its hide was stripped and pegged upon the
ground to dry. There were no vessels to con-
tain the tallow and this was run into pits in the
ground to be taken out when there was more
time to spare and less cattle to be killed. The
work of destruction went on as long as there
were cattle to kill. So great was the stench
from rotting carcasses of the cattle on the plains
that a pestilence was threatened. The ayunta-
miento of Los Angeles, November 15. 1S33.
passed an ordinance compelling all pi
slaughtering cattle for tin- hides and tallow- to
cremate the carcassi

laid the foundations of their future wealth by ap-
propriating herds of young cattle from the mis-
sion ranges.

Hugo Reid, in the letters previously referred
to in this volume, says of this period at San
Gabriel. "These facts(the decree of secularization

LOO

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and the distribution of the mission property)
being known to Padre Tomas (Estenaga), he,
in all probability, by order of his superior, com-
menced a work of destruction. The back build-
ings were unroofed and the timber converted
into fire wood. Cattle were killed on the halves
by people who took a lion's share. Utensils
were disposed of and goods and other articles
distributed in profusion among the neophytes.
The vineyards were ordered to be cut down,
which, however, the Indians refused to do."
After the mission was placed in charge of an
administrator, Padre Tomas remained as min-
ister of the church at a stipend of $1,500 per
annum, derived from the pious fund.

Hugo Reid says of him, "As a wrong im-
pression of his character may be produced from
the preceding remarks, in justice to his memory,
be it stated that he was a truly good man, a sin-
cere Christian and a despiser of hypocrisy. He
had a kind, unsophisticated heart, so that he be-
lieved every word told him. There has never
been a purer priest in California. Reduced in
circumstances, annoyed on many occasions by
the petulancy of administrators, he fulfilled his
duties according to his conscience, with be-
nevolence and good humor. The nuns, who,
when the secular movement came into opera-
tion, had been set free, were again gathered to-
gether under his supervision and maintained at
his expense, as were also a number of old men
and women."

The experiment of colonizing the Indians in
pueblos was a failure and they were gathered
back into the mission, or as many of them as
could be got back, and placed in charge of ad-
ministrators. "The Indians," says Reid, "were
made happy at this time in being permitted to
enjoy once more the luxury of a tule dwelling,
from which the greater part had been debarred
for so long: they could now breathe freely
again." (The close adobe buildings in which
they had been housed in mission days were no
doubt one of the causes of the great mortality
among them.)

"Administrator followed administrator until
the mission could support no more, win 11

the system was broken up." The

Indians during this period were continually run-

ning off. Scantily clothed and still more scant-
ily supplied with food, it was not to be wondered
at. Nearly all the Gabrielinos went north, while
those of San Diego, San Luis and San Juan
overrun this country, filling the Angeles and
surrounding ranchos with more servants than
were required. Labor, in consequence, was
very cheap. The different missions, however,
had alcaldes continually on the move, hunting
them up and carrying them back, but to no pur-
pose; it was labor in vain."

"Even under the dominion of the church in
mission days," Reid says, "the neophytes were
addicted both to drinking and gaming, with
an inclination to steal;" but after their emanci-
pation they went from bad to worse. Those at-
tached to the ranchos and those located in the
town were virtually slaves. They had bosses
or owners and when they ran away were cap-
tured and returned to their master. The account
book for 1840 of the sindico of Los Angeles
contains this item. "For the delivery of two
Indians to their boss $12."

In all the large towns there was an Indian
village known as the pueblito or little town.
These were the sink holes of crime and the
favorite resorts of dissolute characters, both
white and red. The Indian village at Los An-
geles between what is now Aliso and First street
became such an intolerable nuisance that on
petition of the citizens it was removed across
the river to the "Spring of the Abilas," but its
removal did not improve its morals. Vicente
Guerrero, the sindico, discussing the Indian
question before the ayuntamiento said, "The In-
dians are so utterly depraved that no matter
where they may settle down their conduct would
be the same, since they look upon death even
with indifference, provided they can indulge in
their pleasures and vices." This was their con-
dition in less than a decade after they were freed
from mission control.

What did six decades of mission rule accom-
plish for the Indian? In all the older missions
between their founding and their secularization
three generations of adults had come under the
influence of mission life and training — first, the
adull converts made soon after the founding;
second, their children born at the missions, and

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

101

third, the children of these who had grown to
manhood before the fall of the missions. How
great an improvement had the neophytes of the
third generation made over those of the first?
They had to a great extent lost their original
language and had acquired a speaking knowl-
edge of Spanish. They had abandoned or
forgotten their primitive religious belief, but
their new religion exercised but little influence
on their lives. After their emancipation they
went from bad to worse. Some of the more
daring escaped to the mountains and joining
the wild tribes there became the leaders in
frequent predatory excursions on the horses and
cattle of the settlers in the valleys. They were
hunted down and shot like wild beasts.

What became of the mission estates? As the
cattle were killed off the different ranchos of
the mission domains, settlers petitioned the
ayuntamiento for grants. If upon investigation
it was found that the land asked for was vacant
the petition was referred to the governor for his
approval. In this way the vast mission domains
passed into private hands. The country im-
proved more in wealth and population between
1836 and 1846 than in the previous fifty years.
Secularization was destruction to the mission

and death to the Indian, but it was beneficial
to the country at large. The decline of the mis-
sions and the passing of the neophyte had be-
gun long before the decrees of secularization
were enforced. Nearly all the missions passed
their zenith in population during the second
decade of the century. Even had the mission-
ary establishments not been secularized they
would eventually have been depopulated. At no
time during the mission rule were the number
of births equal to the number of deaths. When
recruits could no longer be obtained from the
Gentiles or wild Indians the decline became
more rapid. The mission annals show that from
1769 to 1834, when secularization was enforced
— an interval of sixty-five years — 79,000 con-
verts were baptized and 62,000 deaths recorded.
The death rate among the neophytes was about
twice that of the negro in this country and
four times that of the white race. The extinc-
tion of the neophyte or mission Indian was
due to the enforcement of that inexorable law
or decree of nature, the Survival of the Fittest.
Where a stronger race comes in contact with
a weaker, there can be but one termination
of the contest — the extermination of the
weaker.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE FREE AND SOVEREIGN STATE OF ALTA CALIFORNIA.

GOVERNOR FIGUEROA on his death-
bed turned over the civil command of
the territory to Jose Castro, who there-
b) became "gefe politico ad interem." The
military command was given to Lieut.-Col.
Xicolas Gutierrez with the rank of comandante
general. The separation of the two commands
was in accordance with the national law of May
6, 1822.

Castro was a member of the diputacion, but
was not senior vocal i r president. Jose An-
tonio Carrillo, who held that position, was
diputado or delegate to congress and was at
that time in the city of Mexico. It was he who
secured the decree from the Mexican Congress
May 23, 1835, making Los Angeles the capital

of California, and elevating it to the rank of a
city. The second vocal, Jose Antonio Estudillo,
was sick at his home in San Diego. Jose ( as
tro ranked third. He was the onl) one of the
diputacion at the capital and at the previous
meeting of the diputacion he had acted as pre-
siding officer. Gutierrez, who was at San Ga-
briel when appointed to the military command,
hastened to Monterey, but did not reach there
until after the death of Figi ro, on

assuming command, sent a notification of bis
appointment to the civil authorities of the dif-
ferent jurisdictions. All 1 .rably
, xcept San ! >i< go ind Los A
claimed the office for Estudillo, second vocal,
and Los Angeles declared igainsl Castro be-

102

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

cause he was only third vocal and demanded that
the diputacion should meet at the legal capital
(Los Angeles) of the territory. This was the
beginning of the capital war that lasted ten years
and increased in bitterness as it increased in
age. The diputacion met at Monterey. It de-
cided in favor of Castro and against removing
the capital to Los Angeles.

Castro executed the civil functions of gefe
politico four months and then, in accordance
with orders from the supreme government, he
turned over his part of the governorship to
Comandante General Gutierrez and again the
two commands were united in one person.
Gutierrez filled the office of "gobernador in-
terno" from January 2, 1836, to the arrival of his
successor, Mariano Chico. Chico had been ap-
pointed governor by President Barragan, Decem-
ber 16, 1835, Dut ^id not arr ' ve m California
until April, 1836. Thus California had four
governors within nine months. They changed
so rapidly there was not time to foment a rev-
olution. Chico began his administration by a
series of pett) tyrannies. Just before his ar-
rival in California a vigilance committee at Los
Angeles shot to death Gervacio Alispaz and his
paramour, Maria del Rosaria Villa, for the mur-
der of the woman's husband, Domingo Feliz.
Alispaz was a countryman of Chico. Chico had
the leaders arrested and came down to Los
Angeles with the avowed purpi se of executing
Prudon, Arzaga and Aranjo, the president, sec-
retary and military commander, respectively, of
the Defenders of Public Security, as the vigi-
lantes called themselves. He announced his
intention of arresting and punishing every man
who had taken part in the banishment of Gov-
ernor Victoria. He summoned Don Abel
Stearns to Monterey and threatened to have him
shot for -nine imaginary offense. He fulminated
a fierce pronunciamento against foreigners, that
incurred their wrath, and made himself so odious
that he was hated b\ all. native or foreigner,
lie was a centralist and opposed to popular
rights. Exasperated beyond endurance by his
Ions conduct and unseemly exhibitions of
temper the people of Monterey rose en masse
against him. and so terrified him that he took
passage on board a brig that was lying in the

harbor and sailed for Mexico with the threat
that he would return with an armed iorce to
punish the rebellious Californians, but he never
came back again.

With the enforced departure of Chico, the
civil command of the territory devolved upon
Nicolas Gutierrez, who still held the military
command. He was of Spanish birth and a cen-
tralist or anti-federalist in politics. Although a
mild mannered man he seemed to be impressed
with the idea that he must carry out the arbi-
trary measures of his predecessor. Centralism
was his nemesis. Like Chico, he was opposed
to popular rights and at one time gave orders
to disperse the diputacion by force. He was
not long in making himself unpopular by at-
tempting to enforce the centralist decrees of the
Mexican Congress.

He quarreled with Juan Bautista Alvarado,
the ablest of the native Californians. Alvarado
and Jose Castro raised the standard of revolt.
They gathered together a small army of ranch-
eros and an auxiliary force of twenty-five Amer-
ican hunters and trappers under Graham, a
backwoodsman from Tennessee. By a strategic
movement they captured the castillo or fort
which commanded the presidio, where Gutierrez
and the Mexican army officials were stationed.
The patriots demanded the surrender of the
presidio and the arms. The governor refused.
The revolutionists had been able to find but
a single cannon ball in the castillo, but this was
sufficient to do the business. A well-directed
shot tore through the roof of the governor's
house, covering him and his staff with the debris
of broken tiles; that and the desertion of most
of his soldiers to the patriots brought him to
terms. On the 5th of November, 1836, he sur-
rendered the presidio and resigned his authority
as governor. He and about seventy of his ad-
herents were sent aboard a vessel lying in the
harbor and shipped out of the country.

With the Mexican governor and his officers
out of the country, the next move of Castro and
Alvarado was to call a meeting of the diputa-
cion or territorial congress. A plan for the
independence of California was adopted. This,
which was known afterwards as the Monterey
plan, consisted of six sections, the most tin-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

M.;

portant of which were as follows: "First, Alta
California hereby declares itself independent
from Mexico until the Federal System of 1824
is restored. Second, the same California is
hereby declared a free and sovereign state; es-
tablishing a congress to enact the special laws
of the country and the other necessary supreme
powers. Third, the Roman Apostolic Catholic
religion shall prevail; no other creed shall be
allowed, but the government shall not molest
anyone on account of his private opinions."
The diputacion issued a declaration of independ-
ence that arraigned the mother country, Mexico,
and her officials very much in the style that our
own Declaration gives it to King George III.
and England.

Castro issued a pronunciamiento, ending with
Viva La Federacion! Viva La Libertad! Viva
el Estado Libre y Soberano de Alta California!
Thus amid vivas and proclamations, with the
beating of drums and the booming of cannon,
El Estado Libre de Alta California (The Free
State of Alta California) was launched on the
political sea. But it was rough sailing for the
little craft. Her ship of state struck a rock and
lor a time shipwreck was threatened.

For years there had been a growing jealousy
between Northern and Southern California.
Los Angeles, as has been stated before, had by a
decree of the Mexican congress been made the
capital of the territory. Monterey had per-
sistently refused to give up the governor and
the archives. In the movement to make Alta
California a free and independent state, the An-
gelenos recognized an attempt on the part of
the people of the north to deprive them of the
capital. Although as bitterly opposed to Mex-
ican governors, and as active in fomenting revo-
lutions against them as the people of Monterey,
the Angelenos chose to profess loyalty to the
mother country. They opposed the plan of
government adopted by the congress at Mon-
terey and promulgated a plan of their own, in
which they declared California was not free;
that the "Roman Catholic Apostolic religion
shall prevail in this jurisdiction, and any person
publicly professing any other shall be pros-
ecuted by law as heretofore." A mass meeting
was called to take measures "to prevent the

spreading of the Monterey revolution, so that
the progress of the nation may not be
paralyzed," and to appoint a person to take mil-
itary command of the department.

San Diego and San Luis Rev took the part
of Los Angeles in the quarrel, Sonoma and San
Jose joined Monterey, while Santa Barbara, al-
ways conservative, was undecided, but finally
issued a plan of her own. Alvarado and Castro
determined to suppress the revolutionary An-
gelenos. They collected a force of one hun-
dred men, made up of natives, with Graham's
contingent of twenty-five American riflemen.
With this army they prepared to move against
the recalcitrant surenos.

The ayuntamiento of Los Angeles began
preparations to resist the invaders. An army of
two hundred and seventy men was enrolled, a
part of which was made up of neophytes. To se-
cure the sinews of war Jose Sepulveda, second al-
calde, was sent to the Mission San Fernando
to secure what money there was in the hands of
the major domo. He returned with two pack-
ages, which, when counted, were found to con-
tain $2,000.

Scouts patrolled the Santa Barbara road as
far as San Buenaventura to give warning of the
approach of the enemy, and pickets guarded the
Pass of Cahuenga and the Rodeo de Las Aguas
to prevent northern spies from entering and
southern traitors from getting out of the pueblo.
The southern army was stationed at San Fer-
nando under the command of Alferez (Lieut.)
Rocha. Alvarado and Castro, pushing down the
coast, reached Santa Barbara, where they were
kindly received and their force recruited to one
hundred and twenty men with two pieces of
artillery. Jose Sepulveda at San Fernando sent
to Los Angeles for the cannon at the town
house and $200 of the mission mi mey to pay his
men.

( In the 16th of January. [837, Alvarado from
San Buenaventura dispatched a communication
to the ayuntamiento of Los Angeles and the
citizens, telling their vhat military resources
he had, which he would use against them if it
became necessary, but he was willing to confer
upi m a plan ment. Sepulveda and An-

tonio M. Osio were appointed commissioners

104

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and sent to confer with the governor, armed
with several propositions, the substance of
which was that California shall not be free and
the Catholic religion must prevail with the
privilege to prosecute any other religion, "ac-
cording to law as heretofore." The commission-
ers met Alvarado on "neutral ground," between
San Fernando and San Buenaventura. A long
discussion followed without either coming to the
point. Alvarado, by a coup d'etat, brought it
to an end. In the language of the commission-
ers' report to the ayuntamiento: "While we
were a certain distance from our own forces with
only four unarmed men and were on the point of
coming to an agreement with Juan B. Alvarado,
we saw the Monterey division advancing upon
us and we were forced to deliver up the instruc-
tions of this illustrious body through fear of
being attacked." They delivered up not only
the instructions, but the Mission San Fer-
nando. The southern army was compelled to
surrender it and fall back on the pueblo, Rocha
swearing worse than "our army in Flanders"
because he w'as not allowed to fight. The south-
ern soldiers had a wholesome dread of Gra-
ham's riflemen. These fellows, armed with long
Kentucky rifles, shot to kill, and a battle once
begun somebody would have died for his coun-
try and it would not have been Alvarado's rifle-
men.

The day after the surrender of the mission,
January 21, 1837, the ayuntamiento held a ses-
sion and the members were as obdurate and
belligerent as ever. They resolved that it was
only in the interests of humanity that the mis-
sion had been surrendered and their army
forced to retire. "This ayuntamiento, consider-
ing the commissioners wore forced to comply,
annuls all action of the commissioners and does
not recognize this territory as a free and sov-
ereign state nor Juan B. Alvarado as its gov-
ernor, and declares itself in favor of the Supreme
Government of Mexico." A few days later Al-
varado entered the city without opposition, the
Angelenian soldiers retiring to San Gabriel and
from there scattering to their homes.

On the 26th of January an extraordinary
v. ssion of the most illustrious ayuntamiento was
held. Alvarado was present and made a lengthy

speech, in which he said, "The native sons were
subjected to ridicule by the Mexican mandarins
sent here, and knowing our rights we ought to
shake off the ominous yoke of bondage." Then
he produced and read the six articles of the
Monterey plan, the council also produced a plan
and a treaty of amity was effected. Alvarado
was recognized as governor pro tem. and peace
reigned. The belligerent surenos vied with each
other in expressing their admiration for the new
order of things. Pio Pico wished to ex-
press the pleasure it gave him to see a "hijo
del pais" in office. And Antonio Osio,
the most belligerent of the surenos, declared
"that sooner than again submit to a Mexican
dictator as governor, he would flee to the forest
and be devoured by wild beasts." The ayunta-
miento was asked to provide a building for the
government, "this being the capital of the state."
The hatchet apparently was buried. Peace
reigned in El Estado Libre. At the meeting of
the town council, on the 30th of January, Al-
varado made another speech, but it was neither
conciliatory nor complimentary. He arraigned
the "traitors who were working against the
peace of the country" and urged the members to
take measures "to liberate the city from the
hidden hands that will tangle them in their own
ruin." The pay of his troops who were ordered
here for the welfare of California is due "and
it is an honorable and preferred debt, therefore
the ayuntamiento will deliver to the government
the San Fernando money," said he. With a
wry face, very much such as a boy wears when
he is told that he has been spanked for his own
good, the alcalde turned over the balance of
the mission money to Juan Bautista, and the
governor took his departure for Monterey,
leaving, however, Col. Jose Castro with part of
his army stationed at Mission San Gabriel, os-
tensibly "to support the city's authority," but in
reality to keep a close watch on the city author-
ities.

Los Angeles was subjugated, peace reigned
and El Estado Libre de Alta California took her
place among the nations of the earth. But
peace's reign was brief. At the meeting of the
ayuntamiento May 27, 1838, Juan Bandini and
Santiago E. Arguello of San Diego, appeared

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

105

with a pronunciamiento and a plan, San
Diego's plan of government. Monterey, Santa
Barbara and Los Angeles had each formulated
a plan of government for the territory, and now
it was San Diego's turn. Agustin V. Zamorano,
who had been exiled with Governor Gutierrez,
had crossed the frontier and was made comand-
ante-general and territorial political chief ad
interim by the San Diego revolutionists. The
plan restored California to obedience to the
supreme government; all acts of the diputa-
cion and the Monterey plan were annulled and
the northern rebels were to be arraigned and
tried for their part in the revolution; and so on
through twenty articles.

On the plea of an Indian outbreak near San
Diego, in which the redmen, it was said, "were
to make an end of the white race," the big can-
non and a number of men were secured at Los
Angeles to assist in suppressing the Indians,
but in reality to reinforce the army of the San
Diego revolutionists. With a force of one hun-
dred and twenty-five men under Zamorano and
Portilla, "the army of the supreme government"
moved against Castro at Los Angeles. Castro
retreated to Santa Barbara and Portilla's army-
took position at San Fernando.

The civil and military officials of Los Angeles
took the oath to support the Mexican consti-
tution of 1836 and, in their opinion, this
absolved them from all allegiance to Juan Bau-
tista and his Monterey plan. Alvarado hurried
reinforcements to Castro at Santa Barbara, and
Portilla called loudly for "men, arms and
horses," to march against the northern rebels.
But neither military chieftain advanced, and the
summer wore away without a battle. There
were rumors that Mexico was preparing to send
an army of one thousand men to subjugate the
rebellious Californians. In October came the
news that Jose Antonio Carrillo, the Machiavelli
of California politics, had persuaded President
Pustamente to appoint Carlos Carrillo, Jose's
brother, governor of Alta California.

Then consternation seized the arribenos (up-
pers) of the north and the abajehos (lowers) of
Los Angeles went wild with joy. It was not
that they loved Carlos Carrillo. for he was a
Santa Barbara man and had opposed them in

the late unpleasantness, but they saw in his ap-
pointment an opportunity to get revenge on
Juan Bautista for the way he had humiliated
them. They sent congratulatory messages to
Carrillo and invited him to make Los Angeles
the seat of his government. Carrillo was flat-
tered by their attentions and consented. The
6th of December, 1837, was set for his inaugura-
tion, and great preparations were made for the
event. The big cannon was brought over from
San Gabriel to fire salutes and the city was
ordered illuminated on the nights of the 6th,
7th and 8th of December. Cards of invitation
were issued and the people from the city and
country were invited to attend the inauguration
ceremonies, "dressed as decent as possible," so
read the invitations.

The widow Josefa Alvarado's house, the fin-
est in the city, was secured for the governor's
palacio (palace). The largest hall in the city
was secured for the services and decorated as
well as it was possible. The city treasury, being
in its usual state of collapse, a subscription for
defraying the expenses was opened and horses,
hides and tallow, the current coin of the pueblo,
were liberally contributed.

On the appointed day. "the most illustrious
ayuntamiento and the citizens of the neighbor-
hood(sothe old archives read)met his excellency,
the governor, Don Carlos Carrillo, who made
his appearance with a magnificent accompani-
ment." The secretary, Narciso Botello, "read in
a loud, clear and intelligible voice, the oath, and
the governor repeated it after him." At the
moment the oath was completed, the artillery
thundered forth a salute and the bells rang out
a merrv peal. The governor made a speech,
when all adjourned to the church, where a mas>
was said and a solemn Te Dunn sung: after
which all repaired to the house of his excellency,
where the southern patriots drank his health in
bumpers of wine and shouted themselves hoarse
in vivas to the new government. An inaugura-
tion ball was In Id- the "beauty and the chivalry
of the south were gathered there." I lutside the
tallow dips flared and flickered from the porticos
of the house, bonfires blazed in the streets and
cannon boomed salvs from the old plaza. Los
Angeles was the capital at last and had a gov-

106

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ernor all to herself, for Santa Barbara refused
to recognize Carrillo, although he belonged
within its jurisdiction.

The Angelenos determined to subjugate the
Barbarenos. An army of two hundred men,
under Castenada, was sent to capture the city.
After a few futile demonstrations, Castenada's
forces fell back to San Buenaventura.

Then Alvarado determined to subjugate the
Angelenos. He and Castro, gathering together
an army of two hundred men. by forced marches
reached San .Buenaventura, and by a strategic
movement captured all of Castenada's horses
and drove his army into the mission church.
For two days the battle raged and, "cannon to
the right of them," and "cannon in front of them
volleyed and thundered." One man was killed
on the northern side and the blood of several
mustangs watered the soil of their native land —
died for their country. The southerners slipped
out of the church at night and fled up the val-
ley on foot. Castro's caballeros captured about
seventy prisoners. Bio Pico, with reinforce-
ments, met the remnant of Castenada's arm)- at
the Santa Clara river, and together all fell back
to Los Angeles. Then there was wailing in the
old pueblo, where so lately there had been re-
joicing. Gov. Carlos Carrillo gathered to-
gether what men he could get to go with him
and retreated to San Diego. Alvarado's army
took possession of the southern capital and
some of the leading conspirators were sent as
prisoners to the Castillo at Sonoma.

Carrillo, at San Diego, received a small re-
inforcement from Mexico, under a Captain
Tobar. Tobar was made general and given
command of the southern army. Carrillo, hav-
ing recovered from his fright, sent an order to
the northern rebels to surrender within fifteen
days under penalty of being shot as traitors if
they refused. In the meantime Los Angeles
was held by the enemy. The second alcalde
(the first, Louis Aranas, was a prisoner) called
a meeting to devise some means "to have his
excellency, Don Carlos Carrillo, return to this
capital, as his presence is very much desired by
the citizens to protect their lives and property."
\ committee was appointed to locate Don
Carlos.

Instead of surrendering, Castro and Alvarado,
with a force of two hundred men, advanced
against Carrillo. The two armies met at Campo
de Las Flores. General Tobar had fortified a
cattle corral with rawhides, carretas and cot-
tonw : ood poles. A few shots from Alvarado's
artillery scattered Tobar's rawhide fortifications.
Carrillo surrendered. Tobar and a few of the
leaders escaped to Mexico. Alvarado ordered
the misguided Angelehian soldiers to go home
and behave themselves. He brought the captive
governor back with him and left him with his
(Carrillo's) wife at Santa Barbara, who became
surety for the deposed ruler. Not content with
his unfortunate attempts to rule, he again
claimed the governorship on the plea that he
had been appointed by the supreme government.
But the Angelenos had had enough of him.
Disgusted with his incompetency, Juan Gallardo,
at the session of May 14, 1838, presented a pe-
tition praying that this ayuntamiento do not rec-
ognize Carlos Carrillo as governor, and setting
forth the reasons why we, the petitioners,
"should declare ourselves subject to the north-
ern governor" and why they opposed Car-
rillo."

"First. In having compromised the people
from San Buenaventura south into a declara-
tion of war, the incalculable calamities of which
will never be forgotten, not even by the most
ignorant.

"Second. Not satisfied with the unfortunate
event of San Buenaventura, he repeated the
same at Campo de Las Flores. which, only
through a divine dispensation, California is not
to-day in mourning." Seventy citizens signed
the petition, but the city attorney, who had done
time in Yallejo's castillo, decided the petition il-
legal because it was written on common paper
when paper with the proper seal could be ob-
tained.

Next day Gallardo returned with his petition
on legal paper. The ayuntamiento decided to
sound the "public alarm" and call the people to-
gether to give them "public speech." The pub-
lic alarm was sounded. The people assembled
at the city hall: speeches were made 011, both
sides; and when the vote was taken twenty-two
were in favor of the northern governor, five

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Ki7

in favor of whatever the ayuntamiento decides,
and Serbulo Yareles alone voted for Don Carlos
Carrillo. So the council decided to recognize
Don Juan I!autista Alvarado as governor and
leave the supreme government to settle the con-
test between him and Carrillo.

Notwithstanding this apparent burying of the
hatchet, there were rumors of plots and in-
trigues in Los Angeles and San Diego against
Alvarado. At length, aggravated beyond en-
durance, the governor sent word to the surenos
that if they did not behave themselves he would
shoot ten of the leading men of the south. As
he had about that number locked up in the
Castillo at Sonoma, his was no idle threat. One
by one Alvarado's prisoners of state were re-
leased from Yallejo's bastile at Sonoma and re-
turned to Los Angeles, sadder if not wiser men.
At the session of the ayuntamiento October 20,
1838, the president announced that Senior
Regidor Jose Palomares had returned from
Sonoma, where he had been compelled to go
by 'reason of "political differences," and that he
should be allowed his seat in the council. The
request was granted unanimously.

At the next meeting Narciso Botello, its for-
mer secretary, after five and a half months' im-
prisonment at Sonoma, put in an appearance ami
claimed his office and his pay. Although others
had filled the office in the interim the illustrious
ayuntamiento, "ignoring for what offense he was
incarcerated, could not suspend his salary."
But his salary was suspended. The treasury
was empty. The last horse and the last hide had
been paid out to defray the expense of the in-
auguration festivities of Carlos, the Pretender,
and the civil war that followed. Indeed there
was a treasury deficit of whole caballadas of
horses, and bales of hides. Xarciso's back pay

was a preferred claim that outlasted El Estado
Libre.

The surenos of Los Angeles and San Diego,
finding that in Alvarado they had a man of cour-
age and determination to deal with, ceased from
troubling him and submitted to the inevitable.
At the meeting of the ayuntamiento, October 5,
1839, a notification was received, stating that the
supreme government of Mexico had appointed
Juan Bautista Alvarado governor of the depart-
ment. There was no grumbling or dissent. ( >n
the contrary, the records say, "This illustrious
body acknowledges receipt of the communica-
tion and congratulated his excellency. It will
announce the same to the citizens to-morrow
(Sunday), will raise the national colors, salute
the same with the required number of volleys,
and will invite the people to illuminate their
houses for a better display in rejoicing at such
a happy appointment." With his appointment
by the supreme government the "free and sov-
ereign state of Alta California" became a dream
of the past — a dead nation. Indeed, months be-
fore Alvarado had abandoned his idea of found-
ing an independent state and had taken the oath
of allegiance to the constitution of 1836. The
loyal surenos received no thanks from the su-
preme government for all their professions of
loyalty, whilst the rebellious arriberios of the
north obtained all the rewards — the governor,
the capital and the offices. The supreme -"\
ernment gave the deposed governor, Carlos
Carrillo, a grant of the island of Santa Rosa,
in the Santa Barbara Channel, but whether it
was given him as a sake to his wounded dignity
or as an Elba or St. Helena, where, in the event
of his stirring up another revolution, he might
be banished a la Napoleon, the records <h> not
inform us.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

CHAPTER XIV.

DECLINE AND FALL OF MEXICAN DOMINATION.

WHILE the revolution begun by Al-
varado and Castro had not established
California's independence, it had effect-
ually rid the territory of Mexican dictators.
A native son was governor of the depart-
ment of the Californians (by the constitu-
tion of 1836 Upper and Lower California had
been united into a department); another native
son was comandante of its military forces. The
membership of the departmental junta, which
had taken the place of the diputacion, was
largely made up of sons of the soil, and natives
filled the minor offices. In their zeal to rid
themselves of Mexican office-holders they had
invoked the assistance of another element that
was ultimately to be their undoing.

During the revolutionary era just passed the
foreign population had largely increased. Xot
only had the foreigners come by sea, but they
had come by land. Capt. Jedediah S. Smith, a
New England-born trapper and hunter, was the
first man to enter California by the overland
route. A number of trappers and hunters came
in the early '30s from New Mexico by way of
the old Spanish trail. This immigration was
largely American, and was made up of a bold,
adventurous class of men, some of them not
the' most desirable immigrants. Of this latter
class were some of Graham's followers.

By invoking Graham's aid to put him in
power, Alvarado had fastened upon his shoul-
ders an old Man of the Sea. It was easy enough
to enlist the services of Graham's riflemen, but
altogether another matter to get rid of them.
Now that he was firmly established in power,
Alvarado would, no doubt, have been glad to be
rid entirely of his recent allies, but Graham and
his adherents were not backward in giving him
to understand that he owed his position to them,
and they wer< inclined to put themselves on an
equality with him. This did not comport with
his ideas of the dignity of his office. To be

hailed by some rough buckskin-clad trapper
with "Ho! Bautista; come here, I want to speak
with you," was an affront to his pride that the
governor of the two Californias could not
quietly pass over, and, besides, like all of his
countrymen, he disliked foreigners.

There were rumors of another revolution, and
it was not difficult to persuade Alvarado that
the foreigners were plottingto revolutionize Cal-
ifornia. Mexico had recently lost Texas, and
the same class of "malditos extranjeros" (wicked
strangers) were invading California, and would
ultimately possess themselves of the country. Ac-
cordingly, secret orders were sent throughout
the department to arrest and imprison all for-
eigners. Over one hundred men of different
nationalities were arrested, principally Amer-
icans and English. Of these forty-seven were
shipped to San Bias, and from there marched
overland to Tepic, where they were imprisoned
for several months. Through the efforts of the
British consul, Barron, they were released.
Castro, who had accompanied the prisoners to
Mexico to prefer charges against them, was
placed under arrest and afterwards tried by
court-martial, but was acquitted. He had been
acting under orders from his superiors. After
an absence of over a year twenty of the exiles
landed at Monterey on their return from Mex-
ico. Robinson, who saw them land, says:
"They returned neatly dressed, armed with rifles
and swords, and looking in much better condi-
tion than when they were sent away, or probably
than they had ever looked in their lives before."
The Mexican government had been compelled
to pay them damages for their arrest and im-
prisonment and to return them to California.
Graham, the reputed leader of the foreigners,
was the owner of a distillery near Santa Cruz,
and had gathered a number of hard characters
around him. It would have been no loss had he
never returned.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

10!

The only other event of importance during
Alvarado's term as governor was the capture of
Monterey by Commodore Ap Catesby Jones, of
the United States navy. This event happened
after Alvarado's successor, Micheltorena, had
landed in California, but before the government
had been formally turned over to him.

The following extract from the diary of a
pioneer, who was an eye-witness of the affair,
gives a good description of the capture:

"Monterey, Oct. 19, 1842. — At 2 p. 111. the
United States man-of-war United States, Com-
modore Ap Catesby Jones, came to anchor close
alongside and in-shore of all the ships in port.
About 3 p. m. Capt. Armstrong came ashore,
accompanied by an interpreter, and went direct
to the governor's house, where he had a private
conversation with him, which proved to be a
demand for the surrender of the entire coast of
California, upper and lower, to the United
States government. When he was about to go
on board he gave three or four copies of a
proclamation to the inhabitants of the two Cali-
fornias, assuring them of the protection of their
lives, persons and property. In his notice to the
governor (Alvarado) he gave him only until the
following morning at 9 a. m. to decide. If he
received no answer, then he would fire upon the
town."

"I remained on shore that night and went
down to the governor's with Mr. Larkin and
Mr. Eagle. The governor had had some idea
of running away and leaving Monterey to its
fate, but was told by Mr. Spence that he should
not go, and finally he resolved to await the re-
sult. At 12 at night some persons were sent
on board the United States who had been ap-
pointed by the governor to meet the commodore
and arrange the terms of the surrender. Next
morning at half-past ten o'clock about one hun-
dred sailors and fifty marines disembarked. The
sailors marched up from the shore and took pos-
session of the fort. The American colors were
hoisted. The United States fired a salute of thir-
teen guns ; it was returned by the fort, which fired
twenty-six guns. The marines in the meantime
had marched up to the government house. The
officers and soldiers of the California govern-
ment were discharged and their guns and other

arms taken possession of and carried to the fort.
The stars and stripes now wave over us. Long
may they wave here in California!"

"Oct. 21, 4 p. m. — Elags were again changed,
the vessels were released, and all was quiet again.
The commodore had received later news by
some Mexican newspapers."

Commodore Jones had been stationed at Cal-
lao with a squadron of four vessels. An English
fleet was also there, and a French fleet was
cruising in the Pacific. Both these were sup-
posed to have designs on California. Jones
learned that the English admiral had received
orders to sail next day. Surmising that his des-
tination might be California, he slipped out of
the harbor the night before and crowded all sail
to reach California before the English admiral.
The loss of Texas, and the constant influx of im-
migrants and adventurers from the United
States into California, had embittered the Mex-
ican government more and more against
foreigners. Manuel Micheltorena, who had
served under Santa Anna in the Texas war,
was appointed January 19, 1842, comandanfe-
general inspector and gobernador propietario of
the Californias.

Santa Anna was president of the Mexican re-
public. His experience with Americans in
Texas during the Texan war of independence,
in 1836-37, had determined him to use ever)
effort to prevent California from sharing the fate
of Texas.

Micheltorena, the newly-appointed governor,
was instructed to take with him sufficient f< iree
to check the ingress of Americans. He recruited
a force of three hundred and fifty men. prin-
cipally convicts enlisted from the prisons of
Mexico. His army of thieves and ragamuffins
landed at San Diego in August, 1842.

Robinson, who was at San Diego when one
of the vessels conveying Micheltorena's cholos
(convicts) landed, thus describes them: "Five
days afterward the brig ChatO arrived with
ninety soldiers and their families. I saw them
land, and to me they presented a state of
wretchedness and misery unequaled. Not one
individual among them possessed a iacket or
pantaloons, but. naked, and like the savage In-
dians, they concealed their nudity with dirty,

Ill)

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

miserable blankets. The females were not much
better off, for the scantiness of their mean ap-
parel was too apparent for modest observers.
They appeared like convicts, and, indeed, the
greater portion of them had been charged with
crime, either of murder or theft."

Micheltorena drilled his Falstaffian army at
San Diego for several weeks and then began his
march northward; Los Angeles made great
preparations to receive the new governor. Seven
years had passed since she had been decreed the
capital of the territory, and in all these years
she had been denied her rights by Monterey.
A favorable impression on the new governor
might induce him to make the ciudad his capital.
The national fiesta of September 16 was post-
poned until the arrival of the governor. The
best house in the town was secured for him
and his staff. A grand ball was projected
and the city illuminated the night of his arrival.
A camp was established down by the river and
the cholos, who in the meantime had been given
white linen uniforms, were put through the drill
and the manual of arms. They were incorrigible
thieves, and stole for the very pleasure of steal-
ing. They robbed the hen roosts, the orchards,
the vineyards and the vegetable gardens of the
citizens. To the Angeleiios the glory of their
city as the capital of the territory faded in the
presence of their empty chicken coops and
plundered orchards. They longed to speed the
departure of their now unwelcome guests. After
a stay of a month in the city Micheltorena and
his army took up their line of march northward.
He reached a point about twenty miles north
of San Fernando, when, on the night of the
24th of October, a messenger aroused him from
his slumbers witli the news that the capital had
been captured by the Americans. Micheltorena
seized the occasion to make political capital for
himself with the home government. He spent
the remainder of the night in fulminating proc-
lamations against the invaders fiercer than the
thunderbolts of Jove, copies of which were dis-
patched post haste to Mexico. He even wished
himself a thunderbolt "that he mighl fly over
intervening space and annihilate the invaders."
Then, with his own courage and doubtless that
of his brave cholos aroused to the highest

pitch, instead of rushing on the invaders, he and
his army • fled back to San Fernando, where,
afraid to advance or retreat, he halted until news
reached him that Commodore Jones had re-
stored Monterey to the Californians. Then his
valor reached the boiling point. He boldly
marched to Los Angeles, established his head-
quarters in the city and awaited the coming
of Commodore Jones and his officers from Mon-
terey.

On the 19th of January, 1843, Commodore
Jones and his staff came to Los Angeles to meet
the governor. At the famous conference in
the Palacio de Don Abel, Micheltorena pre-
sented his articles of convention. Among other
ridiculous demands were the following: "Ar-
ticle VI. Thomas Ap C. Jones will deliver fif-
teen hundred complete infantry uniforms to re-
place those of nearly one-half of the Mexican
force, which have been ruined in the violent
march and the continued rains while they were
on their way to recover the port thus invaded."
"Article VII. Jones to pay $15,000 into the
national treasury for expenses incurred from the
general alarm; also a complete set of musical
instruments in place of those ruined on this
occasion."* Judging from Robinson's descrip-
tion of the dress of Micheltorena's cholos it is
doubtful whether there was an entire uniform
among them.

"The commodore's first impulse," writes a
member of his staff, "was to return the papers
without comment and to refuse further com-
munication with a man who could have the ef-
frontery to trump up such charges as those for
which indemnification was claimed." The com-
modore on reflection put aside his personal feel-
ings, and met the governor at the grand ball in
Sanchez hall, held in honor of the occasion.
The ball was a brilliant affair, "the dancing
ceased only with the rising of the sun next
morning." The commodore returned the articles
without his signature. The governor did not
again refer to his demands. Next morning,
January 21, 1843, Jones and his officers took
their departure from the city "amidst the beat-
ing of drums, the firing of cannon and the ring-

jft's Tli-torv of California. Vol IV

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

l i i

ing of bells, saluted by the general and his wife
from the door of their quarters. On the 31st
of December Micheltorena had taken the oath
of office in Sanchez' hall, which stood on the
east side of the plaza. Salutes were fired, the
bells were rung and the city was illuminated
for three evenings. For the second time a gov-
ernor had been inaugurated in Los Angeles.

Micheltorena and his cholo army remained in
Los Angeles about eight months. The An-
gelenos had all the capital they cared for. They
were perfectly willing to have the governor and
his army take up their residence in Monterey.
The cholos had devoured the country like an
army of chapules (locusts) and were willing to
move on. Monterey would no doubt have gladly
transferred what right she had to the capital
if at the same time she could have transferred
to her old rival, Los Angeles, Micheltorena's
cholos. Their pilfering was largely enforced
by their necessities. They received little or no
pay, and they often had to steal or starve. The
leading native Californians still entertained their
old dislike to "Mexican dictators" and the ret-
inue of three hundred chicken thieves accom-
panying the last dictator intensified their hatred.

Micheltorena, while not a model governor,
had many good qualities and was generally liked
by the better class of foreign residents. He
made an earnest effort to establish a system of
public education in the territory. Schools were
established in all the principal towns, and ter-
ritorial aid from the public funds to the amount
of $500 each was given them. The school at
Los Angeles had over one hundred pupils in
attendance. His worst fault was a disposition
to meddle in local affairs. He was unreliable
and not careful to keep his agreements. He
might have succeeded in giving California a
stable government had it not been for the antip-
athy to his soldiers and the old feud between
the "hijos del pais" and the Mexican dictators.
These proved his undoing. The native sons
under Alvarado and Castro rose in rebellion.
In November, 1844, a revolution was inaugu-
rated at Santa Clara. The governor marched
with an army of one hundred and fifty men
against the rebel forces, numbering about two
hundred. They met at a place called the La-

guna de Alvires. A treaty was signed in which
Micheltorena agreed to ship his cholos back to
Mexico.

This treaty the governor deliberately broke.
He then intrigued with Capt. John A. Sutter of
New Helvetia and Isaac Graham to obtain as-
sistance to crush the rebels. January 9, 1845,
Micheltorena and Sutter formed a junction of
their forces at Salinas — their united commands
numbering about five hundred men. They
marched against the rebels to crush them. But
the rebels did not wait to be crushed. Alvarado
and Castro, with about ninety men, started for
Los Angeles, and those left behind scattered
to their homes. Alvarado and his men reached
Los Angeles on the night of January 20, 1845.
The garrison stationed at the curate's house
was surprised and captured. One man was
killed and several wounded. Lieutenant Me-
dina, of Micheltorena's army, was the com-
mander of the pueblo troops. Alvarado's army
encamped on the plaza and he and Castro set
to work to revolutionize the old pueblo. The
leading Angelenos had no great love for Juan
Ilautista, and did not readily fall into his
schemes. They had not forgotten their en-
forced detention in Vallejo's bastile during the
Civil war. An extraordinary session of the
ayuntamiento was called January 21. Alvarado
and Castro were present and made eloquent ap-
peals. The records say: "The ayuntamiento
listened, and after a short interval of silence and
meditation decided to notify the senior member
of the department assembly of Don Alvarado
and Castros' wishes."

They were more successful with the Pico
brothers. Pio Pico was senior vocal, and in
case Micheltorena was disposed he, by virtue of
his office, would become governor. Through
the influence of the Picos the revolution gained
ground. The most potent influence in spread-
ing the revolt was the fear of Micheltorena's
army of chicken thieves. Should the town be
captured by them it certainly would be '-■
The department assembly was called together.
A peace commission was sent to meet Michel-
torena. who was leisurely marching southward,
and intercede with him to give up his prO|
invasion of the smith. He refused. Then the

Ill

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

assembly pronounced him a traitor, deposed
him by vote and appointed Pio Pico governor.
Recruiting went on rapidly. Hundreds of sad-
dle horses were contributed, "old rusty guns
were repaired, hacked swords sharpened, rude
lances manufactured" and cartridges made for
the cannon. Some fifty foreigners of the south
joined Alvarado's army; not that they had
much interest in the revolution, but to protect
their property against the rapacious invaders —
the cholos — and Sutter's Indians,* who were as
much dreaded as the cholos. On the 19th of
February, Micheltorena reached the Encinos,
and the Angelenian army marched out through
( 'almenga Pass to meet him. On the 20th the
two armies met on the southern edge of the
San Fernando valley, about fifteen miles from
Los Angeles. Each army numbered about four
hundred men. Micheltorena had three pieces
of artillery and Castro two. They opened on
each other at long range and seem to have
fought the battle throughout at very long range.
A mustang or a mule (authorities differ) was
killed.

Wilson, Workman and McKinley of Castro's
army decided to induce the Americans on the
other side, many of whom were their personal
friends, to abandon Micheltorena. Passing up
a ravine, they succeeded in attracting the atten-
tion of some of them by means of a white flag.
( ianttj Hensley and Bidwell joined them in the
ravine. The situation was discussed and the
Americans of Micheltorena's army agreed to
desert him if Pico would protect them in their
land grants. Wilson, in his account of the bat-
tle, says:f "I knew, and so did Pico, that these
land questions were the point with those young
Americans. Before I started on my journey or
embassy, Pico was sent for; on his arrival
among us I, in a few words, explained to him
what the party had advanced. 'Gentlemen.' said
he, 'are any of you citizens of Mexico?" They
answered 'No.' 'Then your title deeds given
you by Micheltorena are not worth the paper

*Sutter had under his command ;i company of In-
dians, lie had drilled these in the use of firearms.
Mi.' employing of these savages by Micheltorena was
I'it'rrly resented liy tin- Californians.

tPtih Historical Society of Southern California.
Vol. III.

they are written on, and he knew it well when
he gave them to you; but if you wiil abandon
his cause I will give you my word of honor as
a gentleman, and Don Benito Wilson and Don
Juan Workman to carry out what I promise,
that I will protect each one of you in the land
that you now hold, and when you become citi-
zens of Mexico I will issue you the proper ti-
tles.' They said that was all they asked, and
promised not to fire a gun against us. They also
asked not to be required to fight on our side,
which was agreed to.

"Micheltorena discovered (how, I do not know)
that his Americans had abandoned him. About
an hour afterwards he raised his camp and
Hanked us by going further into the valley to-
wards San Fernando, then marching as though
lie intended to come around the bend of the
river to the city. The Californians and we for-
eigners at once broke up our camp and came
back through the Cahuenga Pass, marched
through the gap into the Feliz ranch, on the
Los Angeles River, till we came into close
proximity to Micheltorena's camp. It was now
night, as it was dark when we broke up our
camp. Here we waited for daylight, and some
of our men commenced maneuvering for a fight
with the enemy. A few cannon shots were
fired, when a white flag was discovered flying
from Micheltorena's front. The whole matter
then went into the hands of negotiators ap-
pointed by both parties and the terms of sur-
render were agreed upon, one of which was that
Micheltorena and his obnoxious officers and
men were to march back up the river to the
Cahuenga Pass, then down on the plain to the
west of Los Angeles, the most direct line to
San Pedro, and embark at that point on a vessel
then anchored there to carry them back to Mex-
ico." Sutter was taken prisoner, and his Indians,
after being corralled for a time, were sent back
to the Sacramento.

The roar of the battle of Cahuenga, or the
Alamo, as it is sometimes called, could be dis-
tinctly heard in Los Angeles, and the people
remaining in the city were greatly alarmed.
William Heath Davis, in his Sixty Years in Cal-
ifornia, thus describes the alarm in the town;
"Directly to the north of the town was a high

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

L13

hill" (now known as Mt. Lookout). "As soon
as firing was heard all the people remaining in
the town, men, women and children, ran to the
top of this hill. As the wind was blowing from
the north, the firing was distinctly heard, five
leagues away, on the battle-field throughout the
day. All business places in town were closed.
The scene on the hill was a remarkable one,
women and children, with crosses in their hands,
kneeling and praying to the saints for the safety
of their fathers, brothers, sons, husbands, lovers,
cousins, that they might not be killed in the bat-
tle; indifferent to their personal appearance,
tears streaming from their eyes, and their hair
blown about by the wind, which had increased
to quite a breeze. Don Abel Stearns, myself and
others tried to calm and pacify them, assuring
them that there was probably no danger; some-
what against our convictions, it is true, judg-
ing from what we heard of the firing and from
our knowledge of Micheltorena's disciplined
force, his battery, and the riflemen he had with
him. During the day the scene on the hill con-
tinued. The night that followed was a gloomy
one, caused by the lamentations of the women
and children."

Davis, who was supercargo on the Don
Quixote, the vessel on which Micheltorena and
his soldiers were shipped to Mexico, claims that
the general "had ordered his command not to
injure the Californians in the force opposed to
him, but to fire over their heads, as he had no
desire to kill them."

Another Mexican-born governor had been
deposed and deported, gone to join his fellows.
Victoria, Chico and Gutierrez. In accordance
with the treaty of Cahuenga and by virtue of
his rank as senior member of the departmental
assembly, Pio Pico became governor. The hijos
del pais were once more in the ascendency.
Jose Castro was made comandante-general. Al-
varado was given charge of the custom house at
Monterey, and Jose Antonio Carrillo was ap-
pointed commander of the military district of
the south. Los Angeles was made the capital,
although the archives and the treasurv remained
in Monterey. The revolution apparently had
been a success. In the proceedings of the Los
Angeles ayuntamiento, March i. 1845, appears

this record: "The agreements entered into at
Cahuenga between Gen. Emanuel Michel-
torena and Lieut.-Col. Jose Castro were then
read, and as they contain a happy termination of
affairs in favor of the government, this Illustri-
ous Body listened with satisfaction and so an-
swered the communication."

The people joined with the ayuntamiento in
expressing their "satisfaction" that a "happy
termination" had been reached of the political
disturbances which had distracted the country.
But the end was not yet. Pico did his best to
conciliate the conflicting elements, but the old
sectional jealousies that had divided the people
of the territory would crop out. Jose Antonio
Carrillo, the Machiaveli of the south, hated Cas-
tro and Alvarado and was jealous of Pico's good
fortune. He was the superior of any of them
in ability, but made himself unpopular by his
intrigues and his sarcastic speech. When Cas-
tro and Alvarado can raise the stand-
ard of revolt they tried to win him over. He
did assist them. He was willing enough to plot
against Micheltorena, but after the overthrow
of the Mexican he was equally ready to plot
against Pico and Castro. In the summer of
1845 ne was implicated in a plot to depose Pico,
who, by the way, was his brother-in-law. Pico
piaced him and two of his fellow conspirators,
Serbulo and Hilario Yarela, under arrest. Car-
rillo and Hilario Yarela were shipped to Mazal-
Ian to be tried for their misdeed. Serbulo Ya-
rela made his escape from prison. The two
exiles returned early in 1846 unpunished and
ready for new pli its.

Pico was appointed gobernador proprietario,
or constitutional governor <>f California, Sep-
tember 3, 1845, by President Herrera. The su-
preme government of Mexico never seemed to
lake offense or harbor resentment against the
Californians for deposing and -ending home a
governor. As the officials of the supreme
ernment usually obtained office by revolution,
they no doubt had a fellow feeling fur the revolt-
ing Californians. When Micheltorena returned
to Mexico he was coldly received and a com-
missioner was sent to Pico with dispatches vir-
tually approving all that had been done.

Castro, too, gave Pico a great deal of uneasi-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ness. He ignored the governor and managed
the military affairs of the territory to suit him-
self. His headquarters were at Monterey and
doubtless he had the sympathy if not the en-
couragement of the people of the north in his
course. But the cause of the greatest uneasi-
ness was the increasing immigration from the
United States. A stream of emigrants from the
western states, increasing each year, poured
down the Sierra Nevadas and spread over the
rich valleys of California. The Californians rec-
ognized that through the advent of these "for-
eign adventurers,"as they called them, the "man-
ifest destiny"of California was to be absorbed by
the United States. Alvarado had appealed to
Mexico for men and arms and had been an-
swered by the arrival of Micheltorena and his
cholos. Pico appealed and for a time the Cali-
fornians were cheered by the prospect of aid.

In the summer of 1845 a f° rce °* s ' x hundred
veteran soldiers, under command of Colonel
Iniestra, reached Acapulco, where ships were ly-
ing to take them to California, but a revolution
broke out in Mexico and the troops destined for
the defense of California were used to overthrow-
President Hcrrera and to seat Paredes. Cali-
fornia was left to work out her own destiny
unaided or drift with the tide — and she drifted.
In the early months of 1846 there was a rapid
succession of important events in her history,
each in passing bearing her near and nearer to
a manifest destiny — the downfall of Mexican
domination in California. These will be pre-
sented fully in the chapter on the Acquisition of
California by the United States. But before
taking up these we will turn aside to review life
in California in the olden time under Spanish
and Mexican rule.

CHAPTER XV.

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT— HOMES AND HOME-LIFE OF
THE CALIFORNIANS.

UNDER Spain the government of Califor-
nia was semi-military and semi-clerical.
The governors were military officers and
had command of the troops in the territory, and
looked after affairs at the pueblos; the friars
were supreme at the missions. The municipal
government of the pueblos was vested in ayun-
tamientos. The decree of the Spanish Cortes
passed May 23, 1S12, regulated the membership
of the ayuntamiento according to the popula-
tion of the town — "there shall be one alcalde
(mayor), two regidores (councilmen), ami one
procurador-syndico (treasurer) in all towns
which do not have more than two hundred in-
habitants; one alcalde, four regidores and one
syndico in those the population of which ex-
ceeds two hundred, but does no.1 exceed five
hundred." When the population of a town ex-
ceeded one thousand it was allowed two al-
caldes, eighl regidores and two syndicos. Over
the members of the a\ untamiento in the early
years of Spanish rule was a quasi-military offi-

cer called a comisionado, a sort of petty dictator
or military despot, who, when occasion required
or inclination moved him, embodied within him-
self all three departments of government, judi-
ciary, legislative and executive. After Mexico
became a republic the office of comisionado was
abolished. The alcalde acted as president of
the ayuntamiento, as mayor and as judge of
the court of first instance. The second alcalde
took his place when that officer was ill or ab-
sent. The syndico was a general utility man.
lie acted as city or town attorney, tax collector
and treasurer. The secretary was an important
officer; lie kept the records, acted as clerk of
the alcalde's court and was the only municipal
officer who received pay. except the syndico,
who received a commission on his collections.

In 1837 the Mexican Congress passed a decree
abolishing ayuntamientos in capitals of depart-
ments having a population of less than four
thousand and in interior towns of less than
eight thousand. In 1839 Governor Alvarado

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

reported to the Departmental Assembly that no
town in California had the requisite population.
The ayuntamientos all closed January i, 1840.
They were re-established in 1844. During their
abolition the towns were governed by prefects
and justices of the peace, and the special laws
or ordinances were enacted by the departmental
assembly.

The jurisdiction of the ayuntamiento often
extended over a large area of country beyond
the town limits. That of Los Angeles, after the
secularization of the missions, extended over a
country as large as the state of Massachusetts.
The authority of the ayuntamiento was as ex-
tensive as its jurisdiction. It granted town lots
and recommended to the governor grants of
land from the public domain. In addition to
passing ordinances its members sometimes
acted as executive officers to enforce them. It
exercised the powers of a board of health, a
board of education, a police commission and a
street department. During the civil war be-
tween Northern and Southern California, in
1837-38, the ayuntamiento of Los Angeles
raised and equipped an army and assumed the
right to govern the southern half of the terri-
tory.

The ayuntamiento was spoken of as Muy
Ilustre (Most Illustrious), in the same sense
that we speak of the honorable city council, but
it was a much more dignified body than a city
council. The members were required to attend
their public functions "attired in black apparel.
so as to add solemnity to the meetings." They
served without pay, but if a member was absent
frOm a meeting without a good excuse he was
liable to a fine. As there was no pay in the office
and its duties were numerous and onerous, there
was not a large crop of aspirants for council-
men in those days, and the office usually sought
the man. It might be added that when it caught
the right man it was loath to let go of him.

The misfortunes that beset Francisco Pantoja
aptly illustrate the difficulty of resigning in the
days when office sought the man, not man the
office. Pantoja was elected fourth regidor of
the ayuntamiento of Los Angeles in 1837. In
those days wild horses were very numerous.
When the pasture in tin 1 foothills was exhausted

they came down into the valleys and ate up
the feed needed for the cattle. Un this account,
and because most of these wild horses were
worthless, the rancheros slaughtered them. A
corral was built with wings extending out on
the right and left from the main entrance. When
the corral was completed a day was set for a
wild horse drive. The bauds were rounded up
and driven into the corral. The pick of the
caballados were lassoed and taken out to be
broken to the saddle and the refuse of the drive
killed. The Vejars had obtained permission
from the ayuntamiento to build a corral between
the Ceritos and the Salinas for the purpose of
corralling wild horses. Pantoja, being some-
thing of a sport, petitioned his fellow regidores
for a twenty days' leave of absence to join in
the wild horse chase. A wild horse chase was
wild sport and dangerous, too. Somebody was
sure to get hurt, and Pantoja in this one was
one of the unfortunates. When his twenty days'
leave of absence was up he did not return to
his duties of regidor. but instead sent his res-
ignation on plea of illness. His resignation was
not accepted and the president of the ayunta-
miento appointed a committee to investigate
his physical condition. There were no physi-
cians in Los Angeles in those days, so the com-
mittee took along Santiago McKinley, a canny
Scotch merchant, who was repined to have some
knowledge of surgery. The committee and the
improvised surgeon held an ante-mortem in-
quest on what remained of Pantoja. The com-
mittee reported to the council that he was a
physical wreck; that he could not mount a
horse nor ride one when mounted. A native
California!! who had reached such a state of
physical dilapidation that he could not mount
a horse might well be excused from official du-
ties. To excuse him might establish a danger-
ous precedent. The ayuntamiento heard the
report, pondered over it and then sent it and
the resignation to the governor. The governor
took them under advisement. In the meantime
a revolution broke out and before p
stored and the governor had time to pass upon
the case Pantoja's term had expired by limita-
tion.

That modern fad dslation, the

11(5

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

referendum, was in full force and effect in Cali-
fornia three-quarters of a century ago. When
some question of great importance to the com-
munity was before the ayuntamiento and the
regidores were divided in opinion, the alarma
publica or public alarm was sounded by the
beating of the long roll on the drum and all the
citizens were summoned to the hall of sessions.
Any one hearing the alarm and not heed-
ing it was fined $3. When the citizens were con-
vened the president of the ayuntamiento, speak-
ing in a loud voice, stated the question and the
people were given "public speech." The ques-
tion was debated by all who wished to speak.
When all had had their say it was decided by a
show of hands.

The ayuntamientos regulated the social func-
tions of the pueblos as well as the civic. Ordi-
nance 5, ayuntamiento proceedings of Los
Angeles, reads: "All individuals serenading pro-
miscuously around the street of the city at night
without first having obtained permission from
the alcalde will be fined $1.50 for the first of-
fense, $3 for the second offense, and for the
third punished according to law." Ordinance 4,
adopted by the ayuntamiento of Los Angeles,
January 28, 1838, reads: "Every person not
having any apparent occupation in this city or
its jurisdiction is hereby ordered to look for
work within three days, counting from the day
this ordinance is published; if not complied
with, lie will be fined $2 for the first offense, $4
for the second offense, and will be given com-
pulsory work for the third." From the reading
of the ordinance it would seem if the tramp
kept looking for work, but was careful not to
find it, there could be no offense and conse-
quently no fines or compulsory work.

Some of the enactments of the old regidores
would fade the azure out of the blue laws of
Connecticut in severity. In the plan of gov-
ernment adopted by the surefios in the rebellion
of 1837 appears this article: "Article 3, The
Roman Catholic Apostolic religion shall pre-
vail throughout this jurisdiction: and any per-
son professing publicly any other religion shall
be prosecuted."

Here is a blue law of Monterey, enacted
March 23, 1816: "All persons must attend mass

and respond in a loud voice, and if any persons
should fail to do so without good cause they
will be put in the stocks for three hours."

The architecture of the Spanish and Mexican
eras of California was homely almost to ugliness.
There was no external ornamentation to the
dwellings and no internal conveniences. There
was but little attempt at variety and the houses
were mostly of one style, square walled, tile cov-
ered, or flat roofed with pitch, and usually but
one story high. Some of the mission churches
were massive, grand and ornamental, while
others were devoid of beauty and travesties on
the rules of architecture. Every man was his
own architect and master builder. He had no
choice of material, or, rather, with his ease-
loving disposition, he chose to use that which
was most convenient, and that was adobe clay,
made into sun-dried brick. The Indian was the
brick maker, and he toiled for his taskmasters,
like the Hebrew of old for the Egyptian, making
bricks without straw and without pay. There
were no labor strikes in the building trades then.
The Indian was the builder, and he did not
know how to strike for higher wages, because
he received no wages, high or low. The adobe
bricks were moulded into form and set up to
dry. Through the long summer days they
baked in the hot sun, first on one side, then on
the other; and when dried through they were
laid in the wall with mud mortar. Then the
walls had to dry and dry perhaps through an-
other summer before the house was habitable.
Time was the essense of building contracts then.

There was but little wood used in house con-
struction then. It was only the aristocrats who
could indulge in the luxury of wooden floors.
Most of the houses had floors of the beaten
earth. Such floors were cheap and durable.
Gilroy says, when he came to Monterey in 1814,
only the governor's house had a wooden floor.
A door of rawhide shut out intruders and
wooden-barred windows admitted sunshine and
air.

The legendry of the hearthstone and the fire-
side which fills so large a place in the home life
and literature of the Anglo-Saxon had no part
in the domestic system of the old-time Califor-
nian. He had no hearthstone and no fireside,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

117

nor could that pleasing fiction of Santa Claus
coming down the chimney with toys on Christ-
mas eve that so delights the children of to-day
have been understood by the youthful Califor-
nian of long ago. There were no chimneys in
California. The only means of warming the
houses by artificial heat was a pan (or braseroj
of coals set on the floor. The people lived out
of doors in the open air and invigorating sun-
shine; and they were health)- and long-lived.
Their houses were places to sleep in or shelters
from rain.

The furniture was meager and mostly home-
made. A few benches or rawhide-bottomed
chairs to sit on; a rough table; a chest or two
to keep the family finery in ; a few cheap prints
of saints on the walls — these formed the furnish-
ings and the decorations of the living rooms of
the common people. The bed was the pride and
the ambition of the housewife. Even in humble
dwellings, sometimes, a snowy counterpane and
lace-trimmed pillows decorated a couch whose
base was a dried bullock's hide stretched on a
rough frame of wood. A shrine dedicated to the
patron saint of the household was a very essen-
tial part of a well-regulated home.

Fashions in dress did not change with the sea-
sons. A man could wear his grandfather's hat
and his coat, too, and not be out of the fashion.
Robinson, writing of California in 1829. says:
"The people were still adhering to the costumes
of the past century." It was not until after 1834,
when the Hijar colonists brought the latest fash-
ions from the City of Mexico, that the style of
dress for men and women began to change. The
next change took place after the American con-
quest. Only two changes in half a century, a
garment had to be very durable to become un-
fashionable.

The few wealthy people in the territory
dressed well, even extravagantly. Robinson de-
scribes the dress of Tomas Yorba, a wealthy
ranchero of the Upper Santa Ana, as he saw
him in 1829: "Upon his head he wore a black
silk handkerchief, the four corners of which
hung down his neck behind. An embroidered
shirt; a cravat of white jaconet, tastefully tied;
a blue damask vest; short clothes of crimson
velvet; a bright green cloth jacket, with large

silver buttons, and shoes of embroidered deer-
skin composed Ins dress. I was afterwards in-
formed by Don Manuel (Dominguez) that on
some occasions, such as some particular feast
day or festival, his entire display often exceeded
in value a thousand dollars."

"The dress worn by the middle class of fe-
males is a chemise, with short embroidered
sleeves, richly trimmed with lace; a muslin pet-
ticoat, flounced with scarlet and secured at the
waist by a silk band of the same color; shoes of
velvet or blue satin; a cotton reboso or scarf;
pearl necklace and earrings; with hair falling in
broad plaits down the back."* After 1834 the
men generally adopted calzoneras instead of the
knee breeches or short clothes of the last cen-
tury.

"The calzoneras were pantaloons with the ex-
terior seam open throughout its length. On the
upper edge was. a strip of cloth, red, blue or
black, in which were buttonholes. On the other
edge were eyelet holes for buttons. In some
cases the calzonera was sewn from hip to the
middle of the thigh ; in others, buttoned. From
the middle of the thigh downward the leg was
covered by the bota or leggins, used by every
one, whatever his dress." The short jacket,
with silver or bronze buttons, and the silken
sash that served as a connecting link between
the calzoneras and the jacket, and also supplied
the place of what the Californians did not wear,
suspenders, this constituted a picturesque cos-
tume, that continued in vogue until the con-
quest, and with many' of the natives for years
after. "After 1834 the fashionable women of Cal-
ifornia exchanged their narrow for more flowing
garments and abandoned the braided hair for
the coil and the large combs till then in use for
smaller combs. "f

For outer wraps the serapa for men and the
rebosa for women were universally worn. The
texture of these marked the social standing of
the wearer. It ranged from cheap cotton and
coarse serge to the costliest silk and the finest
French broadcloth. The costume of the neo-
phyte changed but once in centuries, and that

*Robinson. Life in California.

tBancroftV 1'a-t-ral California.

IIS

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RFXORD.

was when he divested himself of his coat of
mud and smear of paint and put on the mission
shirt and breech clout. Shoes he did not wear
and in time his feet became as hard as the hoofs
of an animal. The dress of the mission women
consisted of a chemise and a skirt; the dress of
the children was a shirt and sometimes even this
was dispensed.

Filial obedience and respect for parental au-
thority were early impressed upon the minds of
the children. The commandment, "Honor thy
father and mother," was observed with an ori-
ental devotion. A child was never too old or too
large to be exempt from punishment. Stephen
C. Foster used to relate an amusing story of a
case ot parental dis :iplining he once saw at Los
Angeles. An old lady, a grandmother, was be-
laboring-, with a barrel stave, her son, a man
thirty years of age. The son had done some-
thing of which the mother did not approve. She
sent for him to come over to the maternal home
to receive his punishment, lie came. She took
him out to the metaphorical woodshed, which,
in this case, was the portico of her house, where
she stood him up and proceeded to administer
corporal punishment. With the resounding
thwacks of the stave, she would exclaim, "I'll
leach you to behave yourself." "I'll mend your
manners, sir." "Now you'll be good, won't
you?" The big man took his punishment with-
out a thought of resisting or rebelling. In fact,
he seemed to enjoy it. It brought back feel-
ingly and forcibly a memory of his boyhood
days.

In the earlier years of the republic, before
revolutionarj ideas had perverted the usages of
the Californians, great respect was shown to
those in authority, and the authorities were
strict in requiring deference from their constit-
uents. In the Los Angeles archives of 1828 are
the records of an impeachment trial of Don
Antonio Maria Lugo, held to depose him from
tin office ^f judge of the plains. The principal
dut") of such a judge was to decide cases of dis-
puted ownership of horses and cattle. Lugo
seems to have had an exalted idea of the dignity
of his office. Among the complaints presented
at the trial was one from young Pedro Sanchez.
in which he testified that Lugo had tried 1" ride

Ins horse over him in the street because he,
Sanchez, would not take off his hat to the juez
del campo and remain standing uncovered while
the judge rode past. Another complainant at the
same trial related how* at a rodeo Lugo ad-
judged a neighbor's boy guilty of contempt of
court because the boy gave him an impertinent
answer, and then he proceeded to give the boy
an unmerciful whipping. So heinous was the
offense in the estimation of the judge that the
complainant said, "had not Lugo fallen over a
chair he would have been beating the boy yet."

Under Mexican domination in California
there was no tax levied on land and improve-
ments. The municipal funds of the pueblos were
obtained from revenue on wine and brandy;
from the licenses of saloons and other business
houses; from the tariff on imports; from per-
mits to give balls or dances; from the fines of
transgressors, and from the tax on bull rings
and cock pits. Then men's pleasures and vices
paid the cost of governing. In the early '40s
the city of Los Angeles claimed a population of
two thousand, yet the municipal revenues rarely
exceeded $1,000 a year. With this small amount
the authorities ran a city government and kept
out 1 if debt. It did not cost much to run a city
government then. There was no army of high-
salaried officials with a horde of political heelers
quartered on the municipality and fed from the
public crib at the expense of the taxpayer. Poli-
ticians may have been no more honest then
than now, but where there was nothing to steal
there was no stealing. The alcaldes and regi-
dores put no temptation in the way of the poli-
ticians, and thus they kept them reasonably
honest, or at least they kept them from plunder-
ing the taxpayers by the simple expedient of
having no taxpayers.

The functions of the various departments of
the municipal governments were economically
administered. Street cleaning and lighting were
performed at individual expense instead of pub-
lic. There was an ordinance in force in Los
Angeles and Santa Barbara and probably in
other municipalities that required each owner of
a house every Saturday to sweep and clean in
front of his premises to the middle of the street.
His neighbor on the opposite side met him half

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

110

way, and the street was swept without expense
to the pueblo. There was another ordinance
that required eacli owner of a house of more
that two rooms on a main street to hang a
lighted lantern in front of his door from twilight
to eight o'clock in winter and to nine in sum-
mer. There were fines for neglect of these duties.
There was no fire department in the pueblos.
The adobe houses with their clay walls, earthen
floors, tiled roofs and rawhide doors were as
nearly fireproof as any human habitation could
be made. The cooking was done in detached

kitchens and in beehive-shaped ovens without
Hues. The houses were without chimneys, so
the danger from fire was reduced to a minimum.
A general conflagration was something un-
known in the old pueblo days of California

There was no paid police department. Every
able-bodied young man was subject to military
duty. A volunteer guard or patrol was kept on
duty at the cuartels or guard houses. The
guards policed the pueblos, but they were not
paid. Each young man had to take his turn at
guard duty.

CHAPTER XVI.

TERRITORIAL EXPANSION BY CONQUEST.

THE Mexican war marked the beginning
by the United States of territorial ex-
pansion by conquest. "It was," says
General Grant, "an instance of a republic fol-
lowing the bad example of European mon-
archies in not considering justice in their desire
to acquire additional territory." The "additional
territory" was needed for the creation of slave
states. The southern politicians of the extreme
pro-slavery school saw in the rapid settlement
of the northwestern states the downfall of their
domination and the doom of their beloved insti-
tution, slavery. Their peculiar institution could
not expand northward and on the south it had
reached the Mexican boundary. The only way
of acquiring new territory for the extension of
slavery on the south was to take it by force from
the weak Republic of Mexico. The annexation
of Texas brought with it a disputed boundary
line. The claim to a strip of country between
the Rio Nueces and the Rio Grande furnished a
convenient pretext to force Mexico to hostili-
ties. Texas as an independent state had never
exercised jurisdiction over the disputed terri-
torv. As a state of the L T nion after annexation
she could not rightfully lay claim to what she
never possessed, but the army of occupation
took possession of it as United States property,
and the war was on. In the end we acquired a
large slice of Mexican territory, but the irony

of fate decreed that not an acre of its soil should
be tilled by slave labor.

The causes that led to the acquisition of Cali-
fornia antedated the annexation of Texas and
the invasion of Mexico. After the adoption of
liberal colonization laws by the Mexican gov-
ernment in 1824, there set in a steady drift
of Americans to California. At first they came
by sea, but after the opening of the overland
route in 1841 they came in great numbers by
land. It was a settled conviction in the minds
of these adventurous nomads that the manifest
destiny of California was to become a part of the
United States, and they were only too willing to
aid destiny when an opportunitv offered. The
opportunity came and it found them ready for it.

Capt. John C. Fremont, an engineer and ex-
plorer in the services of the United States, ap-
peared at Monterey in January, 1846, and ap-
plied to General Castro, the military comandante,
for permission to buy supplies for his party of
sixty-two men who were encamped in the San
Joaquin valley, in what is now Kern county.
Permission was given him. There seems to
have been a tacit agreement between Castro and
Fremont that the exploring pan- should not
enter the settlements, but early in March the
wlnle force was encamped in the Salinas val-
lei Castro regarded the marching of a body
hi armed men through the country as an act of

120

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

hostility, and ordered them out of the country.
Instead of leaving, Fremont intrenched himself
on an eminence known as Gabilian Peak (about
thirty miles from Monterey), raised the stars
and stripes over his barricade, and defied Castro.
Castro maneuvered his troops on the plain
below, but did not attack Fremont. After two
days' waiting Fremont abandoned his position
ana began his march northward. On Maj 9,
when near the Oregon line, he was overtaken
by Lieutenant Gillespie, of the United States
navy, with a dispatch from the president. Gil-
lespie had left the United States in November,
1845, and, disguised, had crossed Mexico from
Vera Cruz to Mazatlan, and from there had
reached Monterey. The exact nature of the
dispatches to Fremont is not known, but pre-
sumably they related to the impending war be-
tween Mexico and the United States, and the
necessity for a prompt seizure of the country
to prevent it from falling into the hands of Eng-
land. Fremont returned to the Sacramento,
where he encamped.

On the 14th of June, 1846, a body of Amer-
ican settlers from the Xapa and Sacramento
valleys, thirty-three in number, of which Ide,
Semple, Grigsby and Merritt seem to have been
the leaders, after a night's march, took posses-
sion of the old castillo or fort at Sonoma, with
its rusty muskets and unused cannon, and made
Gen. M. G. Yallejo, Lieut.-Col. Prudon, Capt.
Salvador Yallejo and Jacob P. Leese, a brother-
in-law of the Yallejos, prisoners. There seems
to have been no privates at the castillo, all offi-
cers. Exactly what was the object of the Amer-
ican settlers in taking General Yallejo prisoner
is not evident. General Yallejo was one of the
few eminent Californians who favored the an-
nexation of California to the United Stales. He
is said to have made a speech favoring such a
movement in the junta at Monterey a few
months before. Castro regarded him with sus-
picion. The prisoners were sent under an
armed escort to Fremont's camp. William 1'..
Ide was elected captain of the revolutionists
who remained at Sonoma, to "hold the fort."
ued a pronunciamiento in which he de-
California a free and independent gov-
ernment, under the name of the California Re-

public. A nation must have a flag of its own,
so one was improvised. It was made of a piece
of cotton cloth, or manta, a yard wide and five
feet long. Strips of red flannel torn from the
shirt of one of the men were stitched on the
bottom of the flag for stripes. With a blacking
brush, or, as another authority says, the end
of a chewed stick for a brush, and red paint,
William L. Todd painted the figure of a grizzly
bear passant on the field of the flag. The na-
tives called Todd's bear "cochino," a pig; it
resembled that animal more than a bear. A
five-pointed star in the left upper corner,
painted with the same coloring matter, and the
words "California republic" printed on it in ink,
completed the famous bear flag.

The California republic was ushered into ex-
istence June 14, 1846, attained the acme of its
power July 4, when Ide and his fellow patriots
burnt a quantity of powder in salutes, and fired
off oratorical pyrotechnics in honor of the new
republic. It utterly collapsed on the 9th of July,
after an existence of twenty-five days, when
news reached Sonoma that Commodore Sloat
had raised the stars and stripes at Monterey and
taken possession of California in the name of
the United States. Lieutenant Revere arrived
at Sonoma on the 9th and he it was who low-
ered the bear flag from the Mexican flagstaff,
where it had floated through the brief existence
of the California republic, and raised in its place
the banner of the United States.

Commodore Sloat, who had anchored in
Monterey Bay July 2, 1846, was for a time un-
decided whether to take possession of the coun-
try. He had no official information that war
had been declared between the United States
and Mexico; but, acting on the supposition
that Captain Fremont had received definite in-
structions, on the 7th of July he raised the flag
and took possession of the custom-house and
government buildings at Monterey. Captain
Montgomery, on the oth, raised it at San Fran-
cisco, and on the same day the bear flag gave
place to the stars and stripes at Sonoma.

General Castro was holding Santa Clara and
San Jose when he received Commodore Sloat's
proclamation informing him that the commo-
dore had taken possession of Monterey. Cas-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

121

tro, after reading the proclamation, which was
written in Spanish, formed his men in line, and
addressing them, said: "Monterey is taken by
the Americans. What can I do with a handful
of men against the United States? 1 am going
to Mexico. All of you who wish to follow me,
'About face!' All that wish to remain can go to
their homes."* A very small part of his force
followed him.

Commodore Sloat was superseded by Com-
modore Stockton, who set about organizing an
expedition to subjugate the part of the territory
which still remained loyal to Mexico. Fre-
mont's exploring party, recruited to a battalion
of one hundred and twenty men, had marched
to Monterey, and from there was sent by vessel
to San Diego to procure horses and prepare to
act as cavalry.

While these stirring events were transpiring
in the north, what was the condition in the
south where the capital, Los Angeles, and the
bulk of the population of the territory were
located? Pio Pico had entered upon the duties
of the governorship with a desire to bring peace
and harmony to the distracted country. He ap-
pointed Juan Bandini, one of the ablest states-
men of the south, his secretary. After Bandini
resigned he chose J. M. Covarrubias, and later
Jose M. Moreno filled the ofifice.

The principal offices of the territory had been
divided equally between the politicians of the
north and the south. While Los Angeles be-
came the capital, and the departmental assembly
met there, the military headquarters, the ar-
chives and the treasury remained at Monterey.
But, notwithstanding this division of the spoils
of office, the old feud between the arribenos
and the abajenos would not down, and soon the
old-time quarrel was on with all its bitterness.
Castro, as military comandante, ignored the
governor, and Alvarado was regarded by the
surenos as an emissary of Castro's. The de-
partmental assembly met at Los Angeles, in
March, 1846. Pico presided, and in his opening
message set forth the unfortunate condition of
affairs in the department. Education was neg-
lected; justice was not administered; the mis-
ball's History of San Jose.

sions were so burdened by debt that but few
of them could be rented; the army was disor-
ganized and the treasury empty.

Not even the danger of war with the Amer-
icans could make the warring factions forget
their fratricidal strife. Castro's proclamation
against Fremont was construed by the surenos
into a scheme to inveigle the governor to the
north so that the comandante-general could de-
pose him and seize the office for himself. Cas-
tro's preparations to resist by force the en-
croachments of the Americans were believed
by Pico and the Angelenians to be fitting out
of an army to attack Los Angeles and over-
throw the government.

On the 1 6th of June, Pico left Los Angeles
for Monterey with a military force of a hundred
men. The object of the expedition was to op-
pose, and, if possible, to depose Castro. He
left the capital under the care of the ayunta-
miento. On the 20th of June Alcalde Gallardo
reported to the ayuntamiento that he had posi-
tive information "that Don Castro had left
Monterey and would arrive here in three days
with a military force for the purpose of captur-
ing this city." (Castro had left Monterey with
a force of seventy men, but he had gone north
to San Jose.) The sub-prefect, Don Abel
Stearns, was authorized to enlist troops to pre-
serve order. On the 23d of June three compa-
nies were organized, an artillery company under
Miguel Tryor, a company of riflemen under
Benito Wilson, and a cavalry company under
Gorge Palomares. Pico called for reinforce-
ments, but just as he was preparing to inarch
against Monterey the news reached him ot the
capture of Sonoma by the Americans, and next
day, June 24th, the news reached Los Angeles
just as the council had decided on a plan of
defense against Castro, who was five hundred
miles away. Pico, on the impulse of the mo-
ment, issued a proclamation, in which he
arraigned the United States for perfidy and
treachery, and the gang of "North American
adventurers," who captured Sonoma "with the
blackest treason the spirit of evil can invent."
His arraignment of the "North American na-
tion" was so severe that some nf his American
friends in Los Angeles took umbrage to hi-

122

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

pronunciamento. He afterwards tried to recall
it, but it was too late; it had been published.

Castro, rinding the "foreign adventurers" too
numerous and too aggressive in the northern
part of the territory, determined, with what men
he could induce to go with him, to retreat to
the south; but before so doing he sent a medi-
ator to Pico to negotiate a treaty of peace and
amity between the factions. On the 12th of
July the two armies met at Santa Margarita,
near San Luis Obispo. Castro brought the
news that Commodore Sloat had hoisted the
United States flag at Monterey and taken pos-
session of the country for his government. The
meeting of the governor and the comandante-
general was not very cordial, but in the presence
of the impending danger to the territory they
concealed their mutual dislike and decided to
do their best to defend the country they both
loved.

Sorrowfully they began their retreat to the
capital; but even threatened disaster to their
common country could not wholly unite the
north and the south. The respective armies,
Castro's numbering about one hundred and fifty
men, and Pico*s one hundred and twenty, kept
about a day's march apart. They reached Los
Angeles, and preparations were begun to resist
the invasion of the Americans. Pico issued a
proclamation ordering all able-bodied men be-
tween fifteen and sixty years of age, native and
naturalized, to take up arms to defend the coun-
try; any able-bodied Mexican refusing was to
be treated as a traitor. There was no enthusi-
asm for the cause. The old factional jealousy
and distrust was as potent as ever. The militia
of the south would obey none but their own
officers; Castro's troops, who considered them-
selves regulars, ridiculed the raw recruits of
the surenos, while the naturalized foreigners of
American extraction secretly sympathized with
their own people.

Pico, t<> counteract the malign influence of his
Santa Barbara proclamation and enlist the sym-
pathy and more ready adhesion of the foreign
element of Los Angeles, issued the following
circular: (This circular or proclamation has
never before found its way into print. T find
no allusion to it in Bancroft's or HittcH's His-

tories. A copy, probably the only one in exist-
ence, was donated some years since to the
Historical Society of Southern California.)

Gobiemo del Dcp.
dc Califoniias.

"Circular. — As owing to the unfortunate
condition of things that now prevails in this
department in consequence of the war into
which the United States has provoked the Mex-
ican nation, some ill feeling might spring up
between the citizens of the two countries, out of
which unfortunate occurrences might grow, and
as this government desires to remove every
cause of friction, it has seen fit, in the use of its
power, to issue the present circular.

"The Government of the department of Cali-
fornia declares in the most solemn manner that
all the citizens of the United States that have
come lawfully into its territory, relying upon
the honest administration of the laws and the
observance of the prevailing treaties, shall not
be molested in the least, and their lives and
property shall remain in perfect safety under the
protection of the Mexican laws and authorities
legally constituted.

"Therefore, in the name of the supreme gov-
ernment of the nation, and by virtue of the
authority vested upon me, I enjoin upon all the
inhabitants of California to observe towards the
citizens of the United States that have lawfully
come among us, the kindest and most cordial
conduct, and to abstain from all acts of violence
against their persons or property ; provided they
remain neutral, as heretofore, and take no part
in the invasion effected by the armies of their
nation.

"The authorities of the various municipalities
and corporations will be held strictly responsi-
ble for the faithful fulfillment of this order, and
shall, as soon as possible, take the necessary
measures to bring it to the knowledge of the
people. < iod and Liberty.

"Pio Pico.

"Jose Matias Mareno, Secretary pro tan."

Angeles, July 27, 1846.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

123

When we consider the conditions existing in
California at the time this circular was issued,
its sentiments reflect great credit on Pico for
his humanity and forbearance. A little over a
month before, a party of Americans seized
General Vallejo and several other prominent
Californians in their homes and incarcerated
them in prison at Sutter's Fort. Nor was this
outrage mitigated when the stars and stripes
were raised. The perpetrators of the outrage
were not punished. These native Californians
were kept in prison nearly two months without
any charge against them. Besides, Governor
Pico and the leading Californians very well
knew that the Americans whose lives and prop-
erty this proclamation was designed to protect
would not remain neutral when their country-
men invaded the territory. Pio Pico deserved
better treatment from the Americans than he
received. He was robbed of his landed posses-
sions by unscrupulous land sharks, and his char-
acter defamed by irresponsible historical scrib-
blers.

Pico made strenuous efforts to raise men and
means to resist the threatened invasion. He had
mortgaged the government house to de Cclis
for $2,000, the mortgage to be paid "as soon as
order shall be established in the department."
This loan was really negotiated to fit out the
expedition against Castro, but a part of it was
expended after his return to Los Angeles in
procuring supplies while preparing to meet the
American army. The government had but little
credit. The moneyed men of the pueblo were
averse to putting money into what was almost
sure to prove a lost cause. The bickerings and
jealousies between the factions neutralized to a
considerable degree the efforts of Pico and Cas-
tro to mobilize the army.

Castro established his camp on the mesa east
of the river. Here he and Andres Pico under-
took to drill the somewhat incongruous collec-
tion of hombres in military maneuvering. Their
entire force at no time exceeded three hundred
men. These were poorly armed and lacking in
discipline.

We left Stockton at Monterey preparing an
expedition against Castro at Los Angeles. On
taking command of the Pacific squadron. July

29, he issued a proclamation. It was as bom-
bastic as the pronunciamiento of a Mexican
governor. Bancroft says: "The paper was
made up of falsehood, of irrelevant issues and
bombastic ranting in about equal parts, the
tone being offensive and impolitic even in those
inconsiderable portions which were true and
legitimate." His only object in taking posses-
sion of the country was "to save from destruc-
tion the lives and property of the foreign resi-
dents and citizens of the territory who had in-
voked his protection." In view : of Pico's humane
circular and the uniform kind treatment that the
Californians accorded the American residents,
there was very little need of Stockton's interfer-
ence on that score. Commodore Sloat did not
approve of Stockton's proclamation or of his
policy.

On the 6th of August, Stockton reached San
Pedro and landed three hundred ami sixty
sailors and marines. These were drilled in mili-
tary movements on land and prepared for the
march to Los Angeles.

Castro sent two commissioners, Pablo de La
Guerra and Jose M. Flores, to Stockton, asking
for a conference and a cessation of hostilities
while negotiations were pending. They asked
that the United States forces remain at San
Pedro while the terms of the treaty were under
discussion. These requests Commodore Stock-
ton peremptorily refused, and the commissioners
returned to Los Angeles without stating the
terms on which they proposed to treat.

In several so-called histories, 1 find a very
dramatic account of this interview. On the ar-
rival of the commissioners they were marched
up to the mouth of an immense mortar,
shrouded in skins save its huge aperture. Their
terror and discomfiture were plainly discernible.
Stockton received them with a stern and forbid-
ding countenance, harshly demanding their mis-
sion, which the) disclosed in great confusion.
They bore a letter from I sing a

truce, each party t" hold its own possi ■
until a general pacification should be had. This
proposal Stockton rejected with contempt, and
dismissed the commissioners with the assurance
that only an immediate disbandmenl of his
forces and an unconditional surrender would

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

shield Castro from the vengeance of an incensed
foe. The messengers remounted their horses
in dismay and fled back to Castro." The mortar
story, it is needless to say, is pure fabrication,
yet it runs through a number of so-called his-
tories of California. Castro, on the yth of Au-
gust, held a council of war with his officers at
the Campo en La Mesa. He announced his in-
tention of leaving the country for the purpose of
reporting to the supreme government, and of
returning at some future day to punish the
usurpers. He wrote to Pico: "I can count only
one hundred men, badly armed, worse supplied
and discontented by reason of the miseries they
suffer; so that 1 have reason to fear that not
even these men will fight when the necessity
arises." And this is the force that some imag-
inative historians estimate at eight hundred to
one thousand men.

Pico and Castro left Los Angeles on the
night of August 10, for Mexico; Castro going
by the Colorado River route to Sonora, and
Pico, after being concealed for a time by his
brother-in-law, Juan Foster, at the Santa Mar-
garita and narrowly escaping capture by Fre-
mont's men, finally reached Lower California
and later on crossed the Gulf to Sonora.

Stockton began his march on Los Angeles
August ii. He took with him a battery of four
guns. The guns were mounted on carretas, and
each gun drawn by four oxen. He had with
him a good brass band.

Major Fremont, who had been sent to San
Diego with his battalion of one hundred and
seventy men, had, after considerable skirmish-
ing among the ranchos, secured enough horses
to move, and on the 8th of August had begun
his march to join Stockton. He took with him
one hundred and twenty men, leaving about
fifty to garrison San Diego.

Stockton consumed three days on the march.
Fremont's troops joined him just south of the
city, and at 4 p. m. of the 13th the combined
force, numbering nearly five hundred men, en-
tered the town without opposition, "our entry,"
says Major Fremont, "having more the effect
of a parade of home guards than of an enemy
taking possession of a conquered town." Stock-
ton reported finding at Castro's abandoned camp

ten pieces of artillery, four of them spiked. Fre-
mont says he (Castro) "had buried part of his
guns." Castro's troops that he had brought
down with him took their departure for their
northern homes soon after their general left,
breaking up into small squads as they advanced.
The southern troops that Pico had recruited dis-
persed to their homes before the arrival of the
Americans. Squads of Fremont's battalion were
sent out to scour the country and bring in any of
the Californian officers or leading men whom
they could find. These, when found, were
paroled.

Another of those historical myths, like the
mortar story previously mentioned, which is
palmed off on credulous readers as genuine his-
tory, runs as follows: "Stockton, while en route
from San Pedro to Los Angeles, was informed
by a courier from Castro 'that if he marched
upon the town he would find it the grave of him-
self and men.' 'Then,' answered the commodore,
'tell the general to have the bells ready to toll
at eight o'clock, as I shall be there by that
time.' " As Castro left Los Angeles the day
before Stockton began his march from San
Pedro, and when the commodore entered the
city the Mexican general was probably two
hundred miles away, the bell tolling myth goes
to join its kindred myths in the category of his-
tory as it should not be written.

On the 17th of August, Stockton issued a sec-
ond proclamation, in which he signs himself
commander-in-chief and governor of the terri-
tory of California. It was milder in tone and
more dignified than the first. He informed the
people that their country now belonged to the
United States. For the present it would be
governed by martial law. They were invited
to elect their local officers if those now in office
refused to serve.

Four days after the capture of Los Angeles,
The Warren, Captain Hull, commander, an-
chored at San Pedro. She brought official no-
tice of the declaration of war between the
United States and Mexico. Then for the first
time Stockton learned that there had been an
official declaration of war between the two
countries. United States officers had waged
war and had taken possession of California upon

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the strength of a rumor that hostilities existed
between the countries.

The conquest, if conquest it can be called, was
accomplished without the loss of a life, if we
except the two Americans, Fowler and Cowie,
of the Bear Flag party, who were brutally mur-
dered by a band of Californians under Padillo,
and the equally brutal shooting of Beryessa and
the two de Haro boys by the Americans at San
Rafael. These three men were shot as spies,
but there was no proof that they were such, and
they were not tried. These murders occurred
before Commodore Sloat raised the stars and
stripes at Monterey.

On the 15th of August, 1846, just thirty-seven
days after the raising of the stars and stripes
at Monterey, the first newspaper ever published
in California made its appearance. It was pub-
lished at Monterey by Semple and Colton and
named The Californian. Rev. Walter Colton
was a chaplain in the United States navy ami
came to California on the Congress with Com-
modore Stockton. He was made alcalde of
Monterey and built, bv the labor of the chain

gang and from contributions and fines, the
first schoolhouse in California, named foi him
Colton Hall. Colton thus describes the other
member of the firm, Dr. Robert Semple: "My
partner is an emigrant from Kentucky, who
stands six feet eight in his stockings. He is in
a buckskin dress, a foxskin cap; is true with his
rifle, ready with his pen and quick at the type
case." Semple came to California in 1845, with
the Hastings party, and was one of the leaders
in the Bear Flag revolution. The type and
press used were brought to California by Au-
gustin V. Zamorano in 1834, and by him sold
to the territorial government, and had been
used for printing bandos and pronunciamentos.
The only paper the publishers of The Californian
could procure was that used in the manufacture
of cigarettes, which came in sheets a little
larger than foolscap. The font of type was
short of w's, so two v's were substituted for
that letter, and when these ran out two u's were
used. The paper was moved to San Francisco
in 1848 and later on consolidated with the Cali-
fornia Star.

CHAPTER XVII.

REVOLT OF THE CALIFORNIANS.

HOSTILITIES had ceased in all parts of
the territory. The leaders of the Cali-
fornians had escaped to Mexico, and
Stockton, regarding the conquest as completed,
set about organizing a government for the con-
quered territory. Fremont was to be appointed
military governor. Detachments from his bat-
talion were to be detailed to garrison different
towns, while Stockton, with what recruits he
could gather in California, and his sailors and
marines, was to undertake a naval expedition
against the west coast of Mexico, land his f< irees
at Mazatlan or Acapulco and march overland
to "shake hands with General Taylor at the
gates of Mexico." Captain Gillespie was made
military commandant of the southern depart-
ment, with headquarters at Los Angeles, and as
signed a garrison of fifty men. Commodore
Stockton left Los Angeles for the north Sep-

tember 2. Fremont, with the remainder of his
battalion, took up his line of march for Monte-
rey a few days later. Gillespie's orders were I 1
place the city under martial law, but not to en-
force the more burdensome restrictions upon
quiet and weli-disposed citizens. A conciliator)
policy in accordance with instructions of the
secretary of the navy was to be adopted and the
people were to be encouraged to "neutrality,
self-government and friendship."

Nearly all historians who have written upon
this subject lav the blame for the subsequent
uprising of the Californians and their revolt
against the rule of the military commandant,
Gillespie, to his petty tyrannies. Col. J. J.
Warner, in his Historical Sketch of Los An-
geles County, says: "Gillespie attempted by a
coercive system to effeci a moral and social
change in the habits, diversions and pastimes of

126

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the people and to reduce them to his standard
of propriety." Warner was not an impartial
judge. He had a grievance against Gillespie
which embittered him against the captain. Gil-
lespie may have been lacking in tact, and his
schooling in the navy under the tyrannical
regime of the quarterdeck of fifty years ago
was not the best training to fit him for govern-
ment, but it is hardly probable that in two
weeks' time he undertook to enforce a "coercive
system" looking toward an entire change in the
moral and social habits of the people. Los An-
geles under Mexican domination was a hotbed
of revolutions. It had a turbulent and restless
element among its inhabitants that was never
happier than when fomenting strife and c< in-
spiring to overthrow those in power. Of this
class Colton, writing in 1846, says: "They drift
-about like Arabs. If the tide of fortune turns
against them they disband and scatter to the
four winds. They never become martyrs to any
cause. They are too numerous to be brought
to punishment by any of their governors, and
thus escape justice." There was a conservative
class in the territory, made up principally of
the large landed proprietors, both native and
foreign-born, but these exerted small influence
in controlling the turbulent. While Los An-
geles had a monopoly of this turbulent and rev-
olutionary element, other settlements in the
territory furnished their full quota of that class
of political knight errants whose chief pastime
was revolution, and whose capital consisted of
a gaily caparisoned steed, a riata, a lance, a
dagger and possibly a pair of horse pistols.
These were the fellows whose "habits, diver-
sinus and pastimes" Gillespie undertook to re-
duce "to his standard of propriety."

That Commodore Stockton should have left
Gillespie so small a garrison to hold the city
and surrounding country in subjection sliows
that either he was ignoranl of the character of
the people, or that he placed too great reliance
in the completeness of their subjection. With
Castro's men in the city or dispersed among the
neighboring ranchos, many of them still retain-
ing their arms, and all of them ready to rally
at a moment's notice to the call of their leaders;
with no reinforcements nearer than five hundred

miles to come to the aid of Gillespie in case of
an uprising, it was foolhardiness in Stockton to
entrust the holding of the most important place
in California to a mere handful of men, half
disciplined and poorly equipped, without forti-
fications for defense or supplies to hold out in
case of a siege.

Scarcelv had Stockton and Fremont, with
their men, left the city before trouble began.
The turbulent element of the city fomented
strife and seized every occasion to annoy and
harass the military commandant and his men.
While his "petty tyrannies," so called, which
were probably nothing more than the enforce-
ment of martial law, may have been somewhat
provocative, the real cause was more deep
seated. The Californians, without provocation
on their part and without really knowing the
cause why, found their country invaded, their
property taken from them and their government
in the hands of an alien race, foreign to them
in customs and religion. They would have been
a tame and spiritless people indeed, had they
neglected the opportunity that Stockton's blun-
dering gave them to regain their liberties. They
did not waste much time. Within two weeks
from the time Stockton sailed from San Pedro
hostilities had begun and the city was in a state
of siege.

Gillespie, writing in the Sacramento States-
man in 1858, thus describes the first attack:
"On the 22d of September, at three o'clock in
the morning, a party of sixty-five Californians
and Sonorenos made an attack upon my small
command quartered in the government house.
We were not wholly surprised, and with twenty-
one rifles we beat them back without loss to our-
selves, killing and wounding three of their num-
ber. When daylight came. Lieutenant Hensley,
with a few men, took several prisoners and
drove the Californians from the town. This
party was merely the nucleus of a revolution
commenced ami known to Colonel Fremont be-
fore he left Los Angeles. In twenty-four hours,
six hundred well-mounted horsemen, armed
with escopetas (shotguns), lances and one fine
brass piece of light artillery, surrounded Los
Angeles ami summoned me to surrender. There
were three old honey-combed iron guns (spiked)

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

127

in the corral of my quarters, which we at once
cleared and mounted upon the axles of carts."

Serbulo Yarela, a young man of some ability,
but of a turbulent and reckless character, had
been the leader at first, but as the uprising as-
sumed the character of a revolution, Castro's old
officers came to the front. Capt. Jose Maria
Flores was chosen comandante-general; Jose
Antonio Carrillo, major-general; and Andres
Pico, comandante de escuadron. The main
camp of the insurgents was located on the mesa,
east of the river, at a place called Paredon
Blanco (White Bluff).

On the 24th of September, from the camp
at White Bluff, was issued the famous Pronun-
ciamiento de Barelas y otros Californias contra
Los Americanos (The Proclamation of Barelas
and other Californians against the Americans).
Il was signed by Serbulo Varela (spelled Bare-
las), Leonardo Cota and over three hundred
others. Although this proclamation is gener-
ally credited to Flores, there is no evidence to
show that he had anything to do with framing
it. He promulgated it over his signature Octo-
ber 1. It is probable that it was written by
Varela and Cota. It has been the custom of
American writers to sneer at this production as
florid and bombastic. In fiery invective and
fierce denunciation it is the equal of Patrick
Henry's famous "Give me liberty or give me
death!" Its recital of wrongs is brief, but to
the point. "And shall we be capable of permit-
ting ourselves to be subjugated and to accept in
silence the heavy chains of slavery? Shall we
lose the soil inherited from our fathers, which
cost them so much blood? Shall we leave our
families victims of the most barbarous servi-
tude? Shall we wait to see our wives outraged,
our innocent children beaten by American
whips, our property sacked, our temples pro-
faned, to drag out a life full of shame and dis-
grace? No! a thousand times no! Compatriots,
death rather than that! Who of you does not
feel his heart beat and his blood boil on con-
templating our situation? Who will be the
Mexican that will not be indignant and rise in
arms to destroy our oppressors? We believe
there will be not one so vile and cowardly!"

Gillespie had left the government house (lo-

cated on what is now the site of the St. Charles
Hotel) and taken a position on Fort Hill, where
he had erected a temporary barricade of sacks
filled with earth and had mounted his cannon
there. The Americans had been summoned to
surrender, but hail refused. They were besieged
by the Californians. There was but little firing
between the combatants, an occasional sortie
and a volley of rifle balls by the Americans
when the Californians approached too near.
The Californians were well mounted, but poorly
armed, their weapons being principally muskets,
shotguns, pistols, lances and riatas; while the
Americans were armed with long-range rifles,
of which the Californians had a wholesome
dread. The fear of these arms and his cannon
doubtless saved Gillespie and his men from
capture.

On the 24th Gillespie dispatched a messenger
to find Stockton at Monterey, or at San Fran-
cisco if he had left Monterey, and apprise him
of the perilous situation of the Americans at
Los Angeles. Gillespie's dispatch bearer, John
Brown, better known by his California nick-
name, Juan Flaco or Lean John, made one of
the most wonderful rides in history. Gillespie
furnished Juan Flaco with a package of cigar-
ctees, the paper of each bearing the inscription,
"Believe the bearer;" these were stampd with
Gillespie's seal. Brown started from Los Angeles
at 8 p. m., September 24, and claimed to have
reached Verba Buena at 8 p. m. of the 28th,
a ride of six hundred and thirty miles in four
days. This is incorrect. Colton, who was al-
calde of Monterey at that time, notes Brown's
arrival at that place on the evening of the 29th.
Colton, in his "Three Years in California," says
that Brown rode the whole distance (Los An-
geles to Monterey) of four hundred and sixty
miles in fifty-two hours, during which time he
had not slept. His intelligence was for Com-
modore Stockton and, in the nature of the case,
was not committed to paper, except a few words
rolled in a cigar fastened in his hair. But the
commodore had sailed for San Francisco and
it was necessary lie should go one hundred and
forty miles further. He was quite exhausted
anil was allowed to sleep three hours. Before
day he was it]) and awa\ on his journey. Gil-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

lespie, in a letter published in the Los Angeles
Star, May 28, 1858, describing Juan Flaco's ride
says: "Before sunrise of the 29th he was lying
in the bushes at San Francisco, in front of the
congress frigate, waiting for the early market
boat to come on shore, and he delivered my
dispatches to Commodore Stockton before 7
o'clock."

In trying to steal through tl*e picket line of
the Mexicans at Los Angeles, he was discovered
and pursued by a squad of them. A hot race
ensued. Finding the enemy -gaining on him he
forced his horse to leap a wide ravine. A shot
from one of his pursuers mortally wounded his
horse, which, after running a short distance, fell
dead. Flaco, carrying his spurs and riata, made
his way on foot in the darkness to Las Virgines,
a distance of twenty-seven miles. Here he se-
cured another mount and again set off on his
perilous journey. The trail over which Flaco
held his way was not like "the road from Win-
chester town, a good, broad highway leading
down," but instead a Camino de heradura, bridle
path, now winding up through rocky canons,
skirting along the edge of precipitous cliffs, then
zigzagging down chaparral covered mountains;
now over the sands of the sea beach and again
across long stretches of brown mesa, winding
through narrow valleys and out onto the rolling
hills — a trail as nature made it, unchanged by
the hand of man. Such was the highway over
which Flaco's steeds "stretched away with ut-
most speed." Harassed and pursued by the
enemy, facing death night and day, with scarcely
a stop or a stay to eat or sleep, Juan Flaco rode
six hundred miles.

"Of all the rides since the birth of time.
Told in story or sung in rhyme,
The fleetesl ride that ever was sped,"

was Juan Flaco's ride from Los Angeles to San
Francisco. Longfellow has immortalized the
"Ride of Paul Revere," Robert Browning tells
in stirring verse of the riders who brought the
good news from Ghent to Aix, and Buchanan
Read thrills us with the heroic measures of Sher-
idan's Ride. Xo poet has sung of Juan Flaco's
wonderful ride, fleeter, longer and more perilous
than any of these. Flaco rode six hundred miles

through the enemy's country, to bring aid to a
besieged garrison, while Revere and Jorris and
Sheridan were in the country of friends or pro-
tected by an army from enemies.

Gillespie's situation was growing more and
more desperate each day. B. D. Wilson, who
with a company of riflemen had been on an
expedition against the Indians, had been ordered
by Gillespie to join him. They reached the
Chino ranch, where a fight took place between
them and the Californians. Wilson's men being
out of ammunition were compelled to sur-
render. In the charge upon the adobe, where
Wilson and his men had taken refuge, Carlos
Ballestaros had been killed and several Cali-
fornians wounded. This and Gillespie's stubborn
resistance had embittered the Californians against
him and his men. The Chino prisoners had been
saved from massacre after their surrender by
the firmness and bravery of Yarela. If Gillespie
continued to hold the town his obstinacy might
bring down the vengeance of the Californians
not only upon him and his men. but upon many
of the American residents of the south, who had
favored their countrymen.

Finally Flores issued his ultimatum to the
Americans, surrender within twenty-four hours
or take the consequences of an onslaught by
the Californians, which might result in the mas-
sacre of the entire garrison. In the meantime
he kept his cavalry deployed on the hills, com-
pletely investing the Americans. Despairing of
assistance from Stockton, on the advice of Wil-
son, who had been permitted by Flores to inter-
cede with Gillespie, articles of capitulation were
drawn up and signed by Gillespie and the leaders
of the Californians. On the 30th of September
the Americans marched out of the city with all
the honors of war, drums beating, colors flying
and two pieces of artillery mounted on carts
drawn by oxen. They arrived at San Pedro
without molestation and four or five days later
embarked on the merchant ship Vandalia, which
remained at anchor in the bay. Gillespie in
his march was accompanied by a few of the
American residents and probably a dozen of the
Chino prisoners, who had been exchanged for
the same number of Californians. whom he
had held under arrest most likely as hostages.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

L29

Gillespie took two cannon with him when he
evacuated the city, leaving two spiked and broken
on Fort Hill. There seems to have been a pro-
viso in the articles of capitulation requiring him

to deliver the guns to Flores on reaching the
embarcadero. If there was such a stipulation Gil-
lespie violated it. lie spiked the guns, broke off
the trunnions and rolled one of them into the bay.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE DEFEAT AND RETREAT OF MERVINE'S MEN.

THE revolt of the Californians at Los An-
geles was followed by similar uprisings
in the different centers of population
where American garrisons were stationed. Upon
the receipt of Gillespie's message Commodore
Stockton ordered Captain Mervine to proceed
at once to San Pedro to regain, if possible, the
lost territory. Juan Flaco had delivered his
message to Stockton on September 30. Early
on the morning of October 1st, Captain Mer-
vine got under way for San Pedro. '"He went
ashore at Sausalito," says Gillespie, "on some
trivial excuse, and a dense fog coming on he
was compelled to remain there until the 4th."

Of the notable events occurring during the
conquest of California there are few others of
which there are so contradictory accounts as
that known as the battle of Dominguez Ranch,
where Mervine was defeated and compelled to re-
treat to San Pedro. Historians differ widely
in the number engaged and in the number killed.
The following account of Mervine's expedition
I take from a log book kept by Midshipman and
Acting-Lieut. Robert C. Duvall of the Savannah.
He commanded a company during the battle.
This book was donated to the Historical So-
ciety of Southern California by Dr. J. E. Cowles
of Los Angeles, a nephew of Lieutenant Duvall.
The account given by Lieutenant Duvall is one
of the fullest and most accurate in existence.

"At 9.30 a. m." (October 1, 1846), says Lieu-
tenant Duvall, "we commenced working out of
the harbor of San Francisco on the ebb tide.
The ship anchored at Sausalito. where, on ac-
count of a dense fog, it remained until the 4th,
when it put to sea. On the 7th the ship entered
the harbor of San Pedro. At 6:30 p. m., as we

were standing in for anchorage, we made out
the American merchant ship Vandalia, having
on her decks a body of men. On passing she
saluted with two guns, which was repeated with
three cheers, which we returned. :: * * *
Iirevet Capt. Archibald Gillespie came on board
and reported that he had evacuated the Pueblo
de Los Angeles on account of the overpowering
force of the enemy and had retired with his
men on board the Vandalia after having spiked
his guns, one of which he threw into the water.
He also reported that the whole of California
below the pueblo had risen in arms against our
authorities, headed by Flores, a Mexican cap-
tain on furlough in this country, who had but
a few days ago given his parole of honor not
to take up arms against the United States. We
made preparations to land a force to march to
the pueblo at daylight.

"October 8, at 6 a. in., all the boats left the
ship for the purpose of landing the forces, num-
bering in all two hundred and ninety-nine men.
including the volunteers under command of Cap-
tain Gillespie. At 6:30 all were landed without
opposition, the enemy in small detachments re-
treating toward the pueblo. From their move-
ments we apprehended that their whole force
was near. Captain Mervine sent on board ship
for a reinforcement of eighty men. under com-
mand of Lieut. R. B. Hitchcock. At 8 a. in.
the several companies, all under command of
('apt William Mervine, took up the line of
march for the purpose of retaking the pueblo.
The enemy retreated as our forces advanced.
M hi landing. William A. Smith, firsl cabin boy.
was killed by the aeeiilenl.il discharge of a Colt's
pistol.) The reinforcements under the com-

i::ii

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

mand of Lieut. R. B. Hitchcock returned on
board ship. Lor the first four miles our march
was through hills and ravines, which the enemy
might have taken advantage of, but preferred to
occupy as spectators only, until our approach.
A few shots from our flankers (who were the
volunteer riflemen) would start them off; they
returned the compliment before going. The
remainder of our march was performed over a
continuous plain overgrown with wild mustard,
rising in places to six or eight feet in height.
The ground was excessively dry, the clouds of
dust were suffocating and there was not a breath
of wind in motion. There was no water on our
line of march for ten or twelve miles and we
suffered greatly from thirst.

"At 2:30 p. m. we reached our camping
ground. The enemy appeared in considerable
numbers. Their numbers continued to increase
until sundown, when they formed on a hill near
us, gradually inclining towards our camp. They
were admirably formed for a cavalry charge.
We drew up our forces to meet them, but find-
ing they were disposed to remain stationary,
the marines, under command of Captain Mars-
ton, the Cult's riflemen, under command of
Lieut. I. B. Carter and myself, and the volun-
teers, under command of Capt. A. Gillespie, were
ordered to charge on them, which we did. They
stood their ground until our shots commenced
'telling' on them, when they took to flight in
every direction. They continued to annoy us by
firing into our camp through the night. About 2
a. m. they brought a piece of artillery and fired
into our camp, the shot striking the ground
near us. The marines, riflemen and volunteers
were sent in pursuit of the gun, but could see
or hear nothing of it.

"We left our camp the next morning at 6
o'clock. Our plan of march was in column by
platoon. We had not proceeded far before the
enemy appeared before us drawn up on each
side of the road, mounted on fine horses, each
man armed with a lance and carbine. They also
had a field piece (a four-pounder), to which were
hitched eight or ten horses, placed on the road
ahead of us.

"Captain Mervine, thinking it was the enemy's
intention to throw us into confusion by using

their gun on us loaded with round shot and
copper grape shot and then charge us with their
cavalry, ordered us to form a square — which was
the order of march throughout the battle. When
within about four hundred yards of them the
enemy opened on us with their artillery. We
made frequent charges, driving them before us,
and at one time causing them to leave some of
their cannon balls and cartridges; but owing to
the rapidity with which they could carry off
the gun, using their lassos on every part, en-
abled them to choose their own distance, en-
tirely out of all range of our muskets. Their
horsemen kept out of danger, apparently con-
tent to let the gun do the fighting. They kept
up a constant fire with their carbines, but these
did no harm. The enemy numbered between
one hundred and seventy-five and two hundred
strong.

"Linding it impossible to capture the gun, the
retreat was sounded. The captain consulted
with his officers on the best steps to be taken.
Jt was decided unanimously to return on board
ship. To continue the march would sacrifice
a number of lives to no purpose, for, admitting
we could have reached the pueblo, all com-
munications would be cut off with the ship, and
we would further be constantly annoyed by their
artillery without the least chance of capturing
it. It was reported that the enemy were be-
tween five and six hundred strong at the city
and it was thought he had more artillery. On
retreating they got the gun planted on a hill
ahead of us.

"The captain made us an address, saying to
the troops that it was his intention to march
straight ahead in the same orderly manner in
which we had advanced, and that sooner than
he would surrender to such an enemy, he would
sacrifice himself and every other man in his
command. The enemy fired into us four times
en the retreat, the fourth shot falling short, the
report of the gun indicating a small quantity of
powder, after which they remained stationary
and manifested no further disposition to molest
r,s. We proceeded quietly on our march to the
landing, where we found a body of men under
command of Lieutenant Hitchcock with two
nine-pounder cannon gotten from the Yandalia

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

to render us assistance in case we should need it.

"We presented truly a pitiable condition,
many being barely able to drag one foot after
the other from excessive fatigue, having gone
through the exertions and excitement in battle
and afterwards performing a march of eighteen
or twenty miles without rest. This is the first
battle I have ever been engaged in, and, having
taken particular notice of those around me, I
can assert that no men could have acted more
bravely. Even when their shipmates were fall-
ing by their sides, I saw but one impulse and
that was to push forward, and when retreat was
ordered I noticed a general reluctance to turn
their backs to the enemy.

"The following is a list of the killed and
wounded: Michael Hoey, ordinary seaman,
killed; David Johnson, ordinary seaman, killed;
William H. Berry, ordinary seaman, mortally
wounded; Charles Sommers, musician, mortally
wounded; John Tyre, seaman, severely
wounded; John Anderson, seaman, severely
wounded; recovery doubtful. The following-
named were slightly wounded: William Con-
land, marine; Hiram Rockvill, marine; II. Lin-
land, marine; James Smith, marine.

"On the following morning we buried the
bodies of William A. Smith, Charles Sommers,
David Johnson and Michael Hoey on an island
in the harbor.

"At ii a. m. the captain called a council of
commissioned officers regarding the proper
course to adopt in the present crisis, which de-
cided that no force should be landed, and that
the ship remain here until further orders from
the commodore, who is daily expected."

Entry in the log for Sunday, nth: "William
H. Berry, ordinary seaman, departed this life
from the effect of wounds received in battle.
Sent his body for interment to Dead Man's
Island, so named by us. Mustered the com-
mand at quarters, after which performed divine
service."

From this account it will be seen that the
number killed and died of wounds received in
battle was four; number wounded six, and one
accidentally killed before the battle. On October
22d, Henry Lewis died and was buried on the
island. Lewis' name does not appear in the list

of wounded. It is presumable that he died of
disease. Six of the crew of the Savannah were
buried on Dead Man's Island, four of whom
were killed in battle. Lieutenant Duvall gives
the following list of the officers in the "Expedi-
tion on the march to retake Pueblo de Los An-
geles:" Capt. William Mervine, commanding;
('apt. Ward Marston, commanding marines;
Brevet Capt. A. H. Gillespie, commanding vol-
unteers; Lieut. Henry W. Queen, adjutant;
Lieut. B. F. Pinckney, commanding first com-
pany; Lieut. W. Rinckindoff, commanding sec-
ond company; Lieut. I. B. Carter, Colt's rifle-
men; Midshipman R. I). Minor, acting lieuten-
ant second company; Midshipman S. P. Griffin,
acting lieutenant first company; Midshipman P.
( i. Walmough, acting lieutenant second com-
pany; Midshipman R. C Duvall, acting lieuten-
ant Colt's riflemen; Captain Clark and Captain
Goodsall, commanding pikemen; Lieutenant
Hiensley, first lieutenant volunteers; Lieutenant
Russeau, second lieutenant volunteers.

The piece of artillery that did such deadly
execution on the Americans was the famous ( >ld
Woman's gun. It was a bronze four-pounder, i ir
pedrero (swivel-gun) that for a number of years
had stood on the plaza in front of the church,
and was used for firing salutes on feast days and
other occasions. When on the approach of
Stockton's and Fremont's forces Castro aban-
doned his artillery and fled, an old lady. Dona
Clara Cota de Reyes, declared that the gringos
should not have the church's gun; so, with the
assistance of her daughters, she buried it in a
cane patch near her residence, which stood on
the east side of Alameda street, near first.
When the Californians revolted against Gil-
lespie's rule the gun was unearthed and used
against him. The Historical Societ) of South-
ern California has in iis possession a brass
grapeshot, one of a charge that was fired into
the face of Port Hill at Gillespie's nun when
they were posted on the hill. This gun was in
the exhibit of trophies at the New < trleans Ex-
position in 1885. The label on it read: "Trophy
53, No. 63, Class 7. Used by Mexico against
the United States at the battle of Dominguez 1
Ranch. ( )ctober 9, [846; al San Gabriel and the
Mesa, January 8 and 9, [847; used by the United

132

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

States forces against Mexico at Mazatlan, No-
vember ii, 1847; Urios (crew all killed or
wounded), Palos Frietos, December 13, 1847,
and Lower California, at San Jose, February 15,
1848."

Before the battle the old gun had been
mounted on forward axle of a Jersey wagon,
which a man by the name of Hunt had brought
across the plains the year before. It was lashed
to the axle by means of rawhide thongs, and
was drawn by riatas, as described by Lieutenant
Duvall. The range was obtained by raising or
lowering the pole of the wagon. Ignacio Aguilar
acted as gunner, and having neither lanyard or
pent-stock to fire it. he touched off the gun with
the lighted end of a cigarette. Never before or
since, perhaps, was a battle won with such crude
artillery. Jose Antonio Carrillo was in com-
mand of the Californians. During the skirmish-
ing of the first day he had between eighty and
ninety men. During the night of the 8th Flores
joined him with a force of sixty men. Next
morning Flores returned to Los Angeles, taking
with him twenty men. Carrillo's force in the
battle numbered about one hundred and twenty
men. Had Mervine known that the Californians
had fired their last shot (their powder being ex-
hausted! he could have pushed on and captured
the pueblo.

The expulsion of Gillespie's garrison from
Los Angeles and the defeat of Mervine's force
raised the spirits of the Californians, and there
was great rejoicing at the pueblo. Detachments
of Flores' army were kept at Sepulveda's rancho,
the Palos Verdes, and at Temple's rancho of the
Cerritos, to watch the Savannah and report any
attempt at landing. The leaders of the revolt
were 1 1 ■ >t so sanguine of success as the rank and
tile. They wen- without means to procure arms
and supplies. There was a scarcity of ammuni-
tion, too. An inferior article of gunpowder was
manufactured in limited quantities at San
Gabriel. The onl) uniformity in weapons was
in lances. These were rough, home-made af-
fairs, the blade beaten out of a rasp or file, and
the shaft a willow pole about eight feet long.
These weapons were Formidable in a charge
against infantry, bul easily parried 1>\ a swords-
man in a cavalry charge.

After the defeat of Mervine, Flores set about
reorganizing the territorial government. He
called together the departmental assembly. It
met at the capital (Los Angeles) October 26th.
The members present, Figueroa, Botello, Guerra
and Olvera, were all from the south. The as-
sembly decided to fill the place of governor,
vacated by Pico, and that of comandante-gen-
eral, left vacant by the flight of Castro.

Jose Maria Flores, who was now recognized
as the leader of the revolt against American rule,
was chosen to fill both offices, and the two of-
fices, as had formerly been the custom, were
united in one person. He chose Narciso Bo-
tello for his secretary. Flores, who was Mex-
ican born, was an intelligent and patriotic officer.
He used every means in his power to prepare
his forces for the coming conflict with the
Americans, hut with little success. The old
jealousy of the hijos del pais against the Mex-
ican would crop out, and it neutralized his
efforts. There were bickerings and complaints
in the ranks and among the officers. The na-
tives claimed that a Californian ought to be
chief in command.

The feeling of jealousy against Flores at
length culminated in open revolt. Flores had
decided to send the prisoners taken at the Chino
tight to Mexico. His object was twofold — first,
to enhance his own glory with the Mexican
government, and, secondly, by showing what
the Californians had already accomplished to
obtain aid in the coming conflict. As most of
these men were married to California wives,
ami by marriage related to many of the leading-
California families of the south, there was at
once a family uproar and fierce denunciations
of Flores. But as the Chino prisoners were
foreigners, and had been taken while fighting
against the Mexican government, it was neces-
sary to disguise the hostility to Flores under
some other pretext. He was charged with the
design of running away to Sonora with the pub-
lic funds. ( )n the night of December 3, Francisco
Rii 0, .11 the head of a party of Californians, took
possession of the cuartel. or guard house, and
arrested Flores. A special session of the as-
sembly was called to investigate the charges.
Flores expressed his willingness to give up

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

133

his purpose of sending the Chino prisoners t< <
Mexico, and the assembly found no foundation
to the charge of his design of running away
with the public funds, nor did they find any
funds to run away with. Flores was liberated,
and Rico imprisoned in turn.

Flores was really the last Mexican governor
of California. Like Pico, he was elected by the
territorial legislature, but he was not confirmed
by the .Mexican congress. Generals Scott and
Taylor were keeping President Santa Anna and

his congress on the move so rapidly they had no
time to spare for California affairs.

Flores was governor from October 20, 1846,
to January 8, 1847.

With a threatened invasion by the Americans
and a divided people within, it was hard times
in the .old pueblo. The town had to supply
the army with provisions. The few who pos-
sessed money hid it away and all business was
suspended except preparations to meet the
invaders.

CHAPTER XIX

THE FINAL CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA.

COMMODORE STOCKTON, convinced
that the revolt of the Californians was
a serious affair, ordered Fremont's bat-
talion, which had been recruited to one hun-
dred and sixty men, to proceed to the south to
co-operate with him in quelling the rebellion.
The battalion sailed on the Sterling, but shortly
after putting to sea, meeting the Yandalia. Fre-
mont learned of Mervine's defeat and also that
no horses could be procured in the lower coun-
try; the vessel was put about and the battalion
landed at Monterey, October 28. It was decided
to recruit the battalion to a regiment and
mounting it to march down the coast. Recruit-
ing was actively begun among the newly ar-
rived immigrants. Horses and saddles were
procured by giving receipts on the government,
payable after the close of the war or by confisca-
tion if it brought returns quicker than receipts.

The report of the revolt in the south quickly
spread among the Californians in the north and
they made haste to resist their spoilers. Manuel
Castro was made comandante of the military
forces of the north, headquarters at San Luis
Obispo. Castro collected a force of about one
hundred men, well mounted but poorly armed.
His purpose was to carry on a sort of guerrilla
warfare, capturing men and horses from the
enemy whenever an opportunity offered.

Fremont, now raised to the rank of lieuten-
ant colonel in the regular army with head-

quarters at Monterey, was rapidly mobilizing his
motley collection of recruits into a formidable
force. Officers and men were scouring the
country for recruits, horses, accouterments and
supplies. Two of these recruiting squads en-
countered the enemy in considerable force and
an engagement known as the battle of Natividad
ensued. Capt. Charles Burroughs with thirty-
four men and two hundred horses, recruited at
Sacramento, arrived at San Juan Bautista, No-
vember 15, on his way to .Monterey on the same
day Captain Thompson, with about the same
number of men recruited at San Jose, reached
San Juan. The Californians, with the design of
capturing the horses, made a night march from
their camp on the Salinas. At Gomez rancho
they took prisoner Thomas ( ). Larkin, the
American consul, who was on his way from
Monterey to San Francisco on official business.
On the morning of the Kith the Americans be-
gan their march for Monterey. At Gomez
rancho their advance learned of the presence of
the enemy and of the capture of Larkin. A
squad of six or eight scouts was sent out to find
the Californians. The scouts encountered a
detachment of Castro's force at Encinalitos
(Little Oaks) and a fight ensued. The main body
of the enemy came up and surrounded the -rove
of oaks. The scouts, though greatlj outnum-
bered, were well armed with long range rifles and
held the eneim a; bay, until Captains Burroughs

134

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and Thompson brought up their companies.
Burroughs, who seems to have been the ranking
officer, hesitated to charge the Californians, who
had the superior force, and besides he was fear-
ful of losing his horses and thus delaying Fre-
mont's movements. But, taunted with cowardice
and urged on by Thompson, a fire eater, who
was making loud protestations of his bravery,
Burroughs ordered a charge. The Americans,
badly mounted, were soon strung out in an ir-
regular line. The Californians, who had made a
feint of retreating, turned and attacked with
vigor, Captain Burroughs and four or five others
were killed. The straggling line fell back on the
main body and the Californians, having ex-
pended their ammunition, retreated. The loss
in killed and wounded amounted to twelve or
fifteen on each side.

The only other engagement in the north was
the bloodless battle of Santa Clara. Fremont's
methods of procuring horses, cattle and other
supplies was to take them and give in payment
demands on the government, payable after the
close of the war. After his departure the same
method was continued by the officers of the
garrisons at San Francisco, San Jose and Mon-
terey. Indeed, it was their only method of pro-
curing supplies- The quartermasters were
without money and the government without
credit. On the 8th of December Lieutenant
Bartlett, also alcaide of Verba Buena, with a
squad of five men started down the peninsula
toward San Jose to purchase supplies. Fran-
cisco Sanchez, a randier, whose horse and cattle
corrals had been raided by former purchasers,
with a band of Californians waylaid and cap-
tured Bartlett and his men. Other California
rancheros who had 1< >st their stock in similar
raids rallied to the support of Sanchez and soon
he found himself at the head of one hundred
men. Tin- object of their organization was
rather to protect thi h pr 'pert) than to fight. The
news soon spread that the Californians had re-
volted and were preparing to massacre the
Americans. Captain Weber of San Jose had a
company of thirty-three men organized for de-
fense. There was also a company of twenty
me i under command of Captain A.ram stationed
at the ex-mission of Santa Clara. On the _>oth

of December, Capt. Ward Marston with a de-
tachment of thirty-four men and a field piece in
charge of Master de Long and ten sailors was
sent to Santa Clara. The entire force collected
at the seat of war numbered one hundred and
one men. On January 2 the American force
encountered the Californians, one hundred
strong, on the plains of Santa Clara. Firing at
long range began and continued for an hour or
more. Sanchez sent in a flag of truce asking an
armistice preparatory to the settlement of diffi-
culties. January 3. Captain Aladdox arrived
from Monterey with fifty-nine mounted men,
and on the 7th Lieutenant Grayson came with
fifteen men. On the 8th a treaty of peace was
concluded, by which, the enemy surrendered
Lieutenant Bartlett and all the other prisoners,
as well as their arms, including a small field
piece and were permitted to go to their homes.
Upon "reliable authority" four Californians were
reported killed, but their graves have never been
discovered nor did their living relatives, so far
as known, mourn their loss.

Stockton with his flagship, the Congress, ar-
rived at San Pedro on the 23d of October, 1846.
The Savannah was still lying at anchor in the
harbor. The commodore had now at San Pedro
a force of about eight hundred men; but, not-
withstanding the contemptuous opinion he held
of the Californian soldiers, he did not march
against the pueblo. Stockton in his report
says: "Plated by this transient success (Mer-
vine's defeat), which the enemy with his usual
want of veracity magnified into a great victory,
they collected in large bodies on all the adjacent
hills and would not permit a hoof except their
own horses to be within fifty miles of San
Pedro." But "in the face of their boasting in-
solence" Stockton landed and again hoisted "the
glorious stars and stripes in the presence of
their horse covered hills." "The enemy had
driven oft" every animal, man and beast from
that section of the country; and it was not pos-
sible by any means in our power to carry pro-
\iMons for our march to the city." The city
was only thirty miles away and American sol-
diers have been known to carry rations in their
haversacks for a march of one hundred miles.
Tlie "transient success" of the insolent enemy

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

loO

had evidently made an impression on Stockton.
He estimated the California force in the vicinity
of the landing at eight hundred men, which was
just seven hundred too high. He determined
to approach Los Angeles by way of San Diego,
and on the last day of October he sailed for that
port. B. D. Wilson, Stephen C. Foster and
others attribute Stockton's abandonment of an
attack on Los Angeles from San Pedro to a
trick played on him by Jose Antonio Carrillo.
Carrillo was in command of the detachment
stationed at the Cerritos and the Palos Yerdes.
Carrillo was anxious to obtain an interview with
Stockton and if possible secure a cessation of
hostilities until the war then progressing in
Mexico should be decided, thus settling the
fate of California. B. D. Wilson, one of the
Chino prisoners, was sent with a Mexican ser-
geant to raise a white flag as the boats of the
Congress approached the landing and present
Carrillo's proposition for a truce. Carrillo, with
the intention of giving Stockton an exaggerated
idea of the number of his troops and thus ob-
taining more favorable terms in the proposeil
treaty, collected droves of wild horses from the
plains; these his caballeros kept in motion, pass-
ing and repassing through a gap in the hills,
which was in plain view from Stockton's vessel.
Owing to the dust raised by the cavalcade it was
impossible to discover that most of the horses
were riderless. The troops were signalled to re-
turn to the vessel, and the commodore shortly
afterwards sailed to San Diego. Carrillo al-
ways regretted that he made too much demon-
stration.

As an illustration of the literary trash that
has been palmed off for California history, I
give an extract from Frost's Pictorial History
of California, a book written the year after
the close of the Mexican war by Prof.
John Frost, a noted compiler of histories, who
writes LL. D. after his name. It relates to
Stockton's exploits at San Pedro. "At the
Rancho Sepulveda (the Palos Verdes) a large
force of Californians were posted, Commodore
Stockton sent one hundred men Forward to re
ceive the fire of the enemy and then fall back-
on the main body without returning it. The
main bodv of Stockton's army was formed in a

triangle with the guns hid by the men. By the
retreat of the advance party the enemy were
decoyed close to the main force, when the wings
(of the triangle) were extended and a deadly fire
from the artillery opened upon the astonished
Californians. More than one hundred were
killed, the same number wounded and one hun-
dred prisoners taken." The mathematical ac-
curacy of Stockton's artillerists was truly
astonishing. They killed a man for every one
wounded and took a prisoner for every man
they killed. As Flores' army never amounted
to more than three hundred, it we are to believe
Frost, Stockton had all the enemy '"present or
accounted for." This silly fabrication of Frost's
runs through a number of so-called histories of
California. Stockton was a brave man and a
very energetic commander, but he would boast
of his achievements, and his reports are unre-
liable.

As previously mentioned, Fremont after his
return to Monterey proceeded to recruit a force
to move against Los Angeles by land from Mon-
terey. His recruits were principally obtained
from the recently arrived immigrants. Each man
was furnished with a horse and was to receive
$25 a month. A force of about four hundred
and fifty was obtained. Fremont left Monterey
November 17 and rendezvoused at San Juan
Bautista, where he remained to the 29th of the
month organizing his battalion. ( )n the 29th
of November he began his inarch southward to
co-operate with Stockton against Flores.

After the expulsion of Gillespie and his men
from Los Angeles, detachments from Flores'
army were sent to Santa Barbara and San
Diego to recapture these places. At Santa Bar-
bara Fremont had left nine men of his battalion
under Lieut. Theodore Talbot to garrison the
town A demand was made on the garrison to
surrender by Colonel Garfias of Flores' army.
Two hours were given the Americans to decide,
[nstead of surrendering they fell back into the
hills, where the) remained three or four days,
hoping that reinforcements might be sent them
from Monterey. Their only subsistence was the
flesh of an old gray mare of Daniel Hill's that
they captured, brought into camp and killed.
They secured one of Micheltorena's cholos that

lau

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

had remained in the country and was living in
a canon among the hills for a guide. He fur-
nished them a horse to carry their blankets and
conducted them through the mountains to the
San Joaquin valley. Here the guide left them
with the Indians, he returning to Santa Barbara.
The Indians fed them on chia (wild flaxseed),
mush and acorn bread. They traveled down the
San Joaquin valley. On their journey they lived
on the flesh of wild horses, seventeen of which
they killed. After many hardships they reached
Monterey on the 8th of November, where they
joined Fremont's battalion.

Captain Merritt, of Fremont's battalion, had
been left at San Diego with [arty men to hold
the town when the battalion marched north to
co-operate with Stockton against Los Angeles.
Immediately after Gillespie's retreat, Francisco
Rico was sent with fifty men to capture the
place. He was joined by recruits at San Diego.
Merritt being in no condition to stand a siege,
took refuge on board the American whale ship
Stonington, which was lying at anchor. After
remaining on board the Stonington ten clays,
taking advantage of the laxity of discipline
among the Californians, he stole a march on
them, recapturing the town and one piece of
artillery. He sent Don Miguel de Pedrorena,
who was one of his allies, in a whale boat with
four sailors to San Pedro to obtain supplies
and assistance. Pedrorena arrived at San Pedro
on the 13th of October with Merritt's dis-
patches. Captain Mervine chartered the whale
ship Magnolia, which was lying in the San
Pedro harbor, and dispatched Lieutenant Minor,
.Midshipman Duvall and Morgan with thirty-
three sailors and fifteen of Gillespie's volun-
teers to reinforce Merritt. They reached San
Diego on the 16th. The combined forces of
Minor and Merritt, numbering about ninety
men, put in the greater part of the next two
weeks in dragging cannon from the old fort
and mounting them at their barracks, which
were located "ii the hill at the edge of tile plain

on the wesl side <>f the town, convenienl to
water. They succeeded in mounting si\ brass
nine-pounders and building two bastions of
adobes, taken from an old house. There was
constant skirmishing between the hostile parties.

but few fatalities. The Americans claimed to
have killed three of the enemy, and one Amer-
ican was ambushed and killed.

The Californians kept well out of range, but
prevented the Americans from obtaining sup-
plies. Their provisions were nearly exhausted,
and when reduced to almost the last extreme
they made a successful foraging expedition and
procured a supply of mutton. Midshipman Du-
vall thus describes the adventure: "We had
with us an Indian (chief of a numerous tribe)
who, from his knowledge of the country, we
thought could avoid the enemy; and getting
news of a number of sheep about thirty-five miles
to the south on the coast, we determined to send
him and his companion to drive them onto an
island which at low tide connected with the
mainland. In a few days a signal was made on
the island, and the boats of the whale ship
Stonington, stationed off the island, were sent
to it. Our good old Indian had managed,
through his cunning and by keeping concealed
in ravines, to drive onto the island about six hun-
dred sheep, but his companion had been caught
and killed by the enemy. I shall never forget
his famished appearance, but pride in his Indian
triumph could be seen playing in his dark eyes.

"For thirty or forty days we were constantly
expecting, from the movements of the enemy,
an attack, soldiers and officers sleeping on their
arms and ready for action. About the 1st of
November, Commodore Stockton arrived, and,
after landing Captain Gillespie with his com-
pany and about forty-three marines, he suddenly
disappeared, leaving Lieutenant Minor governor
of the place and Captain Gillespie command-
ant."*

Foraging continued, the whale ship Ston-
ington, which had been impressed into the
government service, being used to take parties
down the coast, who made raids inland and
brought back with them catties and horses.

Tt was probably on one of these excursions
that the Hag-making episode occurred, of which
there are more versions than Homer had birth-
places. The correct version of the story is as
follows: A party had been sent under com-

*Log Book wf Acting Lieutenant Dt

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

i:;7

mand of Lieutenant Hensley to Juan Bandini's
rancho in Lower California to bring up bands
of cattle and horses. Bandini was an adherent
of the American cause. He and his family re-
turned with the cavalcade to San Diego. At
their last camping place before reaching the
town, Hensley, in a conversation with Bandini,
regretted they had no flag with them to display
on their entry into the town. Sehora Bandini
volunteered to make one, which she did from
red, white and blue dresses of her children.
This flag, fastened to a staff, was carried at the
head of the cavalcade when it made its triumphal
entry into San Diego. The Mexican govern-
ment confiscated Bandini's ranches in Lower
California on account of his friendship to the
Americans during the war.

Skirmishing continued almost daily. Jose
Antonio Carrillo was now in command of the
Californians, their force numbering about one
hundred men. Commodore Stockton returned
and decided to fortify. Midshipman Duvall, in
the Log Book referred to in the previous chap-
ter, thus describes the fort: "The commodore
now commenced to fortify the hill which over-
looked the town by building a fort, constructed
by placing three hundred gallon casks full of
sand close together. The inclosure was twenty
by thirty yards. A bank of earth and small gravel
was thrown up in front as high as the top of
the casks and a ditch dug around on the outside.
Inside a ball-proof vault of ketch was built out
of plank and lined on the inside with adobes, on
top of which a swivel was mounted. The en-
trance was guarded by a strong gate, with a
drawbridge in front across the ditch or moat.
The whole fortification was completed and the
guns mounted on it in about three weeks. Our
men working on the fort were on short allow-
ance of beef and wheat, and for a time without
bread, tea, sugar or coffee, many of them being
destitute of shoes, but there were few com-
plaints.

"About the 1st of December, information hav-
ing been received that General Kearny was at
Warner's Pass, about eighty miles distant, with
one hundred dragoons on his march to San
Diego, Commodore Stockton immediately sent
an escort of fifty men under command of Cap-

tain Gillespie, accompanied by Past Midshipmen
Beale and Duncan, having with them one piece
of artillery. They reached General Kearny with-
out molestation. On the march the combined
force was surprised by about ninety-three Cal-
ifornians at San Pasqual, under command of
Andres Pico, who had been sent to that part
of the country to drive off all the cattle and
horses to prevent us from getting them. In
the battle that ensued General Kearny lost in
killed Captains Johnston and Moore and Lieu-
tenant Hammond, and fifteen dragoons. Seven-
teen dragoons were severely wounded. The
enemy captured one piece of artillery. General
Kearny and Captains Gillespie and Gibson were
severely wounded; also one of the engineer offi-
cers. Some of the dragoons have since died."

"After the engagement ( ieneral Kearny took
position on a hill covered with large rocks. It
was well suited for defense. Lieutenant Godey
of Gillespie's volunteers, the night after the
battle, escaped through the enemy's line of sen-
tries and came in with a letter from Captain
Turner to the commodore. Whilst among the
rocks, Past Midshipman Beale and Kit Carson
managed, under cover of night, to pass out
through the enemy's ranks, and after three days'
and nights' hard marching through the moun-
tains without water, succeeded in getting safely
into San Diego, completely famished. Soon
after arriving Lieutenant Beale fainted away,
and for some days entirely lost his reason."

On the night of Bealc's arrival, December 9,
about 9 p. m., detachments of two hundred sail-
ors and marines from the Congress and Ports-
mouth, under the immediate command of Cap-
tain Zeilin, assisted by Lieutenants Gray,
Hunter, Renshaw, Parrish, Thompson and
Tilghman and Midshipmen Duvall and Morgan,
each man carrying a blanket, three pounds of
jerked beef and the same of hard-tack, began
their march to relieve General Kearny. They
marched all night and camped on a chaparral
covered mountain during the day. At 4 p. m.
of the second night's march they reached
Kearny's camp, surprising him. Godey, who
had been sent ahead to inform Kearny that as-
sistance was coming, had been captured by the

138

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

enemy. General Kearny had burnt and de-
stroyed all his baggage and camp equipage, sad-
dles, bridles, clothing, etc., preparatory to
forcing his way through the enemy's line.
Burdened with his wounded, it is doubtful
whether he could have escaped. Midshipman
Duvall says: "It would not be a hazard of
opinion to say he would have been overpowered
and compelled to surrender." The enemy dis-
appeared on the arrival of reinforcements. The
relief expedition, with Kearny's men, reached
San Diego after two days' march.

A brief explanation of the reason why Kearny
was at San Pasqual may be necessary. In June,
1846, Gen. Stephen W. Kearny, commander of
the Army of the West, as his command was
designated, left Fort Leavenworth with a force
of regulars and volunteers to take possession of
New Mexico. The conquest of that territory
was accomplished without a battle. Under or-
ders from the war department, Kearny began his
march to California with a part of his force to
co-operate with the naval forces there. Octo-
ber 6, near Socorro, N. M., he met Kit Carson
with an escort of fifteen men en route from Los
Angeles to Washington, bearing dispatches
from Stockton, giving the report of the con-
quest of California. Kearny required Carson to
turn back and act as his guide. Carson was
very unwilling to do so, as he was within a few
days' journey of his home and family, from
whom he had been separated for nearly two
years. He had been guide for Fremont on his
exploring expedition. He, however, obeyed
Kearny's orders.

General Kearny sent back about three hun-
dred of his men, taking with him one hundred
and twenty. After a toilsome march by way
of the Pima villages. Tucson, the Gila and
across the Colorado desert, they reached the
Indian village of San Pasqual (about forty miles
from San Diego), where the battle was fought.
It was the bloodiest battle of the coiH|iiest ;
Kearny's men, at daybreak, riding on broken
down mules and half broken horses, in an ir-
regular and disorderly line, charged the Califor-
nians. While the American line was stretched
nit over the plain Capt. Andres Pico, who was
in command, wheeled his column and charged

the Americans. A fierce hand to hand fight en-
sued, the Californians using their lances and lar-
iats, the Americans clubbed guns and sabers. Of
Kearny's command eighteen men were killed and
nineteen wounded; three of the wounded died.
Only one, Capt. Abraham R. Johnston (a rela-
tive of the author's), was killed by a gunshot;
all the others were lanced. The mules to one
of the howitzers became unmanageable and ran
into the enemy's lines. The driver was killed
and the gun captured. One Californian was
captured and several slightly wounded; none
were killed. Less than half of Kearny's one
hundred and seventy men* took part in the
battle. His loss in killed and wounded was fifty
per cent of those engaged. Dr. John S. Grif-
fin, for many years a leading physician of Los
Angeles, was the surgeon of the command.

The foraging expeditions in Lower Califor-
nia having been quite successful in bringing in
cattle, horses and mules, Commodore Stockton
hastened his preparation for marching against
Los Angeles. The enemy obtained information
of the projected movement and left for the
pueblo.

"The Cyane having arrived," says Duvall,
"our force was increased to about six hundred
men, most of whom, understanding the drill,
performed the evolutions like regular soldiers.
Everything being ready for our departure, the
commodore left Captain Montgomery and offi-
cers in command of the town, and on the 29th of
December took up his line of inarch for Los An-
geles. General Kearny was second in command
ami having the immediate arrangement of the
forces, reserving for himself the prerogative
which his rank necessarily imposed upon him.
( (wing to the weak state of our oxen we had
not crossed the dry bed of the river San Diego
before they began breaking down, and the carts,
which were thirty or forty in number, had to be
dragged by the men. The general urged on the
commodore that it was useless to commence
such a march as was before us with our present
means of transportation, but the commodore
insisted on performing at least one day's march

♦General Kearny's original force of one hundred and
twenty had been increased by Gillespie's command,
numbering fifty men.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

even if we should have to return the next day.
We succeeded in reaching the valley of the
Soledad that night by dragging our carts. Next
day the commodore proposed to go six miles
farther, which we accomplished, and then con-
tinued six miles farther. Having obtained some
fresh oxen, by assisting the carts up hill we
made ten or twelve miles a day. At San Luis
Rey we secured men, carts and oxen, and after
that our days' marches ranged from fifteen to
twenty-two miles a day.

"The third day out from San Luis Rey a white
flag was seen ahead, the bearer of which had a
communication from Flores, signing himself
'Commander-in-Chief and Governor of Califor-
nia,' asking for a conference for the purpose of
coming to terms, which would be alike 'honor-
able to both countries.' The commodore refused
to answer him in writing, saying to the bearer
of the truce that his answer was, 'he knew n<>
such person as Governor Flores; that he him-
self was the only governor in California; that
he knew a rebel by that name, a man who had
given his parole of honor not to take up arms
against the government of the United States,
who, if the people of California now in arms
against the forces of the United States would
deliver up, he (Stockton) would treat with them
on condition that they surrender their arms
and retire peaceably to their homes and he
would grant them, as citizens of the United
States, protection from further molestation."
This the embassy refused to entertain, saying
'they would prefer to die with Flores than to
surrender on such terms.' "

"On the 8th of January, 1847, tne y met us on
the banks of the river San Gabriel with between
five and six hundred men mounted on good
horses and armed with lances and carbines,
having also four pieces of artillery planted on
the heights about three hundred and fifty yards
distant from the river. Owing to circumstances
which have occurred since the surrender of the
enemy, I prefer not mentioning the particulars
uf this day's battle and also that of the da) Fol
lowing, or of referring to individuals concerned
in the successful management of our forces."
(The circumstance to which T. untenant Duvall

refers was undoubtedly the quarrel between
Stockton and Kearny after the capture of Los
Angeles.) "It is sufficient to say that on the 8th
of January we succeeded in crossing the river
and driving the enemy from the heights. Hav-
ing resisted all their charges, dismounted one
of their pieces and put them to flight in every
direction, we encamped on the ground they had
occupied during the fight.

"The next day the Californians met us on the
plains of the mesa. For a time the fighting was
carried on by both sides with artillery, but that
proving too hot for them they concentrated
their whole force in a line ahead of us and at a
given signal divided from the center and came
down on us like a tornado, charging us on all
sides at the same time; but they were effectually
defeated and fled in every direction in the ut-
most confusion. Many of their horses were left
dead on the field. Their loss in the two battles,
as given by Andres Pico, second in command,
was eighty-three killed and wounded; our loss,
three killed (one accidentally), and fifteen or
twenty wounded, none dangerously. The enemy
abandoned two pieces of artillery in an Indian
village near by."

I have given at considerable length Midship-
man Duvall's account of Stockton's march from
San Diego and of the two battles fought, not
because it is the fullest account of those events,
but because it is original historical matter, newer
having appeared in print before, and also he-
cause it is the observations of a participant
written at the time the events occurred. In it
the losses of the enemy are greatly exaggerated,
but that was a fault of his superior officers as
well. Commodore Stockton, in his official re-
ports of the two battles, gives the enemy's loss
in killed and wounded "between seventy and
eighty." And General Kearny, in his report of
the battle of San Pasqual, claimed it as a vic-
tory, and states that the enemy left six di a
the field. The actual loss of the Californians
in the two battles I San Gabriel river and 1 .a
Mesa) was three killed and ten or twelve
wounded.*

Sepulvcda,

140

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

While the events recorded in this chapter
were transpiring at San Diego and its vicinity,
what was the state of affairs in the capital, Los
Angeles? After the exultation and rejoicing
over the expulsion of Gillespie's garrison, Mer-
vine's defeat and the victory over Kearny at
San Pasqual there came a reaction. Dissension
continued between the leaders. There was lack
of arms and laxity of discipline. The army was
but little better than a mob. Obedience to or-
ders of a superior was foreign to the nature of a
Californian. His wild, free life in the saddle
made him impatient of all restraint. Then the
impossibility of successful resistance against
the Americans became more and more apparent
as the final conflict approached. Fremont's
army was moving down on the doomed city
from the north, and Stockton'.- was coming up
from the south. Either one of these, in num-
bers, exceeded the force that Flores could bring
into action; combined they would crush him
out of existence. The California troops were
greatly discouraged and it was with great diffi-
culty that the officers kept their men together.
There was another and more potent element of
disintegration. Many of the wealthier natives
and all the foreigners, regarding the contest as
hopeless, secretly favored the American cause,
and it was only through fear of loss of property
that they furnished Flores and his officers any
supplies for the army.

During the latter part of December and the
first days of January Flores' army was stationed
at the San Fernando Mission, on the lookout
fur Fremont's battalion; but the more rapid
advance of Stockton's army compelled a change
of base. On the 6th and 7th of January Flores
moved his arm}- back secretly through the

Cahuenga Fass, and, passing to the southward
of the city, took position where La Jaboneria
(the soap factory) road crosses the San Gabriel
river. Here his men w-ere stationed in the thick
willows to give Stockton a surprise. Stockton
received information of the trap set for him and
after leaving the Los Coyotes swung off to the
right until he struck the Upper Santa Ana road.
The Californians had barely time to effect a
change of base and get their cannon planted
when the Americans arrived at the crossing.

Stockton called the engagement there the bat-
tle of San Gabriel river; the Californians call it
the battle of Faso de Bartolo, which is the bet-
ter name. The place where the battle was fought
is on bluff just south of the Upper Santa Ana
road, near where the Southern California
railroad crosses the old San Gabriel river. (The
ford or crossing was formerly known as Pico's
Crossing.) There was, at the time of the bat-
tle, but one San Gabriel river. The new river
channel was made in the great flood of 1868.
'What Stockton, Emory, Duvall and other
American officers call the battle of the Plains
of the Mesa the Californians call the battle of
La Mesa, which is most decidedly a better name
than the "Plains of the Plain." It was fought at
a ravine, the Canada de Los Alisos, near the
southeastern corner of the Los Angeles city
boundary. In these battles the Californians had
four pieces of artillery, two iron nine-pounders,
the old woman's gun and the howitzer captured
in mi Kearny. Their powder was very poor. It
was made at San Gabriel. It was owing to this
that they did so little execution in the fight.
That the Californians escaped with so little
punishment was probably due to the wretched
marksmanship of Stockton's sailors and marines.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

CHAPTER XX.

CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF THE CAPITAL.

J\ FTER the battle of La Mesa, the Amer-
T V icans, keeping to the south, crossed the
A Los Angeles river at about the point

where the south boundary line of the city
crosses it and camped on the right bank. Here,
under a willow tree, those killed in battle were
buried. Lieutenant Emory, in his "Notes of a
.Military Reconnoissance," says: "The town,
known to contain great quantities of wine and
aguardiente, was four miles distant (four miles
from the battlefield). From previous experience
of the difficulty of controlling men when enter-
ing towns, it was determined to cross the river
San Fernando (Los Angeles), halt there for
the night and enter the town in the morning,
with the whole day before us.

"After we had pitched our camp, the enemy
came down from the hills, and four hundred
horsemen with four pieces of artillery drew off
towards the town, in order and regularity, whilst
about sixty made a movement down the river on
our rear and left flank. This led us to suppose
they were not yet whipped, as we thought, and
that we should have a night attack.

"January 10 (1847) — . Just as we had raised
our camp, a flag of truce, borne by Air. Celis, a
Castilian; Mr. Workman, an Englishman, and
Alvarado, the owner of the rancho at the Alisos,
was brought into camp. They proposed, on
behalf of the Californians, to surrender their
dear City of the Angels provided we would re-
spect property and persons. This was agreed
to. but not altogether trusting to the honesty
of General Flores, who had once broken his
parole, we moved into the town in the same
order we should have done if expecting an at-
tack. It was a wise precaution, for the streets
were full of desperate and drunken fellows, who
brandished their arms and saluted us with every
term of reproach. The crest, overlooking the
town, in rifle range, was covered with horsemen
engaged in the same hospitable manner.

"Our men marched steadily on, until crossing
the ravine leading into the public square (plaza),
when a fight took place amongst the Califor-
nians on the hill; one became disarmed and to
avoid death rolled down the hill towards us,
his adversary pursuing and lancing him in the
most cold-blooded manner. The man tumbling
down the hill was supposed to be one of our
vaqueros, and the cry of 'rescue him' was
raised. The crew of the Cyane, nearest the
scene, at once and without any orders, halted
and gave the man that was lancing him a volley;
strange to say, he did not fall. The general
gave the jack tars a cursing, not so much for
the firing without orders, as for their bad marks-
manship."

Shortly after the above episode, the Cali-
fornians did open fire from the hill on the
vaqueros in charge of the cattle. (These
vaqueros were Californians in the employ of the
Americans and were regarded by their country-
men as traitors.) A company of riflemen was
ordered to clear the hill. A single volley ef-
fected this, killing two of the enemy. This was
the last bloodshed in the war; and the second
conquest of California was completed as the first
had been by the capture of Los Angeles.. Two
hundred men. with two pieces of artillery, were
stationed on the hill.

The Angelehos did not exactly welcome the
invaders with "bloody hands to inhospitable
graves," but they did their best to let them know
they were not wanted. The better class of the
native inhabitants closed their houses and took
refuge with foreign residents or went to the
ranchos of their friends in the country. The
fellows of the baser sort, who were in pos-
session of the city, exhausted their vocabularies
of abuse on the invading gringos. There was
1 ne paisano who excelled all his countrymen in
this species of warfare. It is a pity his name
has not been preserved in history with that of

142

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

other famous scolds and kickers. He rode by
the side of the advancing column up Main street,
firing volleys of invective and denunciation at
the hated gringos. At certain points of his
tirade he worked himself to such a pitch of
indignation that language failed him; then he
would solemnly go through the motions of
"Make ready, take aim!" with an old shotgun
he carried, but when it came to the order "Fire!"
discretion got the better of his valor; he low-
ered his gun and began again, firing invective
at the gringo soldiers; his mouth would go off
if his gun would not.

Commodore Stockton's headquarters were in
the Abila house, the second house on Olvera
street, north of the plaza. The building is still
standing, but has undergone many changes in
fifty years. A rather amusing account was re-
cently given me by an old pioneer of the manner
in which Commodore Stockton got possession
of the house. The widow Abila and her daugh-
ters, at the approach of the American army, had
abandoned their house and taken refuge with
Don Luis Yignes of the Aliso. Yignes was a
Frenchman and friendly to both sides. The
widow left a young Californian in charge of her
house (which was finely furnished), with strict
orders to keep it closed. Stockton had with him
a fine brass band, something new in California.
When the troops halted on the plaza, the band
began to play. The boyish guardian of the
Abila casa could not resist the temptation to
open the door and look out. The enchanting
music drew him to the plaza. Stockton and his
staff, hunting for a place suitable for headquar-
ters, passing by, found the door invitingly open,
entered, and, finding the house deserted, took
-ion. The recreant guardian returned to
find himself dispossessed and the house in pos-
-I ssion nf the enemy. "And the band played on."

It is a fact not generall) known thai there
were two forts planned and partially built on
Fori Hill during the war for the conquesl of
California. The firsl was planned by Lieut. Wil-
liam H. Emory, topographical engineer of Gen-
eral Kearny's staff, and work was begun on il
by Commodore Stockton's sailors and marines.
The second was planned by Lieut. J. W. David-
of the First United States Dragoons, and

built by the Mormon battalion. The first was
not completed and not named. The second was
named Fort Moore. Their location seems to
have been identical. The first was designed to
hold one hundred men. The second was much
larger. Flores' army was supposed to be in the
neighborhood of the city ready to make a dash
into it, so Stockton decided to fortify.

"On January nth," Lieutenant Emory writes,
"I was ordered to select a site and place a fort
capable of containing a hundred men. \\ ith
this in view a rapid reconnoissance of the town
was made and the plan of a fort sketched, so
placed as to enable a small garrison to com-
mand the town and the principal avenues to it.
the plan was approved."

"January 12. I laid off the work and before
night broke the first ground. The population
of the town and its dependencies is about three
thousand; that of the town itself about fifteen
hundred. * * * Here all the revolutions
have had their origin, and it is the point upon
which any Mexican force from Sonora would
be directed. Tt was therefore desirable to estab-
lish a fort which, in case of trouble, should en-
able a small garrison to hold out till aid might
come from San Diego, San Francisco or Mon-
terey, places which are destined to become cen-
ters of American settlements."

"January 13. It rained steadily all day and
nothing was done on the work. At night I
worked on the details of the fort."

"January 15. The details to work on the
fort were by companies. I sent to Captain
Tilghman, who commanded on the hill, to de-
tach one of the companies under his command
to commence the work. He furnished, on the
16th, a company of artillery (seamen from the
Congress) for the day's work, which was per-
formed bravely, and gave me great hopes of
success."

On the iNth Lieutenant Emory took his de-
parture with General Kearny for San Diego.
From there he was sent with despatches, via
Panama, to the war department. In his book
he says: "Subsequent to my departure the en-
tire plan of the Fori was changed, and I am not
the projector of the work finally adopted for
defense of that town."

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

As previously stated, Fremont's battalion
began its march down the coast on the 29th of
November, 1846. The winter rains set in with
great severity. The volunteers were scantily
provided with clothing and the horses were in
poor condition. Many of the horses died of
starvation and hard usage. The battalion en-
countered no opposition from the enemy on its
march and did no fighting. On the nth of
January, a few miles above San Fernando, Colo-
nel Fremont received a message from General
Kearny informing him of the defeat of the
enemy and the capture of Los Angeles. That
night the battalion encamped in the mission
buildings at San Fernando. From the mission
that evening Jesus Pico, a cousin of Gen. An-
dres Pico, set out to find the Californian army
and open negotiations with its leaders. Jesus
Pico, better known as Tortoi, had been arrested
at his home near San Luis Obispo, tried by
court-martial and sentenced to be shot for
breaking his parole. Fremont, moved by the
pleadings of Pico's wife and children, pardoned
him. He became a warm admirer and devoted
friend of Fremont's.

He found the advance guard of the Califor-
nians encamped at Yerdugas. He was detained
here, and the leading officers of the army were
summoned to a council. Fico informed them
of Fremont's arrival and the number of his men.
With the combined forces of Fremont and
Stockton against them, their cause was hopeless.
He urged them to surrender to Fremont, as they
could obtain better terms from him than from
Stockton.

General Flores, who held a commission in the
Mexican army, and who had been appointed by
the territorial assembly governor and comand-
ante-general by virtue of his rank, appointed
Andres Pico general and gave him command
of the army. The same night he took his de-
parture for Mexico, by way of San Gorgonio
Pass, accompanied by Colonel Garfias, Diego
Sepulveda, Manuel Castro, Segura, and about
thirty privates. General Pico, on assuming com-
mand, appointed Francisco Rico and Francisco
do La Guerra to go with Jesus Pico to confer
with Colonel Fremont. Fremont appointed as
commissioners to negotiate a treaty, Major P.

I!. Reading, Major William II. Russell and
Capt. Louis McLane. On the return of Guerra
and Rico to the Californian camp, Gen. Andres
Pico appointed as commissioners, Jose Antonio
Carrillo, commander of the cavalry squadron,
and Agustin Olvera, diputado of the assembly,
and moved his army near the river at Cahuenga.
On the 13th Fremont moved his camp to the
Cahuenga. The commissioners met in the de-
serted ranch-house, and the treaty was drawn
up and signed.

The principal conditions of the treaty or ca-
pitulation of "Cahuenga," as it was termed, were
that the Californians, on delivering up their ar-
tillery and public arms, and promising not again
to take arms during the war, and conforming
to the laws and regulations of the United States,
shall be allowed peaceably to return to their
homes. They were to be allowed the same rights
and privileges as are allowed to citizens of the
United States, and were not to be compelled
to take an oath of allegiance until a treat v of
peace was signed between the United States and
Mexico, and were given the privilege of leaving
the country if they wished to. An additional
section was added to the treaty on the 16th at
Los Angeles releasing the officers from their
paroles. Two cannon were surrendered, the
howitzer captured from General Kearny at San
Pasqual and the woman's gun that won the bat-
tle of Dominguez. On the 14th, Fremont's bat-
talion marched through the Cahuenga Pass to
Los Angeles in a pouring rainstorm, and en-
tered it four days after its surrender to Stock-
ton. The conquest of California was com-
pleted. Stockton approved the treaty, although
it w-as not altogether satisfactory to him. On
the 1 6th he appointed Colonel Fremont gov-
ernor of the territory, and William II. Russell,
of the battalion, secretary of state.

This precipitated a quarrel between Stockton
and Kearny, which had been brewing for
time. General Kearny claimed that under his
instructions from the government he should be
recognized as governor. As he had directly under
his command but the one company of drag
that he brought across the plain with him, lie
was unable to enforce his authority. lie left on
(lie [8th for San DiegO, taking witli him his

144

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

officers and dragoons. On the 20th Commo- join their ships. Shortly afterwards Commo-
dore Stockton, with his sailors and marines, dore Stockton was superseded in the command
marched to San Pedro, where they all em- of the Pacific squadron by Commodore Shu-
barked on a man-of-war for San Diego to re- brick.

CHAPTER XXI.

TRANSITION AND TRANSFORMATION.

THE capitulation of Gen. Andres Pico at
Cahuenga put an end to the war in Cali-
fornia. The instructions from the secre-
tary of war were to pursue a policy of concilia-
tion towards the Californians with the ultimate
design of transforming them into American citi-
zens. Colonel Fremont was left in command at
Los Angeles. He established his headquarters
on the second floor of the Bell block (corner of
Los Angeles and Aliso streets), then the best
building in the city. One company of his bat-
talion was retained in the city; the others, under
command of Captain Owens, were quartered at
the Mission San Gabriel.

The Mormons had been driven out of Illinois
and Missouri. A sentiment of antagonism had
been engendered against them and they had
begun their migration to the far west, pre-
sumably to California. They were encamped on
the Missouri river at Kanesville, now Council
Bluffs, preparatory to cross'ng the plains, when
hostilities broke out between the United States
and Mexico, in April, 1846. A proposition was
made by President Polk to their leaders to raise
a battalion of five hundred men to serve as
United States volunteers for twelve months.
These volunteers, under command of regular
army officers, were to march to Santa Fe, or,
if necessary, to California, where, at the expira-
tion of their term of enlistment, they were to be
discharged and allowed to retain their arms.
Through the influence of Brigham Yottng and
other leaders, the battalion was recruited and
General Kearny, commanding the Army of the
West, detailed Capt. James Allen, of the First
United States Dragoons, to muster them into
the service and take command of the battalion.
On the if>th of July, at Council Bluffs, the bat-

talion was mustered into service and on the 14th
of August it began its long and weary march.
About eighty women and children, wives and
families of the officers and some of the enlisted
men, accompanied the battalion on its march.
Shortly after the beginning of the march, Allen,
who had been promoted to lieutenant-colonel,
fell sick and died. The battalion was placed
temporarily under the command of Lieut. A. J.
Smith, of the regular army. At Santa Fe
Lieut.-Col. Philip St. George Cooke took com-
mand under orders from General Kearny. The
battalion was detailed to open a wagon road by
the Gila route to California. About sixty of
the soldiers who had become unfit for duty and
all the women except five were sent back and
the remainder of the force, after a toilsome jour-
ney, reached San Luis Rev, Cal., January 29,
1847, where it remained until ordered to Los
Angeles, which place it reached March 17.

Captain Owens, in command of Fremont's
battalion, had moved all the artillery, ten pieces,
from Los Angeles to San Gabriel, probably with
the design of preventing it falling into the hands
of Colonel Cooke, who was an adherent of
General Kearny. General Kearny, under addi-
tional instructions from the general government,
brought by Colonel Mason from the war depart-
ment, had established himself as governor at
Monterey. With a governor in the north and
one in the south, antagonistic to each other
California had fallen back to its normal condi-
tion under Mexican rule. Colonel Cooke,
shortly after his arrival in the territory, thus de-
scribes the condition prevailing: "General
Kearny is supreme somewhere up the coast.
Colonel Fremont is supreme at Pueblo de Los
Angeles: Colonel Stockton is commander-in-

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

11.-

chief at San Diego; Commodore Shubrick the
same at Monterey ; and I at San Lnis Rev ; and
we are all supremely poor, the government hav-
ing no money and no credit, and we hold the
territory because Mexico is the poorest of all."

Col. R. B. Mason was appointed inspector of
the troops in California and made an official
visit to Los Angeles. In a misunderstanding
about some official matters he used insulting
language to Colonel Fremont. Fremont
promptly challenged him to fight a duel. The
challenge was accepted; double-barreled shot-
guns were chosen as the weapons and the
Rancho Rosa del Castillo as the place of meet-
ing. Mason was summoned north and the duel
was postponed until his return. General Kearny,
hearing of the proposed affair of honor, put a
stop to further proceedings by the duelists.

Col. Philip St. G eor ge Cooke, of the Mormon
battalion, was made commander of the military
district of the south with headquarters at Los
Angeles. Fremont's battalion was mustered out
of service. The Mormon soldiers and the two
companies of United States Dragoons who
came with General Kearny were stationed at
Los Angeles to do guard duty and prevent any
uprising of the natives.

Colonel Fremont's appointment as governor
of California had never been recognized by
General Kearny. So when the general had
made himself supreme at Monterey he ordered
Fremont to report to him at the capital and
turn over the papers of his governorship. Fre-
mont did so and passed out of office. He was
nominally governor of the territory about two
months. His appointment was made by Com-
modore Stockton, but was never confirmed by
the president or secretary of war. -His jurisdic-
tion did not extend beyond Los Angeles. He
left Los Angeles May 12 for Monterey. From
that place, in company with General Kearny.
on May 31, he took his departure for the states.
The relations between the two were strained.
While ostensibly traveling as one company,
each officer, with his staff and escort, made sep-
arate camps. At Fort Leavenworth General
Kearny placed Fremont under arrest and pre-
ferred charges against him for disobedience of
orders. He was tried by court-martial at Wash-

ington and was ably defended by his father-in-
law, Colonel Benton, and his brother-in-law,
William Carey Jones. The court found him
guilty and fixed the penalty, dismissal from the
service. President Polk remitted the penalty
and ordered Colonel Fremont to resume his
sword and report for duty. He did so, but
shortly afterward resigned his commission and
left the army.

While Colonel Cooke was in command of
the southern district rumors reached Los An-
geles that the Mexican general, Bustamente,
with a force of fifteen hundred men, was pre-
paring to reconquer California. "Positive infor-
mation," writes Colonel Cooke, under date of
April 20, 1847, "has been received that the
Mexican government has appropriated $600,000
towards fitting out this force." It was also re-
ported that cannon and military stores had been
landed at San Vicente, in Lower California.
Rumors of an approaching army came thick and
fast. The natives were supposed to be in league
with Bustamente and to be secretly preparing
for an uprising. Precautions were taken against
a surprise. A troop of cavalry was sent to
Warner's ranch to patrol the Sonora road as
far as the desert. The construction of a fort
on the hill fully commanding the town, which
had previously been determined upon, was
begun and a company of infantry posted on
the hill.

On the 23d of April, three months after work
had ceased on Emory's fort, the construction of
the second fort was begun and pushed vigor-
ously. Rumors continued to come of the ap-
proach of the enemy. May 3, Colonel Cooke
writes: "A report was received through the
most available sources of information that Gen-
eral Bustamente hail crossed the Gulf of Cali-
fornia near its head, in boats of the pearl fishers,
and at last information was at a rancho on the
western road, seventy leagues below San
Diego." Colonel Stevenson's regimenl of New
York volunteers had recently arrived in Cali-
fornia. Two companies of tin' regiment had
been sent to Los Angeles and two to San
Diego. The report that Colonel Cooke had re-
ceived reinforcement and that ] les was
being fortified was supposed to have frightened

140

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Bustamente into abandoning his invasion of
California. Bustamente's invading army was
largely the creation of somebody's fertile imag-
ination. The scare, however, had the effect of
hurrying up work on the fort. May 13, Colo-
nel Cooke resigned and Col. J. B. Stevenson
succeeded him in the command of the southern
military district.

Colonel Stevenson continued work on the
fort and on the 1st of July work had progressed
so far that he decided to dedicate and name it
on the 4th. He issued an official order for the
celebration of the anniversary of the birthday of
American independence at this port, as he called
Los Angeles. "At sunrise a Federal salute will
be fired from the field work on the hill which
commands this town and for the first time from
this point the American standard will be dis-
played. At 11 o'clock all the troops of the
district, consisting of the Mormon battalion, the
two companies of dragoons and two companies
of the New York volunteers, were formed in a
hollow square at the fort. The Declaration of
Independence was read in English by Captain
Stuart Taylor and in Spanish by Stephen C.
Foster. The native Californians, seated on their
horses in rear of the soldiers, listened to Don
Esteban as he rolled out in sonorous Spanish the
Declaration's arraignment of King George III.,
and smiled. They had probably never heard of
King George or the Declaration of Independ-
ence, either, but they knew a pronunciamiento
when they heard it, and after a pronunciamiento
in their governmental system came a revolution,
therefore they smiled at the prospect of a gringo
revolution. "At the close of this ceremony
(reading of the Declaration) the field work will
be dedicated and appropriately named; and at
12 o'clock a national salute will be fired. The
field work at this post having been planned and
the work conducted entirely by Lieutenant Da-
vidson of the First Dragoons, he is requested
to hoist upon it for the first time on the morn-
ing of the 4th the American standard." * * *
The commander directs that from and after the
4th instant the fort shall bear the name of
Moure. Benjamin D. Moore, after whom the fort
was named, was captain of Company A, First
United States Dragoons. He was killed by a

lance thrust in the disastrous charge at the bat-
tle of San Pasqual. This fort was located on
what is now called Fort Hill, near the geograph-
ical center of Los Angeles. It was a breastwork
about four hundred feet long with bastions and
embrasures for cannon. The principal em-
brasure commanded the church and the plaza,
two places most likely to be the rallying points
in a rebellion. It was built more for the sup-
pression of a revolt than to resist an invasion.
It was in a commanding position; two hundred
men, about its capacity, could have defended it
against a thousand if the attack came from the
front; but as it was never completed, in an at-
tack from the rear it could easily have been cap-
tured with an equal force.

Col. Richard B. Mason succeeded General
Kearny as commander-in-chief of the troops
and military governor of California. Col. Philip
St. George Cooke resigned command of the
military district of the south May 13, joined
General Kearny at Monterey and went east
with him. As previously stated, Col. J. D. Ste-
venson, of the New York volunteers, succeeded
him. His regiment, the First New York, but
really the Seventh, had been recruited in the
eastern part of the state of New York in the
summer of 1846, for the double purpose of con-
quest and colonization. The United States gov-
ernment had no intention of giving up California
once it was conquered, and therefore this regi-
ment came to the coast well provided with pro-
visions and implements of husbandry. It came
to California via Cape Horn in three transports.
The first ship, the Perkins, arrived at San
Francisco, March 6, 1847; the second, the Drew,
March 19; and the third, the Loo Choo, March
26. Hostilities had ceased in California before
their arrival. Two companies, A and B, under
command of Lieutenant-Colonel Burton, were
sent to Lower California, where they saw hard
service and took part in several engagements.
The other companies of the regiment were sent
to different towns in Alta California to do gar-
rison duty.

Another military organization that reached
California after the conquest was Company F
ol the Third United States Artillery. It landed
at Monterey January 28, 1847. It vvas com-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

147

manded by Capt. C. O. Thompkins. With
it came Lieuts. E. O. C. Ord, William T. Sher-
man and H. W. Halleck, all of whom became
prominent in California affairs and attained na-
tional reputation during the Civil war. The
Mormon battalion was mustered out in July,
1847. O ne company under command of Cap-
tain Hunt re-enlisted. The others made their
way to L T tah, where they joined their brethren
who the year before had crossed the plains and
founded the City of Salt Lake. The Xew York
volunteers were discharged in August, 1848.
After the treaty of peace, in 1848, four compa-
nies of United States Dragoons, under com-
mand of Major L. P. Graham, marched from
Chihuahua, by way of Tucson, to California.
Major Graham was the last military commander
of the south.

Commodore W. Branford Shubrick succeeded
Commodore Stockton in command of the naval
forces of the north Pacific coast. Jointly with
General Kearny he issued a circular or proc-
lamation to the people of California, printed in
English and Spanish, setting forth "That the
president of the United States, desirous to give
and secure to the people of California a share
of the good government and happy civil organ-
ization enjoyed by the people of the United
States, and to protect them at the same time
from the attacks of foreign foes and from inter-
nal commotions, has invested the undersigned
with separate and distinct powers, civil and mil-
itary; a cordial co-operation in the exercise of
which, it is hoped and believed, will have the
happy results desired.

"To the commander-in-chief of the naval
forces the president has assigned the regula-
tion of the import trade, the conditions on which
vessels of all nations, our own as well as foreign,
may be admitted into the ports of the territory,
and the establishment of all port regulations.
To the commanding military officer the presi-
dent has assigned the direction of the operations
on land and has invested him with administra-
tive functions of government over the people
and territory occupied by the forces of the
United States.

"Done at Monterey, capital of California, this
1st day of March, A. D. 1847. W. Branford

Shubrick, commander-in-chief of the naval
forces. S. W. Kearny, Brig.-Gen. United States
Army, and Governor of California."

Under the administration of Col. Richard B.
Mason, the successor of General Kearny as
military governor, the reconstruction, or, more
appropriately, the transformation period began.
The orders from the general government were
to conciliate the people and to make no radical
changes in the form of government. The Mex-
ican laws were continued in force. Just what
these laws were, it was difficult to find out. \<i
code commissioner had codified the laws and it
sometimes happened that the judge made the
law to suit the case. Under the old regime the al-
calde was often law-giver, judge, jury and exe-
cutioner, all in one. Occasionally there was fric-
tion between the military and civil powers, and
there were rumors of insurrections and inva-
sions, but nothing came of them. The Califor-
nians, with easy good nature so characteristic
of them, made the best of the situation. "A
thousand things," says Judge Hays, "combined
to smooth the asperities of war. Eremont had
been courteous and gay: Mason was just and
firm. The natural good temper of the popula-
tion favored a speedy and perfect conciliation.
The American officers at once found themselves
happy in every circle. In suppers, balls, visiting
in town and country, the hours glided away with
pleasant reflections."

There were, however, a few individuals who
were not happy unless they could stir up dis-
sensions and cause trouble. One of the chief of
these was Serbulo Yarela, agitator and revolu-
tionist. Yarela. for some offense not specified
in the records, had been committed to prison by
the second alcalde of Los Angeles. Colonel Ste-
venson turned him out of jail, and Yarela gave
the judge a tongue lashing in refuse Castilian.
The judge's official dignity was hurt. He sent
a communication to the ayuntamiento saying:
"Owing to personal abuse which 1 received ai
the hands of a private individual and from the
present military commander, I tender my resig-
nation."

The ayuntamiento senl a 1 immunii ation to
Colonel Stevenson asking why he had turned
Yarela out of jail and why he had insulted the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

judge. The colonel curtly replied that the mili-
tary would not act as jailers over persons guilty
of trifling offenses while the city had plenty of
persons to do guard duty at the jail. As to the
abuse of the judge, he was not aware that any
abuse had been given, and would take no further
notice of him unless he stated the nature of the
insult offered him. The council decided to no-
tify the governor of the outrage perpetrated by
the military commander, and the second alcalde
said since he could get no satisfaction for insults
to his authority from the military despot, he
would resign: but the council would not accept
his resignation, so he refused to act, and the city
had to worry along with one alcalde.

Although foreigners had been coming to Cali-
fornia ever since 1814, their numbers had not
increased very rapidly. Nearly all of these had
found their way there by sea. Those who had
become permanent residents had married native
Californian women and adopted the customs of
the country. Capt. Jedediah S. Smith, in 1827,
crossed the Sierra Nevada mountains from Cali-
fornia and by way of the Humboldt, or, as he
named it, the Mary River, had reached the Great
Salt Lake. From there through the South Pass
of the Rocky mountains the route had been
traveled for several years by the fur trappers.
This latter became the great emigrant route to
California a few years later. A southern route
by way of Santa Fe had been marked out and
the Pattee party had found their way to the
Colorado by the Gila route, but so far no emi-
grant trains had come from the States to Cali-
fornia with women and children. The first of
these mixed trains was organized in western
Missouri in May, 1841. The party consisted of
sixty-nine persons, including men, women and
children. This party divided at Soda Springs,
half going to Oregon and the others keeping on
their way to California. They reached the San
Joaquin valley in November, 1841, after a toil-
some journey of six months. The first settle-
ment they found was Dr. Marsh's ranch in what
is now called Contra Costa county. Marsh gave
them a cordial reception at first, but afterwards
11 e ited them meanly.

Fourteen of the party started for the Pueblo
de San Jose. At the Mission of San Jose,

twelve miles from the Pueblo, they were all ar-
rested by order of General Vallejo. One of the
men was sent to Dr. Marsh to have him come
forthwith and explain why an armed force of
liis countn men were roaming around the coun-
try without passports. Marsh secured their re-
lease and passports for all the party. On his
return home he charged the men who had re-
mained at his ranch $5 each for a passport, al-
though the passports had cost him nothing. As
there was no money in the party, each had to
put up some equivalent from his scanty posses-
sions. Marsh had taken this course to reim-
burse himself for the meal he had given the
half-starved emigrants the first night of their
arrival at his ranch.

In marked contrast with the meanness of
Marsh was the liberality of Captain Sutter. Sut-
ter had built a fort at the junction of the Amer-
ican river and the Sacramento in 1839 and had
obtained extensive land grants. His fort was
the frontier post for the overland emigration.
Gen. John Bidwell, who came with the first
emigrant train to California, in a description of
"Life in California Before the Gold Discovery,"
says: "Nearly everybody who came to Califor-
nia then made it a point to reach Sutter's Fort.
Sutter was one of the most liberal and hospita-
ble of men. Everybody was welcome, one man
or a hundred, it was all the same."

Another emigrant train, known as the Work-
man-Rowland party, numbering forty-five per-
sons, came from Santa Fe by the Gila route to
Los Angeles. About twenty-five of this party-
were persons who had arrived too late at West-
port, Mo., to join the northern emigrant party,
so they went with the annual caravan of St.
Louis traders to Santa Fe and from there, with
traders and trappers, continued their journey to
California. From 1841 to the American con-
quest immigrant trains came across the plains
every year.

One of the most noted of these, on account of
the tragic fate that befell it. was the Donner
party. The nucleus of this party, George and
Jacob Donner and James K. Reed, with their
families, started from Springfield, III, in the
spring of 1846. By accretions and combinations,
when it reached Fort Bridger, July 25, it had

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

14'.t

increased to eighty-seven persons — thirty-six
men, twenty-one women and thirty children,
under the command of George Dormer. A new
route called the Hastings Cut-Off, had just been
opened by Lansford W. Hastings. This route-
passed to the south of Great Salt Lake and
struck the old Fort Hall emigrant road on the
Humboldt. It was claimed that the "cut-off"
shortened the distance three hundred miles.
The Donner party, by misrepresentations, were
induced to take this route. The cut-off proved
to be almost impassable. They started on the
cut-off the last day of July, and it was the end
of September when they struck the old emigrant
trail on the Humboldt. They had lost most of
their cattle and were nearly out of provisions.
From this on, unmerciful disaster followed them
fast and faster. In an altercation, Reed, one of
the best men of the party, killed Snyder. He
was banished from the train and compelled to
leave his wife and children behind. An old
Belgian named Hardcoop and Wolfinger, a
German, unable to keep up, were abandoned to
die on the road. Fikc was accidentally shot by
Foster. The Indians stole a number of their
cattle, and one calamity after another delayed
them. In the latter part of October they had
reached the Truckee. Here they encountered a
heavy snow storm, which blocked all further
progress. They wasted their strength in trying
to ascend the mountains in the deep snow that
had fallen. Finally, finding this impossible, they
turned back and built cabins at a lake since
known as Donner Lake, and prepared to pass
the winter. Most of their oxen had strayed
away during the storm and perished. Those
still alive they killed and preserved the meat.
A party of fifteen, ten men and five women,

known as the "Forlorn Hope," started, Decem-
ber 16, on snowshoes to cross the Sierras. They
had provisions for six days, but the journey
consumed thirty-two days. Eight of the ten
men perished, and among them the noble Stan-
ton, who hail brought relief to the emigrants
from Sutter's Fort before the snows began to
fall. The five women survived. Upon the ar-
rival of the wretched survivors of the "Forlorn
Hope," the terrible sufferings of the snow-bound
immigrants were made known at Sutter's Fort,
and the first relief party was organized, and on
the 5th of February started for the lake. Seven
of the thirteen who started succeeded in reach-
ing the lake. On the 19th they started back
with twenty-one of the immigrants, three of
whom died on the way. A second relief, under
Reed and McCutchen, was organized. Reed
had gone to Yerba Buena to seek assistance. A
public meeting was called and $1,500 subscribed.
The second relief started from Johnston's
Ranch, the nearest point to the mountains, on
the 23d of February and reached the camp on
.March 1st. They brought out seventeen. Two
others were organized and reached Donner
Lake, the last on the 17th of April. The only
survivor then was Keseburg, a German, who
was hated by all the company. There was a
strong suspicion that he had killed Mrs. Don-
ner. who had refused to leave her husband (who
was too weak to travel) with the previous relief.
There were threats of hanging him. Keseburg
had saved his life by eating the bodies of the
e'ead. Of the original party of eighty-seven, a
total of thirty-nine perished from starvation.
Most of the survivors were compelled to resort
to cannabalism. They were not to blame if they
did.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RLCoRD.

CHAPTER XXII.

MEXICAN LAWS AND AMERICAN OFFICIALS.

Ul'i )N the departure of General Kearny,
.May 31, 1847, Col. Richard D. Mason
became governor and commander-in-
chief of the United States forces in California
by order of the president. Stockton, Kearny
and Fremont had taken their departure, the
dissensions that had existed since the conquest
of the territory among the conquerors ceased,
and peace reigned.

There were reports of Mexican invasions and
suspicions of secret plottings against gringo
rule, but the invaders came not and the plottings
never produced even the mildest form of a Mexi-
can revolution. Mexican laws were adminis-
tered for the most part by military officers. The
municipal authorities were encouraged to con-
tinue in power and perform their governmental
functions, but they were indifferent and some-
times rebelled. Under Mexican rule there was
no trial by jury. The alcalde acted as judge
and in criminal cases a council of war settled the
fate of the criminal. The Rev. Walter Colton,
while acting as alcalde of Monterey, in 1846-47,
impaneled the first jury ever summoned in Cali-
fornia. "The plaintiff and defendant," he writes,
"are among the principal citizens of the country.
The case was one involving property on the one
side and integrity of character on the other. Its
merits had been pretty widely discussed, and
had called forth an unusual interest. One-third
of tlie jury were Mexicans, one-third Califor-
nians and the other third Americans. This mix-
ture may have the bitter answered the ends of
justice, but I was apprehensive at one time it
would embarrass the proceedings; for the plaint-
iff spoke in English, the defendant in French;
the jury, save the Americans, Spanish, and the
witnesses, all the languages known to California.
By the tact of Mr. Hartnell, who acted as inter-
prel r, and tin- absence of young lawyers, we
got along very well.

"The examination of witnesses lasted five or
six hours. I then gave the case to the jury,
stating the questions of fact upon which they
were to render their verdict. They retired for
an hour and then returned, when the foreman
handed in their verdict, which was clear and
explicit, though the case itself was rather com-
plicated. To this verdict both parties bowed
without a word of dissent. The inhabitants who
witnessed the trial said it was what they liked,
that there could be no bribery in it, that the
opinion of twelve honest men should set the
case forever at rest. And so it did, though
neither party completely triumphed in the issue.
One recovered his property, which had been
taken from him by mistake, the other his char-
acter, which had been slandered by design."

The process of Americanizing the people was
no easy undertaking. The population of the
country and its laws were in a chaotic condition.
It was an arduous task that Colonel Mason and
the military commanders at the various pueblos
had to perform, that of evolving order out of
the chaos that had been brought about by the
change in nations. The native population
neither understood the language nor the cus-
toms of their new rules, and the newcomers
among the Americans had very little toleration
for the slow-going Mexican ways and methods
they found prevailing. To keep peace between
the factions required more tact than knowledge
of law, military or civil, in the commanders.

Los Angeles, under Mexican domination, hail
been the storm center of revolutions, and here
under the new regime the most difficulty was
encountered in transforming the quondam rev-
olutionists into law-abiding and peaceful Amer-
ican citizens. The ayuntamiento was convened
in 1S47, after the conquest, and continued in
power until the close of the vear. When the
time came round for the election of a new ayun-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

151

tamiento there was trouble. Stephen C. Foster,
Colonel Stevenson's interpreter, submitted a
paper to the council stating that the govern-
ment had authorized him to get up a register of
voters. The ayuntamiento voted to return the
paper just as it was received. Then the colonel
made a demand of the council to assist Stephen
in compiling a register of voters. Regidor Cha-
vez took the floor and said such a register
should not be gotten up under the auspices of
the military, but, since the government had so
disposed, thereby outraging this honorable
body, no attention should be paid to said com-
munication. But the council decided that the
matter did not amount to much, so they granted
the request, much to the disgust of Chavez.
The election was held and a new ayuntamiento
elected. At the last meeting of the old council,
December 29, 1847, Colonel Stevenson ad-
dressed a note to it requesting that Stephen C.
Foster be recognized as first alcalde and judge
of the first instance. The council decided to
turn the whole business over to its successor, to
deal with as it sees fit.

Colonel Stevenson's request was made in ac-
cordance with the wish of Governor Mason
that a part of the civil offices be filled by Amer-
icans. The new ayuntamiento resented the in-
terference. How the matter terminated is best
told in Stephen C. Foster's own words: "Colo-
nel Stevenson was determined to have our in-
auguration done in style. So on the day ap-
pointed, January 1, 1848, he. together with
myself and colleague, escorted by a guard of
soldiers, proceeded from the colonel's quarters
to the alcalde's office. There we found the re-
tiring ayuntamiento and the new one awaiting
our arrival. The oath of office was adminis-
tered by the retiring first alcalde. We knelt to
take the oath, when we found tiny had changed
their minds, and the alcalde told us that if two
of their number were to be kicked out they
would all go. So they all marched out and left
us in possession. Here was a dilemma, but
Colonel Stevenson was equal to the emergency.
He said he could give us a swear as well as the
alcalde. So we stood up and he administered
to us an oath to support the constitution of
the United States and administer justice in ac-

cordance with Mexican law. I then knew as
much about Mexican law as I did about Chinese,
and my colleague knew as much as I did. Guer-
rero gathered up the books that pertained to his
office and took them to his house, where he
established his office, and I took the archives
and records across the street to a house I had
rented, and there I was duly installed for the
next seventeen months, the first American al-
calde and carpet-bagger in Los Angeles."

Colonel Stevenson issued a call for the elec-
tion of a new ayuntamiento, but the people
stayed at home and no votes were cast. At the
close of the year the voters had gotten over
their pet and when a call was made a council
was elected, but only Californians (hijos del
pais) were returned. The ayuntamientos con-
tinued to be the governing power in the pueblos
until superseded by city and county govern-
ments in 1850.

The most difficult problem that General Kear-
ny in his short term had to confront and, un-
solved, he handed down to his successor. Colo-
nel Mason, was the authority and jurisdiction
of the alcaldes. Under the Mexican regime
these officers were supreme in the pueblo over
which they ruled. For the Spanish transgressor
fines of various degrees were the usual penalty;
for the mission neophyte, the lash, well laid on,
and labor in the chain gang. There was no
written code that defined the amount of pun-
ishment, the alcalde meted out justice and some-
times injustice, as suited his humor. Kearny
appointed John H. Nash alcalde of Sonoma.
Nash was a somewhat erratic individual, who
had taken part in the Bear Flag revolution.
When the offices of the prospective Pacific Re-
public were divided among the revolutionists,
he was to be the chief justice. After the col-
lapse of that short-lived republic. Nash was
elected alcalde. His rule was so arbitrary and
his decisions so biased by favoritism or preju-
dice that the American settlers soon protested
and General Kearny removed him or tried to.
He appointed L. W. Boggs, a recently arrived
immigrant, to the office. Mash refused to sur-
render the books and papers oi the office. Lieut.
W. T. Sherman was detailed by Colonel Mason,
after his succession ' >l governor, to

152

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

proceed to Sonoma ami arrest Nash. Sherman
quietly arrested him at night and before the
bellicose alcalde's friends (for he had quite a fol-
lowing) were aware of what was going on,
marched him off to San Francisco. He was
put on board the Dale and sent to Monterey.
Finding that it was useless for him to resist the
authority of the United States, its army and
navy as well, Nash expressed his willingness to
submit to the inevitable, and surrendered his
office. He was released and ceased from troub-
ling. Another strenuous alcalde was William
Blackburn, of Santa Cruz. He came to the
country in 1845, and before his elevation to the
honorable position of a judge of the first in-
stance he had been engaged in making shingles
in the redwoods. He had no knowledge of law
and but little acquaintance with books of any
kind. His decisions were always on the side of
justice, although some of the penalties imposed
were somewhat irregular.

In Alcalde Blackburn's docket for August 14,
1847, appears this entry: "Pedro Gomez was
tried for the murder of his wife, Barbara Gomez,
and found guilty. The sentence of the court is
that the prisoner be conducted. back to prison,
there to remain until Monday, the 16th of Au-
gust, and then be taken out and shot." August
17. sentence carried into effect on the 16th ac-
cordingly. William Blackburn, Alcalde.

It does not appear in the records that Black-
burn was the executioner. He proceeded to
dispose of the two orphaned children of the
murderer. The older daughtei he indentured to
Jacinto Castro "to raise until she is twenty-one
years of age, unless sooner married, said Ja-
cinto Castro, obligating himself to give her a
good education, three cows and calves at her
marriage or when of age." The younger daugh-
ter was disposed of on similar terms to A. Rod-
riguez. Colonel Mason severely reprimanded
Blackburn, but the alcalde replied that there
was no use making a fuss river it; the man was
guilty, he had a fair trial before a jury and de-
served to die. Another case in his court illus-
trates the versatility of the judge. A Spanish
boy, out of revenge, sheared the mane and tail
of a neighbor's horse. The offense was proved,

but the judge uas sorely perplexed when he
came to sentence the culprit. He could find no
law in his law books to fit the case. After pon-
dering over the question a while, he gave this
decision: "I find no law in any of the statutes
to fit this case, except in the law of Moses, 'An
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." Let the
prisoner be taken out in front of this office and
there sheared close." The sentence was imme-
diately executed.

Another story is told of Blackburn, which
may or may not be true. A mission Indian who
had committed murder took the right of sanc-
tuary in the church, and the padre refused to
give him up. Blackburn wrote to the governor,
slating the case. The Indian, considering him-
self safe while with the padre, left the church
in company with the priest. Blackburn seized
him, tried him and hung him. He then reported
to the governor: "I received your order to sus-
pend the execution of the condemned man, but
I had hung him. When I see you I will ex-
plain the affair."

Some of the military commanders of the pre-
sidios and pueblos gave Governor Mason as
much trouble as the alcaldes. These, for the
most part, were officers of the volunteers who
had arrived after the conquest. They were un-
used to "war's alarms," and. being new to
the country and ignorant of the Spanish lan-
guage, they regarded the natives with suspicion.
They were on the lookout for plots and revolu-
tions. Sometimes they found these incubating
and undertook to crush them, only to discover
that the affair was a hoax or a practical joke.
The Canon Perdido (lost canon) of Santa Bar-
bara episode is a good illustration of the
trouble one "finicky" man can make when en-
trusted with military power.

In the winter of 1847-48 the American bark
Elisabeth was wrecked on the Santa Barbara
coast. Among the flotsam of the wreck was a
brass cannon of uncertain calibre: it might have
been a six. a nine or a twelve pounder. What
the capacity of its bore matters not, for the gun
unloaded made more noise in Santa Barbara
than it ever did when it belched forth shot and
shell in battle. The gun. after its rescue from
a watery grave, lay for some time on the beach,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

devoid of carriage and useless, apparently, for
offense or defense.

One dark night a little squad of native Cali-
fornians stole down to the beach, loaded the
gun in an ox cart, hauled it to the estero and
hid it in the sands. What was their object in
taking the gun no one knows. Perhaps they
did not know themselves. It might come handy
in a revolution, or maybe they only intended to
play a practical joke on the gringos. Whatever
their object, the outcome of their prank must
have astonished them. There was a company
(F) of Stevenson's New York volunteers sta-
tioned at Santa Barbara, under command of
Captain Lippett. Lippett was a fussy, nervous
individual who lost his head when anything un-
usual occurred. In the theft of the cannon he
thought he had discovered a California revolu-
tion in the formative stages, and he determined
to crush it in its infancy. He sent post haste a
courier to Governor Mason at Monterey, in-
forming him of the prospective uprising of the
natives and the possible destruction of the
troops at Santa Barbara by the terrible gun the
enemy had stolen.

Colonel Mason, relying on Captain Lippett's
report, determined to give the natives a lesson
that would teach them to let guns and revolu-
tions alone. He issued an order from headquar-
ters at Monterey, in which he said that ample
time having been allowed for the return of the
gun, and the citizens having failed to produce
it, he ordered that the town be laid under a con-
tribution of $500, assessed in the following man-
ner: A capitation tax of $2 on all males over
twenty years of age; the balance to be paid by
the heads of families and property-holders in the
proportion of the value of their respective real
and personal estate in the town of Santa Bar-
bara and vicinity. Col. J. D. Stevenson was ap-
pointed to direct the appraisement of the prop-
erty and the collection of the assessment. If
any failed to pay his capitation, enough of his
property was to be seized and sold to pay his
enforced contribution.

The promulgation of the order at Santa Bar-
bara raised a storm of indignation at the old
pueblo. Colonel Stevenson came up from Los
Angeles and had an interview with Don Pablo

de La Guerra, a leading citizen of Santa Bar-
bara. Don Pablo was wrathfully indignant at
the insult put upon his people, but after talking
over the affair with Colonel Stevenson, he be-
came somewhat mollified. He invited Colonel
Stevenson to make Santa Barbara his headquar-
ters and inquired about the brass band at the
lower pueblo. Stevenson took the hint and or-
dered up the band from Los Angeles. July 4th
had been fixed upon as the day for the payment
of the fines, doubtless with the idea of giving
the Californians a little celebration that would
remind them hereafter of Liberty's natal day.
Colonel Stevenson contrived to have the band
reach Santa Barbara on the night of the 3d.
The band astonished Don Pablo and his family
with a serenade. The Don was so delighted
that he hugged the colonel in the most approved
style. The band serenaded all the Dons of note
in town and tooted until long after midnight,
then started in next morning and kept it up
till ten o'clock, the time set for each man to con-
tribute his "dos pesos" to the common fund.
By that time every hombre on the list was so
filled with wine, music and patriotism that the
greater portion of the fine was handed over
without protest. The day closed with a grand
hall. The beauty and the chivalry of Santa Bar-
bara danced to the music of a gringo brass
hand and the brass cannon for the nonce was
forgotten.

But the memory of the city's ransom rankled,
and although an American band played Spanish
airs, American injustice was still remembered.
When the city's survey was made in 1850 the
nomenclature of three streets, Canon Perdidd
(Lost Cannon street), Ouinientos (Five Hun-
dred street) and Mason street kept the cannon
episode green in the memory of the Barbareiios.
When the pueblo, b) legislative act. became a
ciudad, the municipal authorities selected this
device for a seal: In the center a cannon em-
blazoned, encircled with these words. Vale
Ouinientos IVsos — Worth $500, or, more liber-
ally translated. <i 1-bye, $500. which, b) the

way. as the sequel of the story will show, is the
better translation. This seal was used from the
incorporation of the cit) in [850 to i860, when
another design was chosen.

154

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Alter peace was declared, Colonel .Mason sent
the $500 to the prefect at Santa Barbara, with
instructions to use it in building a city jail; and
although there was pressing need for a jail, the
jail was not built. The prefect's needs were
pressing, too. Several years passed; then the
city council demanded that the prefect turn the
money into the city treasury. He replied that
the money was entrusted to him for a specific
purpose, and he would trust no city treasurer
with it. The fact was that long before he had
lost it in a game of monte.

Ten years passed, and the episode of the lost
cannon was but a dimly remembered story of
the olden time. The old gun reposed peacefully
in its grave of sand and those who buried it
had forgotten the place of its interment. One
stormy night in December, 1858, the estero
(creek) cut a new channel to the ocean. In
the morning, as some Barbarenos were survey-
ing the changes caused by the flood, they saw
the muzzle of a large gun protruding from the
cut in the bank. They unearthed it. cleaned off
the sand and discovered that it was El Canon
Perdido, the lost cannon. It was hauled up
State street to Canon Perdido, where it was
mounted on an improvised carriage. But the
sight of it was a reminder of an unpleasant in-
cident. The finders sold it to a merchant for
S80. He shipped it to San Francisco and sold
it at a handsome profit for old brass.

Governor Pio Pico returned from Mexico to
California, arriving at San Gabriel July 17, 1848.
Although the treaty of peace between the
United States and Mexico had been signed and
proclaimed, the news had not reached Califor-
nia. Pico, from San Fernando, addressed let-
ters to Colonel Stevenson at Los Angeles and
Governor Mason at Monterey, stating that as
Mexican governor of California he had come
back to the country with the object of carrying
out the armistice which then existed between
the United States and Mexico. He further
stated that he had no desire to impede the es-
tablishment of peace between the two countries;
and that he wished to see the Mexicans and
Vmericans treat each other in a spirit of frater-
nity. Mason did not like Pico's assumption of
the title of Mexican governor of California, al-

though it is not probable that Pico intended to
assert any claim to his former position. Gov-
ernor Mason sent a special courier to Los An-
geles with orders to Colonel Stevenson to
arrest the ex-governor, who was then at his
Santa Margarita rancho, and send him to Mon-
terey, but the news of the ratification of the
treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo reached Los An-
geles before the arrest was made, and Pico was
spared this humiliation.

The treaty of peace between the United States
and Mexico was signed at Guadalupe Hidalgo,
a hamlet a few miles from the City of Mexico,
February 2, 1848; ratifications were exchanged
at Queretaro, May 30 following, and a procla-
mation that peace had been established between
the two countries was published July 4, 1848.
Under this treaty the United States assumed the
payment of the claims of American citizens
against Mexico, and paid, in addition, $15,000,-
000 to Mexico for Texas, New Mexico and
Alta California. Out of what was the Mexican
territory of Alta California there has been
carved all of California, all of Nevada, Utah and
Arizona and part of Colorado and Wyoming.
The territory acquired by the treaty of Guada-
lupe Hidalgo was nearly equal to the aggre-
gated area of the thirteen original states at the
time of the Revolutionary war.

The news of the treaty of peace reached Cali-
fornia August 6, 1848. On the 7th Governor
Mason issued a proclamation announcing the
ratification of the treaty. He announced that
all residents of California, who wished to be-
come citizens of the United States, were ab-
solved from their allegiance to Mexico. Those
who desired to retain their Mexican citizenship
could do so, provided they signified such inten-
tion within one year from May 30, 1848. Those
who wished to go to Mexico were at liberty to
do so without passports. Six months before,
Governor Mason had issued a proclamation pro-
hibiting any citizen of Sonora from entering
California except on official business, and then
otfly under flag of truce. He also required all
Sonorans in the country to report themselves
either at Los Angeles or Monterey.

The war was over; and the treaty of peace
had made all who so elected, native or foreign

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RKCORD.

born, American citizens. Strict military rule
was relaxed and the people henceforth were to
be self-governing. American and Californian
were one people and were to enjoy the same
rights and to be subject to the same penalties.
The war ended, the troops were no longer
needed. Orders were issued to muster out the
volunteers. These all belonged to Stevenson's
New York regiment. The last company of the
Mormon battalion had been discharged in April.

1 he New York volunteers were scattered all
along the coast from Sonoma to Cape St. Lucas,
doing garrison duty. They were collected at
different points and mustered out. Although
those stationed in Alta California had done
no fighting, they had performed arduous serv-
ice in keeping peace in the conquered territory.
Most of them remained in California after their
discharge and rendered a good account of them-
selves as citizens.

CHAPTER XXIII

GOLD! GOLD! GOLD!

SEBASTIAN VISCAINO, from the bay of
Monterey, writing to the King of Spain
three hundred years ago, says of the In-
dians of California: "They are well acquainted
with gold and silver, and said that these were
found in the interior." Viscaino was endeavor-
ing to make a good impression on the mind of
the king in regard to his discoveries, and the
remark about the existence of gold and silver
in California was thrown to excite the cupidity
of his Catholic majesty. The traditions of the
existence of gold in California before any was
discovered are legion. Most of these have been
evolved since gold was actually found. Col. J.
J. Warner, a pioneer of 183 1, in his Historical
Sketch of Los Angeles County, briefly and very
effectually disposes of these rumored discov-
eries. He says: "While statements respecting
the existence of gold in the earth of California
and its procurement therefrom have been made
and published as historical facts, carrying back
the date of the knowledge of the auriferous
character of this state as far as the time of the
visit of Sir Francis Drake to this coast, there is
no evidence to be found in the written or oral
history of the missions, the acts and correspond-
ence of the civil or military officers, or in the
unwritten and traditional history of Upper ( ali-
Fornia that the existence of gold, either with
ores or in its virgin state, was ever suspected
by any inhabitant of California previous to 1841,
and. furthermore, there is conclusive testimonj

that the first known grain of native gold dust
was found upon or near the San Francisco ranch,
about forty-five miles north-westerly from Los
Angeles City, in the month of June, 1841. This
discovery consisted of grain gold fields (known
as placer mines), and the auriferous fields dis-
covered in that year embraced the greater part
of the country drained by the Santa Clara river
from a point some fifteen or twenty miles from
its mouth to its source, and easterly beyond
Mount San Bernardino."

The story of the discovery as told by Warner
and by Don Abel Stearns agrees in the main
facts, but differing materially in the date. Stearns
says gold was first discovered by Francisci 1
Lopez, a native of California, in the month of
March, 1842, at a place called San Francisquito,
about thirty-five miles northwest from this city
(Los Angeles). The circumstances of the dis-
covery bv Lopez, as related by himself, are as
follows: "Lopez, with a companion, was out in
search of some stray horses, and about midday
they stopped under some trees and tied their
horses out to feed, they resting under the shade,
when Lopez, with his sheath-knife, dug up some
wild onions, and in the dirt discovered a piece
of sold. and. searching further.
more. He brought these to town, and showed
them to his friends, who at ..nee declared there
must be a placer of sold. This news being cir-
culated, numbers of the citizens went to the
place, and commenced prospecting in the neigh-

156

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

borhood, and found it to be a fact that there was
a placer of gold."

Colonel Warner says: "The news of this dis-
covery soon spread among the inhabitants from
Santa Barbara to Los Angeles, and in a few
weeks hundreds of people were engaged in
washing and winnowing the sands and earth of
these gold fields."

Warner visited the mines a few weeks after
their discovery. He says: "From these mines
was obtained the first parcel of California gold
dust received at the United States mint in Phila-
delphia, and which was sent with Alfred Robin-
son, and went in a merchant ship around Cape
Horn." This shipment of gold was 18.34 ounces
before and 18.1 ounces after melting; fineness,
.925; value, $344.75, or over $19 to the ounce.
a very superior quality of gold dust. It was
deposited 111 the mint July 8, 1843.

It may be regarded as a settled historical fact
that the first authenticated discovery of gold
in Alta California was made on the San Fran-
cisco rancho in the San Feliciano Canon, Los
Angeles county. This canon is about ten miles
northwest of Newhall station on the Southern
Pacific railroad, and about forty miles northwest
of Los Angeles.

The date of the discovery is in doubt. A peti-
tion to the governor (Alvarado) asking permis-
sion to work the placers, signed by Francisco
Lopez, Manuel Cota and Domingo Bermudez is
on file in the California archives. It recites:
"That as Divine Providence was pleased to give
us a placer of gold on the gth of last March in
the locality of San Francisco rancho, that be-
longs to the late Don Antonio del Yalle." This
petition fixes the day of the month the discovery
was made, but unfortunately omits all other
dates. The evidence is about equally divided
between the years 1841 and 1842.

It is impossible to obtain definite information
in regard to the yield of the San Fernando
placers, as these mines are generally called.
William Heath Davis, in his "Sixty Years in
California," states that from $80,000 to $100,000
was taken out for the fiist two years after their
discovery. He says that Melius at one time
shipped $5,000 of dusi i.n the ship Alert. Ban-
croft says: "That by December, 1S43. two thou-

sand ounces of gold had been taken from the
San Fernando mines." Don Antonio Coronel
informed the author that he, with the assistance
of three Indian laborers, in 1842, took out $600
worth of dust in two months. De Mofras, in his
book, states that Carios Baric, a Frenchman, in
1842, was obtaining an ounce a day of pure gold
from his placer.

These mines were worked continuously from
the time of their discovery until the American
conquest, principally by Sonorians. The dis-
covery of gold at Coloma, January 24, 1848,
drew away the miners, and no work was done
on these mines between 1848 and 1854. After
the latter dates work was resumed, and in 1855,
Francisco Garcia, working a gang of Indians,
is reported to have taken out $65,000 in one
season. The mines are not exhausted, but the
scarcity of water prevents working them profit-
ably.

It is rather a singular coincidence that the
exact dates of both the first and second authen-
ticated discoveries of gold in California are still
among the undecided questions of history. In
the first, we know the day but not the year; in
the second, we know the year but not the day
of the month on which Marshall picked up the
first nuggets in the nnllrace at Coloma. For a
number of years after the anniversary of Mar-
shall's discovery began to be observed the 19th
of January was celebrated. Of late years Jan-
uary _'4 has been fixed upon as the correct date,
hut the Associated Pioneers of the Territorial
Days of California, an association made up of
men who were in the territory at the time of
Marshall's discovery or came hero before it
became a state, object to the change. For nearly
thirty years they have held their annual dinners
on January 18, "the anniversary of the discovery
of gold at Sutter's sawmill, Coloma, Cal." This
society has its headquarters in Xew York City.
In a circular recently issued, disapproving of
the change of date from the 18th to the 24th, the
trustees of that society say: "Upon the organi-
zation of this society, February 11, 1875, it was
decided to hold its annual dinners on the anni-
versary of the discovery of gold at Sutter's saw-
mill, Coloma, Cal. Through the Hon. Newton
i ',00th, of the United States. Senate, this infor-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

mation was sought, with the result ot a commu-
nication from the secretary of the state of Cali-
fornia to the effect 'that the archives of the
state of California recorded the date as of Jan-
uary 1 8, 1848. Some years ago this date was
changed by the society at San Francisco to that
of January 24, and that date has been adopted
by other similar societies located upon the
Pacific and Atlantic coasts. This society took
the matter under advisement, with the result
that the new evidence upon which it was pro-
posed to change the date was not deemed suffi-
cient to justify this society in ignoring its past
records, founded on the authority of the state
of California; therefore it has never accepted
the new date."

Marshall himself was uncertain about the
exact date. At various times he gave three
different dates — the iSth, igth and 20th, but
never moved it along as far as the 24th. In the
past thirty years three different dates — the [8th,
19th and 24th of January — have been celebrated
as the anniversary of Marshall's gold dis-
covery.

The evidence upon which the date was changed
to the 24th is found in an entry in a diary kept
by II. \Y. Bigler, a Mormon, who was working
for Marshall on the millrace at the time gold
was discovered. The entry reads: "January 24.
This day some kind of metal that looks like
goold was found in the tailrace." On this
authority about ten years ago the California
Pioneers adopted the 24th as the correct date
of Marshall's discovery.

While written records, especially if made at
the time of the occurrence of the event, are
more reliable than oral testimony given long
after, yet when we take into consideration the
conflicting stories of Sutter, Marshall, the Win-
ners and others who were immediatel) con-
cerned in some way with the discovery, we must
concede that the Territorial Pioneers have good
reasons to hesitate about making a change in
the date of their anniversary. In Dr. Trywhitt
Brook's "Four Months Among the Cold Find-
ers," a book published in London in 184c). and
long since out of print, we have Sutter's version
of Marshall's discovery given only three months
after that discoverv was made. Dr. Brooks

visited Sutter's Fort early in May, 1848, and
received from Sutter himself the story ot the
find. Sutter stated that he was sitting in his
room at the fort, one afternoon, when Marshall,
whom he supposed to be at the mill, forty miles
up the American river, suddenly burst in upon
him. Marshall was so wildly excited that Sutter,
suspecting that he was crazy, looked to see
whether his rifle was in reach. Marshall declared
that he had made a discovery that would give
them both millions and millions of dollars. Then
he drew his sack and poured out a handful of
nuggets on the table. Sutter, when he had
tested the metal and found that it was gold,
became almost as excited as Marshall. He
eagerly asked if the workmen at the mill knew
of the discovery. Marshall declared that he had
not spoken to a single person about it. They
both agreed to keep it secret. Xext day Sutter
and Marshall arrived at the sawmill. The day
after their arrival, they prospected the bars of
the river and the channels of some of the dry
creeks and found gold in all.

"On our return to the mill," says Sutter, "we
were astonished by the work-people coming up
to us in a body and showing us some flakes 1 >f
gold similar to those we had ourselves procured.
Marshall tried to laugh the matter off with them,
and to persuade them that what they had found
was only some shining mineral of trifling value;
but one of the Indians, who had worked at a
gold mine in the neighborhood of La Paz.
Lower California, cried out: 'Oral Oral' (gold!
gold!), and the secret was out."

Captain Sutter continues: "I heard afterward
that one of them, a sly Kentuckian, had dogged
us about and, that, looking on the ground to see
if he could discover what we were in search ot,
he lighted on some of the flakes himself."

If this account is correct. Bigler's entry in
hi- diary was made on the day that the workmen
found gold, which was live or six days after
Marshall's first find, and consequently the 24th
is that much too late [or the true date of the
discoverv. The story of the discovery given in
the "Life and Adventures of James W. Mar-
shall." by George Frederick Parsons, differs
materially from Sutter's account. The d
the discovery given in that book is January 10,

1 58

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1848. On the morning of that day Marshall,
after shutting off the water, walked down the
tailrace to see what sand and gravel had been
removed during the night. (The water was
turned into the tailrace during the night to cut
it deeper.) While examining a mass of debris,
"his eve caught the glitter of something that lay
lodged in a crevice on a riffle of soft granite
some six inches under water." Picking up the
nugget and examining it, he became satisfied
that it must be one of three substances — mica.
sulphurets of copper, or gold. Its weight satis-
fied him that it was not mica. Knowing that
gold was malleable, he placed the specimen on
a flat rock and struck it with another; it bent.
but did not crack or break. He was satisfied
that it was gold. lie showed the nugget to his
men. In the course of a few days he had col-
lected several ounces of precious metal. "Some
four days after the discovery it became necessary
for him to go below, for Sutter had failed to
send a supply of provisions to the mill, and the
men were on short commons. While on his way
down he discovered gold in a ravine at a place
afterwards known as Mormon island. Arrived
at the fort, he interviewed Sutter in his private
office and showed him about three ounces of
gold nuggets. Sutter did not believe it to be
gold, but after weighing it in scales against ? v V-25
worth of silver, all the coin they could raise at
the fort, and testing it with nitric acid obtained
from the gun shop, Sutter became convinced and
returned to the mill with Marshall. So little did
the workmen at the mill value the discovery that
they continued to work for Sutter until the mill
was completed, March 11, six weeks after the
nuggets were found in the tailrace.

The news of the discovery spread slowly. It was
two months in reaching San Francisco, although
the distance is not over one hundred and twenty-
five miles. The great rush to the mines from
San Francisco did nut begin until the middle of
May, nearly four months after the discovery. < m
the iotli of May, Dr. Brooks, who was in San
Francisco, writes: "A number of people have ac-
tually started off with shovels, mattocks and
pans to dig the gold themselves. It is not likely,
however, that this will be allowed, fur Captain
Folsom has already written to Colonel VTason

about taking possession of the mine on behalf of
the government,it being, he says, on public land."

As the people began to realize the richness
and extent of the discovery, the excitement in-
creased rapidly. May 17. Dr. Brooks writes:
"This place (San Francisco) is now in a perfect
furore of excitement: all the workpeople have
struck. Walking through the town to-day, I
observed that laborers were employed only upon
about half a dozen of the fifty new buildings
which were in course of being run up. The
majority of the mechanics at this place are mak-
ing preparations for moving off to the mines,
and several people of all classes — lawyers, store-
keepers, merchants, etc., are smitten with the
fever; in fact, there is a regular gold mania
springing up. I counted no less than eighteen
houses which were closed, the owners having
left. If Colonel Alason is moving a force to
the American Fork, as is reported here, their
journey will be in vain."

Colonel Mason's soldiers moved without
orders — they nearly all deserted, and ran off to
the mines.

The first newspaper announcement of the
discovery appeared in The Californian of March
15, [848, nearly two months after the discovery.
But little attention was paid to it. In the issue
of April 19, another discovery is reported. The
item reads: "New gold mine. It is stated that
a new gold mine has been discovered on the
American Fork of the Sacramento, supposed to
be on the land of W. A. Leidesdorff. of this
place. A specimen of the gold has been ex-
hibited, and is represented to be very pure."
On the 29th of May, The Californian had sus-
pended publication. "Othello's occupation is
gone," wails the editor. "The majority of our
subscribers and many of our advertising patrons
have closed their doors and places of business
and left town, and we have received one order
after another conveying the pleasant request that
the printer will please stop my paper or my ad,
as I am about leaving for Sacramento."

The editor of the other paper, The California
Slav, made a pilgrimage to the mines in the lat-
ter part of April, but gave them no extended
write-up. "Great country, fine climate," he wrote
on his return. "Full flowing streams, mighty

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

159

timber, large crops, luxuriant clover, fragrant
flowers, gold and silver," were his comments on
what he saw. The policy of both papers seems
to have been to ignore as much as possible the
gold discovery. To give it publicity was for a
time, at least, to lose their occupation.

In The Star of May 20, 1848, its eccentric
editor, E. C. Kemble, under the caption "El
Dorado Anew," discourses in a dubious manner
upon the effects of the discovery and the extent
of the gold fields: "A terrible visitant we have
had of late. A fever which has well-nigh de-
populated a town, a town hard pressing upon a
thousand souls, and but for the gracious inter-
position of the elements, perhaps not a goose
would have been spared to furnish a quill to pen
the melancholy fate of the remainder. It has
preyed upon defenseless old age, subdued the
elasticity of careless youth and attacked indis-
criminately sex and class, from town councilman
to tow-frocked cartman, from tailor to tippler,
of which, thank its pestilential powers, it has
beneficially drained (of tipplers, we mean) every
villainous pulperia in the place.

"And this is the gold fever, the only form of
that popular southerner, yellow jack, with which
we can be alarmingly threatened. The insatiate
maw of the monster, not appeased by the easy
conquest of the rough-fisted yeomanry of the
north, must needs ravage a healthy, prosperous
place beyond his dominion and turn the town
topsy-turvy in a twinkling.

"A fleet of launches left this place on Sunday
and Monday last bound up the Sacramento river,
close stowed with human beings, led by love of
filthy lucre to the perennial yielding gold mines
of the north. When any man can find two ounces
a day and two thousand men can find their
hands full, of work, was there ever anything so
superlatively silly!

"Honestly, though, we are inclined to believe
the reputed wealth of that section of country,
thirty miles in extent, all sham, a superb take-in
as was ever got up to guzzle the gullible. But
it is not improbable that this mine, or, properly,
placer of gold can be traced as far south as tin-
city of Los Angeles, where the precious metal
has been found for a number of years in the bed
of a stream issuing from its mountains, said

to be a continuation of this gold chain which
courses southward from the base of the snowy
mountains. But our best information respecting
the metal and the quantity in which it is gath-
ered varies much from many reports current, yet
it is beyond a question that no richer mines of
gold have ever been discovered upon this con-
tinent.

"Should there be no paper forthcoming on
Saturday next, our readers may assure them-
selves it will not be the fault of us individually.
To make the matter public, already our devil has
rebelled, our pressman (poor fellow) last seen
was in search of a pickaxe, and we feel like Mr.
Hamlet, we shall never again look upon the
likes of him. Then, too, our compositors have,
in defiance, sworn terrible oaths against tvpe-
sticking as vulgar and unfashionable. Hope has
not yet fled us, but really, in the phraseology
of the day, 'things is getting curious.' "

And things kept getting more and more curi-
ous. The rush increased. The next issue of
The Star (May 2j) announces that the Sacra-
mento, a first-class craft, left here Thursday last
thronged with passengers for the gold mines,
a motley assemblage, composed of lawyers, mer-
chants, grocers, carpenters, cartmen and cooks,
all possessed with the desire of becoming rich.
The latest accounts from the gold country are
highly flattering. Over three hundred men are
engaged in washing gold, and numbers are con-
tinually arriving from every part of the country.
Then the editor closes with a wail: "Persons
recently arrived from the country speak of
ranches deserted and crops neglected and suf-
fered to waste. The unhappy consequence of
this state of affairs is easily foreseen. One more
twinkle, and The Star disappeared in the gloom.
On June 14 appeared a single sheet, the size of
foolscap. The editor announced: "In fewer
words than are usually employed in the an-
nouncement of similar events, we appear before
the remnant of a reading community on this
occasion with the material or immaterial in-
formation that we have stopped the paper, that
its publication ceased with the last regular issue
(June 7). On the appi nun, we shall

again appear to announce Tlie Star's redivus.
We have done. Let our parting word be hasto

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

luego." (Star and Calif omian reappeared No-
vember 14, 1848. The Star had absorbed The
California^ L. C. Kemble was its editor and
proprietor.)

Although there was no paper in existence on
the coast to spread the news from the gold
fields, it found its way out of California, and
the rush from abroad began. It did not acquire
great force in 1848, but in 1849 the immigration
to California exceeded all previous migrations
in the history of the race.

Among the first foreigners to rush to the
mines were the Mexicans of Sonora. Many of
these had had some experience in placer mining
in their native country, and the report of rich
placers in California, where gold could be had
for the picking up, aroused them from their lazy
self-content and stimulated them to go in search
of it. Traveling in squads of from fifty to one
hundred, they came by the old Auza trail across
the Colorado desert, through the San Gorgonio
Pass, then up the coast and on to the mines.
They were a job lot of immigrants, poor in purse
and poor in brain. They were despised by the
native Californians and maltreated by the Amer-
icans. Their knowledge of mining came in play,
and the more provident among them soon man-
aged to pick up a few thousand dollars, and then
returned to their homes, plutocrats. The im-
provident gambled away their earnings and re-
mained in the country to add to its criminal ele-
ment. The Oregonians came in force, and all
the towns in California were almost depopulated
of their male population. By the close of 1848,
there were ten thousand men at work in the
mines.

The first official report of the discovery was
sent to Washington by Thomas O. Larkin, June
1, and reached its destination about the middle
of September. Lieutenant P.eale, by way of
Mexico, brought dispatches dated a month later,
which arrived about the same time as Larkin's
report. These accounts were published in the
eastern papers, and the excitement began.

In the early part of December, Lieutenant
Loeser arrived at Washington with Governor
Mason's report of his observations in the mines
made in August. But the most positive evidence
was a tea caddy of gold dust containing about

two hundred and thirty ounces that Governor
Mason had caused to be purchased in the mines
with money from the civil service fund. This the
lieutenant had brought with him. It was placed
on exhibition at the war office. Here was tan-
gible evidence of the existence of gold in Cali-
fornia, the doubters were silenced and the ex-
citement was on and the rush began.

By the 1st of January, 1849, vessels were fit-
ting out in every seaport on the Atlantic coast
and the Gulf of Mexico. Sixty ships were an-
nounced to sail from Xew York in February and
seventy from Philadelphia and Boston. All kinds
of crafts were pressed into the service, some to
go by way of Cape Horn, others to land their
passengers at Vera Cruz, Nicaragua and Pana-
ma, the voyagers to take their chances on the
Pacific side for a passage on some unknown
vessel. '

With opening of spring, the overland travel
began. Forty thousand men gathered at differ-
ent points on the Missouri river, but principally
at St. Joseph and Independence. Horses, mules,
oxen and cows were used for the propelling
power of the various forms of vehicles that were
to convey the provisions and other impedimenta
of the army of gold seekers. By the 1st of May
the grass was grown enough on the plains to
furnish feed for the stock, and the vanguard of
the grand army of gold hunters started. For
two months, company after company left the
rendezvous and joined the procession until for
one thousand miles there was an almost un-
broken line of wagons and pack trains. The
first half of the journey was made with little
inconvenience, but on the last part there was
great suffering and loss of life. The cholera
broke out among them, and it is estimated that
five thousand died on the plains. The alkali
desert of the Humboldt was the place where the
immigrants suffered most. Exhausted by the
l«mg journey and weakened by lack of food,
many succumbed under the hardship of the des-
1 it journey and died. The crossing of the Sierras
was attended with great hardships. From the
loss of their horses and oxen, many were com-
pelled to cross the mountains on foot. Their
provisions exhausted, they would have perished
but for relief sent out from California. The

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

greatest sufferers were the woman and children,
who in considerable numbers made the perilous
journey.

The overland immigration of 1850 exceeded
that of 1849. According to record kept at Fort
Laramie, there passed that station during the
season thirty-nine thousand men, two thousand
five hundred women and six hundred children,
making a total of forty-two thousand one hun-
dred persons. These immigrants had with them
when passing Fort Laramie twenty-three thou-
sand horses, eight thousand mules, three thou-
sand six hundred oxen, seven thousand cows
and nine thousand wagons.

Besides those coming by the northern route,
that is by the South Pass and the Humboldt
river, at least ten thousand found their way to
the land of gold by the old Spanish trail, by the
Gila route and by Texas, Coahuila and Chihua-
hua into Arizona, and thence across the Colo-
rado desert to Los Angeles, and from there by
the coast route or the San Joaquin valley to the
mines.

The Pacific Mail Steamship Company had
been organized before the discovery of gold in
California. March 3, 1847, an act °f Congress
was passed authorizing the secretary of the navy
to advertise for bids to carry the United States
mails by one line of steamers between New
York and Chagres, and by another line between
Panama and Astoria, Ore. On the Atlantic side
the contract called for five ships of one thousand
five hundred tons burden, on the Pacific side two
of one thousand tons each, and one of six hun-
dred tons. These were deemed sufficient for the
trade and travel between the Atlantic and Pacific
coasts of the United States. The Pacific Mail
Steamship Company was incorporated April 12.
1848, with a capital stock of $500,000. October
6, 1848, the California, the first steamer for the
Pacific, sailed from New York, and was followed
in the two succeeding months by the Oregon
and the Panama. The California sailed before
the news of the gold discovery had reached New-
York, and she had taken no passengers. When
she arrived at Panama, January 30, 1849, she
encountered a rush of fifteen hundred gold hunt-
ers, clamorous for a passage. These had reached
Chagres on sailing vessels, and ascended the

Chagres river in bongos or dugouts to Gor-
gona, and from thence by land to Panama. The
California had accommodations for only one
hundred, but four hundred managed to find
some place to stow themselves away. The price
of tickets rose to a fabulous sum, as high as
$1,000 having been paid for a steerage passage.
The California entered the bay of San Francisco
February 28, [849, and was greeted by the boom
of cannon and the cheers of thousands of people
'lining the shores of the bay. The other two
steamers arrived on time, and the Pacific Mail
Steamship Company became the predominant
factor in California travel for twenty years, or up
to the completion of the first transcontinental
railroad in 1869. The charges for fare on these
steamers in the early '50s were prohibitory to
men of small means. From New York to
Chagres in the saloon the fare was $150. 111 the
cabin $120. From Panama to San Francisco in
the saloon, $250; cabin, $200. Add to these the
expense of crossing the isthmus, and the argo-
naut was out a goodly sum when he reached the
land of the golden fleece, indeed, he was often
fleeced of his last dollar before he entered the
Golden Gate.

The first effect of the gold discovery on San
Francisco, as we have seen, was to depopulate
it, and of necessity suspend all building opera-
tions. In less than three months the reaction
began, and the city experienced one of the most
magical booms in history. Real estate doubled
in some instances in twenty-four hours. The
California}! of September 3, 1848, says: "Flu-
vacant lot on the corner of Montgomery and
Washington streets was offered the day previous
for $5,000 and next day sold readily for $10,000."
Lumber went up in value until it was sold at a
dollar per square font. Wages kept pace with
the general advance. Sixteen dollars a day was
mechanic's wages, and the labor market was not
overstocked even at these high rates. With the
approach of winter, the gold - ekers came dock-
ing back to the city to find
their suddenly acquired wealth. The latti
easily accomplished, but the former was more
difficult. Any kind of a shelter that would keep
out the rain was utilized for a dwelling. Rows
of tents that circled around the business por-

L62

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tion, shanties patched together from pieces of
packing boxes and sheds thatched with brush
from the chaparral-covered hills constituted
the principal dwellings at that time of the future
metropolis of California. The yield of the mines
for 1848 has been estimated at ten million
dollars. This was the result of only a few
months' labor of not to exceed at any time ten
thousand men. The rush of miners did not
reach the mines until July, and mining opera-
tions were mainly suspended by the middle of
October.

New discoveries had followed in quick suc-
cession Marshall's find at Coloma until by the
close of 1848 gold placers had been located on
all the principal tributaries of the Sacramento
and San Joaquin rivers. Some of the richest
yields were obtained from what was known as
"Dry Diggins." These were dry ravines from
which pay dirt had to be packed to water for
washing or the gold separated by dry washing,
tossing the earth into the air until it was
blown away by the wind, the gold, on account
of its weight, remaining in the pan.

A correspondent of the Calif ornian, writing-
August 15, 1848, from what he designates as
"Dry Diggins," gives this account of the rich-
ness of that gold field: "At the lower mines
(Mormon Island) the miners count the success
of the day in dollars; at the upper mines near
the mill (Coloma), in ounces, and here in
pounds. The only instrument used at first was
a butcher knife, and the demand for that ar-
ticle was so great that $40 has been refused
for one.

"The earth is taken out of the ravines which
make out of the mountains and is carried in
wagons or packed on horses from one to three
miles to water and washed. Four hundred dol-
lars is the average to the cart load. In one in-
stance five loads yielded $16,000. Instances are
known here where men have carried the earth
on their backs and collected from $800 to $1,500
a day."

The rapidity with which the country was ex-
plored by prospectors was truly remarkable.
The editor of the California)!, who had sus-
pended the publication of his paper on May 29
to visit the mines, returned and resumed it on
July 15 (1848). In an editorial in that issue he
gives his observations: "The country from the
Ajuba (Yuba) to the San Joaquin rivers, a dis-
tance of one hundred and twenty miles, and
from the base toward the summit of the moun-
tains as lar as Snow Hill, about seventy miles,
has been explored, and gold found in every
part. There are probably three thousand men,
including Indians, engaged in collecting gold.
The amount collected by each man who w^orks
ranges from $10 to $350 per day. The publisher
of this paper, while on a tour alone to the min-
ing district, collected, with the aid of a shovel,
pick and pan, from $44 to $128 a day, averag-
ing about $100. The largest piece of gold
known to be found weighed four pounds."
Among other remarkable yields the Calif ornian
reports these: "One man dug $12,000 in six
clays, and three others obtained thirty-six
pounds of pure metal in one day."

CHAPTER XXIV.

MAKING A STATE.

COL. R. B. MASON, who had been
the military governor of California since
the departure of General Kearny in
May. 1847. had grown weary of his task. He
had been in the military service of his country
thirty years and wished to be relieved. His
request was granted, and on the 12th of April.
[849, Brevel Brigadier General Bennett Riley,

his successor, arrived at Monterey and the next
day entered upon his duties as civil governor.
Gen. Persifer F. Smith, who had been appointed
commander of the Pacific division of the United
States army, arrived at San Francisco Febru-
ary 2<i. 1849, and relieved Colonel Mason of
his- military command. A brigade of troops
six hundred and fifty Strong had been sent to

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

L63

California for military service on the border
and to maintain order. Most of these promptly
deserted as soon as an opportunity offered and
found their way to the mines.

Colonel Mason, who under the most trying-
circumstances had faithfully served his govern-
ment and administered justice to the people of
California, took his departure May i, [849.
The same year he died at St. Louis of cholera.
A year had passed since the treaty of peace
with Mexico had been signed, which made Cali-
fornia United States territory, but Congress
had done nothing toward giving it a govern-,
ment. The anomalous condition existed of citi-
zens of the United States, living in the United
States, being governed by Mexican laws admin-
istered by a mixed constituency of Mexican-
born and American-born officials. The pro-
slavery element in Congress was determined to
foist the curse of human slavery on a portion
of the territory acquired from Mexico, but the
discovery of gold and the consequent rush of
freemen to the territory had disarranged the
plans of the slave-holding faction in Congress,
and as a consequence all legislation was at a
standstill.

The people were becoming restive at the long
delay. The Americanized Mexican laws and
forms of government were unpopular and it
was humiliating to the conqueror to be gov-
erned by the laws of the people conquered.
The question of calling a convention to form a
provisional government was agitated by the
newspapers and met a hearty response from the
people. Meetings were held at San Jose, De-
cember 11, 1848; at San Francisco, December
21, and at Sacramento, January 6, 1849, to
consider the question of establishing a pro-
visional government. It was recommended by
the San Jose meeting that a convention be held
at that place on the second Alonday of January.
The San Francisco convention recommended
the 5th of March; this the Monterey committee
considered too early as it would take the dele-
gates from below fifteen days to reach the pu-
eblo of San Jose. There was no regular mail
and the roads in February (when the delegates
would have to start) were impassable. ["he
committee recommended May 1 as the earliest

date for the meeting to consider the question of
calling of a convention. Sonoma, without wait-
ing, took the initiative and elected ten delegates
to a provisional government convention. There
was no unanimity in regard to the time of meet-
ting or as to what could be done if the conven-
tion met. It was finally agreed to postpone the
time of meeting to the first Monday of August,
when, if Congress had done nothing towards
giving California some form of government bet-
ter than that existing, the convention should
meet and organize a provisional government.

The local government of San Francisco had
become so entangled and mixed up by various
councils that it was doubtful whether it had
any legal legislative body. When the term of
the first council, which had been authorized
by Colonel Mason in 1848, was about to ex-
pire an election was held December 27 . to
choose their successors. Seven new council-
men were chosen. The old council declared
the election fraudulent and ordered a new one.
An election was held, notwithstanding the pro-
test of a number of the best citizens, and an-
other council chosen. So the city was blessed
or cursed with three separate and distincl coun-
cils. The old council voted itself out of ex-
istence and then there were but two, but that
was one too many. Then the people, disgusted
with the condition of affairs, called a public
meeting, at which it was decided to elect a
legislative assembly of fifteen members, who
should be empowered to make the necessary
laws for the government of the city. An election
was held on the 21st of February, 1849, and a
legislative assembly and justices elected. Then
Alcalde Leyenworth refused to turn over the
city records to the Chief Magistrate-elecl Nor-
ton. On the 22d of .March the legislative as-
sembly abolished the office of alcalde, but
Levenworth still held on to the records. He
was finally compelled by public opinion and a
writ of replevin to surrender the official n
to Judge Norton. The confusion constantly
arising from thi i\ em-

inent that was semi-military and semi-Mexican
induced Governor Rile) to order an election to
be held August tst, to eleel delegates to a
convention to meet in Monterey Septembi

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1849, to form a state constitution or territorial
organization to be ratified by the people and
submitted to Congress for its approval. Judges,
prefects and alcaldes were to be elected at the
same time in the principal municipal districts.
The constitutional convention was to consist of
thirty-seven delegates, apportioned as follows:
San Diego two, Los Angeles four, Santa Bar-
bara two, San Luis Obispo two, Monterey five,
San Jose" five, San Francisco five, Sonoma four,
Sacramento four, and San Joaquin four. In-
stead of thirty-seven delegates as provided for
in the call, forty-eight were elected and seated.

The convention met September 1, 1849, at
Monterey in Colton Hall. This was a stone
building erected by Alcalde Walter Colton for
a town hall and school house. The money to
build it was derived partly from fines and partly
from subscriptions, the prisoners doing the
greater part of the work. It was the most
commodious public building at that time in the
territory.

Of the forty-eight delegates elected twenty-
two were natives of the northern states; fifteen
of the slave states; four were of foreign birth,
and seven were native Californians. Several of
the latter neither spoke nor understood the
English language and William E. P. Hartnell
was appointed interpreter. Dr. Robert Semple
of Bear Flag fame was elected president, Will-
iam G. Marcy and J. Ross Browne reporters.

Early in the session the slavery question was
disposed of by the adoption of a section declar-
ing that neither slavery or involuntary servitude,
unless for the punishment of crimes, shall ever
be tolerated in this state. The question of fix-
ing the boundaries of the future state excited
the most discussion. The pro-slavery faction
was led by William M. Gwin, who had a few
months before migrated from Tennessee to
California with the avowed purpose of repre-
senting the new state in the United States sen-
ate. The scheme of Gwin and his southern as-
sociates was to make the Rocky mountains the
i astern boundary. This would create a state
with an era of about four hundred thousand
square miles. They reasoned that when the
admission of the state came before congress the
southern members would oppose the admission

of so large an area under a free state constitu-
tion and that ultimately a compromise might
be effected. California would be split in two
from east to west, the old dividing line, the
parallel of 36 30', would be established and
Southern California come into the Union as a
slave state. There were at that time fifteen
free and fifteen slave states. If two states, one
free and one slave, could be made out of Califor-
nia, the equilibrium between the opposing fac-
tions would be maintained. The Rocky moun-
tain boundary was at one time during the ses-
sion adopted, but in the closing days of the
session the free state men discovered Gwin's
scheme and it was defeated. The present boun-
daries were established by a majority of two.

A committee had been appointed to receive
propositions and designs for a state seal. Only
one design was offered. It was presented by
Caleb Lyon of Lyondale, as he usually signed
his name, but was drawn by Major Robert S.
Garnett, an army officer. It contained a figure
of Minerva in the foreground, a grizzly bear
feeding on a bunch of grapes; a miner with an
uplifted pick; a gold rocker and pan; a view of
the Golden Gate with ships riding at anchor
in the Bay of San Francisco; the peaks of the
Sierra Nevadas in the distance; a sheaf of wheat ;
thirty-one stars and above all the word
"Eureka" (I have found it), which might apply
either to the miner or the bear. The design
seems to have been an attempt to advertise the
resources of the state. General Vallejo wanted
the bear taken out of the design, or if allowed
to remain, that he be made fast by a lasso in the
hands of a vaquero. This amendment was re-
jected, as was also one submitted by O. M.
Wozencraft to strike out the figures of the gold
digger and the bear and introduce instead bales
of merchandise and bags of gold. The original
design was adopted with the addition of the
words, "The Great Seal of the State of Califor-
nia." The convention voted to give Lyon $1,000
as full compensation for engraving the seal and
furnishing the press and all appendages.

Garnett, the designer of the seal, was a Vir-
ginian by birth. He graduated from West
Point in 1841, served through the Mexican war
and through several of the Indian wars on the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1G5

Pacific coast. At the breaking out of the re-
bellion in 1861 he joined the Confederates and
was made a brigadier general. He was killed
at the battle of Carrick's Ford July 15, 1S61.

The constitution was completed on the nth
of October and an election was called by Gov-
ernor Riley to be held on the 13th of November
to vote upon the adoption of the constitution
and to elect state officers, a legislature and mem-
bers of congress.

At the election Peter H. Burnett, recently
from Oregon territory, who had been quite
active in urging the organization of a state gov-
ernment, was chosen governor; John McDou-
gall, lieutenant governor, and George W.
Wright and Edward Gilbert members of con-
gress. San Jose had been designated by the
constitutional convention the capital of the state
pro tern.

The people of San Jose had pledged them-
selves to provide a suitable building for the
meeting of the legislature in hopes that their
town might be made the permanent capital.
They were unable to complete the building de-
signed for a state capital in time for the meet-
ing. The uncomfortable quarters furnished
created a great deal of dissatisfaction. The leg-
islature consisted of sixteen senators and thirty-
six assemblymen. There being no county or-
ganization, the members were elected by
districts. The representation was not equally
distributed; San Joaquin district had more sen-
ators than San Francisco. The senate and as-
sembly were organized on the 17th of Decem-
ber. E. K. Chamberlain of San Diego was
elected president pro tern, of the senate and
Thomas J. White of Sacramento speaker of the
assembly. The governor and lieutenant-gov-
ernor were sworn in on the 20th. The state
government being organized the legislature
proceeded to the election of United States sen-
ators. The candidates were T. Butler King,
John C. Fremont, William M. Gwin, Thomas
J. Henly, John W. Geary, Robert Semple and
H. W. Halleck. Fremont received twenty-nine
out of forty-six votes on the first ballot and was
declared elected. Of the aspirants, T. Butler
King and William M. Gwin represented the
ultra pro-slavery element. King was a cross-

roads politician from down in Georgia, who
had been sent to the coast as a confidential
agent of the government. The officers of the
arm)- and navy were enjoined to "in all matters
aid and assist him in carrying out the views of
the government and be guided by his advice and
council in the conduct of all proper measures
within the scope of those instructions." He
made a tour of the mines, accompanied by Gen-
eral Smith and his staff; Commodore Ap Catesby
Jones and staff and a cavalry escort under Lieu-
tenant Stoneman. He wore a black stovepipe
hat and a dress coat. He made himself the
laughing stock of the miners and by traveling
in the heat of the day contracted a fever that
very nearly terminated his existence. He had
been active so far as his influence went in trying
to bring California into the Union with the hope
of representing it in the senate. Gwin had
come a few months before from Mississippi with
the same object in view. Although the free
state men were in the majority in the legislature
they recognized the fact that to elect two sena-
tors opposed to the extension of slavery would
result in arraying the pro-slavery faction in con-
gress against the admission of the state into
the Union. Of the two representatives of the
south, Gwin was the least objectionable and on
the second ballot he was elected. On the
21 st Governor Burnett delivered his message.
It was a wordy document, but not marked by
any very brilliant ideas or valuable suggestions.
Burnett was a southerner from Missouri. Fie
was hobbied on the subject of the exclusion of
free negroes. The African, free to earn his own
living unrestrained by a master, was, in his
opinion, a menace to the perpetuity of the com-
monwealth.

On the 22d the legislature elected the remain-
ing state officers, viz.: Richard Roman, treas-
urer; John I. Houston, controller; E. J. I'.
Kewen, attorney general; Charles J. Whiting,
surveyor-general; S. C. Hastings, chief jus-
tice; Henry Lyons and Nathaniel Bennett, as-
sociate justices. The legislature continued in
session until April 22. 1850. Although it was
nicknamed the "Legislature of a thousand
drinks. - ' it did a vast amount of work and did
most of it well. It was not made up of hard

166

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

drinkers. The majority of its members were
above the average legislator in intelligence,
temperance and patriotism. The members were
not there for pay or for political preferment. They
were there for thegood oftheir adopted state and
labored conscientiously for its benefit. The op-
probrious nickname is said to have originated
thus: A roystering individual by the name of
Green had been elected to the senate from Sac-
ramento as a joke. He regarded the whole pro-
ceedings as a huge joke. He kept a supply of
liquors on hand at his quarters and when the
legislature adjourned he was in the habit of call-
in-: "Come, boys, let us take a thousand
thinks."

The state had set up housekeeping without a
cent on hand to defray expenses. There was not
a quire of paper, a pen, nor an inkstand belong-
ing to the state and no money to buy supplies.
After wrestling with the financial problem some
time an act authorizing a loan of $200,000 for
current expenses was passed. Later on in the
session another act was passed authorizing the
bonding of the state for $300,000 with interest
at the rate of three per cent a month. The
legislature divided the state into twenty-seven
counties, created nine judicial districts, passed
laws for the collection of revenue, taxing all
real and personal property and imposing a poll
tax of $5 on all male inhabitants over twen-
ty-one and under fifty years of age.

California was a self-constituted state. It
had organized a state government and put it int.)
successful operation without the sanction of
congress. Officials, state, county and town, had
been electe 1 and had sworn to support the con-
stitution of the state of California and yet there
was really no state of California. It had not
been admitted into the Union. It was only a
state de facto and it continued in that condition
nine months before it became a state de jure.

•,\ 1: ,: (-he question of admitting California
in o the Union came before congress it evoked
a bitter controversy. The senate was equally
divided, thirty senators from the slave states
and the same number from the free. There
were among the southern senators some broad
I and patriotic men, willing to do what
was right, but they were handicapped by an

ultra pro-slavery faction, extremists, who
would willingly sacrifice the Union if by that
they could extend and perpetuate that sum of
all villainies, human slavery. This faction in
the long controversy resorted to every known
parliamentary device to prevent the admission of
California under a free state constitution. To
admit two senators from a free state would de-
stroy the balance of power. That gone, it could
never be regained by the south. The north was
increasing in power and population, while the
south, under the blighting influence of slavery,
was retrograding.

Henry Clay, the man of compromises, under-
took to bridge over the difficulty by a set of
resolutions known as the Omnibus bill. These
were largely concessions to the slave holding
faction for the loss of the territory acquired by
the Mexican war. Among others was this, that
provision should be made by law for the restitu-
tion of fugitive slaves in any state or territory
of the Union. This afterward was embodied
into what was known as the fugitive slave law
and did more perhaps than any other cause to
de>tniy the souths beloved institution.

These resolutions were debated through
many months and were so amended and changed
that their author could scarcely recognize them.
Most of them were adopted in some form and
effected a temporary compromise.

On August 13th the bill for the admission
of California finally came to a vote. It passed
the senate, thirty-four ayes to eighteen noes.
Even then the opposition did not cease. Ten
of the southern pro-slavery extremists, led by
Jefferson Davis, joined in a protest against the
action of the majority, the language of which
was an insult to the senate and treason to the
government. In the house the bill passed by a
vote <>f one hundred and fifty ayes to fifty-six
ultra southern noes. It was approved and signed
by President Fillmore September 9, 1850. On
the nth of September the California senators
and congressmen presented themselves to be
sworn in. The slave holding faction in the sen-
ate, headed by Jefferson Davis, who had been
one of the most bitter opponents to the admis-
sion, objected. But their protest availed them
nothing. Their ascendency was gone. We

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

HJ7

might sympathize with them had their fight
been made for a noble principle, but it was not.
From that day on until the attempt was made
in 1861 these men schemed to destroy the
Union. The admission of California as a free
state was the beginning of the slave holders' re-
bellion.

The news of the admission of California
reached San Francisco on the morning of Oc-
tober 18, by the mail steamer Oregon, nearly six
weeks after congress had admitted it. Business
was at once suspended, the courts were ad-
journed and the people went wild with excite-
ment. Messengers, mounted on fleet steeds,
spread the news throughout the state. News-
papers from the states containing an account
of the proceedings of congress at the time of
admission sold for $5 each. It was decided to
hold a formal celebration of the event on the
29th and preparations were begun for a grand
demonstration. Neither labor nor money was
spared to make the procession a success. The
parade was cosmopolitan in the fullest meaning
of that word. There were people in it from
almost every nation under the sun. The Chi-
nese made quite an imposing spectacle in the
parade. Dressed in rich native costumes, each
carrying a gaudily painted fan, they marched
under command of their own marshals, Ah He
and Ah Sing. At their head proudly marched
a color bearer carrying a large blue silk ban-
ner, inscribed the "China boys." Following
them came a triumphal car, in which was seated
thirty boys in black trousers and white shirts,
representing the thirty states. In the center of
this group, seated on a raised platform, was a
young girl robed in white with gold and silver
gauze floating about her and supporting a
breast plate, upon which was inscribed "Cali-
fornia, the Union, it must and shall be pre-
served." The California pioneers carried a ban-
ner on which was represented a New Englander
in the act of stepping ashore and facing a na-
tive Californian with lasso and serape. In the
center the state seal and the inscription. "Far
west, Eureka 1846, California pioneers, or-
ganized August, 1850." Army and navy offi-
cers, soldiers, sailors and marines, veterans of
the Mexican war, municipal officers, the fire de-

partment, secret and benevolent societies and as-
sociations, with a company of mounted native
Californians bearing a banner with thirty-one
stars on a blue satin ground with the inscription
in gold letters, California, E Pluribus Unum, all
these various organizations and orders with
their marshals and aids mounted on gaily
caparisoned steeds and decked out with their
gold and silver trimmed scarfs, made an impos-
ing display that has seldom if ever been equaled
since in the metropolis of California.

At the plaza a flag of thirty-one stars was
raised to the mast head. An oration was de-
livered by Judge Nathaniel Bennett and Mrs.
Wills recited an original ode of her own compo-
sition. The rejoicing over, the people settled
down to business. Their unprecedented action
in organizing a state government and putting it
into operation without the sanction of congress
had been approved and legalized by that body.

Like the Goddess Minerva, represented on its
great seal, who sprung full grown from the
brain of Jupiter, California was born a fully ma-
tured state. She passed through no territorial
probation. Xo state had such a phenomenal
growth in its infancy. No state before or since
has met with such bitter opposition when it
sought admission into the family of states.
Never before was there such a medley of nation-
alities—Yankees, Mexicans, English, Germans,
French, Spaniards, Peruvians, Polynesians,
Mongolians — organized into a state and made
a part of the body politic nolens volens.

The constitutional convention of 1849 did not
definitely fix the state capital. San Jose was
designated as the place of meeting for the legis-
lature and the organization of the state govern-
ment. San Jose had offered to donate a square
of thirty-two acres,' valued at $60,000, for cap-
itol grounds and provide a suitable building for
the legislature and state officers. The offer was
accepted, but when the legislature met there
December 15, 1849, the building was unfinished
and for a time the meeting .lature

were held at a private residence. There was a
great deal of complaining and dissatisfaction.
The first capitol of t.

h had been it
for a hotel. It was destroyed by tire April 29,

L68

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

1853. The accommodations at San Jose were
so unsatisfactory that the legislature decided
to locate the capital at some other point. Prop-
ositions were received from Monterey, from
Reed of San Jose, from Stevenson & Parker of
New York of the Pacific and from Gen. M. G.
Yallejo. Vallejo's proposition was accepted.
He offered to donate one hundred and fifty-six
acres of land in a new town that he proposed
to lay out on the straits of Carquinez (now Yal-
lejo) for a capital site and within two years to
give .^370,000 in money for the erection of pub-
lic buildings. He asked that his proposition be
submitted to a vote of the people at the next
general election. His proposition was accepted
by the legi: Iature. At the general election, Octo-
ber 7, 1850, Yallejo received seventy-four hun-
dred and seventy-seven votes; San Jose twelve
hundred and ninety-two, and Monterey three
hundred and ninety-nine. The second legisla-
ture convened at San Jose. General Yallejo ex-
erted himself to have the change made in accord-
ance with the previous proposition. The cit-
izens of San Jose made an effort to retain the
capital, but a bill was passed making Vallejo
the permanent seat of government after the
close of the session, provided General Yallejo
should give bonds to carry out his proposals.
In June Governor McDougal caused the gov-
ernmental archives to be removed from San
Jose to Vallejo.

When the members of the third legislature
met at the new capital January 2, 1852, they
found a large unfurnished and partly unfinished
wooden building for their reception. Hotel ac-
commodations could not be obtained and there
was even a scarcity of food to feed the hungry
lawmakers. Sacramento offered its new court
• house and on the 16th of January the legislature
convened in that city. The great flood of

March, 1852, inundated the city and the law-
makers were forced to reach the halls of legis-
lation in boats and again there was dissatisfac-
tion. Then Benicia came to the front with an
offer of her new city hall, which was above
high water mark. General Vallejo had become
financially embarrassed and could not carry out
his contract with the state, so it was annulled.
The offer of Benicia was accepted and on May
18, 1853, that town was declared the permanent
capital.

In the legislature of 1854 the capital question
again became an issue. Offers were made by
several aspiring cities, but Sacramento won with
the proffer of her court house and a block of
land betwen I and J, Ninth and Tenth streets.
Then the question of the location of the capital
got into the courts. The supreme court de-
cided in favor of Sacramento. Before the legis-
lature met again the court house that had been
offered to the state burned down. A new and
more commodious one was erected and rented
to the state at $12,000 a year. Oakland made
an unsuccessful effort to obtain the capital,
finally a bill was passed authorizing the erection
of a capitol building in Sacramento at a cost
not to exceed $500,000. Work was begun on
the foundation in October, i860. The great
flood of 1861-62 inundated the city and ruined
the foundations of the capitol. San Francisco
made a vigorous effort to get the capital re-
moved to that city, but was unsuccessful. Work
was resumed on the building, the plans were
changed, the edifice enlarged, and, finally, after
many delays, it was ready for occupancy in De-
cember, 1869. From the original limit of half a
million dollars its cost when completed had
reached a million and a half. The amount ex-
pended on the building and grounds to date
foots up $2,600,000.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

CHAPTER XXV.

THE ARGONAUTS.

WHEN or by whom the name argonaut
was first applied to the early Cali-
fornia gold seekers I have not been
able to ascertain. The earliest allusion to the
similarity of Jason's voyage after the Golden
Fleece and the miners' rush to the gold fields of
California is found in a caricature published in
the London Punch in 1849. O n tne shore of
an island is a guide board bearing the inscrip-
tion "California;" near it is a miner digging gold
and presumably singing at his work. In a
boat near the shore is a fat individual, a typical
"Johnny Bull." He is struggling desperately
with two individuals who are holding him back
from leaping into the water, so fascinated is he
by the song of the miner. Under the drawing
are the words, "The Song of the Sirens."

If we include among the argonauts all who
traveled by land or voyaged by sea in search of
the golden fleece in the days of '49 we will have
a motley mixture. The tales of the fabulous rich-
ness of the gold fields of California spread rap-
idly throughout the civilized world and drew to
the territory all classes and conditions of men,
the bad as well as the good, the indolent as well
as the industrious, the vicious as well as the
virtuous. They came from Europe, from South
America and from Mexico. From Australia
and Tasmania came the ex-convict and the
ticket-of-leave man; from the isles of the sea
came the Polynesian, and from Asia the Hindoo
and the "Heathen Chinee."

The means of reaching the land of gold were
as varied as the character of the people who
came. Almost every form of vehicle was pressed
into service on land. One individual, if not more,
made the trip trundling his impedimenta in a
wheelbarrow. Others started out in carriages.
intent on making the journey in comfort and
ease, but finished on foot, weary, worn and
ragged. When the great rush came old sailing-
vessels that had long been deemed unseaworthy

were fitted out for the voyage to California. It
must have been the providence that protects
fools which prevented these from going to the
bottom of the ocean. With the desperate
chances that the argonauts took on these old
tubs, it is singular that there were so few ship-
wrecks and so little loss of life. Some of these
were such slow sailers that it took them the
greater part of a year to round Cape Horn and
reach their destination. On one of these some
passengers, exasperated at its slowness, landed
near Cape St. Lucas and made the long journey
up the peninsula of Lower California and on to
San Francisco on foot, arriving there a month
before their vessel. Another party undertook to
make the voyage from Nicaragua in a wdiale
boat and actually did accomplish seven hundred
miles of it before they were picked up in the last
extremities by a sailing vessel.

The Sierra Nevada region, in which gold was
first found, comprised a strip about thirty miles
wide and two hundred miles long from north
to south in the basins of the Feather, Yuba,
Bear, American, Cosumne, Mokolumne, Stanis-
laus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers, between the
elevations of one thousand and five thousand
feet. In all these streams miners washed gold
in 1848. The placer mines on the Upper Sacra-
mento and in the Shasta region were discovered
and worked late in the fall of 1848. The Kla-
math mines were discovered later.

The southern mines, those on the San Joaquin,
Fresno, Kern and San Gabriel rivers, were lo-
cated between 1851 and 1855. Gold was found
in some of the ravines and creeks of San Diego
county. Practically the gold belt of California
extends from the .Mexican line to Oregon, but
at some points it is rather thin. The first gold
digging was done with butcher knives, the gold
hunter scratching in the sand and crevices of
the rock to find nuggets. Next the gold pan
came into use and the miners became experts

170

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in twirling the pan in a pool of water, so as to
wash out the sand and gravel and leave the gold
dust in the pan. Isaac Humphreys, who had
mined gold in Georgia, was the first person to
use a rocker or gold cradle in California. Al-
though a very simple piece of machinery those
who reached the mines early found it quite an
expensive one. Dr. Brooks in his diary, under
date of June u, 1848, writes: "On Tuesday we
set to work upon our cradle. We resolved upon
the construction of two and for this purpose
went down to the store in a body to see about
the boards. We found timber extravagantly
dear, being asked $40 a hundred feet. The next
question was as to whether we should hire a
carpenter. We were told there was one or two
in the diggings, wljo might be hired, though
at a very extravagant rate. Accordingly Brad-
ley and I proceeded to see one of these gentle-
men, and found him washing away with a hollow
log and a willow branch sieve. He offered to
help us at the rate of $35 a day, we finding pro-
visions and tools, and could not be brought to
charge less. We thought this by far too ex-
travagant and left him, determined to undertake
the work ourselves. After two days' work of
seven men they produced two rough cradles
and found that three men with a cradle or rocker
could wash out as much gold in a day as six
could with pans in the same time."

A rocker or gold cradle had some resemblance
to a child's cradle with similar rockers and was
rocked by means of a perpendicular handle
fastened to the cradle box. The cradle box con-
sisted of a wooden trough about twenty inches
.vide and forty inches long with sides four or
five inches high. The lower end was left open.
On the upper end sat the hopper, a box twenty
inches square with sides four inches high and
a bottom of sheet iron or zinc pierced with holes
one-half inch in diameter. Where zinc or iron
could not be obtained a sieve of willow rods
was used. Under the hopper was an apron of
canvas, which sloped down from the lower end
of the hopper to the upper end of the cradle
box. A wooden riffle bar an inch square was
nailed across the bottom of the cradle box about
its middle, and another al its lower end. Under
the cradle box were nailed rockers, and near

the middle an upright handle by which motion
was imparted. If water and pay dirt were con-
venient two men were sufficient to operate the
machine. Seated on a stooi or rock the operator
rocked with one hand, while with a long handled
dipper he dipped water from a pool and poured
it on the sand and gravel in the hopper. When
the sand and earth had been washed through
the holes in the sieve the rocks were emptied
and the hopper filled again from the buckets of
pay dirt supplied by the other partner. The gold
was caught on the canvas apron by the riffle
bars, while the thin mud and sand were washed
out of the machine by the water.

In the dry diggings a method of separating
the gold from the earth was resorted to prin-
cipally by Sonorans. The pay dirt was dug and
dried in the sun, then pulverized by pounding
into fine dust. With a batea or bowl-shaped
Indian basket filled with this dust, held in both
hands, the Mexican skillfully tossed the earth
in the air, allowing the wind to blow away the
dust and catching the heavier particles and the
gold in the basket, repeating the process until
there was little left but the gold.

The Long Tom was a single sluice with a
sieve and a box underneath at the end and rif-
fle bars to stop the gold. The pay dirt was shov-
eled in at the upper end and a rapid current of
water washed away the sand and earth, the gold
falling into the receptacle below. Ground sluic-
ing was resorted to where a current of water
from a ditch could be directed against a bank of
earth or hill with a sloping bedrock. The stream
of water washing against the upper side of the
bank caved it down and carried the loose earth
through a string of sluices, depositing the gold
in the riffle bars in the bottom of the sluices.

In the creeks and gulches where there was
not much fall, sluice mining was commonly re-
sorted to. A string of sluice boxes was laid,
each fitting into the upper end of the one below,
and in the lower ones riffle bars were placed
to stop the gold. The sluice boxes were placed
on nellies four feet from the ground and given
an incline of five or six inches to the rod. The
gravel from the bedrock up as far as there was
am- pay dirt was shoveled into the upper boxes
and a rapid current of water flowing through the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

L7J

boxes carried away the gravel and rocks, the
gold remaining in the riffles. Quicksilver was
placed between the riffles to catch the fine gold.
The gold amalgamated with quicksilver was
cleaned out of the boxes at the end of the day's
work and separated from the quicksilver in a re-
tort. These were the principal methods of mining
used by the argonauts. The machinery and ap-
pliances were simple and inexpensive. Hy-
draulic mining came in later, when larger cap-
ital was required and the mines had fallen into
the hands of corporations.

When the news spread throughout the states
of the wonderful "finds" of gold in California,
the crudest ideas prevailed in regard to how
the precious metal was to be extracted from
the earth. Gold mining was an almost un-
known industry in the United States. Only
in a few obscure districts of North Caro-
lina and Georgia had gold been found, and
but very few people outside of these dis-
tricts had ever visited the mines. Not one in
ten thousand of those who joined the rush
to California in 1849 na d ever seen a grain of
virgin gold. The idea prevailed among the gold
seekers that the gold being found in grains it
could be winnowed from the sand and earth in
which it was found like wheat is separated from
chaff. Imbued with this idea Yankee ingenuity
set to work to invent labor-saving machines
that would accomplish the work quickly and
enrich the miner proportionally. The ships that
bore the argonauts from their native land car-
ried out a variety of these gold machines, all
guaranteed to wrest from the most secret re-
cesses the auriferous deposits in nature's
treasure vaults. These machines were of all
varieties and patterns. They were made of cop-
per, iron, zinc and brass. Some were operated
by means of a crank, others had two cranks,
while others were worked with a treadle. Some
required that the operator should stand, others
allowed the miner to sit in an arm chair and
work in comfort.

Haskins, in his "Argonauts of California,"
describes one of these machines that was
brought around the Horn in the ship he came
on: "It was in the shape of a huge fanning
mill, with sieves properly arranged for sorting

the gold ready for bottling. All chunks too
large for the bottle would be consigned to the
pork barrel." (The question of bringing home
the gold in bottles or barrels had been seriously
discussed and decided in favor of barrels be-
cause these could be rolled and thus save cost
of transportation from the mines. J

"This immense machine which, during our
passage, excited the envy and jealousy of all
who had not the means and opportunity of se-
curing a similar one required, of course, the
services of a hired man to turn the crank, whilst
the proprietor would be busily engaged in shov-
eling in pay dirt and pumping water; the greater
portion of the time, however, being required,
as was firmly believed, in corking the bottles
and fitting the heads in the barrels. This ma-
chine was owned by a Mr. Allen of Cambridge,
Mass., who had brought with him a colored
servant to manage and control the crank por-
tion of the invaluable institution.

"Upon landing we found lying on the sand
and half buried in the mud hundreds of similar
machines, bearing silent witness at once to the
value of our gold saving machines without the
necessity of a trial."

Nor was it the argonaut alone who came by
sea that brought these machines. Some of
these wonderful inventions were hauled across
the plains in wagons, their owners often sacri-
ficing the necessities of life to save the prized
machine. And, when, after infinite toil and trou-
ble, they had landed their prize in the mines,
they were chagrined to find it the subject of jest
and ridicule by those who had some experience
in mining.

The gold rush came early in the history of
California placer mining. The story of a rich
strike would often depopulate a mining camp in
a few hours. Even a bare rumor of rich dig-
gings in some indefinite localit) would send
scores of miners tramping off on a wild goose
chase into the mountains. Some of these
rushes originated through fake stories circu-
lated for sinister purpose; others were caused
by exaggerated stories of real d

One of the most famous fakes of early days
was the Gold Lake rush of 1S50. This wonder-
ful lake was suppos< d ted about two

172

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

hundred miles northeast of Marysville, on the
divide between the Feather and the Yuba rivers.
The Sacramento Transcript of June kj, 1850,
says: "We are informed by a gentleman from
Marysville that it is currently reported there that
the Indians upon this lake use gold for their
commonest purposes; that they have a ready
way of knocking out square blocks, which they
use for seats and couches upon which to place
their beds, which are simply bundles of wild
oats, which grow so profusely in all sections of
the state. According to report also they use for
fishhooks crooked pieces of gold and kill their
game with arrows made of the same material.
They are reported to be thunderstruck at the
movements of the whites and their eagerness
to collect and hoard the materials of the very
ground upon which they tread.

"A story is current that a man at Gold Lake
saw a large piece of gold floating on the lake
which he succeeded in getting ashore. So
clear are the waters that another man saw a
rock of gold on the bottom. After many ef-
forts he succeeded in lassoing the rock. Three
days afterward he was seen standing holding on
to his rope."

The Placer Times of Marysville reports that
the specimens brought into Marysville are of a
value from $1,500 down. Ten ounces is re-
ported as no unusual yield to the pan. The
first party of sixty which started out under
guidance of one who had returned successful
were assured that they would not get less than
$500 each per day. We were told that two hun-
dred had left town with a full supply of pro-
visions and four hundred mules. Mules and
horses have doubled in value. Many places of
business are closed. The diggings at the lake
are probably the best ever discovered." The
Times of June [9 says: "It is reported that up
to last Thursday two thousand persons had
taken up their journey. Many who were work-
ing good claims deserted them for the new dis-
covery. Mules and horses were about impos-
sible to obtain. Although the truth of the re-
port rests on the authority of but two or three
who have returned from Gold Lake, yet few
are found who doubt the marvelous revelations.
A party of Kanakas are said to have wintered

at Gold Lake, subsisting chiefly on the flesh of
their animals. They are said to have taken out
^75,000 the first week. When a conviction takes
such complete possession of a whole com-
munity, who are fully conversant with all the
exaggerations that have had their day, it is
scarcely prudent to utter even a qualified dissent
from what is universally believed."

The denouement of the Gold Lake romance
may he found in the Transcript of July I, 1850.
"The Gold Lake excitement, so much talked of
and acted upon of late, has almost subsided.
A crazy man comes in for a share of the re-
sponsibility. Another report is that they have
found one of the pretended discoverers at
Marysville ami are about to lynch him. In-
deed, we are told that a demonstration against
the town is feared by many. People who have
returned after traveling some one hundred and
fifty to two hundred miles say that they left vast
numbers of people roaming between the sources
of the Yuba and the Feather rivers."

Scarcely had the deluded argonauts returned
from a bootless search for the lake of gold when
another rumored discovery of gold fields of
fabulous richness sent them rushing off toward
the sea coast. Now it was Gold Bluff that lured
I hem away. ( In the northwest coast of Califor-
nia, near the mouth of the Klamath river,
precipitous bluffs four hundred feet high mark
the coast line of the ocean. A party of pros-
pectors in the fall of 1850, who had been up
in the Del Norte country, were making their
way down to the little trading and trapping sta-
tion of Trinidad to procure provisions. On
reaching the bluffs, thirty miles above Trinidad,
they were astonished to find stretching out be-
fore them a beach glittering with golden sands.
They could not stop to gather gold; the) were
starving. So, scraping up a few handfuls of the
glittering sands, they hastened on. In due
time the>' reached San Francisco, where they
exhibited their sand, which proved to be nearly
half gold. The report of the wonderful find was
spread by the newspapers and the excitement
began. Companies were formed and claims lo-
cated at long range. One company of nine
locator- -nil an expert to examine their claims,
lie, by a careful mathematical calculation, as-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

173

certained that the claim would yield forty-three
million dollars to each partner. As there were
fifteen miles of gold beach, the amount of gold
in the sands was sufficient to demonetize the
precious metal. A laudable desire to benefit
the human race possessed some of the claim
owners. They formed joint stock companies with
shares at $100 each. Gold Bluff mining stock
went off like the proverbial hot cakes and pros-
pectors went off as rapidly. Within two days
after the expert's wonderful story was spread
abroad nine ships were fitted out for Gold Bluff.
The first to arrive off the Bluff was the vessel
containing a party of the original discoverers.
In attempting to land in a boat, the boat was
upset in the breakers and five of the six occu-
pants were drowned, Bertram, the leader of the
party making the discovery, alone escaping.
The vessel put back to Trinidad and the gold
hunters made their way up the coast to the
Bluff. But alas for their golden dreams!
Where they had hoped to gather gold by the
ship load no gold was found. Old ocean had
gathered it back into his treasure vaults.

The bubble burst as suddenly as it had ex-
panded. And yet there was gold at Gold Bluff
and there is gold there yet. If the ocean could
be drained or coffer dammed for two hundred
miles along the gold coast of northern Califor-
nia and Oregon, all the wealth of Alaska would
be but the panning out of a prospect hole com-
pared to the richness that lies hidden in the
sands of Gold Beach. For years after the
bursting of the Gold Bluff bubble, when the
tide was low, the sands along Gold Beach were
mined with profit.

The Kern river excitement in the spring of
1855 surpassed everything that had preceded il.
Seven years of mining had skimmed the rich-
ness of the placers. The northern and central
gold fields of California had been thoroughly
prospected. The miners who had been accus-
tomed to the rich strikes of early years could
not content themselves with moderate returns.
They were on the qui vive for a rich strike and
ready for a rush upon the first reporl of one.
The first discoveries on the Kern river were
made in the summer of 1854, but no ex< it<
followed immediately. During the fall and win-

ter rumors were set afloat of rich strikes on the
head waters of that stream. The stories grew
as they traveled. One that had a wide circula-
tion and was readily accepted ran about as fol-
lows: "A .Mexican doctor had appeared in Mari-
posa loaded down with gold nuggets. He re-
ported that he and four companions had found
a region paved with gold. The very hills were
yellow with outcroppings. While gloating over
their wealth and loading it into sacks the In-
dians attacked them and killed his four com-
panions. He escaped with one sack of gold. lie-
proposed to organize a company large enough
to exterminate the Indians and then bring out
the gold on pack mules.*' This as well as other
stories as improbable were spread broadcast
throughout the state. Many of the reports of
wonderful strikes were purposely magnified by
merchants and dealers in mining supplies who
were overstocked with unsalable goods: and
by transportation companies with whom busi-
ness was slack. Their purpose was accom-
plished and the rush was on. It began in Jan-
uary, r S55. Every steamer down the coast to
Los Angeles was loaded to the guards with
adventurers for the mines. The sleepy old
metropolis of the cow counties waked up to
find itself suddenly transformed into a bustling
mining camp. The Southern CaUfornian of Feb-
ruary 8, 1855, thus describes the situation: "The
road from our valley is literally thronged with
people on their way to the mines. Hundreds
of people have been leaving not only the city,
but every portion of the count\. Every descrip-
tion of vehicle and animal has been brought
into requisition to take the exultant seekers
after wealth to the goal of their hopes. Im-
mense ten-mule wagons strung out one after
another; long trains of pack mules and men
mounted and on foot, with picks and sho
boarding-house keepers with their tents: mer-
chants with their stocks of miners' necessaries
and gamblers with their 'papers' are constantly
leaving for the Kern river mines. The >

1, iries are afloat. If the mine- turn 1 >u1 $10
a day to the man everybody ough
ft, ,1. 'I he opei mines has b<

( ,, ids( ml to all of us, as the business of the en-
tire countr) was on the poinl of taking to a

174

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

'ice. The great scarcity of money is seen in
the present exorbitant rates of interest which it
commands: 8, 10 and even 15 per cent a month
is freely paid and the supply even at these rates
is too meager to meet the demands." As the
rush increased our editor grows more jubilant.
In his issue of March 7, he throws out these
headlines: "Stop the Press! Glorious Xews
from Kern River! Bring Out the Big Gun!
There are a thousand gulches rich with gold
and room for ten thousand miners. Miners
averaged $50 a day. One man with his own
hands took out $160 in a day. Five men in ten
days took out $4,500."

Another stream of miners and adventurers
was pouring into the mines by way of the San
Joaquin valley. From Stockton to the Kern
river, a distance of three hundred miles, the
road was crowded with men on foot, on stages,
on horseback and on every form of convey-
ance that would take them to the new El Do-
rado. In four months five or six thousand men
had found their way into the Kern river basin.
There was gold there, but not enough to go
around. A few struck it rich, the many struck
nothing but "hard luck" and the rush out began.
Those who had ridden into the valley footed it
out, and those who had footed it in on sole
leather footed it nut on their natural soles.

After the wild frenzy of Kern river, the press
of the state congratulated the public with the
assurance that the era of wild rushes was past —
"what had been lost in money had been gained
in experience." As if prospectors ever profited
by experience! Scarcely had the victims of Kern
river resumed work in the old creeks and canons
they had deserted to join in the rush when a
rumor came, faint at first, but gathering
strength at each repetition, that rich diggings
had been struck in the far north. This time
it is Frazer river. True. Frazer river is in the
British possessions, hut what of that? There
are enough miners in California to seize the
country and hold it until the cream of the mines
has been skimmed. Rumors of the richness
of mines increased with every arrival of a
steamer from the north. Captains, pursers.
mates, cooks and waiters all confirmed the sto-
ries of rich strikes. Doubters asserted that the

dust and nuggets exhibited had made the trip
from San Francisco to Victoria and back. But
the}- were silenced by the assurance that the
transportation company was preparing to double
the number of its vessels on that route. Com-
modore Wright was too smart to run his steam-
ers on fake reports, and thus the very thing that
should have caused suspicion was used to con-
firm the truth of the rumors. The doubters
doubted no more, but packed their outfits for
Frazer river. California was played out. Where
could an honest miner pan out $100 a day
in California now? He could do it every day
in Frazer; the papers said so. The first notice
of the mines was published in March, 1858. The
rush began the latter part of April and in four
months thirty thousand men, one-sixth of the
voting population of the state, had rushed to
the mines.

The effect of the craze was disastrous to busi-
ness in California. Farms were abandoned and
crops lost for want of hands to harvest them.
Rich claims in old diggings were sold for a trifle
of their value. Lots on Montgomery street that
a few years later were worth $1,500 a front foot
were sold for $100. Real estate in the interior
towns was sacrificed at 50 to yz, per cent less
than it was worth before the rush began. But
a halt was called in the mad rush. The returns
were not coming in satisfactorily. By the mid-
dle of July less than $100,000 in dust had
reached San Francisco, only about $3 for each
man who had gone to the diggings. There was
gold there and plenty of it, so those interested
in keeping up the excitement said: "The Frazer
river is high; wait till it subsides." But it did
not subside, and it has not subsided since. If
the Frazer did not subside the excitement did,
and that suddenly. Those who had money
enough or could borrow from their friends got
away at once. Those who had none hung
around Victoria and New Westminster until
the) were shipped back at the government's ex-
pense. The Frazer river craze was the last of the
mad. unreasoning "gold rushes." The Washoe
excitement of '59 and the "Ho! for Idaho of
1863 64" had some of the characteristics of the
early gold rushes, but they soon settled down to
tead\ business and the yield from these fairly

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

175

recompensed those who were frugal and indus-
trious.

Never before perhaps among civilized people
was there witnessed such a universal leveling
as occurred in the first years of the mining ex-
citement in California. "As the labor required
was physical instead of mental, the usual supe-
riority of head workers over hand workers dis-
appeared entirely. Men who had been gov-
ernors and legislators and judges in the old
states worked by the side of outlaws and con-
victs; scholars and students by the side of men
who could not read or write; those who had
been masters by the side of those who had been
slaves; old social distinctions were obliterated;
everybody did business on his own account, and
not one man in ten was the employe and much
less the servant of another. Social distinctions
appeared to be entirely obliterated and no man
was considered inferior to another. The hard-
fisted, unshaven and patch-covered miner was
on terms of perfect equality with the well-
dressed lawyer, surgeon or merchant; and in
general conferences, discussions and even con-

versations the most weather-beaten and strongly
marked face, or, in other words, the man who
had seen and experienced the most, notwith-
standing his wild and tattered attire, was lis-
tened to with more attention and respectful con-
sideration than the man of polished speech and
striking antithesis. One reason of this was that in
those days the roughest-looking man not infre-
quently knew more than anybody else of what
was wanted to be known, and the raggedest man
not infrequently was the most influential and
sometimes the richest man in the locality."-

This independent spirit was characteristic of
the men of '48 and '49. Then nearly everybody
was honest and theft was almost unknown.
With the advent of the criminal element in
1850 and later there came a change. Before that
a pan of gold dust could be left in an open tent
unguarded, but with the coming of the Sydney
ducks from Australia and men of their class it
became necessary to guard property with sedu-
lous care.

* Hindi's History of California. Vol. III.

CHAPTER XXVI.

SAN FRANCISCO.

IN 1835 Capt. William A. Richardson built
the first house on the Yerba Buena cove.
It was a shanty of rough board, which he
replaced a year later with an adobe building.
He was granted a lot in 1836 and his building
stood near what is now the corner of Dupont
and Clay streets. Richardson had settled at
Sausalito in 1822. He was an Englishman by
birth and was one of the first foreigners to settle
in California.

Jacob P. Leese, an American, in partnership
with Spear & Hinckley, obtained a lot in 1836
and built a house and store near that of Captain
Richardson. There is a tradition that Mr. Leese
began his store building on the first of July and
finished it at ten o'clock on the morning of
July 4, and for a house warming celebrated the
glorious Fourth in a style that astonished the
natives up and down the coast. The house was
sixty feet long and twenty-five broad, and, if

completed in three days, Mr. Leese certainly de
serves the credit of having eclipsed some of
the remarkable feats in house building that were
performed after the great fires of San Francisco
in the early '50s. Mr. Leese and his neighbor,
Captain Richardson, invited all the high-toned
Spanish families for a hundred miles around to
the celebration. The Mexican and American
flags floated over the building and two six-
pounders fired salutes. At five o'clock the
guests sat down to a sumptuous dinner which
lasted, toasts and all, till 10 o'clock, and then
came dancing; and, as Mr. Leese remarks in his
diary; "Our Fourth ended on the evening of
the fifth." Mr. I.eese was an energetic person.
I le built a house in three days, gave a Fourth of
|uly celebration thai la-ted two days, and inside
of a week had a -tore opened and was doing a
thriving business with his late guests. He fell
in love with the same energy that he did busi-

176

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ness. Among the guests at his 4th of July
celebration were the Vallejos, the nabobs of
Sonoma. Leese courted one of the girls and in
a few months after the celebration married her.
Their daughter, Rosalie Leese, was the first
child born in Yerba Buena. Such was the be-
ginning of San Francisco.

This settlement was on a crescent-shaped cove
that lay between Clark's Point and the Rincon.
The locality was known as Verba Buena (good
herb), a species of mint to which the native Cal-
ifornians attributed many medicinal virtues.
The peninsula still bore the name that had been
applied to it when the mission and presidio
were founded, San Francisco. Yerba Buena
was a local appellation and applied only to the
little hamlet that had grown up on the cove.
This settlement, although under the Mexican
government, was not a Mexican town. The
foreign element, the American predominating,
had always been in the ascendency. At the time
of the conquest, among its two hundred inhab-
itants, were representatives of almost every civ-
ilized nation on the globe. It was a cosmopol-
itan town. In a very short time after the con-
quest it began to take on a new growth and was
recognized as the coming metropolis of Califor-
nia. The curving beach of the cove at one
point (Jackson street) crossed the present line
of Montgomery street.

Richardson and Leese had built their stores
and warehouses back from the beach because of
a Mexican law that prohibited the building of a
house on the beach where no custom house ex-
isted. All houses had to be built back a certain
number of varas from high-water mark. This
regulation was made to prevent smuggling. Be-
tween the shore line of the cove and anchorage
there was a long stretch of shallow water. This
made transportation of goods from ship to
shore very inconvenient and expensive. With
the advent of the Americans and the inaugura-
tion of a more progressive era it became neces-
sary for the convenient landing of ships and for
the discharging and receiving of their cargoes
that the beach front of the town should be im-
proved bv building wharves and docks. The dif-
ficulty was In find the means to do this. The
general government of the United States could

not undertake it. The war with Mexico was
still in progress. The only available way was
to sell off beach lots to private parties, but who
was to give title was the question. Edwin Bry-
ant, February 22, 1847, na d succeeded Wash-
ington Bartlett as alcalde. Bryant was a pro-
gressive man, and, recognizing the necessity of
improvement in the shipping facilities of the
town, he urged General Kearny, the acting
governor, to relinquish, on the part of the gen-
eral government, its claim to the beach lands in
front of the town in favor of the municipality
under certain conditions. General Kearny
really had no authority to relinquish the claim
of the general government to the land, for the
simple reason that the general government had
not perfected a claim. The country was held
as conquered territory. Mexico had made no
concession of the land by treaty. It was not
certain that California would be ceded to the
United States. Under Mexican law the gov-
ernor of the territory, under certain conditions,
had the right to make grants, and General Kear-
ny, assuming the power given a Mexican gov-
ernor, issued the following decree: "I, Brig.-
Gen. S. W. Kearny, Governor of California,
by virtue of authority in me vested by the Pres-
ident of the United States of America, do hereby
grant, convey, and release unto the Town of San
Francisco, the people or corporate authorities
thereof, all the right, title and interest of the
Government of the United States and of the
Territory of California in and to the Beach and
Water Lots on the East front of said Town of
San Francisco included between the points
known as the Rincon and Fort Montgomery,
excepting such lots as may be selected for the
use of the United States Government by the
senior officers of the army and navy now there;
provided, the said ground hereby ceded shall
be divided into lots and sold by public auction to
the highest bidder, after three months* notice
previously given; the proceeds of said sale to
be for the benefit of the town of San Francisco.
Given at Monterey, capital of California, this
10th day of March, 1847, and the seventy-first
year of the independence of the United States."
S. W. Kearny,
Brig.-Gen'l & Gov. of California.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

In pursuance of this decree, Alcalde Bryant
advertised in the Californian that the ground
described in the decree, known as Water Lots,
would be surveyed and divided into convenient
building lots and sold to the highest bidder on
the 29th of June (1847). He then proceeds in
the advertisement to boom the town. "The site
of the town of San Francisco is known by all
navigators and mercantile men acquainted with
the subject to be the most commanding com-
mercial position on the entire western coast of
the Pacific ocean, and the Town itself is no
doubt destined to become the commercial em-
porium of the western side of the North Ameri-
can continent." The alcaldes' assertions must
have seemed rather extravagant to the dwellers
in the little burgh on the cove of Verba Buena.
But Bryant was a far-seeing man and proved
himself in this instance to be a prophet.

It will be noticed that both General Kearnj
and Alcalde Bryant call the town San Francisco.
Alcalde Bartlett, the predecessor in office of
Alcalde Bryant, had changed its name just be-
fore he was recalled to his ship. He did not
like the name Yerba Buena, so he summarily
changed it. He issued a proclamation setting
forth that hereafter the town should be known
as San Francisco. Having proclaimed a change
of name, he proceeded to give his reasons:
Yerba Buena was a paltry cognomen for a cer-
tain kind of mint found on an island in the
bay; it was a merely local name, unknown be-
yond the district, while San Francisco had long
been familiar on the maps. "Therefore it is
hereby ordained, etc." Bartlett builded better
than he knew. It would have been a sad mis-
take for the city to have carried the "outlandish
name which Americans would mangle in pro-
nouncing," as the alcalde said.

The change was made in the latter part of
January, 1847, but it was some time before the
new name was generally adopted.

The California Star, Sam Brannan's paper,
which had begun to shine January 9, 1847, m
its issue of March 20, alluding to the change,
says: "We acquiesce in it, though we prefer
the old name. When the change was first at-
tempted we viewed it as a mere assumption of
authority, without law of precedent, and there-

fore we adhered to the old name — Yerba
Buena."

"It was asserted by the late alcalde, Washing-
ton Bartlett, that the place was called San
Francisco in some old Spanish paper which he
professed to have in his possession; but how
could we believe a man even about that which
it is said 'there is nothing in it,' who had so
often evinced a total disregard for his own honor
and character and the honor of the country
which gave him birth and the rights of his fel-
low citizens in the district?" Evidently the edi-
tor had a grievance and was anxious to get even
with the alcalde. Bartlett demanded an inves-
tigation of some charges made against his ad-
ministration. He was cleared of all blame. He
deserves the thanks of all Californians in sum-
marily suppressing Yerba Buena and preventing
it from being fastened on the chief city of the
state.

There was at that time (on paper) a city of
Francisca. The city fathers of this budding me-
tropolis were T. O. Larkin and Robert Semple.
In a half-column advertisement in the Califor-
nian of April 20, 1847. and several subsequent
issues, headed "Great Sale of City Lots," they set
forth the many advantages and merits of
Francisca. The streets are eighty feet wide, the
alleys twenty feet wide, and the lots fifty yards
front and forty yards back. The whole city
comprises five square miles."

"Francisca is situated on the Straits of Car-
quinez, on the north side of the Hay of San
Francisco, about thirty miles from the mouth
of the bay and at the head of ship navigation.
In front of the city is a commodious bay, large
enough for two hundred ships to ride at anchor,
safe from any wind." "The entire

trade of the great Sacramento and San Joaquin
valleys, a fertile country of great width and near
seven hundred miles long from north to south,
must of necessity pass through the narrow chan-
nel of Carquinez and the bay and country is
so situated that even- person who passes from
one side of the bay to the other will find the
nearest and best w.v ' Francisca,

with its manifold natural advantages, ought to
have been a great city, the of Cali-

fornia, but the Fates were ; \!calde

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Bartlett, probably without any design of doing
so, dealt it a fearful blow when he dubbed the
town of the good herb, San Francisco. Two
cities with names so nearly alike could not live
and thrive in the same state. Francisca became
Benicia. The population of San Francisco (or
Verba Buena, as it was then called) at the time
that Captain Montgomery raised the stars and
stripes and took possession of it probably did
not exceed two hundred. Its change of masters
accelerated its growth. The Calif ornian of Sep-
tember 4, 1847 (fourteen months after it came
under the flag of the United States), gives the
following statistics of its population ami prog-
ress: Total white male population, 247; female,
123; Indians, male, 26; female, 8; South Sea
Islanders, male, 39; female 1; negroes, male,
9; female 1; total population, 454.

Nearly every country on the globe had repre-
sentatives in its population, and the various vo-
cations by which men earn a living were
well represented. Minister, one; doctors, three;
lawyers, three; surveyors, two; agriculturists,
eleven; bakers, seven: blacksmiths, six; brew-
er, one; butchers, seven; cabinetmakers, two;
carpenters, twenty-six; cigarmaker, one; coop-
ers, three; clerks, thirteen; gardener, one;
grocers, five; gunsmiths, two; hotel-keepers,
three; laborers, twenty; masons, four; mer-
chants, eleven; miner, one; morocco case
maker, one; navigators (inland), six; navigator
(ocean), one; painter, one; printer, one; sol-
dier, one; shoemakers, four; silversmith, one;
tailors, four; tanners, two; watchmaker, one;
weaver, one. Previous to April 1, 1847, accord-
ing to the Californicn, there had been erected in
the town seventy-nine buildings, classified as
follows: Shanties, twenty-two; frame buildings,
thirty-one; adobe buildings, twenty-six. Since
April 1, seventy-eight buildings have been
erected, viz.: Shanties, twenty: frame buildings.
forty-seven; ad. .be buildings, eleven. "Within
five months last past," triumphantly adds the
editor of the Calif ornian, "as many buildings
have been built as were erected in all the pre-
vious years of the town's existence."

The town continued to grow with wonderful
rapidity throughout the year 1847, considering
that peace had not yel been declared and the

destiny of California was uncertain. According
1" a school census taken in March, 1848. by
the Board of Trustees, the population was:
Males, five hundred and seventy-five; females,
one hundred and seventy-seven; and "children
of age to attend school," sixty, a total of eight
hundred and twelve. Building kept pace with
the increase of population until the "gold fever"
became epidemic. Dr. Brooks, writing in his
diary May 17, says: "Walking through the town
to-day, I observed that laborers were employed
only upon about half a dozen of the fifty new
buildings which were in the course of being
run up."

The first survey of lots in the town had been
made by a Frenchman named Vioget. Xo
names had been given to the streets. This sur-
vey was made before the conquest. In 1847,
Jasper O'Farrell surveyed and platted the dis-
trict extending about half a mile in the different
directions from the plaza. The streets were
named, and, with a very few changes, still retain
the names then given. In September the coun-
cil appointed a committee to report upon the
building of a wharf. Jt was decided to con-
struct two wharves, one from the foot of Clay
street and the other from the foot of Broadway.
Money was appropriated to build them and they
had been extended some distance seaward when
the rush to the mines suspended operations.
After considerable agitation by the two news-
papers and canvassing for funds, the first school-
house was built. It was completed December
4, 1847, but, for lack of funds, or, as the Star
says, for lack of energy in the council, school
was not opened on the completion of the house.
In March the council appropriated $400 and
April 1, 1848, Thomas Douglas, a graduate of
Yale College, took charge of the school. San
Francisco was rapidly developing into a pro-
gressive American city. Unlike the older towns
.if California, it had but a small Mexican popu-
lation. Even had not gold been discovered, it
would have grown into a commercial city of con-
siderable size.

The first effect of the gold discovery and the
consequenl rush to the mines was to bring
everything to a standstill. As Kemble, of the
Star, puts it. it was "as if a curse had arrested

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

our onward course of enterprise; everything
wears a desolate and sombre look; everywhere
all is dull, monotonous, dead." The return of
the inhabitants in a few months and the influx
of new arrivals gave the town a boom in the
fall of 1848. Building was only limited by the
lack of material, and every kind of a makeshift
was resorted to to provide shelter against win-
ter rains. From the many attempts at describ-
ing the town at this stage of its development, I
select this from "Sights in the Gold Regions," a
book long since out of print. Its author, T. T.
Johnson, arrived at San Francisco April 1, 1849.
"Proceeding on our survey, we found the
streets, or, properly, the roads, laid out reg-
ularly, those parallel with the water being a
succession of terraces, and these ascending the
lulls or along their sides being in some instances
cut down ten or twelve feet below the surface.
Except a portion of the streets fronting upon
the cove, they are all of hard-beaten, sandy claw
as solid as if macadamized. About three hun-
dred houses, stores, shanties and sheds, with a
great many tents, composed the town at that
period. The houses were mostly built of rough
boards and unpainted ; brown cottons or calico
nailed against the beams and joists answered for
wall and ceiling of the better class of tenements.
With the exception of the brick warehouse of
Howard and Melius, the establishments of the
commercial houses of which we had heard so
much were inferior to the outhouses of the
country seats on the Hudson; and yet it would
puzzle the New York Exchange to produce
merchant princes of equal importance." ::
"We strolled among the tents in the outskirts
of the town. Here was 'confusion worse con-
founded,' chiefly among Mexicans, Peruvians
and Chilians. Every kind, size, color and shape
of tent pitched helter-skelter and in the most
awkward manner were stowed full of everything
under the sun."

In the first six months of 1849 fifteen thou-
sand souls were added to the population of San
Francisco; in the latter half of that year about
four thousand arrived every month by sea alone.
At first the immigrants were from Mexico,
Chile, Peru and the South American ports
orally; but early in the spring the American-;

began to arrive, coming by way of Panama and
Cape Horn, and later across the plains. Europe
sent its contingent by sea via Cape Horn ;. and
China, Australia and the Hawaiian Islands
added to the city's population an undesirable
element. A large majority of those who came
by sea made their way to the mines, but many-
soon returned to San Francisco, some to take
their departure for home, others to become resi-
dents. At the end of the year San Francisco
had a population of twenty-live thousand. The
following graphic description of life in San
Francisco in the fall of '49 and spring of '50 I take
from a paper, "Pioneer Days in San Francisco,"
written by John Williamson Palmer, and pub-
lished in the Century Magazine (1890): "And
how did they all live? In frame houses of one
story, more commonly in board shanties and
canvas tents, pitched in the midst of sand or
mud and various rubbish and strange filth and
fleas; and they slept on rude cots or on soft
planks, under horse blankets, on tables, coun-
ters, floors, on trucks in the open air, in bunks
braced against the weather-boarding, forty of
them in one loft; and so they tossed and
scratched and swore and laughed and sang and
skylarked, those who were not tired or drunk
enough to sleep. And in the working hours
they bustled, and jostled, and tugged, and
sweated, and made money, always made money.
They labored and they lugged; they worked on
lighters, drove trucks, packed mules, rang bells,
carried messages, 'waited' in restaurants,
"marked" for billiard tallies, served drinks in
bar rooms, "faked' on the plaza, "cried" at auc-
tions, toted lumber for houses, ran a game of
faro or roulette in the El Dorado or the Bella
Union, or manipulated three-card monte on
the head of a barrel in front of the Parker
House; they speculated, and. a- a rule, gam-
bled.

"Clerks in stores and offices had munificent
salaries. Five dollars a da) was aboul the small-
est stipend even in the custom house, and one
Baptist preacher was paid $10,000 a year. La-
borers received $1 an hour; a pick or a shovel
was worth $10; a tin pan or a wooden bowl
$5, and a butcher knife $30. At one time car-
penters who were getting $12 a day struck

ISO

[1ST iRIC \L AND BK iGRAPHICAL REi i iR] >.

[or $16. Lumber rose to $500 per thou-
sand feet, and every brick in a house cost
a dollar one way or another. Wheat, flour
and salt pork sold at $40 a barrel; a small
loaf of bread was fifty cents and a hard-boiled
egg a dollar. You paid $3 to get into the cir-
cus and $55 for a private box at the theater.
Forty dollars was the price for ordinary coarse
lux us, and a pair that came above the knees
and would carry you gallantly through the quag-
mires brought a round hundred. When a shirt
became very dirty the wearer threw it away and
bought a new one. Washing cost $15 a dozen
in 1849.

"Rents were simply monstrous; $3,000 a
month in advance for a 'store' hurriedly built of
rough, boards. Wright & Co. paid $75,000 for
the wretched little place on the corner of the
plaza that they called the Miners' Bank, and
$36,000 was asked for the use of the i )ld Adobe
as a custom-house. The Parker House paid
$120,000 a year in rents, nearly one-half of that
amount being collected from gamblers who held
the second floor; and the canvas tent next door
used a^ a gambling saloon, and called the El
Dorado, was good for $40,000 a year. From
10 to 15 per cent a month was paid in advance
for the use of money borrowed on substantial
security. The prices of real estate went up
among the stars; $8,000 for a lifty-vara lot that
had been boughl in [849 for $20. A lot pur-
1 hased two years before for a barrel of aguar-
diente sold for $18,000. Yet, for all that, every-
body made money.

•'Tin- aspeel of tin- streets of San Francisco al
this time was such as one may imagine of an
unsightl sand ami mud churned by

ontinual grinding of heavy wagons and
trucks and the tugging and floundering of
mules .Mid oxen; thoroughfares irregu-
lar and uneven, ungraded, unpaved, unplanked.
obstructed by lumber and goods, alternate
humps and holes, the actual dumping places of
.An, hand)- receptacles For the general
sweepings ami rubbish and indescribable offal
and filth, the refusi oi an indiscriminate popu-
ng' t' igether in shanties and tents.

\nd these conditions extended beyond the
"'in into die chaparral and under-

brush that covered the sand hills on the north
and west.

"The flooding rains of winter transformed
what should have been thoroughfares into
treacherous quagmires set with holes and traps
fit to smother horse and man. Loads of brush-
wood and branches of trees cut from the hills
were thrown into these swamps; but they served
no more than a temporary purpose and the in-
mates of tents and houses made such bridges
and crossings as they could with boards, boxes
and barrels. Men waded through the slough
and thought themselves lucky when they sank
no deeper than their waists."

It is said that two horses mired down in the
mud of Montgomery street were left to die of
starvation, and that three drunken men were
suffocated between Washington and Jackson
streets. It was during the winter of '49 that the
famous sidewalk of flour sacks, cooking stoves
and tobacco boxes was built. It extended from
Simmons. Hutchinson & Co.'s store to Adams
Express office, a distance of about seventy-five
yards. The first portion was built of Chilean
flour in one hundred pound sacks, next came the
cooking stoves in a long row, and then followed
a double row of tobacco boxes of large size,
and a yawning gap of the walk was bridged by
a piano. Chile flour, cooking stoves, tobacco
and pianos were cheaper material for building-
walks, owing to the excessive supply of these,
than lumber at $600 a thousand.

In the summer of '49 there were more than
three hundred sailing vessels lying in the harbor
of San Francisco, from which the sailors had
deserted to go to the mines. Some of these ves-
sels rotted where they were moored. Some
were hauled up in the sand or mud flats ami
used for store houses, lodging houses and sa-
loons. As the water lots were filled in and built
upon, these ships sometimes formed pari of
tin- line of buildings on the street. The brig
! uphemia was the first jail owned by the city;
the store ship \poll.. was converted into a
lodging house and saloon, anil the X'iantie Hotel

at the e. niier of Sansoiiie and ( l.n streets «,is
built on the hull of the ship Xiantie. As the
wharves were extended out into the bay the
space between was tilled in from the sand hills

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and houses built along the wharves. In this
way the cove was gradually filled in. The high
price of lumber and the great scarcity of houses
brought about the importation from New York,
Boston, Philadelphia and London of houses
ready framed to set up. For a time im-
mense profits were made in this, but an ex-
cessive shipment like that of the articles of
which the famous sidewalk was made brought
down the price below cost, and the business
ceased.

The first of the great fires that devastated San
Francisco occurred on Christmas eve, 1849. It
started in Denison's Exchange, a gambling
house on the east side of the plaza. It burned
the greater part of the block between Wash-
ington and Clay streets and Kearny and Mont-
gomery streets. The loss was estimated at a
million and a quarter dollars. The second great
fire occurred on May 4, 1850. It burned over
the three blocks between Montgomery and
Dupont streets, bounded by Jackson and Clay
streets, and the north and east sides of Ports-
mouth square. The loss was estimated at
$4,000,000. It started in the United States Ex-
change, a gambling den, at four o'clock in the
morning, and burned for seven hours. The fire
was believed to be of incendiary origin and sev-
eral suspicious characters were arrested, but
nothing could be proved against them. A num-
ber of the lookers-on refused to assist in arrest-
ing the progress of the flames unless paid for
their labor ; and $3 an hour was demanded and
paid to some who did.

On the 14th of June, 1850, a fire broke out in
the Sacramento House, on the east side of Kear-
ny street, between Clay and Sacramento. The
entire district from Kearny street between Clay
and California to the water front was burned
over, causing a loss of $3,000,000. Over three
hundred houses were destroyed. The fourth
great fire of the fateful 'year of 1850 occurred
September 17. It started on Jackson street and
destroyed the greater part of the blocks be-
tween Dupont and Montgomery streets from
Washington to Pacific streets. The loss in this
was not so great from the fact that the district
contained mostly one-story houses. It was esti-
mated at half a million dollars. December l_|

of the same year a fire occurred on Sacramento
street below Montgomery. Although the dis-
trict burned over was not extensive, the loss
was heavy. The buildings were of corrugated
iron, supposed to be fireproof, and were filled
with valuable merchandise. The loss amounted
to $1,000,000. After each fire, building was re-
sumed almost before the embers of the fire that
consumed the former buildings were extin-
guished. After each fire better buildings were
constructed. A period of six months' exemp-
tion had encouraged the inhabitants of the fire-
afflicted city to believe that on account of the
better class of buildings constructed the danger
of great conflagrations was past, but the worst
was yet to come. At 11 p. m. May 3, 1851, a
fire, started by incendiaries, broke out on the
south side of the plaza. A strong northwest
wind swept across Kearny street in broad
sheets of flame, first southeastward, then, the
wind changing, the flames veered to the north
and east. All efforts to arrest them were use-
less; houses were blown up and torn down in
attempts to cut off communication, but the en-
gines were driven back step by step, while some
of the brave firemen fell victims to the fire fiend.
The flames, rising aloft in whirling volumes,
swept away the frame houses and crumbled up
with intense heat the supposed fireproof struc-
tures. After ten hours, when, the fire abated for
want of material to burn, all that remained of
the city were the sparsely settled outskirts. All
of the business district between Pine and Pa-
cific streets, from Kearny to the Battery on
the water front, was in ruins. Over one thou-
sand houses had been burned. The loss of prop-
erty was estimated at $10,000,000, an amount
greater than the aggregate of all the preceding
fires. A number of lives were lust. During the
progress of the fire large quantities of goods
were stolen by bands of thieves. The sixth and
last of the great conflagrations that dev;
the city occurred on the 22d of June. [851. The
fire started in a building on Powell street and
ravaged the district between Cla) andBroadway,
from Powell to Sansome Foui hundred and
fifty houses were burned, involving a loss of
$2,500,000. An inn- department,

more stringent building regulations and a bet-

182

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ter water supply combined to put an end to the
era of great fires.

After the great fires of 1851 had swept over
the city there was practically nothing left of
the old metropolis of the early gold rush. The
hastily constructed wooden shanties were gone;
the corrugated iron building imported from
Xew York and London, and warranted to be
fireproof, had proved to be worthless to with-
stand great heat; the historic buildings had dis-
appeared; the new city that. Phcenix-like, arose
from the ashes of the old was a very different
city from its predecessor that had been wiped
from the earth by successive conflagrations.
Stone and brick buildings covered the former
site of wooden structures. The unsightly mud
flats between the wharves were filled in from the
sand hills and some of the streets paved. The
year 1853 was memorable for the rapid progress
of the city. Assessed property values increased
from $18,000,000 to $28,000,000. Real estate
values went soaring upward and the city was on
the high tide of prosperity; but a reaction came
in 1855. The rush to the mines had ceased, im-
migration had fallen off, and men had begun to
retrench and settle down to steady business
habits. Hume productions had replaced im-
ports, and the people were abandoning mining
for farms. The transition from gold mining to
grain growing had begun. All these affected
the city and real estate declined. Lots that sold
fur SS.ooo to $10,000 in 1853 could be bought
for half that amount in 1855. Out of one thou-
sand business houses, three hundred were va-
cant. Another influence that helped to bring
about a depression was the growing political

corruption and the increased taxation from pec-
ulations of dishonest officials.

The defalcations and forgeries of Harry
Meigs, which occurred in 1854, were a terrible
blow to the city. Meigs was one of its most
trusted citizens. He was regarded as the em-
bodiment of integrity, the stern, incorruptible
man, the watch-dog of the treasury. By his
upright conduct he had earned the sobriquet of
Honest Harry Meigs. Over-speculation and
reaction from the boom of 1853 embarrassed
him. He forged a large amount of city scrip
and hypothecated it to raise money. His forger-
ies were suspected, but before the truth was
known he made his escape on the barque
America to Costa Rica and from there he made
his way to Peru. His forgeries amounted to
$1,500,000, of which $1,000,000 was in comp-
troller's warrants, to which he forged the names
of Mayor Garrison and Controller Harris. The
vigilance committee of 1856 cleared the political
atmosphere by clearing the city, by means of
hemp and deportation, of a number of bad
characters. The city was just beginning to re-
gain its former prosperity when the Frazer river
excitement brought about a temporary depres-
sion. The wild rush carried away about one-
sixth of its population. These all came back
again, poorer and perhaps wiser; at least, their
necessities compelled them to go to work and
weaned them somewhat of their extravagant
habits and their disinclination to work except for
the large returns of earlier days. Since 1857 the
growth of the city has been steady, unmarked
by real estate booms: nor has it been retarded
by long periods of financial depression.

CHAPTER XXVII.

CRIME, CRIMINALS AND VIGILANCE COMMITTEES.

THERE was hut little crime in California
anion- its white inhabitants during the
Spanish and Mexican eras <>f its history.
The conditions were not conducive to the de-
. nt of a criminal element. The inhabit-
ants were a pastoral people, pursuing an out-
door vocation, and there were no large towns
or cities where the viciously inclined could con-

gregate and find a place of refuge from justice.
"From 1819 to 1846. that is. during the entire
period of Mexican domination under the Repub-
lic," says Bancroft, "there were but six murders
among the whites in all California." There were
no lyuchings, no mobs, unless some of the rev-
olutionary uprisings might be called such, and
hut one vigilance committee.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

San Francisco is credited with the origin of
that form of popular tribunal known as the vigi-
lance committee. The name "vigilance com-
mittee" originated with the uprising, in 1851, of
the people of that city against the criminal cle-
ment; but, years before there was a city of San
Francisco, Los Angeles had originated a tri-
bunal of the people, had taken criminals from
the lawfully constituted authorities and had tried
and executed them. The causes which called
into existence the first vigilance committee in
California were similar to those that created the
later ones, namely, laxity in the administration
of the laws and distrust in the integrity of
those chosen to administer them. During the
"decade of revolutions," that is, between 1830
and 1840, the frequent change of rulers and the
struggles of the different factions for power en-
gendered in the masses a disregard, not only
for their rulers, but for law and order as well.
Criminals escaped punishment through the
law's delays. Xo court in California had power
to pass sentence of death on a civilian until its
findings had been approved by the superior tri-
bunal of Mexico. In the slow and tedious proc-
esses of the different courts, a criminal stood a
good show of dying of old age before his case
reached final adjudication. The first committee
of vigilance in California was organized at Los
Angeles, in the house of Juan Temple. April 7,
1836. It was called "Junta Defensora de La
Seguridad Publica," United Defenders of the
Public Security (or safety). Its motto, which ap-
pears in the heading of its "acta," and is there
credited as a quotation from Montesquieu's Ex-
position of the Laws, Book 26, Chapter 23, was,
"Salus populi suprema lex est" (The safely of
the people is the supreme law). There is a
marked similarity between the proceedings of
the Junta Defensora of 1836 and the San Fran-
cisco vigilance committee of 1856: it is not
probable, however, that any of the actors in the
latter committee participated in the former.
Although there is quite a full account of the
proceedings of the Junta Defensora in the Los
Angeles city archives, no historian heretofore
except Bancroft seems to have found it.

The circumstances which brought about the
organization of the lunta Defensora are as fol-

lows: The wife of Domingo Feliz (part owner
of the Los Feliz Rancho), who bore the poet-
ical name of Maria del Rosario Villa, became
infatuated with a handsome but disreputable
Sonorau vaquero, Gervacio Alispaz by name.
She abandoned her husband and lived with Alis-
paz as his mistress at San Gabriel. Feliz sought
to reclaim his erring wife, but was met by in-
sults and abuse from her paramour, whom he
once wounded in a personal altercation. Feliz
finally invoked the aid of the authorities. The
woman was arrested and brought to town. A
reconciliation was effected between the husband
and wife. Two days later they left town for the
rancho, both riding one horse. On the way
they were met by Alispaz, and in a personal en-
counter Feliz was stabbed to death by the wife's
paramour. The body was dragged into a ra-
vine and covered with brush and leaves. Next
day, March 29, the body was found and brought
to the city. The murderer and the woman were
arrested and imprisoned. The people were filled
with horror and indignation, and there were
threats of summary vengeance, but better coun-
sel prevailed.

On the 30th the funeral of Feliz took place,
and, like that of James King of William, twenty
years later, was the occasion for the renewal of
the outcry for vengeance. The attitude of the
people became so threatening that on the 1st
of April an extraordinary session of the avun-
tamiento was held. A call was made upon the
citizens to form an organization to preserve the
peace. A considerable number responded and
were formed into military patrols under the
command of Don Juan P.. Leandry. The illus-
trious ayuntamiento resolved "that win mi
shall disturb the public tranquillit) shall be pun-
ished according to law." The excitement ap-
parentl) died out. bul it was only the calm that
precedes tin- storm. The beginning of the
Easter ceremonies was at hand, and it was
deemed a sacrilege to execute the assassins in
hoi) week, so all further attempts at punishment
vere deferred until April 7. the Monday after
Easter, when at dawn. 1>\ previous undei
ing. a number of the better class of citizens met
at the house of Juan Temple, which stood on
the present site of the Downey Block. An or-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ganization was effected. Victor Prudon, a na-
tive of Breton, France, but a naturalized citizen
of ( alifornia, was elected president; Manuel
Arzaga, a native of California, was elected sec-
retary, and Francisco Araujo, a retired army
. was placed in command of the armed
force. Speeches were made by Prudon, and by
the military commandant and others, setting
forth the necessity of their organization and jus-
tifying their actions. It was unanimously de-
cided that both the man and the woman should
be shot; their guilt being evident, no trial was
deemed necessary.

An address to the authorities and the people
was formulated. A copy of this is preserved in
the city archives. It abounds in metaphors.
It is too long for insertion here. I make a few
extracts: " : :: Believing that immorality

has reached such an extreme that public secur-
ity is menaced and will be lost if the dike of a
solemn example is not opposed to the torrent
of atrocious perfidy, we demand of you that you
execute or deliver to us for immediate execution
the assassin, Gervacio Alispaz, ami the unfaith-
ful Maria del Rosario Villa, his accomplice.
'" * * Nature trembles at the sight of these
venomous reptiles and the soil turns barren in
its refusal to support their detestable existence.
Let the infernal pair perish! It is the will of the
people. We will not lay down our arms until our
petition is granted and the murderers are exe-
cuted. The proof of their guilt is so clear that
justice needs no investigation. Public vengeance
demands an example and it must be given. The
blood of the Alvarez, of the Patinos, of the
Jenkins, is not yet cold — they, too, being the
unfortunate victims of the brutal passions of
their murderers. Their bloody ghosts shriek
for vengeance. Their terrible voices re-echo
from their graves. The afflicted widow, the for-
saken orphan, the aged father, the brother in
mourning, the inconsolable mother, the public
— all demand speed)- punishment of the guilty.
We -wear that outraged justice shall be avenged
to-day or we shall die in the attempt. The blood
- if ill.' mui di i it shall he sh< d to da) or ours
will be to the last drop. It will be published
the world that judges in Los An-
geles tolerate murderers, but that there are

virtuous citizens who sacrifice their lives in
order to preserve those of their countrymen."

"A committee will deliver to the First Consti-
tutional Alcalde a copy of these resolutions,
that he may decide whatever he finds most con-
venient, and one hour's time will be given him
in which to do so. If in that time no answer has
been received, then the judge will be responsible
before God and man for what will follow. Death
to the murderers!

"God and liberty. Angeles. April 7, 1836."

Fifty-five signatures are attached to this doc-
ument; fourteen of these are those of natural-
ized foreigners and the remainder those of na-
tive Californians. The junta was made up of
the best citizens, native and foreign. An extraor-
dinary session of the ayuntamiento was called.
The members of the junta, fully armed, marched
to the city hall to await the decision of the
authorities. The petition was discussed in the
council, and, in the language of the archives:
"This Illustrious Body decided to call said
Breton Prudon to appear before it and to com-
pel him to retire with the armed citizens so that
this Illustrious Body may deliberate at liberty."

"This was done, but he declined to appear
before this body, as he and the armed citizens
were determined to obtain Gervacio Alispaz and
Maria del Rosario Villa. The ayuntamiento
decided that as it had not sufficient force to
compel the armed citizens to disband, they
being in large numbers and composed of the
best and most respectable men of the town, to
send an answer saying that the judges could
not accede to the demand of the armed citi-
zens."

The members of the Junta Defensora then
marched in a body to the jail and demanded the
keys of the guard. These were refused. The
keys were secured by force and Gervacio Alispaz
taken out and shot. The following demand was
then sent to the first alcalde, Manuel Requena:

"It is absolutely necessary that you deliver
to this junta the key of the apartment where
Maria del Rosario Villa is kept.

"God and libertj

"Victor Prudon, President.
"Manuel Arzaga. Secretarv."

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ls.-

To this the alcaide replied: "Maria del Rosa-
rio Villa is incarcerated at a private dwelling,
whose owner has the key, with instructions not
to deliver the same to any one. The prisoner is
left there at the disposition of the law only.

"God and liberty.

"Manuel Requena, Alcalde."

The key was obtained. The wretched Maria
was taken to the place of execution on a car-
reta and shot. The bodies of the guilty pair
were brought back to the jail and the following
communication sent to the alcalde:

"Junta of the Defenders of Public Safety.

"To the i st Constitutional Alcalde:
"The dead bodies of Gervacio Alispaz and
Maria del Rosario Villa are at your disposal.
We also forward you the jail keys that you may
deliver them to whomsoever is on guard. In
case you are in need of men to serve as guards,
we are all at your disposal.

"God and liberty. Angeles, April 7, 1836.
"Victor Prudon, Pres.
"Manuel Arzaga, Sec."

A few days later the Junta Defensora de La
Seguridad Publica disbanded: and so ended the
only instance in the seventy-five years of Span-
ish and Mexican rule in California, of the people,
by popular tribunal, taking the administration of
justice out of the hands of the legally consti-
tuted authorities.

The tales of the fabulous richness of the gold
fields of California were quickly spread through-
out the world and drew to the territory all
classes and conditions of men, the bad as well
as the good, the vicious as well as the virtuous;
the indolent, the profligate and the criminal
came to prey upon the industrious. These con-
glomerate elements of society found the Land
of Gold practically without law, and the vicious
among them were not long in making it a land
without order. With that inherent trait, which
makes the Anglo-Saxon wherever he may be
an organizer, the American element of the gold
seekers soon adjusted a form of government to
suit the exigencies of the land and the people.
There may have been too much lynching, too
much vigilance committee in it and too little

respect for lawfully constituted authorities, but
it was effective and was suited to the social
conditions existing.

In 1851 the criminal element became so dom-
inant as to seriously threaten the existence of
the chief city, San Francisco. Terrible conflagra-
tions had swept over the city in May and June
of that year and destroyed the greater part of
the business portion. The fires were known to
be of incendiary origin. The bold and defiant
attitude of the vicious classes led to the or-
ganization by the better element, of that form
of popular tribunal called a committee of vigi-
lance. The law abiding element among the cit-
izens disregarding the legally constituted
authorities, who were either too weak or too
corrupt to control the law-defying, took the
power in their own hands, organized a vigilance
committee and tried and executed by hanging
four notorious criminals, namely: Jenkins,
Stuart, Whitaker and McKenzie.

During the proceedings of the vigilance com-
mittee a case of mistaken identity came near
costing an innocent man his life. About 8
o'clock in the evening of February 18, two men
entered the store of a Mr. Jansen on Mont-
gomery street and asked to see some blankets.
As the merchant stooped to get the blankets
one of the men struck him with a sling shot and
both of them beat him into insensibility. They
then opened his desk and carried away all the
gold they could find, about $2,000. The police
arrested two men on suspicion of being the rob-
bers. One of the men was identified as James
Stuart, a noted criminal, who had murdered
Sheriff Moore at Auburn. He gave the name of
Thomas Burdue, but this was believed to be one
of Stuart's numerous aliases. The men were
identified by Mr. Jansen as his assailants. They
were put on trial. When the court adjourned
over to the next day a determined effort was
made by the crowd to seize the men and hang
them. The_\' were finally taken out of the hands
of the officers and given a trial by a jury selected
by a committee of citizens. The jury failed to
agree, three of the jury being convinced that
the men were nol Jansen's assailants. Then the
mob made a rush to hang tlu- jury, but were
kept back by a show of revolvers. The prison-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ers were turned over to the court. One of
them, Wildred, broke jail and escaped. Burdue
was tried, convicted and sentenced to fourteen
years' imprisonment. Before the sentence of
the court was executed he was taken to Marys-
villc and arraigned for the murder of Sheriff
Moore. A number of witnesses swore positively
that the man was Stuart; others swore even more
positively that he was not. A close examination
revealed that the prisoner bore every distin-
guishing mark on his person by which Stuart
could be identified. He was convicted and sen-
tenced to be hanged in thirty days. In the mean-
time the vigilance committee of 1856 was or-
ganized and the real Stuart accidentally fell into
the hands of the vigilantes at San Francisco.
He was arrested for a theft he had not com-
mitted and recognized by one of the committee's
guards that he had formerly employed in the
mines. By adroit questioning he was forced to
confess that he was the real Stuart, the murderer
of Sheriff Moore and the assailant of Jansen.
His confederate in the robbery was Whitaker,
one of the four hanged by the committee. Bur-
due was finally released, after having twice
stood under the shadow- of the gallows for the
crimes of his double. The confessions of Stuart
and Whitaker implicated a number of their pals.
Some of these were convicted and sent to prison
and others fled the country; about thirty were
banished. Nearly all of the criminals were ex-
convicts from Australia and Tasmania.

The vigorous measures adopted by the com-
mittee purified the city of the vicious class that
had preyed upon it. Several of the smaller
towns and some of the mining camps organized
vigilance committees and a number of the
knaves who had (led from San Francisco met a
deserved fate in other places.

In the early '50s the better elements of San
Francisco's population were so engrossed in
business that they had no time to spare to look
after its political affairs; and its government
gradually drifted into the hands of vicious and
corrupt men. Many of the city authorities had
obtained their offices by fraud and ballot stuf-
fing and "instead of protecting the community
against scoundrels they protected tin- scoundrels
against the community." James King of Will

iam, an ex-banker and a man of great courage
and persistence, started a small paper called
the Daily Evening Bulletin. He vigorously as-
sailed the criminal elements and the city and
county officials. His denunciations aroused pub-
lic sentiment. The murder of United States
.Marshal Richardson by a gambler named Cora
still further inflamed the public mind. It was
feared that by the connivance of some of the
corrupt county officials Cora would escape pun-
ishment. His trial resulted in a hung jury.
There was a suspicion that some of the jury-
men were bribed. King continued through the
Bulletin to hurl his most bitter invectives against
the. corrupt officials. They determined to silence
him. He published the fact that James Casey,
a supervisor from the twelfth ward, was an ex-
convict of Sing Sing prison. Casey waylaid
King at the corner of Montgomery and Wash-
ington streets and in a cowardly manner shot
him down. The shooting occurred on the 14th
of May, 1856. Casey immediately surrendered
himself to a deputy sheriff, Lafayete M. Byrne,
who was near. King was not killed, but an ex-
amination of the wound by the physicians de-
cided that there was no hopes of his recovery.
Casey was conducted to the city prison and as
a mob began to gather, for greater safety he
was taken to the county jail. A crowd pursued
him crying, "Hang him," "kill him." At the
jail the mob was stopped by an array of deputy-
sheriffs, police officers and a number of Casey's
friends, all armed. The excitement spread
throughout the city. The old vigilance com-
mittee of 185 1, or rather a new organization out
of the remnant of the old. was formed. Five
thousand men were enrolled in a few days.
Arms were procured and headquarters estab-
lished on Sacramento street between Davis and
Front. The men were divided into companies.
William T. Coleman, chairman of the vigilance
committee of 1851, was made president or No. 1,
and [saac Bluxome, Jr., the secretary, was No.
33. Each man was known by number. Charles
Doane was elected chief marshal of the military

divisii 'II.

The San Francisco Herald (edited by John
Nugent), then the leading paper of the city, came
out with a scathing editorial denouncing the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL - RECORD.

ls7

vigilance committee. The merchants at once
withdrew their advertising patronage. Next
morning the paper appeared reduced from forty
columns to a single page, but still hostile to the
committee. It finally died for want of patron-
age.

On Sunday, May 18, 1856, the military di-
vision was ready to storm the jail if necessary to
obtain possession of the prisoners, Casey and
Cora. The different companies, marching from
their headquarters by certain prescribed routes,
all reached the jail at the same time and com-
pletely invested it. They had with them two
pieces of artillery. One of these guns was
planted so as to command the door of the jail.
There were fifteen hundred vigilantes under
arms. A demand was made on Sheriff Scannell
for the prisoners, Cora and Casey. The prison
guard made no resistance, the prisoners were
surrendered and taken at once to the vigilantes'
headquarters.

On the 20th of May the murderers were put
on trial; while the trial was in progress the
death of King was announced. Both men were
convicted and sentenced to be hanged. King's
funeral, the largest and most imposing ever seen
in San Francisco, took place on the 23d. While
the funeral cortege was passing through the
streets Casey and Cora were hanged in front of
the windows of the vigilance headquarters.
About an hour before his execution Cora was
married to a notorious courtesan, Arabella
Ryan, but commonly called Belle Cora. A
Catholic priest, Father Accolti, performed the
ceremony.

Governor J. Xeely Johnson, who at first
seemed inclined not to interfere with the vig-
ilantes, afterwards acting under the advice of
David S. Terry, Yolney E. Howard and others
of dominant pro-slavery faction, issued a proc-
lamation commanding the committee to disband,
to which no attention was paid. The governor
then appointed William T. Sherman major-gen-
eral. Sherman called for recruits to suppress
the uprising. Seventy-five or a hundred, mostly
gamblers, responded to his call. General Wool,
in command of the troops in the department of
the Pacific, refused to loan Governor Johnson
arms to equip his "law and order" recruits and

General Sherman resigned. Yolney E. Howard
was then appointed major-general. His princi-
pal military service consisted in proclaiming
what he would do to the "pork merchants" who
constituted the committee. "He did nothing ex-
cept to bluster. A squad of the vigilance po-
lice attempted to arrest a man named Maloney.
Maloney was at the time in the company of
David S. Terry (then chief justice of the state)
and several other members of the "law and or-
der" party. They resisted the police and in the
melee Terry stabbed the sergeant of the squad,
Sterling A. Hopkins, and then he and his as-
sociates made their escape to the armory of the
San Francisco Blues, one of their strongholds.

When the report of the stabbing reached
headquarters the great bell sounded the alarm
and the vigilantes in a very brief space of time
surrounded the armory building and had their
cannon planted to batter ft down. Terrv, Ma-
loney, and the others of their party in the build-
ing, considering discretion the better part of
valor, surrendered and were at once taken to
Fort Gunnybags," the vigilantes' headquarters.
The arms of the "law and order" party at their
various rendezvous were surrendered to the vig-
ilantes and the companies disbanded.

Terry was closely confined in a cell at the
headquarters of the committee; Hopkins, after
lingering some time between life and death,
finally recovered. Terry was tried for assault
on Hopkins and upon several other persons, was
found guilty, but, after being held as a prisoner
for some time, was finally released. He at once
joined Johnson and Howard at Sacramento,
where he felt much safer than in San Francisco.
He gave the vigilantes no more trouble.

On the 29th of July, Hethrington and Brace
were hanged from a gallows erected on Davis
street, between Sacramento and Commercial.
Both of these men had committed murder.
These were the last executions by the commit-
tee. The committee transported from the state
thirty disreputable characters and a number de-
ported themselves. A few, and among them the

*The vigilantes built around the building which they
used for headquarters a breastwork made "i" gunny-
sacks filled with sand. Cannon were planted at the

corners of the redout,

US8

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAI'HICAL RECORD.

notorious Ned McGowan, managed to keep con-
cealed until the storm was over. A few of the
expatriated returned after the committee dis-
solved and brought suit for damages, but failed
to recover anything. The committee had paid
the fare of the exiles. It was only the high
toned rascals who were given a cabin passage
that brought the suits. The committee finished
its labors and dissolved with a grand parade on
the i8th of August (.1856). It did a good work.
For several years after, San Francisco from be-
ing one of the worst, became one of the best
governed cities in the L'nited States. The com-
mittee was made up of men from the northern
and western states. The so-called "law and
order" party was mostly composed of the pro-
slavery office-holding faction that ruled the state
at that time.

When the vigilance committees between 1851
and 1856 drove disreputable characters from
San Francisco and the northern mines, many of
them drifted southward ami found a lodgment
for a time in the southern cities and towns. Los
Angeles was not far from the Mexican line, and
any one who desired to escape from justice,
fleet mounted, could speedily put himself be-
yond the reach of his pursuers. All these
causes and influences combined to produce a
saturnalia of crime that disgraced that city in
the early '50s.

Gen. J. II. Bean, a prominent citizen of
Southern California, while returning to Los An-
geles from his place of business at San Gabriel
late "lie evening in November, 1852, was at-
tacked by two men, who had been lying in wait
For him. One seized the bridle of his horse and
jerked the animal back on his haunches; the
1 itln r seized the general and pulled him from the
saddle. Bean made a desperate resistance, but
was overpowered and stabbed l<> death. The
assassination of General Bean resulted in the
organization of a vigilance committee and an
effort was made to rid the country of desper-
adoes. A number of arrests were made. Three
ts were tried by the committee for various
crimes. One, Cipiano Sandoval, a poor cob-
bler of San Gabriel, was charged with complicity
if the murder 1 if I leneral Bean. 1 le strenuously

d that h

other two, were sentenced to be hanged. On
the following Sunday morning the doomed men
were conducted to the top of Fort Hill, where
the gallows stood. Sandoval made a* brief
speech, again declaring his innocence. The
others awaited their doom in silence. The trap
fell and all were launched into eternity. Years
afterward one of the real murderers on his
deathbed revealed the truth and confessed his
part in the crime. The poor cobbler was inno-
cent.

In 1854 drunkenness, gambling, murder and
all forms of immorality and crime were ram-
pant in Los Angeles. The violent deaths, it is
said, averaged one for every day in the year. It
was a common question at the breakfast table,
"Well, how many were killed last night?" Little
or no attention was paid to the killing of an
Indian or a half breed; it was only when a gente
de razon was the victim that the community was
aroused to action.

The Kern river gold rush, in the winter of
1854-55, brought from the northern mines fresh
relays of gamblers and desperadoes and crime
increased. The Southern Califomian of March
7, 1855, commenting on the general lawlessness
prevailing, says: "Last Sunday night was a
brisk night for killing. Four men were shot
and killed and several wounded in shooting af-
frays."

A worthless fellow by the name of David
Brown, who had, without provocation, killed a
companion named Clifford, was tried and sen-
tenced to be hanged with one Felipe Alvitre, a
Mexican, who had murdered an American
named Ellington, at El Monte. There was a
feeling among the people that Brown, through
quibbles of law, would escape the death penalty,
and there was talk of lynching. Stephen C.
Foster, the mayor, promised that if justice was
not legally meted out to Brown by the law. then
he would resign his office and head the lynching
party. January 10, 1855, an order was received
from Judge Murray, of the supreme court, stay-
ing the execution of Brown, but leaving Alvitre
to his fate. January 12 Alvitre was hanged by
tlie sheriff in the jail yard in the presence of an
immense crowd. The gallows were taken down
and the guards dismissed. 'Idle crowd gathered

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

189

outside the jail yard. Speeches were made.
The mayor resigned his office and headed the
mob. The doors of the jail were broken down;
Brown was taken across Spring street to a
large gateway opening into a corral and hanged
from the crossbeam. Foster was re-elected by
an almost unanimous vote at a special election.
The city marshal, who had opposed the action
of the vigilantes, was compelled to resign.

During 1855 and 1856 lawlessness increased.
There was an organized band of about one hun-
dred Mexicans, who patroled the highways,
robbing and murdering. They threatened the
extermination of the Americans anil there were
fears of a race war, for many who were not
members of the gang sympathized with them.
In 1856 a vigilance committee was organized
with Myron Norton as president and II. N.
Alexander as secretary. A number of dis-
reputable characters were forced to leave town.
The banditti, under their leaders, Pancho Dan-
iel and Juan Flores, were plundering and com-
mitting outrages in the neighborhood of San
Juan Capistrano.

On the night of January 22, 1857, Sheriff
James R. Barton left Los Angeles with a posse,
consisting of William II. Little, Charles K.
Baker, Charles F. Daley, Alfred Hardy and
Frank Alexander with the intention of captur-
ing some of the robbers. At Sepulveda's ranch
next morning the sheriff's party was warned that
the robbers were some fifty strong, well armed
and mounted, and would probably attack them.
Twelve miles further the sheriff and his men en-
countered a detachment of the banditti. A
short, sharp engagement took place. Barton,
Baker, Little and Daley were killed. Hard) and
Alexander made their escape by the fleetness
of their horses. When the news reached Los
Angeles the excitement became intense. A
public meeting was held to devise plans to rid
the community not only of the roving gang of
murderers, but also of the criminal classes in
the city, who were known to be in sympathy
with the banditti. All suspicious houses were
searched and some fifty persons arrested. Sev-
eral companies were organized; the infantry to
guard the city and the mounted men to scour
the country. Companies were also formed at

San Bernardino and El Monte, while the mil-
itary authorities at Fort Tejon and San Diego
despatched soldiers to aid in the good work of
exterminating crime and criminals.

The robbers were pursued into the mountains
and nearly all captured. Gen. Andres Pico,
with a company of native Californians, was most
efficient in the pursuit. He captured Silvas and
Ardillero, two of the most noted of the gang,
and hanged them where they were cap-
tured. Fifty-two were lodged in the city jail.
Of these, eleven were hanged for various crimes
and the remainder set free. Juan Flores, one
of the leaders, was condemned by popular vote
and on February 14, 1857, was hanged near the
top of Fort Hill in the presence of nearly the
entire population of the town. He was only
twenty-one years of age. Pancho Daniel, an-
other of the leaders, was captured on the loth
of January, 1858, near San Jose. He was found
by the sheriff, concealed in a haystack. After
his arrest he was part of the time in jail and part
of the time out on bail. He had been tried three
times, but through law quibbles had escaped
conviction. A change of venue to Santa Bar-
bara had been granted. The people determined
to take the law in their own hands. On the
morning of November 30, 1858. the bod) of
Pancho was hanging from a beam across the
gateway of the jail yard. Four of the banditti
were executed by the people of San Gabriel,
and Leonardo Lopez, under sentence of the
court, was hanged by the sheriff. The gang was
broken up and the moral atmosphere of Los
Angeles somewhat purified.

November 17, 1862, John Rains of Cuca-
monga ranch was murdered near Azusa. De-
cember 0. 1803, the sheriff was taking Manuel
Cerradel to San Quentin to serve a ten years'
sentence. When the sheriff went aboard the tug
boat Cricket at Wilmington, to proceed to the
Senator, quite a number of other persons took
passage. On the way down the harbor, the
prisoner was seized by the passengers, who
were vigilantes, and hanged to the rigging; after
hanging twenty minute- the body was taken
down, stones tied to the feet and it was thrown
overboard. Cerradel was implicated in the mur-
der of Rains.

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICA1 RECORD.

In the fall of 1863 lawlessness had again be-
come rampant in Los Angeles; one of the chiefs
of the criminal class was a desperado by the
name of Boston Daimwood. He was suspected
of the murder of a miner on the desert
and was loud in his threats against the lives
of various citizens. He and four other well-
known criminals, Wood, Chase, Ybarra and
Olivas, all of whom were either murder-
ers or horse thieves, were lodged in jail. On
the 21st of November two hundred armed
citizens battered down the doors of the jail,
took the five wretches out and hanged them to
the portico of the old court house on Spring
street, which stood on the present site of the
Phillips block.

On the 24th of October, 1871. occurred in
Los Angeles a most disgraceful affair, known
as the Chinese massacre. It grew out of one
of those interminable feuds between rival
tongs of highbinders, over a woman. Desul-
tory firing had been kept up between the rival
factions throughout the day. About 5:30 p. m.
Policeman Bilderrain visited the seat of war, an
old adobe house on the corner of Arcadia street
and "Nigger alley," known as the Coronel build-
ing. Finding himself unable to quell the dis-
turbance he called for help. Robert Thompson,
an old resident of the city, was among the first
to reach the porch of the house in answer to the
police call for help. He received a mortal wound
from a bullet fired through the door of a Chi-
nese store. He died an hour later in Woll-
drug store. The Chinese in the mean-
time barricaded the doors and windows of the
old adobe and prepared for battle. The news
of the fight and of the killing of Thompson
spread throughout the city and an immense
crowd gathered in the streets around the build-
ing with the intention of wreaking vengeance on
the ( Chinese.

The first attempt by the mob to dislodge the
Chinamen was by cutting holes through the flat
brea covered roof and firing pistol shots into the
interior .if the building. < hie of tin- besieged
crawled out of the building and attempted to
escape, but was shot down before half way

' h '.'I., all. v. \in ither attempted to e
cape into l.o. Angeles street; In- was seized,

dragged to the gate of Tomlinson's corral on
Xew High street, and hanged.

About 9 o'clock a part of the mob had suc-
ceeded in battering a hole in the eastern end of
the building; through this the rioters, with
demoniac howlings, rushed in, firing pistols to
the right and left. Huddled in corners and hid-
den behind boxes they found eight terror-
stricken Chinamen, who begged piteously for
their lives. These were brutally dragged out
ami turned over to the fiendish mob. One was
dragged to death by a rope around his neck ;
three, more dead than alive from kicking and
beating, were hanged to a wagon on Los An-
geles street; and four were hanged to the gate-
way of Tomlinson's corral. Two of the victims
were mere boys. While the shootings and hang-
ings were going on thieves were looting the
other houses in the Chinese quarters. The
houses were broken into, trunks, boxes and
other receptacles rifled of their contents, and
any Chinamen found in the buildings were
dragged forth to slaughter. Among the vic-
tims was a doctor, Gene Tung, a quiet, inof-
fensive old man. He pleaded for his life in good
English, offering his captors all his money,
some $2,000 to $3,000. He was hanged, his
money stolen and one of his fingers cut off to
obtain a ring he wore. The amount of money
stolen by the mob from the Chinese quarters
was variously estimated at from $40,000 to
$50,000.

About 9:30 p. m. the law abiding citizens,
under the leadership of Henry Hazard, R. M.
Widney, H. C. Austin, Sheriff Burns and oth-
ers, had rallied in sufficient force to make an
attempt to quell the mob. Proceeding to China-
town they rescued several Chinamen from the
rioters. The mob finding armed opposition
quickly dispersed.

The results of the mob's murderous work
were ten men hanged on Los Angeles street,
some to wagons and some to awnings: five
hanged, ai Tomlinson's corral and four shot to
death in Negro alley, nineteen in all. Of all the
Chinamen murdered, the only one known to be
implicated in the highbinder war was Ah Choy.
All the other leaders escaped to the country
before the attack was made by the mob. The

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

I!)]

grand jury, after weeks of investigation, found
indictments against one hundred and fifty per-
sons alleged to have been actively engaged in
the massacre. The jury's report severely cen-
sured "the officers of this county, as well as of
this city, whose duty it is to preserve peace,"
and declared that they "were deplorably ineffi-
cient in the performance of their duty during
the scenes of confusion and bloodshed which
disgraced our city, and has cast a reproach upon
the people of Los Angeles county." Of all those
indicted but six were convicted. These were
sentenced to from four to six years in the state's
prison, but through some legal technicality they
were all released after serving a part of their
sentence. •

The last execution in Los Angeles by a vig-
ilance committee was that of Michael Lachenias,
a French desperado, who had killed five or six
men. The offense for which he was hanged was
the murder of Jacob Bell, a little inoffensive
man, who owned a small farm near that of
Lachenias, south of the city. There hail been
a slight difference between them in regard to
the use of water from a zanja. Lachenias, with-
out a word of warning, rode up to Bell, where
he was at work in his field, drew a revolver and
shot him dead. The murderer then rode into
town and boastingly informed the people of
what he had done and told them where they
would find Bell's body. He then surrendered
himself to the officers and was locked up in
jail.

Public indignation was aroused. A meeting
was held in Stearns' hall on Los Angeles street.
A vigilance committee was formed and the de-
tails of the execution planned. On the morning
of the 17th of December, 1870, a body of three
hundred armed men marched to the jail, took
Lachenias out and proceeded with him to Tom-
linson's corral on Temple and New High streets.
and hanged him. The crowd then quietly dis-
persed.

A strange metamorphosis took place in the
character of the lower classes of the native Cal-
ifornians after the conquest. (The better classes
were not changed in character by the changed
conditions of the country, but throughout were
true gentlemen and most worth) and honorable

citizens.) Before the conquest by the Ameri-
cans they were a peaceful and contented people.
1 here were no organized bands of outlaws
among them. After the discovery of gold the
evolution of a banditti began and they produced
some of the boldest robbers and most daring
highwaymen the world has seen.

The injustice of their conquerors had much to
do with producing this change. The Ameri-
cans not only took possession of their country
and its government, but in many cases they de-
spoiled them of their ancestral acres and their
personal property. Injustice rankles; and it is
not strange that the more lawless among the
native population sought revenge and retalia-
tion. They were often treated by the rougher
American element as aliens and intruders, who
had no right in the land of their birth. Such
treatment embittered them more than loss of
property. There were those, howevtr, among
the natives, who, once entered upon a career
of crime, found robbery and murder congenial
occupations. The plea of injustice was no ex-
tenuation for their crimes.

Joaquin Murieta was the most noted of the
.Mexican and Californian desperadoes of the
early '50s. He was born in Sonora of good fam-
ily and received some education. He came to
California with the Sonoran migration of 1849,
and secured a rich claim on the Stanislaus. He
was dispossessed of this by half a dozen Amer-
ican desperadoes, his wife abused and both
driven from the diggings. He next took up a
ranch on the Calaveras, but from this he was
driven by two Americans. He next tried min-
ing in the Murphy diggings, but was unsuccess-
ful. His next occupation was that of a monte
player. While riding into town on a horse bor-
rowed from his half-brother he was stopped by
an American, who claimed that the horse was
stolen from him. Joaquin protested that the
horse was a borrowed one from his half-brother
and offered to procure witnesses to prove it.
lie was dragged from the saddle amid cries of
"hang the greaser." He was taken to the ranch
.if hi- In-other. The brother was hanged to the
limb of a tree, 11. > other proof of his crime being
needed than the assertion of the American that
the horse was hi-. Joaquin was stripped, bound

l'.l-J

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

to the same tree and flogged. The demon was
aroused within him, and no wonder, he vowed
revenge on the men who had murdered his
brother and beaten him. Faithfully he carried
out his vow of vengeance. Had he doomed
only these to slaughter it would have been but
little loss, but the implacable foe of every
American, he made the innocent suffer with the
guilty. He was soon at the head of a band of
desperadoes, varying in numbers from twenty to
forty. For three years he and his band were the
terror of the state. From the northern mines
to the Mexican border they committed robberies
and murders. Claudio and some of his sub-
ordinates were killed, but the robber chief
seemed to bear a charmed life. Large rewards
were offered for him dead or alive and numerous
attempts were made to take him. Capt. Harry
Love at the head of a band of rangers August,
1853, car* upon Joaquin and six of his gang
in a camp near the Tejon Pass. In the fight that
ensued Joaquin and Three Fingered Jack were
killed. With the loss of their leaders the or-
ganization was broken up.

The last organized band of robbers which
terrorized the southern part of the state was
that of Vasquez. Tiburcio Vasquez was born
in Monterey county, of .Mexican parents, in
1837. Early in life he began a career of crime.
Alter committing a number of robberies and
thefts he was captured and sent to San Quentin
for horse stealing. He was discharged in 1863,
but continued his disreputable career. He
united with Procopio and Soto, two noted ban-
dits. Soto was killed by Sheriff Morse of Ala-
meda county in a desperate encounter. Vasquez
and his gang of nut laws committed robberies
throughout the southern part of the state, rang-
ing from Santa Clara and Alameda counties to
Lh: Mexitan line, l.arlv in M tv 1874, Sheriff
William Rowland of Los Angeles county, who
had repeate<ll\ tried to capture Vasquez, but
whose plans had been foiled by the bandit's

spies, learned that the robber chief was mak-
ing his headquarters at the house of Greek
George, about ten miles due west of Los An-
geles, toward Santa Monica, in a canon of the
Cahuenga mountains. The morning of May 15
was set for the attack. To avert suspicion
Sheriff Rowland remained in the city. The at-
tacking force, eight in number, were under
command of Under-Sheriff Albert Johnson, the
other members of the force were Major H. M.
Mitchell, attorney-at-law; J. S. Bryant, city con-
stable; F. Harris, policeman; W. E. Rogers,
citizen; B. F. Hartley, chief of police; and D.
K. Smith, citizen, all of Los Angeles, and a Mr.
r>eers, of San Francisco, special correspondent
of the San Francisco Chronicle.

At 4 a. m. on the morning of the 15th of May
the posse reached Major -Mitchell's bee ranch
in a small canon not far from Greek George's.
From this point the party reconnoitered the
bandit's hiding place and planned an attack. As
the deputy sheriff and his men were about to
move against the house a high box wagon drove
up the canon from the direction of Greek
George's place. In this were two natives; the
sheriff's party climbed into the high wagon box
and, lying down, compelled the driver to drive
up to the back of Greek George's house,
threatening him and his companion with death
on the least sign of treachery. Reaching the
house they surrounded it and burst in the door.
Vasquez, who had been eating his breakfast, at-
tempted to escape through a small window.
The party opened fire on him. Being wounded
and finding himself surrounded on all sides, he
surrendered. He was taken to the Los Angeles
jail. His injuries proved to be mere flesh
wounds. He received a great deal of maudlin
sympathy from silly women, who magnified him
into a hero. He was taken to San Jose, tried
for murder, found guilty and hanged, March 19,
1875. His band was thereupon broken up and
dispersed.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

FILIBUSTERS AND FILIBUSTERING.

THE rash of immigration to California in
the early '50s had brought to the state
a class of adventurers who were too
lazy or too proud to work. They were ready
to engage in almost any lawdess undertaking
that promised plunder and adventure. The de-
feat of the pro-slavery politicians in their at-
tempts to fasten their "peculiar institution" upon
any part of the territory acquired from Mex-
ico had embittered them. The more un-
scrupulous among them began to look around
for new fields, over which slavery might be ex-
tended. As it could be made profitable only in
southern lands, Cuba, Mexico and Central
America became the arenas for enacting that
form of piracy called "filibustering." The object
of these forays, when organized by Americans.
was to seize upon territory as had been done
in Texas and erect it into an independent gov-
ernment that ultimately would be annexed to
the United States and become slave territory.
Although the armed invasion of countries with
which the United States was at peace was a di-
rect violation of its neutrality laws, yet the fed-
eral office-holders in the southern states and in
California, all of whom belonged to the pro-
slavery faction, not only made no attempt to
prevent these invasions, but secretly aided them
or at least sympathized with them to the extent
of allowing them to recruit men and depart
without molestation. There was a glamour of
romance about these expeditions that influenced
unthinking young men of no fixed principles
to join them; these were to be pitied. But the
leaders of them and their abettors were cold,
selfish, scheming politicians, willing, if need be,
to overthrow the government of the nation and
build on its ruins an oligarchy of slave holders.
The first to organize a filibuster expedition in
California was a Frenchman. Race prejudices
were strong in early mining days. The United

States had recently been at war with Mexico.
The easy conquest of that country had bred a
contempt for its peoples. The Sonoran migra-
tion, that begun soon after the discovery of
gold in California, brought a very undesirable
class of immigrants to the state. Sailing vessels
had brought from the west coast of South
America another despised class of mongrel
Spanish. It exasperated the Americans to see
these people digging gold and carrying it out
of the country. This antagonism extended, more
or less, to all foreigners, but was strongest
against men of the Latin races. Many French-
men, through emigration schemes gotten up
in Paris, had been induced to come to Califor-
nia. Some of these were men of education and
good standing, but they fell under the ban of
prejudices and by petty persecutions were
driven out of the mines and forced to earn a
precarious living in the cities. There was a
great deal of dissatisfaction among the French-
men with existing conditions in California, and
they were ready to embark in any scheme that
promised greater rewards. Among the French
population of San Francisco was a man of noble
family, Count Gaston Roaul de Raousset-Boul-
bon. He had lost his ancestral lands and was
in reduced circumstances. He was a man of
education and ability, but visionary. He con-
ceived the idea of establishing a French colony
on the Sonora bonier and opening the mines
that had been abandoned on account of Apache
depredations. By colonizing the border he
hoped to put a M<>p t<> American encroachi
He divulged his scheme to the French consul,
Dillon, at San Francisco, who entered heartily
into it. Raoussel was sent to the City of Mex-
ico, where he obtained from President Arista
the desired concession of land and the promise
of financial assistance from a leading hanking
house there on condition that he proceed at

Mil

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

once to Sonora with an armed company of
Frenchmen. Returning to San Francisco he
quickly recruited from among the French resi-
dents two hundred and fifty men and with these
he sailed for Guaymas, where he arrived early
in June, 1852. He was well received at first,
but soon found himself regarded with suspicion.
He was required by the authorities to remain
at Guaymas. After a month's detention he was
allowed to proceed through Hermosilla to the
Arizona border.

When about one hundred miles from Arispe
he received an order from General Blanco, then
at Hermosilla, to report to him. While halting
at El Caric to consider his next move he re-
ceived a reinforcement of about eighty French
colonists, who had come to the country the year
before under command of Pindray. Pindray
had met his death in a mysterious manner. B
was supposed that he was poisoned. The colon-
ist had remained in the country. Raousset sent
one of his men. Gamier, to interview Blanco.
General Blanco gave his ultimatum — First, that
the Frenchmen should become naturalized citi-
zens of Mexico; or, secondly, they should wait
until letters of security could be procured from
the capital, when they might proceed to Arizona
and take possession of any mines they found;
or, lastly, they might put themselves under the
leadership of a Mexican officer and then proceed.
Raousset and his followers refused to accede to
an\ of these propositions. Blanco began col-
lecting men and munitions of war to oppose the
French. Raousset raised the flag of revolt and
invited the inhabitants to join him in gaining
the independence of Sonora. After drilling his
men a few weeks and preparing for hostilities
he began his march against Hermosilla, distant
one hundred and fifty miles. He met with no
ion, the people along his route welcom-
ing the French. General Blanco had twelve
hundred men to defend the city. I'm instead of
preparing to resist the advancing army he sent
delegates t" Raousset to offer him monej
the city alone. Raousset sent back word thai
at X o'clock he would begin the attack; and at
11 would be master of the city, lie was,
as his word. The Frenchmen charged the Mex
irans and although the opposing force num

bered four to one of the assailants, Raousset's
men captured the town and drove Blanco's
troops out of it. The Mexican loss was two
hundred killed and wounded. The French loss
seventeen killed and twenty-three wounded
Raousset's men were mere adventurers and were
in the country without any definite purpose.
Could he have relied on them, he might have
captured all of Sonora.

He abandoned Hermosilla. Blanco, glad to
get rid of the filibusters on any terms, raised
$11,000 and chartered a vessel to carry them
back to San Francisco. A few elected to re-
main. Raousset went to Mazatlan and a few
months later he reached San Francisco, where
he was lionized as a hero. Upon an invitation
from Santa Ana, wdio had succeeded Arista as
president, he again visited the Mexican capital
in June, 1853. Santa Ana was profuse in prom-
ises. He wanted Raousset to recruit five hun-
dred Frenchmen to protect the Sonora frontier
against the Indians, promising ample remunera-
tion and good pay for their services. Raousset,
finding that Santa Ana's promises could not be
relied upon, and that the wiley schemer was
about to have him arrested, made his escape to
Acapulco, riding several horses to death to
reach there ahead of his pursuers. He embarked
immediately for San Francisco.

In the meantime another filibuster, William
Walker, with forty-one followers had landed at
La Paz November 3, 1853, and proclaimed a
new nation, the Republic of Lower California.
Santa Ana, frightened by this new invasion, be-
gan making overtures through the Mexican con-
sul, Luis del Valle, at San Francisco to secure
French recruits for military service on the Mex-
ican frontier. Del Yalle applied to the French
consul, Dilh mi. and Dillon applied to Raousset.
Raousset soon secured eight hundred recruits
and chartered the British ship Challenge to take
them to Guaymas. Then the pro-slavery federal
officials at San Francisco were aroused to ac-
tion. The neutrality laws were being violated.
It was not that they cared for the laws, but they
feared that this new filibustering scheme might
interfere with their pet, Walker, who had, in ad-
dition to tlie Republic of Lower California,
founded another nation, the Republic of Sonora,

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

in both of which he had decreed slavery. The
ship was seized, but after a short detention was
allowed to sail with three hundred French-
men.

Del Yalle was vigorously prosecuted by the
federal authorities for violation of a section of
the neutrality laws, which forbade the enlistment
within the United States of soldiers to serve un-
der a foreign power. Dillon, the French con-
sul, was implicated and on his refusal to testify
in court he was arrested. He fell back on his
dignity and asserted that his nation had been in-
sulted through him and closed his consulate.
For a time there were fears of international
trouble.

Del Yalle was found guilty of violating the
• neutrality laws, but was never punished. The
pro-slavery pet, Walker, and his gang were
driven out of Mexico and the federal officials
had no more interest in enforcing neutrality
laws. Meanwhile Raousset, after great diffi-
culties, had joined the three hundred French-
men at Guaymas. A strip of northern Sonora
had been sold under what is known as the Gads-
den purchase to the United States. There was
no longer any opportunity to secure mines there
from Mexico, but Raousset thought he could
erect a barrier to any further encroachments of
the United States and eventually secure Mexico
for France. His first orders on reaching Guay-
mas to the commander of the French, Desmaris,
was to attack the Mexican troops and capture
the city. His order did not reach Desmaris. Flis
messenger was arrested and the Mexican au-
thorities begun collecting forces to oppose
Raousset. Having failed to receive reinforce-
ments, and his condition becoming unendurable,
he made an attack on the Mexican forces, twelve
hundred strong. After a brave assault he was
defeated. He surrendered to the French consul
on the assurance that his life and that of his
men would be spared. He was treacherously
surrendered by the French consul to the Mex-
ican general. He was tried by a court-martial,
found guilty and sentenced to be shot. On ilk-
morning of August 12, 1854, he was executed.
His misguided followers were shipped bad to
San Francisco. So ended the first California
filibuster.

The first American born filibuster who or-
ganized one of these piratical expeditions was
William Walker, a native of Tennessee. He
came to California with the rush of 1850. He
had started out in life to be a doctor, had studied
law and finally drifted into journalism. He be-
longed to the extreme pro-slavery faction. He
located in San PTancisco and found employment
on the Herald. Mis bitter invective against the
courts for their laxity in punishing crime raised
the ire of Judge Levi Parsons, win, fined Walker
$500 for contempt of court and ordered him
imprisoned until the fine was paid. Walker re-
fused to pay the fine and went to jail. He at
once bounded into notoriety. He was a mar-
tyr to the freedom of the press. A public in-
dignation meeting was called. An immense
crowd of sympathizers called on Walker in jail.
A writ of habeas corpus was sued out and he
was released from jail and discharged. In the
legislature of 1852 he tried to have Parson im-
peached, but failed. He next opened a law of-
fice in Marysville.

The success of Raousset-Boulbon in his first
expedition to Sonora had aroused the ambition
of Walker to become the founder of a new gov-
ernment. Flis first efforts were directed towards
procuring from Mexico a grant on the Sonora
border; this was to be colonized with Americans,
who would protect the Mexican frontier from
Apache incursion. This was a mere subterfuge
and the Mexican authorities were not deceived
by it — he got no grant. To forestall Raousset-
Boulbon, who was again in the field with his
revolutionary scheme. Walker opened a recruit-
ing office. Each man was to receive a square
league of land and plunder galore. The bait
took, meetings were held, scrip sold and re-
cruits flocked to Walker. The brig Arrow was
chartered to carry the liberators to their des-
tination. The pro-slaver) officials, who held all
the offices, winked at this violation of the neu-
trality laws. There was but one man. General
Hitchcock, who dared to lo his duty, lie seized
the vessel; it was released, and Hitchcock re-
moved from command. Jefferson
secretary of war and Hitchcock was made to feel
his wrath for interfering with one of Davis' pet
projects, the extension of slavery. Walker

196

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

sailed in another vessel, the Caroline, taking
with him forty-one of his followers, well armed
with rifles and revolvers to develop the re-
sources of the country.

The vessel with Walker and his gang sneaked
into La Paz under cover of a Mexican flag. He
seized the unsuspecting governor and other offi-
cials and then proclaimed the Republic of Lower
California. He appointed from his following a
number of officials with high sounding titles.
He adopted the code of Louisiana as the law of
the land. This, as far as he was able, introduce. 1
into the country human slavery, which indeed
was about the sole purpose of his filibuster-
ing schemes. Fearing that the Mexican gov-
ernment might send an expedition across the
gulf to stop his marauding, he slipped out of
the harbor and sailed up to Todas Santos, so as
to be near the United States in case the Mexican
government should make it uncomfortable for
him. With this as headquarters he began prepa-
rations for an invasion of Sonora. His delectable
followers appropriated to their own use what-
ever they could find in the poverty-stricken
country. The news of the great victory at La
Paz reached San Francisco and created great
enthusiasm among Walker's sympathizers. His
vice-president, Watkins, enrolled three hundred
recruits and sent them to him, "greatly to the
relief of the criminal calendar."

Walker began to drill his recruits for the con-
quest of Sonora. These patriots, who had ral-
lied to the support of the new republic, under
the promise of rich churches to pillage and well-
d ranches to plunder, did not take kindly
to a diet of jerked beef and beans and hard drill-
ing under a torrid sun. Some rebelled and it
became necessar) for Walker to use the lash
and even to shout two ,ii them for the good of
the cause. The natives rebelled when they found
their cattle and Frijoles disappearing and the so-
, ailed battle of 1 .a Gualla was [ought between
the native s and a detachment of Walker's forag-
if whom were killed. The news of
this battle reached San Francisco and was mag-
nified into a great victory. The new republic
bi en baptized in the blood of its martyrs.
After three months spent in drilling, Walker
began his march to Sonora with but one hun-

dred men, and a small herd of cattle for food.
Most of the others had deserted. In his jour-
ney across the desert the Indians stole some of
his cattle and more of his men deserted. On
reaching the Colorado river about half of his
force abandoned the expedition and marched
to Fort Yuma, where Major Heintzelman re-
lieved their necessities. Walker with thirty-five
men had started back for Santa Tomas. They
brought up at Tia Juana, where they crossed
the American line, surrendered and gave their
paroles to Major McKinstry of the United
States army. When Walker and his Falstaffian
army reached San Francisco they were lionized
,i- heroes. All they had done was to kill a few
inoffensive natives on the peninsula and steal
their cattle. Their valiant leader had proclaimed
two republics and decreed (on paper) that slav-
ery should prevail in them. He had had sev-
eral of his dupes whipped and two of them shot,
which was probably the most commendable
thing he had done. His proclamations were
ridiculous and his officers with their high sound-
ing titles had returned from their burlesque con-
quest with scarcely rags enough on them to
cover their nakedness. Yet, despite all this,
the attempt to enlarge the area of slave territory
covered him with glory and his rooms were the
resort of all the pro-slavery officials of Califor-
nia.

The federal officials made a show of prosecut-
ing the filibusters. Watkins, the vice-president
of the Republic of Lower California and So-
nora, was put on trial in the United States dis-
trict court. The evidence was so plain and the
proof so convincing that the judge was com-
pelled to convict against his will. This delightful
specimen of a pro-slavery justice expressed
from the bench his sympathy for "those spirited
men who had gone forth to upbuild the broken
altars and rekindle tlie extinguished fires of lib-
erty in Mexico and Lower California." With
such men to enforce the laws, it was not strange
that vigilance committees were needed in Cal-
ifornia. Watkins and Emory, the so-called sec-
retary of state, were fined each $1,500. The
tines were never paid and no effort was ever
made to compel their payment. The secretary
of war and the secretary of the navy were [nit

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

191

on trial and acquitted. This ended the shame-
ful farce.

Walker's next expedition was to Nicaragua in
1855. A revolution was in progress there. He
joined forces with the Democratic party or anti-
legitimists. He took but fifty-six men with
him. These were called the American phalanx.
His first engagement was an attack upon the
fortified town of Rivas. Although his men
fought bravely, they were defeated and two of
his best officers, Kewen and Crocker, killed.
His next fight was the battle of Virgin Bay, in
which, with fifty Americans and one hundred
and twenty natives, he defeated six hundred
legitimists. He received reinforcements from
California and reorganized his force. He
seized the Accessory Transit Company's lake
steamer La Virgin against the protest of the
company, embarked his troops on board of it
and by an adroit movement captured the capi-
tal city, Granada. His exploits were heralded
abroad and recruits flocked to his support. The
legitimist had fired upon a steamer bringing pas-
sengers up the San Juan river and killed several.
Walker in retaliation ordered Mateo Mazorga,
the legitimist secretary of state, whom he had
taken prisoner at Granada, shot. Peace was de-
clared between the two parties and Patrico
Rivas made president. Rivas was president only
in name; 'Walker was the real head of the gov-
ernment and virtually dictator.

He was now at the zenith of his power. By a
series of arbitrary acts he confiscated the Ac-
cessory Transit Company's vessels and charter.
This company had become a power in California
travel and had secured the exclusive transit of
passengers by the Nicaragua route, then the
most popular route to California.

By this action he incurred the enmity of Yan-
derbilt, who henceforth worked for his down-
fall. The confiscation of the transit company's
right destroyed confidence in the route, and
travel virtually ceased by it. This was a blow
to the prosperity of the country. To add to
Walker's misfortunes, the other Central Amer-
ican states combined to drive the hated foreign-
ers out of the country. He had gotten rid of
Rivas and hail secured the presidency for him-
self. He had secured the repeal of the \'u

aragua laws against slavery and thus paved the
way for the introduction of his revered institu-
tion. Plis army now amounted to about twelve
hundred men, mostly recruited from California
and the slave states. The cholera broke out
among his forces and in the armies of the allies
and numbers died. His cause was rapidly wan-
ing. Many of his dupes deserted. A series of
disasters arising from his blundering and in-
capacity, resulted in his overthrow. He and
sixteen of his officers were taken out of the
country on the United States sloop of war, St.
Mary's. The governor of Panama refused to
allow him to land in that city. He was sent
across the isthmus under guard to Aspinwall
and from there with his staff took passage to
New Orleans. His misguided followers were
transported to Panama and found their way
back to the United States.

LTpon arriving at New Orleans he began re-
cruiting for a new expedition. One hundred and
fifty of his "emigrants" sailed from Mobile; the
pro-slavery federal officials allowing them to
depart. They were wrecked on Glover's reef,
about seventy miles from Balize. They were
rescued by a British vessel and returned to Mo-
bile. Walker, with one hundred and thirty-two
armed emigrants, landed at Punta Arenas, No-
vember 25, 1857, and hoisted his Nicaraguan
flag and called himself commander-in-chief of
the army of Nicaragua. He and his men b< gar
a career of plunder; seized the fort of Cas-
tillo on the San Juan river; captured steam-
ers, killed several inhabitants and made
prisoners of others. Commander Paulding,
of the United States flagship Wabash, then
on that coast, regarded these acts as rapine
and murder, and Walker and his men as out-
laws and pirates. lie broke up their camp, dis-
armed Walker and his emigrants and sent them
to the United States for trial. But instead of
Walker and his followers being tried for piracy
their pro-slavery abettors made heroes of them.

Walker's last effort to regain his lost prestige
in Nicaragua was made in i860. With two hun-
dred men. recruited in New Orleans, he landed
near Truxillo, in Honduras. I lis intention was
to make his way by land to Nicaragua. 1 le very
soon found armed opposition, His new recruits

1!IS

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

were not inclined to sacrifice themselves to make
him dictator of some country that they had no
interest in. So they refused to stand up against
the heav\ odds they encountered in every fight.
Finding his situation growing desperate, he was
induced to surrender himself to the captain of
the British man-of-war Icarus. The authorities
of Honduras made a demand on the captain for
Walker. That British Officer promptly turned
the filibuster over to them. He was tried by
a court-martial, hastily convened, found guilty
of the offenses charged, and condemned to die.
September 25, i860, he was marched out and.
in accordance with his sentence, shot to death.

Walker's career is an anomaly in the history
of mankind. Devoid of all the characteristics of
a great leader, without a commanding presence,
puny in size, homely to the point of ugliness,
in disposition, cold, cruel, selfish, heartless, stol-
idlv indifferent to the suffering of others, living
only to gratify the cravings of his inordinate
ambition — it is strange that such a man could
attract thousands to offer their lives for his
aggrandizement and sacrifice themselves for a
cause of which he was the exponent, a cause the
must ignoble, the extension of human slavery,
that for such a man and for such a cause thou-
sands did offer up their lives is a sad commen-
tary on the political morality of that time. It
is said that over ten thousand men joined
Walker in his filibustering schemes and that
fifty-seven hundred of these found graves in
Nicaragua. Of the number of natives killed in
battle or who died of disease, there is no record,
Imt it greatly exceeded Walker's losses.

While Walker was attaining some success in
Nicaragua, another California filibuster entered
the arena. This was Henry A. Crabb, a Stock-
ton lawyer. Like Walker, he was a native of
Tennessee, and, like him. too. he was a rabid
' r\ advocate. He had served in the
assembl) and one term in the -tale senate. It
is -aid he was the author of a bill to allow slave-
holders who bri lUghl their -lave- into ( 'alitornia
1:- admission to take their human chattels
back into bondage. He was originally a Whig,
the Know Nothing party and was
a Candida'.' of that party for United State- sen-
ator in 1856: but his extreme southern princi-

ples prevented his election. He had married a
Spanish wife, who had numerous and influential
relatives in Sonora. It was claimed that Crabb
had received an invitation from some of these to
bring down an armed force of Americans to
overthrow the government and make himself
master of the country. Whether he did or did
not receive such an invitation, he did recruit a
body of men for some kind of service in Sonora.
With a force of one hundred men, well armed
with rifles and revolvers, he sailed, in January,
1857, on the steamer Sea Bird, from San Fran-
cisco to San Pedro and from there marched over-
land. As usual, no attempt was made by the
federal authorities to prevent him from invading
a neighboring country with an armed force.

He entered Sonora at Sonita, a small town
one hundred miles from Yuma. His men helped
themselves to what they could find. When ap-
proaching the town of Cavorca they were fired
upon by a force of men lying in ambush. The
fire was kept up from all quarters. They made a
rush and gained the shelter of the houses. In
the charge two of their men had been killed and
eighteen wounded. In the house they had taken
:on of they were exposed to shots from
a church. Crabb and fifteen of his men tit-
tempted to blow open the doors of the church
with gunpowder, but in the attempt, which
failed, five of the men were killed, and seven,
including Crabb, wounded. After holding out
for five days they surrendered to the Mexicans,
Gabilondo, the Mexican commander, promising
to spare their lives. Next morning they were
marched out in squads of five to ten and shot.
Crabb was tied to a post and a hundred balls
fired into him ; his head was cut off and placed
in a jar of mescal. The only one spared was a
boy of fifteen. Charles E. Evans. A party of
sixteen men whom Crabb had left at Sonita
was surprised and all massacred. The boy
Evans was the only one left to tell the fate of the
ill-starred expedition. This put an end to fili-
bustering expeditions into Sonora.

These tinned forays on the neighboring coun-
tries to the south of the United States ceased
with the beginning of the war of secession.
The} had all been made for the purpose of ac-
quiring slave territory. The leaders of them

;

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

19!)

were southern men and the rank and file wen.'
mostly recruited from natives of the slave states.
Bancroft truthfully says of these filibustering
expeditions : 'They were foul robberies, covered
by the flimsiest of political and social pretenses,
gilded by false aphorisms and profane distortion
of sacred formulae. Liberty dragged in the mud
for purposes of theft and human enslavement;
the cause of humanity bandied in filthy mouths
to promote atrocious butcheries; peaceful,

blooming valleys given over to devastation and
ruin; happy families torn asunder, and widows
and orphans cast adrift to nurse affliction; and
finally, the peace of nations imperiled, and the
morality of right insulted. The thought of such
results should obliterate all romance, and turn
pride to shame. They remain an ineffaceable
stain upon the government of the most progres-
sive of nations, and veil in dismal irony the
dream of manifest destiny."

CHAPTER XXIX.

FROM GOLD TO GRAIN AND FRUITS.

UNDER the Spanish and Mexican jurisdic-
tions there was but little cultivation of
the soil in California. While the gardens
of some of the missions, and particularly those
of Santa Barbara and San Buenaventura, pre-
sented a most appetizing display of fruit and
vegetables, at the ranchos there were but mea-
ger products. Gilroy says that when he came
to the country, in 1814, potatoes were not cul-
tivated and it was a rare thing outside of the
mission gardens to find any onions or cabbages.
A few acres of wheat and a small patch of maize
or corn furnished bread, or. rather, tortillas for
a family. At the missions a thick soup made of
boiled wheat or maize and meat was the stand-
ard article of diet for the neophytes. This was
portioned out to them in the quantity of about
three pints to each person. Langsdorff, who
witnessed the distribution of soup rations to the
Indians at Santa Clara, says: "It appeared in-
comprehensible how any one could three times a
day eat so large a portion of such, nourishing
food." The neophytes evidently had healthy ap-
petites. Frijoles (beans) were the staple vege-
table dish in Spanish families. These were
served up at almost every meal. The bill of
fare for a native Californian family was very
simple.

A considerable aim mm of wheal was raised
at the more favorably located missions. It was
not raised for export, but to feed the neophytes.

The wheat fields had to be fenced in, or perhaps
it would be more in accordance with the facts
to say that the cattle had to be fenced out. As
timber was scarce, adobe brick did duty for
fencing as well as for house building. Some-
times the low adobe walls were made high and
safe by placing on top of them a row of the
skulls of Spanish cattle with the long, curving
horns attached to them pointing outward. These
were brought from the matanzas or slaughter
corrals where there were thousands of them
lying around. It was almost impossible for
man or beast to scale such a fence.

The agricultural implements of the early Cali-
fornians were few and simple. The Mexican
plow was a forked stick with an iron point las
tened to the fork or branch that penetrated the
ground. It turned no furrow, but merely
scratched the surface of the ground. After sow-
ing it was a race between the weeds and the
grain. It depended on the season which won.
If the season was cold and backward, so that
eed did not sprout readily, the weeds gol
the start and won oul easily. And yet with such
primitive cultivation the yield was sometimes
astonishing. \i the Mission San Diego the
crop of wheat one year produced one hundred
and ninety-five fold. \s the agriculturist had
a large area from which to select his arable land,
only the richest soils were ore the

discover) of gold there was little or no market

200

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

for grain, and each ranchero rajsed only enough
for his own use. For a time there was some
trade with the Russians in grain to supply their
settlements in Alaska, but this did not continue

\\ hen some of the Americans who came in
ill'' gold rush began to turn their attention to
agriculture they greatly underrated the produc-
tiveness of the country. To men raised where
the summer rains were needed to raise a crop
it seemed impossible to produce a crop in a
country that was rainless for six or eight months
of the year. All attempts at agriculture hitherto
had been -along the rivers, and it was generally
believed that the plains back from the water
courses could never be used for any other pur-
pose than cattle raising.

The mining rush of '49 found California with-
out vegetables and fresh fruit. The distance
was too great for the slow transportation of
that day to ship these into the country. Those
who first turned their attention to market gar-
dening made fortunes. The story is told of an
old German named Schwartz who had a small
ranch a few miles below Sacramento. In [848,
when everybody was rushing to the mines, he
remained on his farm, unmoved by the stories
of the wonderful finds of gold. Anticipating a
greater rush in 1849, ne planted several acres
in watermelons. As they ripened he took them
up to the city and disposed of them at prices
ranging from $1 to $5, according to size, lie
realized that season from his melons alone
$30,000. The first field of cabbages was grown
by < icorge H. Peck and a partner in 1850. From
defective seed or some other cause the cabbage
failed to come to a head. Supposing that the
delect was in the climate and not in the cabbage,
the honest rancher marketed his crop in San
Francisco, carrying a cabbage in each hand
along the streets until he found a customer. To
the query why there were no heads to them
the replj was, "That's tin- waj cabbages grow
in California." lie got rid of bis crop at the
Kite .if Si apiece for each headless cabbage.
But all the vegetable growing experiments were
nol a financial success. The high price of po-
rted a tuber-growing epidemic
in [850. Hundreds of acres were planted 1..

"spuds" in the counties contiguous to San
Francisco, the agriculturists paying as high as
fifteen cents per pound for seed. The yield was
enormous and the market was soon overstocked.
The growers who could not dispose of their
potatoes stacked them up in huge piles in the
fields; and there they rotted, filling the country
around with their effluvia. The next year no-
l>"d\ planted potatoes, and prices went up to
the figures of '49 and the spring of '50.

The size to which vegetables grew astonished
the amateur agriculturists. Beets, when allowed
to grow to maturity, resembled the trunks of
trees; onions looked like squash, while a patch
of pumpkins resembled a tented field; and corn
grew so tall that the stalks had to be felled to
gt\ ai the ears. Onions were a favorite vege-
table in the mining camps on account of their
anti-scorbutic properties as a preventive of
scurvy. The honest miner was not fastidious
about the aroma. They were a profitable crop,
too. One ranchero in the Xapa valley was re-
ported to have cleared $8,000 off two acres of
onions.

\\ it h the decline of gold mining wheat be-
came the staple product of central California.
The nearness to shipping ports and the large
yields made wheat growing very profitable. In
the years immediately following the Civil war
the price ranged high and a fortune was some-
times made from the products of a single field.
It may be necessary to explain that the field
might contain anywhere from five hundred to
a thousand acres. The grain area was largely
extended by the discovery that land in the
upper mesas, which had been regarded as only
fit for pasture land, was good for cereals. The
land in the southern part of the state, which
was held in large grants, continued to be de-
voted to cattle raising for at least two decades
after the American conquest. After the dis-
covery of gold cattle raising became immensely
profitable. Under the Mexican regime a steer
was worth what his hide and tallow would bring
or about $2 or $3. The rush of immigration in
[849 -eiil the price of cattle up until a fat bul-
lock sold for from $30 to $35. The profit to a
ranchero who had a thousand or more marketa-
ble cattle was a fortune. A good, well-stocked

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

I'lil

cattle ranch was more valuable than a gold
mine.

The enormous profits in cattle raising dazed
the Californians. Had they been thrifty and
economical, they might have grown rich. But
the sudden influx of wealth engendered extrava-
gant habits and when the price of cattle fell, as
it did in a few years, the spendthrift customs
were continued. When the cattle market was
dull it was easy to raise money by mortgaging
the ranch. With interest at the rate of 5 per
cent per month, compounded monthly, it did
not take long for land and cattle both to change
hands. It is related of the former owner of
the Santa Gertrudes rancho' that he borrowed
$500 from a money lender, at 5 per cent a
month, to beat a poker game, but did not suc-
ceed. Then he borrowed more money to pay
the interest on the first and kept on doing so
until interest and principal amounted to $100,-
000; then the mortgage was foreclosed and
property to-day worth $1,000,000 was lost for
a paltry $500 staked on a poker game.

Gold mining continued to be the prevailing
industry of northern California. The gold pro-
duction reached its acme in 1853. when the
total yield was $65,000,000. From that time
there was a gradual decline in production and
in the number of men employed. Many had
given up the hopes of striking it rich and quit
the business for something more certain and
less illusive. The production of gold in 1X52
was $60,000,000, yet the average yield to each
man of the one hundred thousand engaged in
it was only about $600, or a little over $2 per
day to the man, scarcely living wages as prices
were then. It has been claimed that the cost of
producing the gold, counting all expenditures,
was three times the value of that produced.
Even if it did, the development of the country
and impulse given to trade throughout the
world would more than counterbalance the loss.
At the time of the discovery of gold nearly all
of the fruit raised in California was produced at
Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. In Spanish and
Mexican days, Los Angeles had been the prin-
cipal wine-producing district of California. Al-
though wine, as well as other spirituous liquors,
were in demand, the vineyardists found it more

profitable to ship their grapes to San Francisco
than to manufacture them into wine. Grapes
retailed in the city of San Francisco at from
twelve and one-half to twenty-five cents a
pound. The vineyards were as profitable as
the cattle ranches. The mission Indians did the
labor in the vineyards and were paid in aguar-
diente on Saturday night. By Sunday morning
they were all drunk; then they were gathered
up and put into a corral. On Monday morning
they were sold to pay the cost of their dissipa-
tion. It did not take many years to kill off the
Indians. The city has grown over the former
sites of the vineyards.

The first orange trees were planted at the
Mission San Gabriel about the year 1815 and
a few at Los Angeles about the same time. But
little attention was given to the industry by the
Californians. The first extensive grove was
planted by William Wolfskill in 1840. The im-
pression then prevailed that oranges could be
grown only on the low lands near the river.
The idea of attempting to grow them on the
mesa lands was scouted at by the Californians
and the Americans. The success that attended
the Riverside experiment demonstrated that
they could be grown on the mesas, and that the
fruit produced was superior to that grown on
the river bottoms. This gave such an impel us
to the industry in the south that it has distanced
all others. The yearly shipment to the eastern
markets is twenty thousand car loads. The cit-
rus belt is extending every year.

The Californians paid but little attention to
the quality of the fruit they raised. The seed
fell in the ground and sprouted. If the twig
survived and grew to be a tree, they ate the fruit,
asking no question whether the quality might
be improved. The pears grown at the missions
and at some of the ranch houses were hard and
tasteless. It was said they never ripened. \
small black fig was cultivated in a few places,
but the quantity of fruit grown outside of the
mission gardens was very small.

The high price of all kinds of fruit in the early
'50s induced the importation of apple, peach,
pear, plum ami prune trees. These thrived and
soon supplied the demand. Before the advent
of the railroads and the shipment east the quan-

202

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tit) of deciduous fruit produced had outgrown
the demand, and there was no profit in its pro-
duction. All this has been changed by eastern
shipment.

Sheep were brought to the country with the
first missionary expeditions. The Indian in his
primitive condition did not use clothing. A
coat of mud was his only garment and he was
not at all particular about the fit of that. After
his conversion the missionaries put clothing on
him, or, rather, on part of him. He was given a
shirt, which was a shirt of Xessus. being made of
the coarse woolen cloth manufactured at the
mission. It was irritating to the skin and com-
pelled the poor wretches to keep up a continual
scratching; at least, that is what Hugo Reid
tells us. During the Civil war and for several
years after, the sheep industry was very profit-
able. The subdivision of the great ranchos and
the absorption of the land for grain growing and
fruit culture have contracted the sheep ranges
until there is but little left for pasture except the
foothills that are too rough for cultivation.

Up to 1863 the great Spanish grants that cov-
ered the southern part of the state had, with a
few exceptions, been held intact and cattle rais-
ing had continued to be the principal industry.
For several seasons previous to the famine years
of 1863 and 1864 there had been heavy rainfalls
and consequently abundant feed. With that
careless indifference that marked the business
management of the native Californian, the
ranges had become overstocked. When the
dry vear of 1863 set in, the feed on ranches was
soon exhausted and the cattle starving. The
second famine year following, the cattle industry
was virtually wiped out of existence and the
cattle-owners ruined. In Santa Barbara, where
the cattle barons held almost imperial sway,
and, with their army of retainers, controlled the
political affairs of the county, of the two hun-
dred thousand cattle listed on the assessment
roll of [862, onl) five thousand were alive when
grass grew in 1865. On the Stearns' ranchos in
Los Angeles county, one hundred thousand
head of cattle and horses perished, and the
owner of a quarter million acres and a large
amount of city property could not raise money
enough to pay $1,000 taxes.

Many of the rancheros were in debt when the
hard times came, and others mortgaged their
land at usurious rates of interest to carry them
through the famine years. Their cattle dead,
they had no income to meet the interest on the
cancerous mortgage that was eating up their
patrimony. The result was that they were com-
pelled either to sell their land or the mortgage
was foreclosed and they lost it. This led to the
subdivision of the large grants into small .hold-
ings, the new proprietors finding that there was
more profit in selling them off in small tracts
than in large ones. This brought in an intelli-
gent and progressive population, and in a few
years entirely revolutionized the agricultural
conditions of the south. Grain growing and
fruit raising became the prevailing industries.
The adobe ranch house with its matanzas and
its Golgotha of cattle skulls and bones gave
place to the tasty farm house with its flower
garden, lawn and orange grove.

The Californians paid but little attention to
improving the breed of their cattle. When the
only value in an animal was the hide and tallow,
it did not pay to improve the breed. The hide
of a long-horned, mouse-colored Spanish steer
would sell for as much as that of a high-bred
Durham or Holstein, and, besides, the first
could exist where the latter would starve to
death. After the conquest there was for some
time but little improvement. Cattle were brought
across the plains, but for the most part these
were the mongrel breeds of the western states
and were but little improvement on the Spanish
stock. It was not until the famine years vir-
tually exterminated the Spanish cattle that bet-
ter breeds were introduced.

As with cattle, so also it was with horses.
Little attention was given to improving the
breed. While there were a few fine race horses
and saddle horses in the country before its
American occupation, the prevailing equine was
the mustang. He was a vicious beast, nor was
it strange that his temper was bad. He had to
endure starvation and abuse that would have
killed a more aristocratic animal. He took care
of himself, subsisted on what he could pick up
and to the best of his ability resented ill treat-
ment. Horses during the Mexican regime were

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAH1H AL RECORD.

jo:;

used only for riding. Oxen were the draft ani-
mals. Tlic mustang had one inherent trail that
did not endear him to an American, and that
was his propensity to "buck." With his nose
between his knees, his back arched and his legs
stiffened, by a series of short, quick jumps, he
could dismount an inexperienced rider with
neatness and dispatch. The Californian took
delight in urging the bronco to "buck" so that
he (the rider) might exhibit his skillful horse-
manship. The mustang had some commenda-
ble traits as well. He was sure-footed as a goat
and could climb the steep hillsides almost equal
to that animal. He had an easy gait under the.
saddle and could measure off mile after mile
without a halt. His power of endurance was
wonderful. He could live off the country when
apparently there was nothing to subsist on ex-
cept the bare ground. He owed mankind a debt
of ingratitude which he always stood ready to
pay when an opportunity offered. The passing
of the mustang began with the advent of the
American farmer.

The founding of agricultural colonies began
in the '50s. One of the first, if not the first, was
the German colony of Anaheim, located thirty
miles south of Los Angeles. A company of
Germans organized in San Francisco in 1857
for the purpose of buying land for the cultiva-
tion of the wine grape and the manufacture of
wine. The organization was a stock company.
Eleven hundred acres were purchased in a
Spanish grant. This was subdivided into twenty
and forty acre tracts; an irrigating ditch
brought in from the Santa Ana river. A por-
tion of each subdivision was planted in vines
and these were cultivated by the company until
they came into bearing, when the tracts were
divided among the stockholders by lot, a cer-
tain valuation being fixed on each tract. The
man obtaining a choice lot paid into the fund
a certain amount and the one receiving an infe-
rior tract received a certain amount, so that each
received the same value in the distribution. The
colony proved quite a success, and for thirty
years Anaheim was one of the largest wine-
producing districts in the United States. In
1887 a mysterious disease destroyed all the vines
and the vineTardists turned their attention

to the cultivation of oranges and English
walnuts.

The Riverside colony, then in San Bernardino
county, now in Riverside county, was founded
in 1870. The projectors of the colony were
eastern gentlemen. At the head of the organiza-
tion was Judge J. W. North. They purchased
four thousand acres of the Roubidoux or Jurupa
rancho and fourteen hundred and sixty acres of
government land from the California Silk Cen-
ter Association. This association had been or-
ganized in 1869 for the purpose of founding a
colony to cultivate mulberry trees and manu-
facture silk. It had met with reverses, first in
the death of its president, Louis Prevost, a man
skilled in the silk business, next in the revoca-
tion by the legislature of the bounty for mul-
berry plantations, and lastly in the subsidence
of the sericulture craze. To encourage silk cul-
ture in California, the legislature, in 1866, passed
an act authorizing the payment of a bounty of
$250 for every plantation of five thousand mul-
berry trees two years old. This greatly stimu-
lated the planting of mulberry trees, if it did
not greatly increase the production of silk. In
1869 it was estimated that in the central and
southern portions of the state there were ten
millions of mulberry trees in various stages of
growth. Demands for the bounty poured in
upon the commissioners in such numbers that
the state treasury was threatened with bank-
ruptcy. The revocation of the bounty killed
the silk worms and the mulberry trees: ami
those who had been attacked with the sericulture
craze quickly recovered. The Silk Center As-
sociation, having fallen into hard lines, offered
its lands for sale at advantageous terms, and in
September, 1870, they were purchased by the
Southern California Colon) Association. The
land was bought at S3. 50 per acre, li was mesa
or table land that had never been cultivated.
It was considered by old-timers indifferent sheep
pasture, and Roubidoux, i; is -aid. had it struck
from the tax roll because it was not worth tax-
ing.

The company had the land subdivided and
laid off a town which was first named Jurupa,
but afterwards the name was changed to River-
side. The river, the Santa Ana. did not flow

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

past the town, but the colonists hoped to make
a goodly portion of its waters do so. The lands
were put on sale at reasonable prices, a ditch
at a cost of $50,000 was constructed. Experi-
ments were made with oranges, raisin grapes
and deciduous fruits, but the colony finally set-
tled down to orange producing. In 1877 the
introduction of the Bahia or navel orange gave
an additional impetus to orange growing in the
colony, the fruit of that species being greatly
superior to any other. This fruit was propa-
gated by budding from two trees received from
Washington, D. C, by J. A. Tibbetts, of River-
side.

The Indiana colony, which later became Pasa-
dena, was founded in 1873 by some gentlemen
from Indiana. Its purpose was the growing of
citrus fruits and raisin grapes, but it has grown
into a city, and the orange groves, once the
pride of the colony, have given place to business
blocks and stately residences.

During the early '70s a number of agricul-
tural colonies were founded in Fresno county.
These were all fruit-growing and raisin-pro-
ducing enterprises. They proved successful and
Fresno has become the largest raisin-pro-
ducing district in the state.

CHAPTER XXX.

THE CIVIL WAR— LOYALTY AND DISLOYALTY.

THE admission of California into the Union
as a free state did not, in the opinion of
the ultra pro-slavery faction, preclude the
possibility of securing a part of its territory for
the "peculiar institution" of the south. The
question of state division which had come up
in the constitutional convention was again agi-
tated. The advocates of division hoped to cut
off from the southern part, territory enough for
a new state. The ostensible purpose of division
was kept concealed. The plea of unjust taxa-
tion was made prominent. The native Califor-
nians who under Mexican rule paid no taxes on
their land were given to understand that they
were bearing an undue proportion of the cost
of government, while the mining counties, pay-
ing less tax, had the greater representation. The
native Californians were opposed to slavery, an
open advocacy of the real purpose would defeat
the division scheme.

The leading men in the southern part of the
state were from the slave states. If the state
were divided, the influence of these men would
carry the new state into the Union with a con-
stitution authorizing slave-holding and thus the
south would gain two senators. The division
question came up in some form in nearh every
session of the legislature for a decade after Cali-
fornia became a state.

In the legislature of 1854-55, Jefferson Hunt,
of San Bernardino county, introduced a bill in
the assembly to create and establish, "out of
the territory embraced within the limits of the
state of California, a new state, to be called the
state of Columbia." The territory embraced
within the counties of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara,
San Joaquin, Calaveras, Amador, Tuolumne,
Stanislaus, Mariposa, Tulare, Monterey, Santa
Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, San
Bernardino and San Diego, with the islands on
the coast, were to constitute the new state.
"The people residing within the above mentioned
territory shall be and they are hereby author-
ized, so soon as the consent of the congress of
the United States shall be obtained thereto, to
proceed to organize a state government under
such rules as are prescribed by the constitution
of the United States." The bill met with oppo-
sition. It took in some of the mining counties
whose interests were not coincident with the
agricultural counties of the south. It died on
the files.

At a subsequent session, a bill was introduced
in the legislature to divide the state into three
parts, southern, central and northern, the cen-
tral state to retain the name of California. This
was referred to a committee and got no farther.
Ii was not satisfactory to the pro-slavery ele-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ment because the gain to the south would be
.overbalanced by the gain to the north.

The success of border ruffianism, backed by
the Buchanan administration, in forcing the de-
testable Lecompton pro-slavery constitution on
the people of Kansas, encouraged the division-
ists to make another effort to divide the state.
While California was a free state it had through-
out its existence, up to 1857, when Broderick
was elected to the senate, been represented in
both houses either by slave-holders from the
south or by northern "dough faces" — men of
northern birth with southern principles. Most
of the state offices had been filled by southern
men who had come to the state to obtain office
or men who had been imported by their friends
or relatives to fill positions by appointment.
Indeed, so notorious had this importation of
office-holders become that California was often
referred to as the "Virginia poorhouse."
Scarcely a legislature had convened in which
there was not some legislation against free ne-
groes. A free colored man was as terrible to
the chivalrous legislators as an army with ban-
ners.

The legislature of 1859 was intensely pro-
slavery. The divisionists saw in it an oppor-
tunity to carry out their long-deferred scheme.
The so-called Pico law, an act granting the
consent of the legislature to the formation of a
different government for the southern counties
of this state, was introduced early in the ses-
sion, passed in both houses and approved by
the governor April 18, 1859. The boundaries
of the proposed state were as follows: "All of
that part or portion of the present territory of
this state lying all south of a line drawn east-
ward from the west boundary of the state along
the sixth standard parallel south of the Mount
Diablo meridian, east to the summit of the
coast range; thence southerly following said
summit to the seventh standard parallel: thence
due east on said standard, parallel to its inter-
section with the northwest boundary of Los
Angeles county; thence northeast along said
boundary to the eastern boundary of the slate.
including the counties of San Luis Obispo,
Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Diego, San
Bernardino and a part of Buena \ ista, shall he

segregated from the remaining portion of the
state for the purpose of the formation by con-
gress, with the concurrent action of said portion
(the consent for the segregation of which is
hereby granted), of a territorial or other gov-
ernment under the name of the "Territory of
Colorado," or such other name as may be
deemed meet and proper."

Section second provided for the submitting
the question of "For a Territory" or "Against
a Territory" to the people of the portion sought
to be segregated at the next general election;
"and in case two-thirds of the whole number of
voters voting thereon shall vote for a change of
government, the consent hereby given shall be
deemed consummated." In case the vote was
favorable the secretary of state was to send a
certified copy of the result of the election and
a copy of the act annexed to the president of
the United States and to the senators and rep-
resentatives of California in congress. At the
general election in September, 1859, the ques-
tion was submitted to a vote of the people of
the southern counties, with the following result:

For. Against.

Los Angeles county 1407 441

San Bernardino 441 29

San Diego 207 24

San Luis Obispo 10 283

Santa Barbara 395 5 1

Tulare 17

Total 2,477 828

The bill to create the county of Buena Vista
from the southern portion of Tulare failed to
pass the legislature, hence the name of that
county does not appear in the returns. The
result of the vote showed that considerably more
than two-thirds were in favor of a new state.

The results of this movement for division and
the act were sent to the president and to con-
gress, hut nothing came of it. The pro-slavery
faction that with the assistance of the dough-
faces of the north had so long dominated con-
gress hail lost its power. The southern senators
and congressmen v, ere pp paring for s&
and had weightier matters t,i think of than the
division of tin- state of 1 :alifornia. < >f late years,
a few feeble attempts have been made to stir up

206

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the old question of state division and even to
resurrect the old "Pico law."

For more than a decade after its admission
into the Union, California was a Democratic
state and controlled by the pro-slavery wing of
that party. John C. Fremont and William H.
Gwin, its first senators, were southern born,
Fremont in South Carolina and Gwin in Mis-
sissippi. Politics had not entered into their
election, but the lines were soon drawn. Fre-
mont drew the short term and his services in
the senate were very brief. He confidently
expected a re-election, but in this he was
doomed to disappointment. The legislature of
1851, after balloting one hundred ami forty-two
times, adjourned without electing, leaving Cali-
fornia with but one senator in the session of
1850-51. In the legislature of 1852 John I'..
Wilier was elected. He was a northern man
with southern principles. His chief opponent
for the place was David Colbert Broderick, a
man destined to fill an important place in the
political history of California. He was an Irish-
man by birth, but had come to America in his
boyhood. He had learned the stone cutters'
trade with his father. His early associations
were with the rougher element of Xew York-
City. Aspiring to a higher position than that
of a stone cutter he entered the political field
and soon arose to prominence. At the age of
26 he was nominated for Congress, but was de-
feated by a small majority through a split in the
party. In 1840 he came to California, where he
arrived sick and penniless. With F. D. Kohler,
an assayer, he engaged in coining gold. The
profit from buying gold dust at $14 an ounce
and making it into $5 and $10 pieces put him
in afHuenl circumstances.

His first entry into politics in California was
his election to fill a vacancy in the senate of the
first legislature. In 1851 he became president
of the senate. I ['e studied law. history and liter-
ature and was admitted to the bar. He was ap-
pointed clerk of the supreme cour) and had as-
pirations for still higher positions. Although
Senator Gwin was a Democrat, he had managed
in control all the federal appointments of Fill
more, the Whig president, and he had filled the
(>f\)c<^ with pro-slaver) Democrats.

Xo other free state in the Union had such
odious laws against negroes as had California.
The legislature of 1852 enacted a law "respect-
ing fugitives from labor and slaves brought to
this state prior to her admission to the Union."
"Under this law a colored man or woman could
be brought before a magistrate, claimed as a
slave, and the person so seized not being per-
mitted to testify, the judge had no alternative
but to issue a certificate to the claimant, which
certificate was conclusive of the right of the per-
son or persons in whose favor granted, and pre-
vented all molestation of such person or per-
sons, by any process issued by any court, judge,
justice or magistrate or other person whomso-
ever. "* Any one who rendered assistance to a
fugitive was liable to a fine of $500 or imprison-
ment for two months. Slaves who had been
brought into California by their masters before
it became a state, but who were freed by the
adoption of a constitution prohibiting slavery,
were held to be fugitives and were liable to
arrest, although they had been free for several
years and some of them had accumulated con-
siderable property. By limitation the law should
have become inoperative in 1853, but the legis-
lature of that year re-enacted it, and the suc-
ceeding legislatures of 1854 and 1855 continued
it in force. The intention of the legislators
who enacted the law was to legalize the kid-
napping of free negroes, as well as the arrest of
fugitives. Broderick vigorously opposed the
prosecution of the colored people and by so
doing called down upon his head the wrath of
the pro-slavery chivalry. From that time on he
was an object of their hatred. While successive
legislatures were passing laws to punish black-
men for daring to assert their freedom and their
right to the products of their honest toil, white
villains were rewarded with political preferment,
provided always that they belonged to the domi-
nant wing of the Democratic party. The Whig
party was but little better than the other, for the
same element ruled in both. The finances of
tin' state were in a deplorable condition and
continually growing worse. The people's money
was recklessly squandered. Incompetency was

►Bancroft's History of California, Vol. VI.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

207

the rule in office and honesty the exception.
Ballot box stuffing had been reduced to a me-
chanical science, jury bribing was one of the
fine arts and suborning perjury was a recognized
profession. During one election in San Fran-
cisco it was estimated that $1,500,000 was spent
in one way or another to influence voters. Such
was the state of affairs just preceding the up-
rising of the people that evolved in San Fran-
cisco the vigilance committee of 1856.

At the state election in the fall of 1855 the
Know Nothings carried the state. The native
American or Know Nothing party was a party
of few principles. Opposition to Catholics and
foreigners was about the only plank in its plat-
form. There was a strong opposition to for-
eign miners in the mining districts and the
pro-slavery faction saw in the increased foreign
immigration danger to the extension of their
beloved institution into new territory. The
most potent cause of the success of the new
part}- in California was the hope that it might
bring reform to relieve the tax burdened people.
But in this they were disappointed. It was made
up from the same element that had so long mis-
governed the state.

The leaders of the party were either pro-
slavery men of the south or northern men with
southern principles. Of the latter class was J.
Neely Johnson, the governor-elect. In the leg-
islature of 1855 the contest between Gwin and
Broderick, which had been waged at the polls
the previous year, culminated after thirty-eight
ballots in no choice and Gwin's place in the
senate became vacant at the expiration- of his
term. In the legislature of 1856 the Know Noth-
ings had a majority in both houses. It was
supposed that they would elect a senator to
succeed Gwin. There were three aspirants: H.
A. Crabb, formerly a Whig; F. C. Marshall and
Henry S. Foote, formerly Democrats. All were
southerners and were in the new party for of-
fice. The Gwin and Broderick influence was
strong enough to prevent the Know Nothing
legislature from electing a senator and Califor-
nia was left with but one representative in the
upper house of Congress.

The Know Nothing party was short lived. At
the general election in 1856 the Democrats

swept the state. Broderick, by his ability in or-
ganizing and his superior leadership, had se-
cured a majority in the legislature and was in a
position to dictate terms to his opponents. Wel-
ler's senatorial term would soon expire and
Gwin's already two years vacant left two places
to be filled. Broderick, who had heretofore
been contending for Gwin's place, changed his
tactics and aspired to fill the long term. Ac-
cording to established custom, the filling of the
vacancy would come up first, but Broderick, by
superior finesse, succeeded in having the caucus
nominate the successor to Weller first. Ex-
Congressman Latham's friends were induced to
favor the arrangement on the expectation that
their candidate would be given the short term.
Broderick was elected to the long term on the
first ballot, January 9, 1857, and his commission
was immediately made out and signed by the
governor. For years he had bent his energies
to securing the senatorship and at last he had
obtained the coveted honor. But he was not
satisfied yet. He aspired to control the federal
patronage of the state; in this way he could
reward his friends. He could dictate the elec-
tion of his colleague for the short term. Both
Gwin and Latham were willing to concede to
him that privilege for the sake of an election.
Latham tried to make a few reservations for
some of his friends to whom he had promised
places. Gwin offered to surrender it all with-
out reservation. He had had enough of it.
Gwin was elected and next day published an
address, announcing his obligation to Broderick
and renouncing any claim" to the distribution of
the federal patronage.

Then a wail long and loud went up from the
chivalry, who for years had monopolized all the
offices. That they, southern gentlemen of aris-
tocratic antecedents, should be compelled to asl
favors of a mudsill of the north was too hu-
miliating to be borne. Latham, too, was indig-
nant and Broderick found thai his triumph was
but a hollow mockery. But the worst
come. Tie who had done SO much to unite the
warring Democracy and give the party a glo-
rious victory in California at the presidential
election of [856 full) expected the approbation
of President Buchanan, but when he called on

2(IS

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

that old gentleman he was received coldly and
during Buchanan's administration he was ig-
nored and Gwin's advice taken and followed in
making federal appointments. He returned to
California in April, 1857, to secure the nomina-
tion of his friends on the state ticket, but in
this he was disappointed. The Gwin ele-
ment was in the ascendency and John
B. Weller received the nomination for gov-
ernor. He was regarded as a martyr, having
been tricked out of a re-election to the sen-
ate by Broderick. There were other martyrs of
the Democracy, who received balm for their
wounds and sympathy for their sufferings at
that convention. In discussing a resolution de-
nouncing the vigilance committee, 0'Me.ara in
his "History of Early Politics in California,"
says: "Col. Joseph P. Hoge, the acknowledged
leader of the convention, stated that the com-
mittee had hanged four men, banished twenty-
eight and arrested two hundred and eighty; and
that these were nearly all I democrats.

On Broderick's return to the senate in the
session of 1857-58, he cast his lot with Senator
Douglas and opposed the admission of Kansas
under the infamous Lecompton constitution.
This cut him loose from the administration
wing of the party.

In the state campaign of 1859 Broderick ral-
lied his followers under the Anti-Lecompton
standard and Gwin his in support of the Bu-
chanan administration. The party was hope-
lessly divided. Two Democratic tickets were
placed in the field. The Broderick ticket, with
John Currey as governor, and the Gwin, with
Milton Latham, the campaign was bitter. Brod-
erick took the stump and although not an orator
his denunciations of Gwin were scathing and
merciless and in his fearful earnestness he be-
came almosl eloquent. Gwin in turn loosed
the vials of his wrath upon Broderick and
criminations and recriminations Hew thick and
fast during the campaign. It was a campaign
df vituperation, but the first aggress< r was
Gwin.

Judge Terry, in a speech before the Lecomp-
ton convention at Sacramento in June, 1859,
after flinging oul sneers at the Republican party,
characterized Broderick's party as sailing "under

the flag of Douglas, but it is the banner of the
black Douglass, whose name is Frederick, not
Stephen." This taunt was intended to arouse
the wrath of Broderick. He read Terry's speech
while seated at breakfast in the International
hotel at San Francisco. Broderick denounced
Terry's utterance in forcible language and
closed by saying: "I have hitherto spoken of
him as an honest man, as the only honest
man on the bench of a miserable, corrupt su-
preme court, but now I find I was mistaken. I
take it all back." A lawyer by the name of Per-
ley, a friend of Terry's, to whom the remark was
directed, to obtain a little reputation, challenged
Broderick. Broderick refused to consider Per-
ley's challenge on the ground that he was not
his (Broderick's) equal in standing and beside
that he had declared himself a few days before
a British subject. Perley did not stand very-
high in the community. Terry had acted as a
second for him in a duel a few years before.

Broderick, in his reply to Perley, said: "I
have determined to take no notice of attacks
from any source during the canvass. If I were
to accept your challenge, there are probably
many other gentlemen who would seek similar
opportunities for hostile meetings for the pur-
pose of accomplishing a political object or to
obtain public notoriety. I cannot afford at the
present time to descend to a violation of the
Constitution and state laws to subserve either
their or your purposes."

Terry a few days after the close of the cam-
paign sent a letter to Broderick demanding a
retraction of the offensive remarks. Broderick,
well knowing that he would have to fight some
representative of the chivalry if not several of
them in succession, did not retract his remarks,
lie had for several years, in expectation of such
a result in a contest with them, practiced
himself in the use of fire arms until he had be-
come quite expert.

A challenge followed, a meeting was arranged
to take place in San Mateo county, ten miles
from San Francisco, on the 12th of September.
( 'hief of Police Burke appeared on the scene
and arrested the principals. They were released
by the court, no crime having been committed.
They met next morning at the same place: ex-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

jn',i

Congressman McKibben and David D. Colton
were Broderick's seconds. Calhoun Benham
and Thomas Hayes were Terry's. The pistols
selected belonged to a friend of Terry's. Brod-
erick was ill, weak and nervous, and it was said
that his pistol was quicker on the trigger than
Terry's. When the word was given it was dis-
charged before it reached a level and the ball
struck the earth, nine feet from where he stood.
Terry fired, striking Broderick in the breast.
He sank to the earth mortally wounded and died
three days afterwards. Broderick dead was a
greater man than Broderick living. For years
he had waged a contest against the representa-
tives of the slave oligarchy in California and the
great mass of the people had looked on with
indifference, even urging on his pursuers to the
tragic end. Now that he was killed, the cry went
up for vengeance on his murderers. Terry was
arrested and admitted to bail in the sum of
$10,000. The trial was put off on some pretext
and some ten months later he obtained a change
of venue to Marin county on the plea that he
could not obtain a fair and impartial trial in San
Francisco. His case was afterwards dismissed
without trial by a pro-slavery judge named
Hard)-. Although freed by the courts he was
found guilty and condemned by public opinion.
He went south and joined the Confederates at
the breaking out of the Civil war. He some
time after the close of the war returned to Cal-
ifornia. In 1880 he was a presidential elector
on the Democratic ticket. His colleagues on
the ticket were elected, but he was defeated.
He was killed at Lathrop by a deputy United
States marshal while attempting an assault on
United States Supreme Judge Field.

In the hue and cry that was raised on the
death of Broderick, the chivalry read the doom
of their ascendency. Gwin, as he was about to
take trie steamer on his return to Washington,
"had flaunted in his face a large canvas frame,
cm which was painted a portrait of Broderick
and this: 'It is the will of the people that the
murderers of Broderick do not return again to
California;' and below were also these words
attributed to Mr. Broderick: 'They have killed
me because I was opposed to the extension of
slavery, and a corrupt administration.'"

Throughout his political career Broderick was
a consistent anti-slavery man and a friend of
the common people. Of all the politicians of the
ante-bellum period, that is, before the Civil war,
he stands to-day the highest in the estimation of
the people of California. Like Lincoln, he was
a self-made man. From a humble origin,
unaided, he had fought his way up to a lofty po-
sition. Had he been living during the war
against the perpetuity of human slavery, he
would have been a power in the senate or pos-
sibly a commander on the field of battle. As it
was, during that struggle in his adopted state,
his name became a synonyn of patriotism and
love for the Union.

Milton S. Latham, who succeeded John B.
VVeller as governor in i860, was. like his pred-
ecessor, a northern man with southern prin-
ciples. Almost from the date of his arrival in
California he had been an office-holder. He was
a man of mediocre ability. He was a state di-
visionist and would have aided in that scheme
by advocating in the senate of the United States
(to which body he had been elected three days
after his inauguration) the segregation of the
southern counties and their formation into a
new state with the hopes of restoring the equi-
librium between the north and the south. But
the time had passed for such projects. The
lieutenant-governor, John G. Downey, suc-
ceeded Latham. Downey gained great popu-
larity by his veto of the "bulkhead bill." This
was a scheme of the San Francisco Dock and
Wharf Company to build a stone bulkhead
around the city water front in consideration of
having the exclusive privilege of collecting
wharfage and tolls for fifty years. Down
much of his popularity, particularly with the
Union men, during the Civil war on account of
his sympathy with the Confederates.

At the state election in September. [861, Ice-
land Stanford was chosen governor. He was
the first Republican il office. He

received fifty-six thou Two years

before he had been a candidate for that office
and received only ten thousand votes, so rap-
idlv had publii '■ The news

of the firing upon Fori £ ed San

Francisco April -'4, twelve days after its oc-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

currence. It came by pony express. The be-
ginning of hostilities between the north and the
south stirred up a strong Union sentiment. The
great Union mass meeting held in San Fran-
cisco May ii, 1861, was the largest and most
enthusiastic public demonstration ever held on
the Pacific coast. The lines were sharply drawn
between the friends of the government and its
enemies. Former political alliances were for-
gotten. Most of the Anti-Lecompton or Doug-
las Democrats arrayed themselves on the side
of the Union. The chivalry wing of the Dem-
ocratic party were either open or secret sym-
pathizers with the Confederates. Some of them
were bold and outspoken in their disloyalty.
The speech of Edmund Randolph at the Dem-
ocratic convention July 24. 1861, is a sample
of such utterances. * * * "To me it seems
a waste of time to talk. For God's sake, tell
me of battles fought and won. Tell me of
usurpers overthrown; that Missouri is again a
free state, no longer crushed under the armed
heel of a reckless and odious despot. Tell me
that the state of Maryland lives again; and, oh!
gentlemen, let us read, let us hear, at the first
moment, that not one hostile foot now treads
the soil of Virginia! (Applause and cheers.)
If this be rebellion, I am a rebel. Do you want
a traitor, then I am a traitor. For God's sake,
speed the ball; may the lead go quick to his
heart, and may our country be free from the
despot usurper that now claims the name
of the president of the United States."* (Cheers.)
Some of the chivalry Democrats, most of whom
had been holding office in California for years,
went south at the breaking out of the war to
fight in the armies of the Confederacy, and
among these was Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston,
who had been superseded in the command of
the Pacific Department by < .en. Edwin V. Stun-
ner. Johnston, with a number of fellow sym-
pathizers, went south b) the overland route and
was killed a year later, at the batik- of Shiloh,
while in command of the Confederate army.

One form of disloyally among the class

known as "copperheads" (northern men with

rn principles) was the advocacy of a Pa-

cific republic. Most prominent among these
was ex-Governor John B. W'eller. The move-
ment was a thinly disguised method of aiding
the southern Confederacy. The flag of the
inchoate Pacific republic was raised in Stock-
ton January 16, 1861. It is thus described by
the Stockton Argus: "The flag is of silk of the
medium size of the national ensign and with
the exception of the Union (evidently a mis-
nomer in this case) which contains a lone star
upon a blue ground, is covered by a painting
representing a wild mountain scene, a huge
grizzly bear standing in the foreground and the
words 'Pacific Republic' near the upper border."
The flag raising was not a success. At first it
was intended to raise it in the city. But as it
became evident this would not be allowed, it was
raised to the mast head of a vessel in the slough.
It was not allowed to float there long. The hal-
yards were cut and a boy was sent up the mast
to pull it down. The owner of the flag was con-
vinced that it was not safe to trifle with the
loyal sentiment of the people.

At the gubernatorial election in September,
1863, Frederick F. Low, Republican, was
chosen over John G. Downey, Democrat, by a
majority of over twenty thousand. In some parts
of the state Confederate sympathizers were
largely in the majority. This was the case in
Los Angeles and in some places in the San
Joaquin valley. Several of the most outspoken
were arrested and sent to Fort Alcatraz, where
they soon became convinced of the error of
their ways and took the oath of allegiance.
When the news of the assassination of Lincoln
reached San Francisco, a mob destroyed the
newspaper plants of the Democratic Press.
edited by Beriah Brown ; the Occidental, edited
by Zach. Montgomery: the News Letter, edited
by F. Marriott, and the Monitor, a Catholic
paper, edited by Thomas A. Brady. These were
virulent copperhead sheets that had heaped
abuse upon the martyred president. Had the
proprietors of these journals been found the
mob would, in the excitement that prevailed,
have treated them with violence. After this
demonstration Confederate sympathizers kept
silent.

> alifornia.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

CHAPTER XXXI.

TRADE, TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION.

THE beginning of the ocean commerce of
California was the two mission transport
ships that came every year to bring sup-
plies for the missions and presidios and take
back what few products there were to send.
The government fixed a price upon each and
every article of import and export. There was
no cornering the market, no bulls or bears in
the wheat pit, no rise or fall in prices except
when ordered by royal authority. An Arancel
de Precios (fixed rate of prices) was issued at
certain intervals, and all buying and selling was
governed accordingly. These arancels include 1
everything in the range of human needs — phys-
ical, spiritual or mental. According to a tariff
of prices promulgated by Governor Fages in
1788, which had been approved by the audencia
and had received the royal sanction, the price
of a Holy Christ in California was fixed at
$1.75, a wooden spoon six cents, a horse $9, a
deerskin twenty-five cents, red pepper eighteen
cents a pound, a dozen of quail twenty-five
cents, brandy seventy-five cents per pint, and
so on throughout the list.

In 1785 an attempt was made to open up
trade between California and China, the com-
modities for exchange being seal and otter
skins for quicksilver. The trade in peltries was
to be a government monopoly. The skins were
to be collected from the natives by the mission
friars, who were to sell them to a government
agent at prices ranging from $2.50 to Sin each.
The neophytes must give up to the friars all
the skins in their possession. All trade by citi-
zens or soldiers was prohibited ami any one
attempting to deal in peltries otherwise than
the regularly ordained authorities was liable, if
found out, to have his goods confiscated.
Spain's attempt to engage in the fur trade was
not a success. The blighting monopoly of
church and state nipped it in the bud. It died

out, and the government bought quicksilver,
on which also it had a monop >ly, with coin in-
stead of otter skins.

After the government abandoned the fur trade
the American smugglers began to gather up
the peltries, and the California producer re-
ceived better prices for his furs than the mis-
sionaries paid.

The Yankee smuggler had no arancel of
prices fixed by royal edict. His price ICt va-
ried according to circumstances. As his trade
was illicit and iiis vessel and her cargo were in
danger of confiscation if he was caught, his scale
of prices ranged high. But he paid a higher
price for the peltries than the government, and
that was a consolation to the seller. The com-
merce with the Russian settlements of the
northwest in the early years of the century fur-
nished a limited market for the grain produced
at some of the missions, hut the Russians
helped themselves to the otter and the seal of
California without saying "By your leave" and
they were not welcome visitors.

During the -Mexican revolution, as has been
previously mentioned, trade sprang up !><
Lima and California in tallow, but it was of
short duration During the Spanish era it can
hardly be said that California had air
merce. Foreign vessels were not allowed to
enter her ports except when in distress, anil
their stay was limited to the sin rtesl time pos
sible required to make repairs and take on
supplies.

It was not until Mexico gained her inde-
pendence ami removed the pi scriptive regu-
lations with which Spain had hampered com-
merce that t 1 ]- rs opened up trade
between New England and 'California. This
trade, which b ■ ■ grew t . • consider-
able prop irtii n~ Tlie hide droghers were emi-
grant -hips as well as mercantile vessels. By

212

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

these came most of the Americans who settled
in California previous to 1840. The hide and
tallow trade, the most important item of com-
merce in the Mexican era, reached its maximum
in [834, when the great mission herds were, by
order of the padres, slaughtered to prevent them
from falling into the hands of the government
commissioners. Thirty-two vessels came to the
coast that year, marly all of which were en-
gaged in the hide and tallow trade.

During the year 1845, the last of Mexican
rule, sixty vessels visited the coast. These
were not all trading vessels; eight were men-
of-war, twelve were whalers and thirteen came
on miscellaneous business. The total amount
received at the custom house for revenue during
that year was $140,000. The majority of the
vessels trading on the California coast during
the Mexican era sailed under the stars and
stripes. Mexico was kinder to California than
Spain, and under her administration commer-
cial relations were established to a limited ex-
lent with foreign nations. Her commerce at
best was feeble and uncertain. The revenue laws
and their administration were frequently
changed, and the shipping merchant was never
sure wiiat kind of a reception his cargo would
receive from the custom house officers. The
duties on imports from foreign countries were
exorbitant and there was always more or less
smuggling carried on. The people and the
padres, when they were a power, gladly wel-
comed the arrival of a trading vessel on the
coast and were not averse to buying goods that
had escaped the tariff if they could do so with
safety. As there was no land tax, the revenue
on goods supported the expenses of the govern-
ment.

Never in the world's history did any country
develop an ocean commerce so quickly as did
California after the discovery of gold. When
the news spread abroad, the first ships to
arrive came from Peru, Chile and the South
Sea islands. The earliesl published notice oi
the gold discovery appeared in the Baltimore
Sun, September jo, [848, eight months after it
was made. At first the Story was ridiculed, hut
as confirmatory reports came thick and fast,
preparations began for a grand rush for the

gold mines. Vessels of all kinds, seaworthy
and unseaworthy, were overhauled and fitted
out for California'. The American trade with
California had gone by way of Cape Horn or
the Straits of Magellan, and this was the route
that was taken by the pioneers. Then there
were short cuts by the way of the Isthmus of
Panama, across Mexico and by Nicaragua. The
first vessels left the Atlantic seaports in No-
vember, 1848. By the middle of the winter one
hundred vessels had sailed from Atlantic and
Gulf seaports, and by spring one hundred and
fifty more had taken their departure, all of them
loaded with human freight and with supplies of
every description. Five hundred and forty-
nine vessels arrived in San Francisco in nine
months, forty-five reaching that port in one day.
April 12, 1848, before the treaty of peace
with Mexico had been proclaimed by the Presi-
dent, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company was
incorporated with a capital of $500,000. Asto-
ria. ( >rc., was to have been the Pacific terminus
of the company's line, but it never got there
The discovery of gold in California made San
Francisco the end of its route. The contract
with the government gave the company a sub-
sidy of $200,000 for maintaining three steamers
on the Pacific side between Panama and Asto-
ria. The first of these vessels, the California,
sailed from New York October 6, 1848, for San
Francisco and Astoria via Cape Horn. She
was followed in the two succeeding months by
the < (regon and the Panama. On the Atlantic
side the vessels of the line for several years
were the ( >hio, Illinois and Georgia. The ves-
sels 011 the Atlantic side were fifteen hundred
tons burden, while those on the Pacific were a
thousand tons. Freight and passengers by the
Panama route were transported across the isth-
mus by boats up the Chagres river to Gorgona,
and then by mule-back to Panama. In 1855 the
Panama railroad was completed. This greatly
facilitated travel and transportation. The At-
lantic terminus of the road was Aspinwall, now
called 1 1 > 1 < m.

Another hue of travel and commerce between
the states and California in early days was the
Nicaragua route. By that route passengers on
the Atlantic side landed at San Juan del Norte

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

213

or Greytown. From there they took a river
steamer and ascended the Rio San Juan to Lake
Nicaragua, then in a larger vessel the) crossed
the lake to La Virgin. From there a distance
of about twelve miles was made on foot or on
mule-back to San Juan del Sur, where they re-
embarked on board the ocean steamer for San
Francisco.

The necessity for the speed)' shipment of mer-
chandise to California before the days of trans-
continental railroads at a minimum cost evolved
the clipper ship. These vessels entered quite
early into the California trade and soon displaced
the short, clumsy vessels of a few hundred tons
burden that took from six to ten months to
make a voyage around the Horn. The clipper
ship Flying Cloud, which arrived at San Fran-
cisco in August, 185 1, made the voyage from
Xew York in eighty-nine days. These vessels
were built long and narrow and carried heavy-
sail. Their capacity ranged from one to two
thousand tons burden. The overland railroads
took away a large amount of their business.

Capt. Jedediah S. Smith, as previously stated,
was the real pathfinder of the western moun-
tains and plains. He marked out the route
from Salt Lake by way of the Rio Virgin, the
Colorado and the Cajon Pass to Los Angeles
in [826. This route was extensively traveled
by the belated immigrants of the early '50s.
Those reaching Salt Lake City too late in the
season to cross the Sierra Nevadas turned
southward and entered California by Smith's
trail.

The early immigration to California came by
way of Fort Hall. From there it turned south-
erly. At Fort Hall the Oregon and California
immigrants separated. The disasters that be-
fell the Donner party were broughl upon them
by their taking the Hastings cut-oft', which was
represented to them as saving two hundred and
fifty miles. It was shorter, but the time spent
in making a wagon road through a rough coun-
try delayed them until they were caught by the
snows in the mountain-;. Lassen's cut-off was
another rout-? that broughl disaster and delays
to many of the immigrants who were induced
to take it. The route up the Platte through the

South Pass of the Rocky mountains and down
the Humboldt received by far the larger amount
of travel.

The old Santa Fe trail from Independence to
Santa Fe, and from there by the old Spanish
trail around the north bank of the Colorado
across the Rio Virgin down the Mojave river
and through the Cajon Pass to Los Angeles,
was next in importance. Another route by
which much of the southern emigration came
was what was known as the Gila route. It
started at Fort Smith, Ark., thence via El Paso
and Tucson and down the Gila to Yuma, thence
across the desert through the San Gorgono
Pass to Los Angeles. In 1852 it was estimated
one thousand wagons came by this route. There
was another route still further south than this
which passed through the northern states of
Mexico, but it was not popular on account of
the hostility of the Mexicans and the Apaches.

The first overland stage line was established
in 1857. The route extended from San Antonio
de Bexar, Tex., to San Diego, via El Paso, Mes-
siilo, Tucson and Colorado City (now Yuma).
The service was twice a month. The contract
was let to James E. Burch, the Postal Depart-
ment reserving "the right to curtail or discon-
tinue the service should any route subsequently
put under contract cover the whole or any por-
tion of the route." The San Diego Herald,
August t2, 1857. thus notes the departure of the
first mail by that route: "The pioneer mail
train from San Diego to San Antonio. Tex.,
under the contract entered into by the govern-
ment with Mr. James Burch, left here on the
9th inst. (August o, [857) at an early hour in
the morning, and is now pushing its way for the
east at a rapid rate. The mail was of course
carried on pack animals, as will be the case
until wagons which are being pushed across will
have been put on the line. * : The first

mail from the other side has not yel arrived,
although somewhat overdue, and conjecture is
rife as to the cause of the delay." The eastern
mail arrived a few days later.

The service continued to improve, and the
fifth trip from the eastern terminus to San
Diego "was made in the extraordinary short

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

time of twenty-six 'lays and twelve hours," and
the San Diego Herald on this arrival, October
6, [857, rushed out an extra "announcing the
ver) gratifying fact of the complete triumph of
the southern route notwithstanding the croak-
1 many of the opponents of the adminis-
tration in this state." But the "triumph of the
southern route" was of short duration. In
September, 1858, the stages of the Butterfield
line began making their semi-weekly trips.
This route from its western terminus, San Fran-
cisco, came down the coast to Gilroy, thence
through Pacheco Pass to the San Joaquin val-
ley, up the valley and by way of Fort Tejon to
1 os Angeles; from there eastward by Temecula
and Warner's to Yuma, thence following very
nearly what is now the route of the Southern
Pacific Railroad through Arizona and Xew Mex-
ico to El Paso, thence turning northward to
Fort Smith, Ark. There the route divided, one
branch going to St. Louis and the other to
Memphis. The mail route from San Antonio
to San Diego was discontinued.

The Butterfield stage line was <mc of the long-
est continuous lines ever organized. Its length
was two thousand eight hundred and eighty
miles. It began operation in September. [858.
'I be first stage from the east reached Los
Angeles October 7 and San Francisco October
to. A mass-meeting was held at San Francisco
the evening of October 11 "for the purpose of
expressing the sense entertained by the people
of the city of the great benefits she is to re-
ceive from the establishment of the overland
mail." Col. J. B. Crocket acted as president
and Frank M. Pixley as secretary. The speaker
of ili.' evening in his enthusiasm said: "In my
opinion one of the greatesl blessings that could
befall Califi rnia would be to discontinue at or.ee
all communication by steamer between San
Francisco and New York. < m yesterday we
received advices from New York, New Orleans
and St. Louis in less than twenty-four days via
I I Paso. Nexl to the discovery of gold this is
th" mosi importanl fad yel developed in the
Iu'sti rj of California." W. L. Ormsby, special
ml. 11! -if the Vew York Herald, the
1 1 only through passenger by the over-

land mail coming in three hours less than
twenty-lour days, was introduced to the audi-
ence and was greeted with terrific applause. He
gave a description of the route and some inci-
dents of the journey.

The government gave the Butterfield com-
pany a subsidy of $600,000 a year for a service
of two mail coaches each way a week. In 1859
the postal revenue from this route was only
$27,000, leaving Uncle Sam more than half a
million dollars out of pocket. At the breaking
out of the Civil war the southern overland mail
route was discontinued and a contract was made
with Butterfield for a six-times-a-week mail by
the central route via Salt Lake City, with a
branch line to Denver. The eastern terminus
was at first St. Joseph, but on account of the
war it was changed to Omaha. The western
terminus was Placerville, Cab, time twenty
days for eight months, and twenty-three days
for the remaining four months. The contract
was for three years at an annual subsidy of
$1,000,000. The last overland stage contract
for carrying the mails was awarded to Wells,
Fargo & Co., October 1, 1868, for $1,750,000
per annum, with deductions for carriage by rail-
way. The railway was rapidly reducing the dis-
tance of stage travel.

The only inland commerce during the Mexi-
can era was a few bands of mules sold to New-
Mexican traders and driven overland to Santa
Fe by the old Spanish trail and one band of
cattle sold to the Oregon settlers in 1837 and
driven by the coast route to Oregon City. The
Californians had no desire to open up an inland
trade with their neighbors and the traders and
trappers who came overland were not welcome.

After the discovery of gold, freighting to the
mines became an important business. Supplies
had to be taken bj pack trains and wagons.
Freight charges were excessively high at first.
!n [848, "it cost $5 to carry a hundred pounds
of goods from Sutter's Fort to the lower
mines, a distance of twenty miles, and $10 per
hundred weight for freight to the upper mines,
a distance of forty miles. Two horses can draw
one thousand live hundred pounds." In Decem-
ber. [849, the loads were almost impassable

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and teamsters were charging from $40 to $50 a
hundred pounds for hauling freight from Sacra-
mento to Mormon Island.

In 1855 an inland trade was opened up be-
tween Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. The
first shipment was made by Banning and Alex-
ander. The wagon train consisted of fifteen
ten-mule teams heavily freighted with merchan-
dise. The venture was a success financially.
The train left Los Angeles in May and returned
in September, consuming four months in the
journey. The trade increased and became quite
an important factor in the business of the south-
ern part of the state. In 1859 sixty wagons
were loaded for Salt Lake in the month of
January, and in March of the same year one
hundred and fifty loaded with goods were sent
to the Mormon capital. In 1865 and 1866 there
was a considerable shipment of goods from Los
Angeles to Idaho and Montana by wagon trains.
These trains went by way of Salt Lake. This
trade was carried on during the winter months
when the roads over the Sierras and the Rocky
mountains were blocked with snow.

Freighting by wagon train to Washoe funned
a very important part of the inland commerce
of California between 1850 and 1869. The im-
mense freight wagons called "prairie schooners"
carried almost as much as a freight car. The
old-time teamster, like the old-time stage driver,
was a unique character. Both have disappeared.
Their occupation is gone. We shall never look
on their like again.

The pony express rider came early in the his-
tory of California. Away back in 1775. when
the continental congress made Benjamin Frank-
lin postmaster-general of the United Colonies,
on the Pacific coast soldier couriers, fleet
mounted, were carrying their monthly budgets
of mail between Monterey in Alta California,
and Loreto, near the southern extremity of the
peninsula of Lower California, a distance of one
thousand five hundred miles.

In the winter of 1859-60 a Wall street lobby
was in Washington trying to get an appropria-
tion of $5,000,000 for carrying the mails one
year between Xew York and San Francisco.
William II. Russell, of the linn of Russell, Ma-

jors & Waddell, then engaged in running a
daily stage line between the Missouri river and
Salt Lake City, hearing of the lobby's efforts,
offered to bet $200,000 that he could put on a
mail line between San Francisco and St. Joseph,
that could make- the distance, one thousand nine
hundred and fifty miles, in ten days. The wager
was accepted. Russell and his business man-
ager, A. B. Miller, an old plains man, bought
the fleetest horses they could find in the west
and employed one hundred and twenty-five
riders selected with reference to their light
weight and courage. It was essential that the
horses should be loaded as lightly as possible.
The horses were stationed from ten to twenty
miles apart and each rider was required to ride
seventy-five miles. For change of horses and
mail bag two minutes were allowed, at each
station. One man took care of the two horses
kept there. Everything being arranged a start
was made from St. Joseph, April 3, i860. The
bet was to be decided on the race eastward. At
meridian on April 3. [860, a signal gun on a
steamer at Sacramento proclaimed the hour of
starting. At that signal Mr. Miller's private
saddle horse, Border Ruffian, with his rider
bounded away toward the foothills of the Sierra
Xevadas. The first twenty miles were covered
in forty-nine minutes. All went well till the
riatte river was reached. The river was swollen
by recent rain. Rider and horse plunged boldly
into it, but the horse mired in the quicksands
and was drowned. The rider carrying the mail
bag footed it ten miles to the next relax sta-
tion. When the courier arrived at the sixty-
mile station out from St. Joseph he was one
hour behind time. The last one had just three
hours and thirty minutes in which to make the
sixty miles and win the race. A heavy rain
was falling and the mad- were slippery, but
with six horses to make the distance he
with five minutes anil a fraction to spare.
thus was finished the longest race for the larg-
est stake ever run in America.

The pony express requin work

nearly five hundred horse-, about "lie hundred
and niiiet) stations, twi 1 hundred station keepers
and over a hundred riders. Each rider usually
rode the horses on about sevent) five miles.

216

II!.- I. iKJCAL AND I'.K »GK \PIIICAL RECORD.

but sometimes much greater distances were
made. Robert 11. Haslam, Pony Bob, made on
one occasion a continuous ride of three hundred
and eight v miles and William F. Cody, now fa-
mous as Buffalo Bill, in one continuous trip
rode three hundred and eighty-four miles,
stopping only for meals, and to change
horses.

The pony express was a semi-weekly service.
Fifteen pounds was the limit of the weight of
the waterproof mail bag and its contents. The
postage or charge was $5 on a letter of half an
ounce. The limit was two hundred letters, but
sometimes there were not more than twenty in
a bag. The line never paid. The shortest time
ever made by the pony express was seven days
and seventeen hours. This was in March, 1861,
when it carried President Lincoln's message.
At first telegraphic messages were received at
St. Joseph up to five o'clock p. m. of the day
of starting and sent to San Francisco on the
express, arriving at Placerville. which was then
the eastern terminus of the line. The pony ex-
press was suspended October 27, 1S61, on the
completion of the telegraph.

The first stage line was established between
Sacramento anil Mormon Island in September,
1849, fare $16 to $32, according to times.
Sacramento was the great distributing point for
the mines and was also the center from which
radiated numerous stage lines. In 1853 a dozen
lines were owned there and the total capital in-
vested in staging was estimated at $335,000.
There were lines running to Coloma, Nevada,
Placerville. Georgetown, Yankee Jim's, Jack-
son, Stockton, Shasta and Auburn. In 1851
Stockton had seven daily stages. The first stage
line between San Francisco and San Jose was
established in April. 1850, fare $32. A number
of lines were consolidated. In [860 the Califor-
nia stage company controlled eight lines north-
ward, thelongesl extending seven hundred and
ten miles to Portland with sixty stations, thirty-
five drivers and five hundred burses, eleven
drivers and one hundred and fifty horses per-
taining to the rest. There were seven indepen
dent lines covering four hundred and sixty-four
miles, chiefly east and south, the longest to Vir-

ginia City.* These lines disappeared with the
advent of the railroad.

The pack train was a characteristic feature of
early mining days. Many of the mountain
camps were inaccessible to wagons and the only
means of shipping in goods was by pack tram.
A pack train consisted of from ten to twenty
mules each, laden with from two hundred to
four hundred pounds. The load was fastened on
the animal by means of a pack saddle which
was held in its place by a cinch tightly laced
around the animal's bod}'. The sure-footed
mules could climb steep grades and wind round
narrow^ trails on the side of steep mountains
without slipping or tumbling over the cliffs.
Mexicans were the most expert packers.

The scheme to utilize camels and dromedaries
as beasts of burden on the arid plains of the
southwest was agitated in the early fifties. The
chief promoter if not the originator of the
project was Jefferson Davis, afterwards presi-
dent of the Southern Confederacy. During the
last days of the congress of 185 1, Mr. Davis
offered an amendment to the army appropria-
tion bill appropriating $30,000 for the purchase
of thirty camels and twenty dromedaries. The
bill was defeated. When Davis was secretary
of war in [854, congress appropriated $30,000
for the purchase and importation of camels and
in December of that year Major C. Wayne was
sent to Egypt and Arabia to buy seventy-five.
He secured the required number and shipped
them on the naval store ship Supply. They
were landed at Indianola, Tex.. February 10,
1857. Three had died on the voyage. About
half of the herd were taken to Albuquerque,
where an expedition was fitted out under the
command of Lieutenant Beale for Fort Tejon.
Cal. : the other half was employed in packing on
the plains of Texas and in the Gadsen Purchase,
as Southern Arizona was then called.

It very soon became evident that the camel
experiment would not be a success. The Amer-
ican teamster could not be converted into an
Arabian camel driver. From the very first meet
ing there was a mutual antipathy between the

1 861.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

American mule whacker and the beast of the
prophet. The teamsters when transformed into
camel drivers deserted and the troopers refused
to have anything to do with the misshapen
beasts. So because there was no one to load
and navigate these ships of the desert their
voyages became less and less frequent, until
finally they ceased altogether; and these desert
ships were anchored at the different forts in
the southwest. After the breaking out of the
Civil war the camels at the forts in Texas and
New Mexico were turned loose to shift for
themselves. Those in Arizona and California
were condemned and sold by the government to
two Frenchmen who used them for packing,
first in Nevada and later in Arizona, but tiring
of the animals they turned them out on the
desert. Some of these camels or possibly their
descendants are still roaming over the arid
plains of southern Arizona and Sonora.

The first telegraph was completed September
it, 1853. It extended from the business quar-
ter of San Francisco to the Golden Gate and
was used for signalling vessels. The first long
line connected Marysville, Sacramento, Stock-
ton and San Jose. This was completed October
24, 1853. Another line about the same time
was built from San Francisco to Placerville by
way of Sacramento. A line was built southward
from San Jose along the Butterfield overland
mail route to Los Angeles in i860. The Over-
land Telegraph, begun in 1858, was completed
November 7, 1861.

The first express for the States was sent un-
der the auspices of the California Star (news-
paper). The Star of March I, 1848, contained
the announcement that "We are about to send
letters by express to the States at fifty cents
each, papers twelve and a half cents; to start
April 15; any mail arriving after that time will
be returned to the writers. The Star refused
to send copies of its rival, The Californian, in its
express.

The first local express was started by Charles
L. Cady in August, 1847. It left San Francisco
every Monday and Fort Sacramento, its other
terminus, every Thursday. Letters twenty-five
cents. Its route was by way of Saucelito, Napa
and Petaluma to Sacramento.

Weld & Co.'s express was established in Oc-
tober, 1849. This express ran from San Fran-
cisco to Marysville, having its principal offices
in San Francisco, Benicia and Sacramento. It
was the first express of any consequence estab-
lished in California. Its name was changed to
Hawley & Co.'s express. The first trip was
made in the .Mint, a sailing vessel, and took
six days. Afterward it was transferred to the
steamers Hartford and McKim. The company
paid these boats $800 per month for the use of
one state room; later for the same accommoda-
tion it paid $1,500 per month. The Alta Cali-
fornia of January 7, 1850, says: "There arc si >
many new express companies daily starting that
we can scarcely keep the run of them."

The following named were the principal com-
panies at that time: Hawley & Co., Angel,
Young & Co., Todd, Bryan, Stockton Express,
Henly, McKnight & Co., Brown, Knowlton &
Co. The business of these express companies
consisted largely in carrying letters to the
mines. The letters came through the postoffice
in San Francisco, but the parties to whom they
were addressed were in the mines. While the
miner would gladly give an ounce to hear from
home he could not make the trip to the Bay at
a loss of several hundred dollars in time and
money. The express companies obviated this
difficulty. The Alta of July 2j, 1850. says: "We
scarcely know what we should do if it were in >t
for the various express lines established which
enable us to hold communication with the mines.
With the present defective mail communication
we should scarcely ever be able to hear from
the towns throughout California or from the
remote portions of the Placers north or south.
Hawley & Co., Todd & Bryan and Besford &
Co. are three lines holding communication with
different sections of the country. Adams & Co.
occupy the whole of a large building on Mont-
gomery street."

Adams & Co.. established in 1850, soon be-
came the leading express company of the coast.
It absorbed a number of minor companies. It
established relays of the fastesl horses to carry
the express to the mining towns. As early as
1852 the company's lines had penetrated the re-
mote mining camps. Some of its riders per-

218

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

formed feats in riding that exceeded the famous
puny express riders. Isaac W. Elwell made the
trip between I'lacerville and Sacramento in two
hours and fifty minutes, distance sixty-four
miles; Frank Ryan made seventy-five miles in
four hours and twenty minutes. On his favorite
horse. Colonel, he made twenty miles in fifty-
live minutes. Adams & Co. carried on a bank-
ing business and had branch banks in all the
leading mining towns. They also became a po-

litical power. In the great financial crash of
1855 they failed and in their failure ruined thou-
sands of their depositors. Wells, Fargo & Co.
express was organized in 1851. It weathered
the financial storm that carried down Adams &
Co. It gained the confidence of the people of
the Pacific coast and has never betrayed it. Its
business has grown to immense proportions. It
is one of the leading express companies of the
world.

CHAPTER XXXII

RAILROADS.

THE agitation of the Pacific railroad ques-
tion began only two years after the first
passenger railway was put in operation
in the United States. The originator of the
scheme to secure the commerce of Asia by a
transcontinental railway from the Atlantic to
the Pacific was Ilartwell Carver, grandson of
the famous explorer, Jonathan Carver. He
published articles in the New York Courier and
Inquirer in 1832 elaborating his idea, and
memorialized congress on the subject. The
western terminus was to be on the Columbia
river. I lis road was to be made of stone. There
were to be sleeping cars and dining cars at-
tached to each train. In 1836, John Plumbe.
then a resident of Dubuque, Iowa, advocated
the building of a railroad from Lake Michigan
to 1 Iregon. At a public meeting held in Du-
buque. March 26. 1838, which Plumbe ad-
1, a memorial to congress was drafted
"praying for an appropriation to defray the ex-
pense of the survey and location of the first link
in the greal Atlantic and Pacific railroad, name-
ly, from the lakes to the Mississippi.*' Their
application was Eavorabl) received and an ap-
propriation being made the same year, which
was expended under the direction of the secre-
tary of war. the reporl being of a ver) favorable
characl

Plumbe received the indorsement of the Wis-

11 E Califi 'Mii.u Vol VII., i>. 499.

consin legislature of 1839-40 and a memorial
was drafted to congress urging the continuance
of the work. Plumbe went to Washington to
urge his project. Put the times were out of
joint for great undertakings. The financial
panic of 1837 had left the government revenues
in a demoralized condition. Plumbe"s plan was
to issue stock to the amount of $100,000,000
divided in shares of $5 each. The government
was to appropriate alternate sections of the
public lands along the line of the road. Five
million dollars were to be called in for the first
installment. After this was expended in building,
the receipts from the sale of the lands was to
continue the building of the road. One hundred
miles were to be built each year and twenty
years was the time set for the completion of the
road. A bill granting the subsidy and authoriz-
ing the building of the road was introduced in
congress, but was defeated by the southern
members who feared that it would foster the
growth of free states.

The man best known in connection with the
early agitation of the Pacific railroad scheme.
is Asa Whitney, of New York. For a time he
acted with Carver in promulgating the project,
I nt 1,10k up a plan of his own. Whitney wanted
a strip of land sixty miles wide along the whole
length of the road, which would have given
about one hundred million acres of the public
domain. Whitney's scheme called forth a great
deal of discussion. ft was feared by some

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHK AL RE< i >RD.

!19

timorous souls that such a monopoly would
endanger the government and by others that
ir would bankrupt the public treasury. The agi-
tation was kept up for several years. The
acquisition of California and Xew .Mexico threw
the project into politics. The question of de-
pleting the treasury or giving away the public
domain no longer worried the pro-slavery poli-
ticians in congress. The question that agitated
them now was how far south could the road
be deflected so that it would enhance the value
of the lands over which they hoped to spread
their pet institution — human slavery.

Another question that agitated the members
of congress was whether the road should be
built by the government — should be a national
road. The route which the road should take
was fought over year after year in congress.
The south would not permit the north to have
the road for fear that freemen would absorb the
public lands and build up free states. It was
the old dog-in-the-manger policy so character-
istic of the southern proslavery politicians.

The California newspapers early took up the
discussion and routes were thick as leaves in
Valambrosa. In the Star of May 13, 1848, Dr.
John Marsh outlines a route which was among
the best proposed: "From the highest point on
the Bay of San Francisco to which seagoing
vessels can ascend; thence up the valley of the
San Joaquin two hundred and fifty miles;
thence through a low pass (Walker's) to the
valley of the Colorado and thence through Ari-
zona and New Mexico by the Santa Fe trail to
Independence, Mo."

Routes were surveyed and the reports of the
engineers laid before congress; memorials were
received from the people of California praying
for a road; bills were introduced and discussed,
but the years passed and the Pacific railroad
was not begun. Slavery, that "sum of all vil-
lainies." was an obstruction more impassable
than the mountains and deserts that intervened
between the Missouri and the Pacific. Southern
politicians, aided and abetted by Gwin of Cali-
fornia neutralized every attempt.

One of the first of several local railroad
projects tli.it resulted in something more than
resolutions, public meetings and the election of

a board of directors that never directed any-
thing was tlie building of a railroad from San
Francisco to San Jose. The agitation was be-
gun early in 1850 and by February, 1851, $100,-
000 had been subscribed. September 6 of that
year a company was organized and the pro-
jected road given the high sounding title of the
Pacific & Atlantic railroad. Attempts were
made to secure subscriptions for its stock in
Xew York and in Europe, but without success.
Congress was appealed to, but gave no assist-
ance and all that there was to the road for ten
years was its name. In [859 a new organization
was effected under the name of the San Fran-
cisco & San Jose railroad company. An at-
tempt was made to secure a subsidy of $900,-
000 from the three counties through which the
road was to pass, but this failed and the corpora-
lion dissolved. Another organization, the
fourth, was effected with a capital stuck of
$2,000,000. The construction of the road was
begun in October, i860, and completed to San
Jose January 16, 1864.

The first railroad completed and put 'into suc-
cessful operation in California was the Sacra-
mento Valley road. It was originally intended
to extend the road from Sacramento through
Placer and Sutter counties to Mountain City,
in Yuba county, a distance of about forty miles.
It came to a final stop at a little over half that
distance. Like the San lose road the question
of building was agitated several years before
anything was really done. In [853 the company
was reorganized under the railroad aet of that
year. Under the previous organization sub-
scriptions had been obtained. The Sacramento
Union of September 19, [852, says: "'"LI 1.
of the Sacramento Valley railroad company
were to have been opened in San Francisco
Wednesday. Upwards of $200,000 of the 1
sary stock has been subscribed from here."
The Union of September 24 announces. "That
over $600,000 had already been subscrib
San Francisco and Sacramento." Under the re-
organization a new board \\ .ember
12, 1853. C. L. Wilson was made president;
F. W. Page, treasurer, and \\". II V
retary. Theodore I >. Judah, afterwards famous
in California railroad building, was employed as

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

engineer and the construction of the road began
in February, 1855. It was completed to Fol-
som a, distance of twenty-two miles from Sacra-
mento and the formal opening of the road for
business took place February 22, 1856. Accord-
ing to the secretary's report for 1857 the earn-
ings of that year averaged $18,000 per month.
The total earnings for the year amounted to
$216,000; the expenses $84,000, leaving a profit
of $132,000. The cost of the road and its equip-
ment was estimated at $700,000. From this
showing it would seem that California's first
railroad ought to have been a paying invest-
ment, but it was not. Money then was worth
5 per cent a month and the dividends from the
road about 18 per cent a year. The difference
between one and a half per cent and 5 per cent
a month brought the road to a standstill.

Ten years had passed since California had
become a state and had its representatives in
congress. In all these years the question of a
railroad had come up in some form in that body,
yet the railroad seemingly was as far from a
consummation as it had been a decade before.
In 1859 the silver mines of the Washoe were
discovered and in the winter of 1859-60 the
great silver rush began. An almost continuous
stream of wagons, pack trains, horsemen and
footmen poured over the Sierra Xevadas into
Carson Valley and up the slopes of Mount
Davidson to Virginia City. The main line of
travel was by way of Placerville, through John-
son's Pass to Carson City. An expensive toll
road was built over the mountains and monster
freight wagons hauled great loads of merchan-
dise and mill machinery to the mines. "In 1863
the tolls on the new road amounted to $300,000
and the freight bills on mills and merchandise
summed up $13.000.0. « 1."

The rush to Washoe gave a new impetus to
railroad projecting. A convention of the whole
coast had been held at San Francisco in Sep-
tember, [859, hut nothing came of it beyond
propositions and resolutions. Early in [86i,
Theodore 1". Judah called a railroad meeting at
the St. Charles hotel in Sacramento. The [easi
bility of a road over the mountains, the large

amount of business that would come to that
road from the Washoe mines and the necessity
of Sacramento moving at once to secure that
trade were pointed out. This road would be the
beginning of a transcontinental line and Sacra-
mento had the opportunity of becoming its
terminus. Judah urged upon some of the lead-
ing business men the project of organizing a
company to begin the building of a transconti-
nental road. The Washoe trade and travel
would be a very important item in the business
1 if the road.

I in the 28th of June, 1861, the Central Pacific
Railroad company was organized under the
general incorporation law of the state. Leland
Stanford was chosen president. C. P. Hunting-
ton, vice-president, Mark Hopkins, treasurer,
James Bailey, secretary, and T. D. Judah, chief
engineer. The directors were those just named
and F. B. Crocker, John F.Morse, D. W. Strong
and Charles Marsh. The capital stock of the
company was $8,500,000 divided into eighty-five
thousand shares of $100 each. The shares taken
by individuals were few, Stanford, Huntington,
Hopkins, Judah and Charles Crocker subscrib-
ing for one hundred and fifty each; Glidden &
Williams, one hundred and twenty-five shares;
Charles A. Lombard and Orville D. Lombard,
three hundred and twenty shares; Samuel
Hooper, Benjamin J. Reed, Samuel P. Shaw,
fifty shares each; R. O. Ives, twenty-five shares:
Edwin B. Crocker, ten shares; Samuel Bran-
nan, two hundred shares; cash subscriptions of
which 10 per cent was required by law to be
paid down realizing but a few thousand dollars
with which to begin so important a work as a
railroad across the Sierra Nevada.*

The total amount subscribed was $158,000,
scarcely enough to build five miles of road on
the level plains if it had all been paid up. None
of the men in the enterprise was rich. Indeed.
as fortune.- go now. none of them had more than
a competence. Charles Crocker, who was one
of the best off. in his sworn statement, placed
the value of his property at $25,000; C. P.
Huntington placed the value of his individual
possessions at $7,222, while Leland Stanford and

'Bancroft's History of California, Vol. VII., p. 54]

Bancroft's I tistorj ol California, Vol VII

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

his brother together owned property worth
$32,950. The incubus that so long had pre-
vented building a Pacific railroad was removed.
The war of secession had begun. The southern
senators and representatives were no longer in
congress to obstruct legislation. The thirty-
second and the thirty-fifth parallel roads south-
ern schemes, were out of the way or rather the
termini of these roads were inside the confeder-
ate lines.

A bill 'to aid in the construction of a railroad
and telegraph line from the Missouri river to
the Pacific ocean and to secure to the govern-
ment the use of the same for postal, military and
other purposes passed both houses and became
a law July 1. 1862. The bill provided for the
building of the road by two companies. The
Union Pacific (which was to be a union of
several roads already projected) was given the
construction of the road to the eastern boundary
of California, where it would connect with the
Central Pacific. Government bonds were to be
given to the companies to the amount of $i6,oao
per mile to the foot of the mountains and
$48,000 per mile through the mountains when
forty miles of road had been built and approved
by the government commissioners. In addition
to the bonds the companies were to receive
"every alternate section of public land desig-
nated by odd numbers to the amount of five
alternate sections per mile on each side of the
railroad on the line thereof and within the limits
of ten miles on each side of the road not sold,
reserved or otherwise disposed of by the United
States." Mineral lands were exempted and any
lands unsold three years after the completion of
the entire road were subject to a preemption
like other public lands at a price not exceeding
$1.25 per acre, payable to the company.

The government bonds were a first mortgage
on the road. The ceremony of breaking ground
for the beginning of the enterprise took place at
Sacramento. February 22, 1803, Governor
Stanford throwing the first shovelful of earth,
and work was begun mi the first eighteen miles
of the road which was let by contract to be
finished by August. [863. The Central Pacific
company was in hard lines. Its means were nol
sufficient to build forty miles which must In-

completed before the subsidy could be received.
In October, [863, Judah who had been instru-
mental in securing the first favorable legislation
set out a second time for Washington to ask
further assistance from congress. At New York
he was stricken with a fever and died there. To
him more than any other man is due the credit
of securing for the Pacific coast its first trans-
continental railroad. In July, 1864, an amended
act was passed increasing the land grant from
six thousand four hundred acres to twelve
thousand eight hundred per mile and reducing
the number of miles to be built annually from
fifty to twenty-five. The company was allowed
to bond its road to the same amount per mile
as the government subsidy.

The Western Pacific, which was virtually a
continuation of the Central Pacific, was organ-
ized in December, 1862, for the purpose of
building a railroad from Sacramento via Stock-
ton to San Jose. A branch of this line was
constructed from Niles to Oakland, which was
made the terminus of the Central Pacific. The
Union Pacific did not begin construction until
1865, while the Central Pacific had forty-four
miles constructed. In 1X67 the Central Pacific
had reached the state line. It had met with
many obstacles in the shape of lawsuits and
unfavorable comments by the press. From the
state line it pushed out through Nevada and
on the 28th of April, [869, the two companies
met with their completed roads at Promontory
Point in Utah, fifty-three miles west of ( igden.
The ceremony of joining the two roads took
place May 10. The last tie, a handsomely fin-
ished piece of California laurel, was laid and
Governor Stanford with a silver hammer drove
a golden spikr. The two locomotives, one
from the east and one from the west, bumped
noses and the first transcontinental railroad
was completed.

The Southern Pacific Railroad company of
California was incorporated in December, [865.
It was incorporated to build a railroad from
some point on the l>a\ of San Francisco through
the counties of Santa Clara. Monterey, San
Puis Obispo, Tulare, Los Angeles to San
DiegO and thence easterly through San
to the eastern boundary of the state there to

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

connect with a railroad from the Mississippi
river.

"In |ulv. 1866, congress granted to the At-
lantic ami Pacific Radroad company to aid in
the construction of its road and telegraph line
from Springfield, Mo., by the most eligible route
to Albuquerque in New Mexico and thence by
the thirty-fifth parallel route to the Pacific, an
amount of land equal to that granted to the ■
Central Pacific. By this act the Southern Pa-
cific Railroad was authorized to connect with
the Atlantic and Pacific near the boundary line
of California, at such point as should be deemed
most suitable by the companies and should have
therefore the same amount of land per mile as
the Atlantic and Pacific."*

In 1S67 the Southern Pacific company de-
cided to change its route and instead of build-
ing down through the coast counties to go east-
ward from Gilroy through Pacheco's pass into
the upper San Joaquin valley through Fresno,
Kern and San Bernardino to the Colorado river
near Fort Mojave. This contemplated change
left the lower coast counties out in the cold and
caused considerable dissatisfaction, and an at-
tempt was made to prevent it from getting a
land subsidy. Congress, however, authorized
the change, as did the California legislature of
1870, and the road secured the land.

The San Francisco and San Jose Railroad
came into possession of the Southern Pacific
company, San Francisco donating three thou-
sand shares of stock in that road on condition
that the Southern Pacific company, after it se-
cured the San Jose road, should extend it to
the southeastern boundary of the state. In 1869
a proposition was made to the supervisors of
San I rani isco to donate $1,0 0,0 10 in bonds of
the city to the Southern Pacific company, on
condition that it build two hundred miles south
from Gilroy, the bonds to be delivered mi the
completion and stocking of each section .if fifty
lii> bonds were vi ited by the
people of the city. The road was built to
I. seventy miles iron Gilroy, and then
stopped. The different branch roads in the San
nd Salinas vallev were all consolidated

.ft, VII , p 594

under the name of the Southern Pacific. The
Central Pacific and the Southern Pacific, al-
though apparently different organizations, were
really one company.

The Southern Pacific built southward from
Lathrop, a station on the Central Pacific's line,
a railroad up the valley by way of Tehachapi
Pass to Los Angeles. While this road was in
course of construction in 1872 a proposition was
made to the people of Los Angeles through the
county board of supervisors to vote a subsidy
equal to 5 per cent of the entire amount of the
taxable property of the county on condition that
the Southern Pacific build fifty miles of its main
line to Yuma in the county. Tart of the subsidy
was to be paid in bonds of the Los Angeles &
San Pedro Railroad, amounting to $377,000 and
sixty acres of land for depot purposes. The
total amount of subsidy to be given was $610,-
000. The proposition was accepted by the
people, the railroad company in addition to its
original offer agreeing to build a branch road
twenty-seven miles long to Anaheim. This was
done to head off the Tom Scott road which
had made a proposition to build a branch road
from San Diego to Los Angeles to connect with
the Texas Pacific road which the year before
had been granted a right of way from Marshall,
Tex., to San Diego, and was preparing to build
its road. The Southern Pacific completed its
road to Los Angeles in September, 1876, and
reached the Colorado river on its way east in
April, 1S77. It obtained the old franchise of the
Texas Pacific and continued its road eastward
to El Paso, Tex., where it made connections
with roads to Xew Orleans and other points
south and east, thus giving California its second
transcontinental railroad. This road was com-
pleted to El Paso in [881.

Ihe Atlantic & Pacific road with which the
Southern Pacific was to connect originally,
suffered from the financial crash of 1873 and
suspended operations for a time. Later it en-
tered into a combination with the Atchison. To-
pe ka & Santa Fe and St. Louis & San Francisco
railroad companies. This gave the Atchison
road a half interest in the charter of the Atlantic
& Pacific, fhe two companies built a main line
jointly from Albuquerque (where the Atchison

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

223

road ended) west to the Colorado river at the
Needles. Their intention was to continue the
road to Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The California Southern and the California
Southern Extension companies were organized
to extend the Atlantic & Pacific from Barstow
to San Diego. These companies consolidated
and completed a road from San Diego to San
Bernardino September 13, 1883. The Southern
Pacific interfered. It attempted to prevent the
California Southern from crossing its tracks at
Colton by placing a heavy engine at the point
of crossing, but was compelled to move the en-
gine to save it from demolition. It built a branch
from Mojave station to connect with the At-
lantic & Pacific in which it had an interest.
This gave connection for the Atlantic & Pacific
over the Southern Pacific lines with both Los
Angeles and San Francisco. This was a serious
blow to the California Southern, but disasters
never come singly. The great flood of January,
1884, swept down through the Temecula Canon
and carried about thirty miles of its track out
to sea. It was doubtful under the circumstances
whether it would pay to rebuild it. Finally the
Southern Pacific agreed to sell its extension
from Barstow to the Needles to the California
Southern, reserving its road from Barstow to

Mojave. Construction was begun at once on
the California Southern line from Barstow to
San Bernardino and in November, 1885, the
road was completed from Barstow to San
Diego. In October, 1886, the road passed un-
der control of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa
Fe. In the spring of 1887 the road was ex-
tended westerly from San Bernardino to meet
the San Gabriel valley road which had been
built eastward from Los Angeles through Pasa-
dena. The completed line reached Los Angeles
in May, 1887, thus giving California a third
transcontinental line.

After many delays the gap in the Southern
Pacific coast line was closed and the first trains
from the north and the south passed over its
entire length between Los Angeles and San
Francisco on the 31st of March, 1901, nearly
thirty years after the first section of the road
was built.

The Oregon & California and the Central
Pacific were consolidated in 1870. The two
ends of the road were united at Ashland. ( >re..
in 1887. The entire line is now controlled by
the Southern Pacific, and, in connection with
the Northern Pacific and the Oregon Railway
& Navigation Road at Portland, forms a fourth
transcontinental line for California.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

THE INDIAN QUESTION.

IT IS quite the fashion now with a certain
school of writers, who take their history of
California from "Ramona" and their infor-
mation on the "Indian question" under the rule
of the mission padres from sources equally fic-
titious, to draw invidious comparisons between
the treatment of the Indian by Spain and Mex-
ico when mission rule was dominant in Cali-
fornia and his treatment by the United Stales
after the conquest.

That the Indian was brutally treated and un-
mercifully slaughtered by the American miners
and rancheros in tin- early '50s none will deny;
that he had fared but little better under the rule

of Spain and Mexico is equally true. The tame
and submissive Indians of the sea coast with
whom the mission had to deal were a very
different people from the mountain tribes with
whom the Americans came in conflict.

We know but little of the conquistas or gentile
hunts that were occasionally sent out from the
mission to capture subjects for conversion. The
history of these was not recorded, from "The
narrative of a voyage to the Pacini and Berings
strait with the Polar expedition; performed i"
his majesty's -■ 1 1 i ] 1 Blossom, under command of
Capt. F. \V. Beechey, R. X.. in the years
1825-26-27-28, we have the ston of one of these

-24

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

conquistas or convert raids. Captain Beechey
visited California in 1828. While in California
he studied the missions, or at least those he vis-
ited, and after his return to England published
his observations. His observations have great
value. He was a disinterested observer and
gave a plain, straightforward, truthful account
of what he saw, without prejudice or partiality.
His narrative dispels much of the romance that
some modern writers throw around mission life.
This conquista set out from the Mission San
Jose.

"At a particular period of the year also, when
the Indians can be spared from agricultural con-
cerns of the establishment, man}- are permitted
lei take the launch of the mission and make ex-
cursions to the Indian territory. All are anx-
ious to go on such occasions. Some to visit
friends, some to procure the manufactures of
their barbarian countrymen (which, by the by,
are often better than their own) and some with a
secret determination never to return. ( >n these
occasions the padres desire them to induce as
many of their unconverted brethren as possible
to accompany them back to the mission; of
course, implying that this is to be done only by
persuasion; but the boat being furnished with a
cannon and musketry and in every respect
equipped for war, it too often happens that the
neophytes and the ^rulc tic razon, who super-
intend the direction of the boat, avail them-
selves 1 if their superiority with the desire of in-
gratiating themselves with their master and re-
ceiving a reward. There are besides repeated
acts of aggression, which it is necessary to pun-
ish, all of which furnish proselytes. Women and
children are generally the first objects of cap-
ture, as their husbands and parents sometimes
voluntarily follow them into captivity. These
misunderstandings and captivities keep up a per-
petual enmity amongst the tribes whose thirst
for revenge is insatiable."

We had an opportunity of witnessing the
tragical issue of one of these holyday excursions
of the neophytes of the Mission San Jose. The
launch was armed, as usual, and placed under
the superintendence of an alcalde of the mission,
who appears from one statement (for there are
several), converted the party of pleasure either

into an attack for procuring proselytes or of
revenge upon a particular tribe for some ag-
gression in which they were concerned. They
proceeded up the Rio San Joachin until they
came to the territory of a particular tribe named
Consemenes, when they disembarked with the
gun and encamped for the night near the vil-
lage of Los Gentiles, intending to make an at-
tack upon them next morning, but before they
were prepared the gentiles, who had been ap-
prised of their intention and had collected a
large body of their friends, became the assail-
ants and pressed so hard upon the party that,
notwithstanding they dealt death in every direc-
tion with their cannon and musketry and were
inspired with confidence by the contempt in
which they held the valor and tactics of their un-
converted countrymen, they were overpowered
by numbers and obliged to seek their safety in
flight and to leave the gun in the woods. Some
regained the launch and were saved and others
found their way overland to the mission, but
thirty-four of the party never returned to tell
their tale.

"There were other accounts of the unfortu-
nate affair, one of which accused the padre of
authorizing the attack. The padre was greatly
displeased at the result of the excursion, as the
loss of so many Indians to the mission was of
great consequence and the confidence with
which the victory would inspire the Indians was
equally alarming.

"He therefore joined with the converted In-
dians in a determination to chastise and strike
terror into the victorious tribe and in concert
with the governor planned an expedition against
them. The mission furnished money, arms, In-
dians and horses and the presidio troops, headed
by Alferez Sanches, a veteran, who had been
frequently engaged with the Indians and was
acquainted with that part of the country. The
expedition set out November 10. and we heard
nothing of it until the 27th. but two days after
the troops had taken to the field some immense
columns of smoke rising above the mountains
in the direction of the Cosemmes bespoke the
conflagration of the village of the persecuted
gentiles; and on the <la\ above mentioned the
veteran Sanches made a triumphant entry into

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the Mission of San Jose, escorting forty miser-
able women and children. The gun which had
been lost in the first battle was retaken and
other trophies captured.

"This victory, so glorious according to the
ideas of the conquerors, was achieved with the
loss of only one man on the part of the Chris-
tians, who was mortally wounded by the burst-
ing of his own gun; but on the part of the enemy
it was considerable, as Sanches the morning
after the battle counted forty-one men, women
and children dead. It is remarkable that none
of the prisoners was wounded and it is greatly
to be feared that the Christians, who could
scarcely be prevented from revenging the death
of their relatives upon those who were brought
to the mission, glutted their brutal passions on
all who fell into their hands.

"The prisoners they had captured were imme-
diately enrolled in the list of the mission, except
a nice little boy whose mother was shot while
running away with him in her arms, and he was
sent to the presidio and, as I heard, given to
the Alferez as a reward for his services. The
poor little orphan had received a slight wound in
his forehead; he wept bitterly at first and refused
to eat, but in time became reconciled to his
fate.

"Those who were taken to the mission were
immediately converted and were daily taught by
the neophytes to repeat the Lord's prayer and
certain hymns in the Spanish language. I hap-
pened to visit the mission about this time and
saw these unfortunate beings under tuition.
They were clothed in blankets and arranged in
a row before a blind Indian, who understood
their dialect and was assisted by an alcalde to
keep order. Their tutor began by desiring them
to kneel, informing them that he was going to
teach them the names of the persons composing
the trinity and they were to repeat in Spanish
what he dictated. The neophytes being ar-
ranged, the speaker began: 'Santisima Trini-
dad, Dios, Jesu Christo, Espiritu Santo,' paus-
ing between each name to listen if the simple
Indians, who had never before spoken a word
of Spanish, pronounced it correctlj or anything
near the mark. After they had repeated these
names satisfactorily, their blind tutor, after a

pause, added 'Santos' and recapitulated the
names of a great many saints, which finished the
morning's lesson.

"They did not appear to me to pay much at-
tention to what was going forward and I ob-
served to the padre that 1 thought their teachers
had an arduous task, but he said they had never
found any difficulty; that the Indians were ac-
customed to change their own gods and that
their conversion was in a measure habitual to
them.

"The expenses of the late expedition fell heav-
ily upon the mission and 1 was glad to find the
padre thought it was paying very dear for so
few converts, as in all probability it will lessen
his desire to undertake another expedition and
the poor Indians will be spared the horrors of
being butchered by their own countrymen or
dragged from their homes into captivity."

This conquista and the results that followed
were very similar to some of the so-called In-
dian wars that took place after the American
occupation. The Indians were provoked to hos-
tilities by outrage and injustice. Then the
military came down on them and wiped them
out of existence.

The unsanitary condition of the Indian vil-
lages at some of the missions was as fatal as an
Indian war. The Indian was naturally filthy, but
in his native state he had the whole country to
roam over. If his village became too filthy and
the vermin in it ton aggressive, he purified it
by fire — burned up his wigwam. The adobe
houses that took the place of the brush hovel,
which made up the early mission villages, could
not be burned to purify them. No doubt the
heavy death rate at the missions was due largely
to the uncleanly habits of the neophytes. The
statistiYs given in the chapter on the Franciscan
missions show that in all the missionary estab-
lishments a steady decline, a gradual extin
of the neophyte population, had been in prog-
ress for two to thr.e decades befon the mis-
sions were seculai ized. Had on been
delayed or had it no; taken place in the
of a few decades, at the rate the nei phytes were
living off the missions would have become de-
populati <1, I lie death rate was greater than the
birth rate in all of them and the mortality among

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the children was greater even than among the
adults. After secularization the neophytes
drifted to the cities and towns where they could
more readily gratify their passion for strong
drink. Their mission training and their Chris-
tianity had no restraining influence upon them.
Their vicious habits, which were about the only-
thing they had acquired by their contact with
the whites, soon put an end to them.

During the Spanish and Mexican eras North-
ern California remained practically a terra in-
cognita. Two missions, San Rafael and San
Francisco Solano, and the Castillo at Sonora,
had been established as a sort of protection to
the northern frontier. A few armed incursions
had been made into the country beyond these
to punish Indian horse and cattle thieves. Gen-
eral A'allejo, who was in command of the
troops on the frontera del norte, had always
endeavored to cultivate friendly relations with
the gentiles, but the padres disliked to have
these near the missions on account of their in-
fluence on the neophytes. Near the Mission
San Rafael, in 1833, occurred one of those In-
dian massacres not uncommon under Spanish
and Mexican rule. A body of gentiles from the
rancherias of Pulia, encouraged by Figueroa
and Yallejo, came to the Mission San Rafael
with a view to establishing friendly relations.
The padre put off the interview until next day.
During the night a theft was committed, which
was charged to the gentiles. Fifteen of them
were seized and sent as prisoners to San Fran-
cisco. Padre Mercado, fearing that their coun-
trymen might retaliate, sent out his major doma
Molina with thirty-seven armed neophytes, who
surprised the gentiles in their rancheria, killed
twenty-one, wounded many more and captured
twenty men, women and children. Yallejo was
indignant at the shameful violation of his prom-
ises of protection to the Indians. He released
tlie prisoners at San Francisco and the captives
at tin- mission and tried to pacify the wrathful
gentiles. Padre Mercado was suspended from
his ministry for a short time, but was afterward
freed and returned to San Rafael."

There was a system of Indian slavers in ex-

Vol. III.

istence in California under the rule of Spain and
Mexico. Most of the wealthier Spanish and
Mexican families had Indian servants. In the
raids upon the gentiles the children taken by the
soldiers were sometimes sold or disposed of to
families for servants. Expeditions were gotten
up upon false pretexts, while the main purpose
was to steal Indian children and sell them to
families for servants. This practice was carried
on by the Americans, too, after the conquest.

For a time after the discovery of gold the In-
dians and the miners got along amicably. The
first miners were mainly old Californians, used
to the Indians, but with the rush of '49 came
many rough characters who, by their injustice,
soon stirred up trouble. Sutter had employed a
large number of Indians on his ranches and in
various capacities. These were faithful and hon-
est. Some of them were employed at his mill
in Coloma and in the diggings. In the spring
of '49 a band of desperadoes known as the
Mountain Hounds murdered eight of these at
the mill. Marshall, in trying to defend them,
came near being lynched by the drunken brutes.

The injustice done the Indians soon brought
on a number of so-called Indian wars. These
were costly affairs to the state and in less than
two years had plunged the young common-
wealth into a debt of nearly $1,000,000. In a
copy of the Los Angeles Star for February 28,
1852, I find this enumeration of the wars and
the estimated cost of each: The Morehead ex-
pedition, $i20,oco; General Bean's first expedi-
tion, $66,000; General Bean's second expedition,
$50,000; the Mariposa war, $230,000; the El
Dorado war, $300,000. The Morehead war orig-
inated out of an injustice done the Yuma In-
dians. These Indians, in the summer of 1849,
had obtained an old scow and established a ferry
across the Colorado river near the mouth of the
Gila, and were making quite a paying business
out of it by ferrying emigrants across the river.
A party of Americans, headed by a Dr. Lang-
don of Louisiana, and a desperado named Jack
Glanton, dispossessed the Indians of their boat,
and having obtained a liberal supply of whiskey
from San Diego set up in business for them-
selves. Tin- Indians, watching their opportunity,
while the whites were asleep or stupefied with

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

drink, fell upon and massacred the whole party,
twelve or fifteen in all, and secured some $15,000
or $20,000 in money. On receipt of the news.
Governor Burnett ordered Major-General Bean
of the state militia to march against the Yumas.
Bean sent his quartermaster-general, Joseph C.
Morehead. Morehead, on Bean's orders, pro-
vided necessaries for a three months' campaign
at most extravagant prices, paying for them in
drafts on the state treasury. Morehead started
out from Los Angeles with forty men, but by
the time he reached the Colorado river he had
recruited his force to one hundred and twenty-
five men. The liquid supplies taken along doubt-
less stimulated recruiting. They reached the
Colorado in the summer of 1850, camped there
and attacked their rations. After a month's
siege (of their rations) they were ordered back
and disbanded. The only luss was one man
wounded (accidentally). He was sent back to
Los Angeles for treatment. The doctor who
treated him charged the state $500. The man
who boarded him put in a bill of $120; and the
patriot who housed him wanted $45 for house
rent. Bean's first and second expeditions were
very similar in results to the Morehead cam-
paign. The El Dorado expedition or Rogers'
war, as it was sometimes called, was another of
Governor Burnett's fiascos. He ordered Will-
iam Rogers, sheriff of El Dorado county, to call
out two hundred men at the state's expense to
punish the Indians for killing some whites who
had, in all probability, been the aggressors and
the Indians had retaliated. It was well known
that there were men in that part of the country
who had wantonly killed Indians for the pleas-
ure of boasting of their exploits.

Nor were the whites always the aggressors.
There were bad Indians, savages, who killed
without provocation and stole whenever an op-
portunity offered. In their attempts at retalia-
tion the Indians slaughtered indiscriminately
and the innocent more often were their victims
than the guilty. On the side of the whites it
was a war of extermination waged in many in-
stances without regard to age or sex; on the
part of the Indian it was a war of retaliation
waged with as little distinction.

The extermination of the aborigines was Fear-

fully rapid. Of over ten thousand Indians in
Yuba, Placer, Nevada and Sierra counties in
1849 not more than thirty-eight hundred re-
mained in 1854. Much of this decrease had been
brought about by dissipation and disease engen-
dered by contact with the whites. Reservations
were established in various parts of the state,
where Indians abounded, but the large salaries
paid to agents and the numerous opportunities
for peculation made these positions atti
to politicians, who were both incompetent and
dishonest. The Indians, badly treated at the
reservations, deserted them whenever an oppor-
tunity offered.

A recital of the atrocities committed upon
each other in the northwestern part of the state
during a period of nearly twenty years would fill
a volume. The Indian with all his fi'endishne: s
was often outmatched in cruelty by his pale
faced brother. The Indian Island massacre was
scarcely ever equaled in the annals of Indian
cruelties. Indian Island lies nearly opposite
the city of Eureka in Humboldt Bay. On this
island, fifty years ago. was a large rancheria
of inoffensive Indians, who lived chiefly b\ fish-
ing. They had not been implicated in any of
the wars or raids that had disturbed that part
of the country. They maintained many of their
old customs and had an annual gathering, at
which they performed various rites and cere-
monies, accompanied by dancing. A number of
the Indians from the mainland joined them at
these times. Near midnight of Februar) 25.
i860, a number of boats tilled with white men
sped silently out to the island. The whites
landed and quietly surrounded the Indians, who
were resting after their orgies, and began tin
slaughter with axes, knives and clubs, splitting
skulls, knocking out brains and cutting the
throats of men, women and children. Of the
two hundred Indians on the island only four or
live men escaped by swimming to the mainland.
The same night a rancheria at the entrance of
Humboldt Bay and another at the mouth of Eel
river were attacked and ab ml one hundred
Indians slaughtered. The fiends who commit-
ted these atrocitii beloi 1 ■ 1 or-
ganization. No rigid investigation was ever
made to find out who they were. The grand

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

jury mildly condemned the outrage and there
the matter ended.

The Indians kept up hostilities, rendering
travel and traffic unsafe on the borders of Hum-
boldt, Klamath and Trinity counties. Governor
Stanford in 1863 issued a proclamation for the
enlistment of six companies of volunteers from
the six northwestern counties of the state.
These recruits were organized into what was
known as the Mountaineer battalion with Lieut. -
Col. Stephen G. Whipple in command. A num-
ber of Indian tribes united and a desultory war-
fare began. The Indians were worsted in nearly
every engagement. Their power was broken
and in February . [865, fragments of the different
tribes were gathered into the Hoopa Valley
reservation. The Mountaineer battalion in what
was known as the "Two Years' War" settled the
Indian question from Shasta to the sea for all
time.

The Modoc war was the last of the Indian
disturbances in the state. The Modocs inhab-
ited the country about Rhett Lake and Lost
river in the northeast part of the state, bordering
on Oregon. Their history begins with the mas-
sacre of an immigrant train of sixty-five per-
sons, men, women and children, on their way
from Oregon to California. This brought upon
them a reprisal by the whites in which forty-
one out of forty-six Indians who had been in-
vited by Benjamin Wright to a pow wow after
they had laid aside their arms were set upon by
Wright and his companions with revolvers and
all killed but five. In 1864 a treaty had been
made with the Modocs by which they were to
reside on the Klamath reservation. But tiring
of reservation life, under their leader. Captain
Jack, they returned to their old homes on Lost
river. A company of United States troops and
everal volunteers who went along to see the
fun were sent to bring them back to the reser-
vation. They refused to go and a fight ensued
in which four of the volunteers and one of the
regulars were killed, and the troops retreated.
Ilir Modocs after killing several settlers gath-
ered at the lava beds near Rhett Lake and
prepared for war.

Lieutenant-Colonel Wheaton with about four
hundred men attacked the Indians in the lava

beds January 17, 1873. Captain Jack had but
fifty-one men. When Wheaton retreated he had
lost thirty-five men killed and a number
wounded, but not an Indian had been hurt. A
few days after the battle a peace commission
was proposed at Washington. A. B. Meacham,
Jesse Applegate and Samuel Case were ap-
pointed. Elijah Steele of Yreka, who was on
friendly terms with the Indians, was sent for.
He visited the lava beds with the interpreter,
J'aiivhild, and had a big talk. He proposed to
them to surrender and they would be sent to
Angel Island near San Francisco, fed and cared
for and allowed to select any reservation they
wished. Steele, on his return to camp, reported
that the Indians accepted the terms, but Fair-
child said they had not and next day on his re-
turn Steele found out his mistake and barely
escaped with his life. Interviews continued
without obtaining any definite results, some of
the commission became disgusted and returned
home. ( ieneral Canby, commanding the depart-
ment, had arrived and taken charge of affairs.
Commissioner Case resigned and Judge Ros-
borough was appointed in his place and the Rev.
K. Thomas, a doctor of divinit) in the Metho-
dist church, was added to the commission. A
man by the name of Riddle and his wife Toby,
a .Modoc, acted as go-betweens and negotiations
continued.

A pow wow was arranged at the council tent
at which all parties were to meet unarmed, but
Toby was secretly informed that it was the in-
tention of the Modocs to massacre the commis-
sioners as had been done to the Indian com-
missioners twenty years before by Benjamin
Wright and his gang. On April 10, while
Meacham and Dyer, the superintendent of the
Klamath reservation, who had joined the com-
missioners, were away from camp, the Rev.
Dr. Thomas made an agreement with a dele-
gation from Captain Jack for the commission
and ( ieneral Canby to meet the Indians at the
council tent. Meacham on his return opposed
the arrangement, fearing treachery. The doc or
insisted that Cod had done a wonderful work
in the Modoc camp, but Meacham shocked the
pious doctor by saying "Cod had not been in
the Modoc camp this winter."

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Two of the Indian leaders, Boston Charley
and Bogus Charley, came to headquarters to
accompany the commission. Riddle and his
wife, Toby, bitterly opposed the commissioners'
going, telling them they would be killed, and
Toby going so far as to seize Meacham's horse
to prevent him from going, telling him, "You get
kill." Canby and the doctor insisted upon going,
despite all protests, the doctor saying, "Let us go
as we agreed and trust in God." Meacham and
Dyer secured derringers in their side pockets
before going. When the commissioners, the
interpreters, Riddle and his wife, reached the
council tent they found Captain Jack, Schonchin
John, Black Jim, Shancknasty Jim, Ellen's
Alan and Hooker Jim sitting around a fire at
the council tent. Concealed behind some
rocks a short distance away were two young
Indians with a number of rifles. The two Char-
leys, Bogus and Boston, who had come with the
commissioners from headquarters, informed the
Indians that the commissioners were not armed.
The interview began. The Indians were very
insolent. Suddenly, at a given signal, the Indians
uttered a war whoop, and Captain Jack drew
a revolver from under his coat and shot Gen-
eral Canby. Boston Charley shot Dr. Thomas,
who fell, rose again, but was shot down
while begging for his life. The young Indians
had brought up the rifles and a fusillade was
begun upon the others. All escaped without in-
jury except Meacham, who, alter running some
distance, was felled by a bullet fired by Hooker
Jim, and left for dead. He was saved from being
scalped by the bravery of Toby. He recovered,
however, although badly disfigured. While this

was going on, Curly Haired Doctor and several
other Modocs, with a white flag, inveigled Lieu-
tenants Boyle and Shenvood beyond the lines.
Seeing the Indians w'ere armed, the officers
turned to flee, when Curly Haired Jack fired and
broke Lieutenant Sherwood's thigh. He died a
few days later. The troops were called to arms
when the firing began, but the Indians escaped
to the lava beds. After a few days' preparation,
Colonel Giilem, who was in command, began an
attack on the Indian stronghold. Their position
was shelled by mountain howitzers. In the
fighting, which lasted four days, sixteen soldiers
were killed and thirteen wounded. In a recon-
noissance under Captain Thomas a few days
later, a body of seventy troops and fourteen Warm
Spring Indians ran into an ambush of the In-
dians and thirteen soldiers, including Thomas,
were killed. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis was placed
in command. The Indians were forced out of the
lava beds, their water supply having been cut
off. They quarreled among themselves, broke
tip into parties, were chased down and all cap-
tured. Captain Jack and Schonchin John, the
two leaders, were shackled together. General
Davis made preparations to hang these and six
or eight others, but orders from Washington
stopped him. The leading Indians were tried
by court-martial. Captain Jack, Schonchin
John, Black Jim and Boston Charley were hung,
two others were sentenced to imprisonment for
life. The other Modocs, men, 'women and chil-
dren, were sent to a fort in Nebraska and after-
wards transferred to the Quaw Paw Agenc) in
Indian Territory. This ended the Modoc war
and virtually put an end to the Modoc Indians.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

SOME POLITICAL HISTORY.

THE first Chinese emigrants to California
arrived in the brig Eagle, from Hong
Kong, in the month of February, [848.
They were two men and one woman. This was
before the discovery of gold was known abroad.
What brought these waifs from the Flowery

Kingdom to California does not appear in the
record. February 1. 1S40, there were fifty-four
Chinamen and one Chinawoman in the territory.
January 1. 1S50, seven hundred ami eighty-nine
men and two women hail arrived. Januar) 1.
[851, four thousand and eighteen men and seven

::;u

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

women; a year later their numbers had in-
creased to eight thousand one hundred and
twenty-one men and eight women; May 7, 1852,
eleven thousand seven hundred and eighty men
and seven women had found their way to the
land of gold. The Alta California, from which
I take these figures, estimated that between
seven and ten thousand more would arrive in
the state before January 1, 1853. ^he editor
sagely remarks: "No one fears danger or mis-
fortune from their excessive numbers." There
was no opposition to their coming; on the con-
trary, they were welcomed and. almost lionized.
The Alta of April 2~, 1851, remarks; "An
American barque yesterday brought eighty
worshippers of the sun, moon and many stars.
These Celestials make excellent citizens and we
are pleased to notice their daily arrival in large
numbers." The Alta describes a Great Chinese
meeting on Portsmouth Square, which took
place in 185 1. It seems to have been held for
the purpose of welcoming the Chinese to Cali-
fornia and at the sr.me time doing missionary
work and distributing religious tracts among
them. The report says: "A large assemblage
of citizens and several ladies collected on the
plaza to witness the ceremonies. Ah Hee assem-
bled his division and Ah Sing marched his into
Kearny street, where the two divisions united
and then marched to the square. Many carried
fans. There were several peculiar looking Chi-
namen among them. One, a very tall, old Celes-
tial with an extensive tail, excited universal at-
tention. He had a huge pair of spectacles upon
his nose, the glasses of which were about the
size of a telescope lens. He also had a singu-
la rl\ colored fur mantle or cape upon his shoul-
ders and a long sort of rube. We presume he
must be a mandarin al least.

"Vice Consul I . \. Woodworth, His Honor,
Major J. W. Geary, Rev. Albert Williams, Rev.
A. Fitch and Rev. F. D. Hunt were present.
Ah lire acted as interpreter. The Rev. Hunt

hem some orthodox instruction in which
they were informed of the existence of a coun-
try where the China boys would never die; this
made them laugh quite heartily. Tracts, scrip-

: icuments, astronomical works, almanacs
and otli.-i useful religious ami instructive docu-

ments printed in Chinese characters were dis-
tributed among them."

1 give the report of another meeting of "The
Chinese residents of San Francisco," taken
from the Alta of December 10, 1849. I quote
it to show how the Chinese were regarded when
they first came to California and how they were
flattered and complimented by the presence of
distinguished citizens at their meetings. Their
treatment a few years later, when they were
mobbed and beaten in the streets for no fault
of theirs except for coming to a Christian coun-
try, must have given them a very poor opinion
of the white man's consistency. "A public
meeting of the Chinese residents of the town
was held on the evening of Monday, November
19, at the Canton Restaurant on Jackson street.
The following preamble and resolutions were
presented and adopted:

" 'Whereas, It becomes necessary for us,
strangers as we are in a strange land, unac-
quainted with the language and customs of our
adi pted country, to have some recognized coun-
selor and advisor to whom we may all appeal
with confidence for wdiolesome instruction, and,

" 'Whereas, We should be at a loss as to what
course of action might be necessary for us to
pursue therefore,

" 'Resolved, That a committee of four be ap-
pointed to wait upon Selim E. Woodworth, Esq.,
and request him in behalf of the Chinese resi-
dents of San Francisco to act in the capacity of
arbiter and advisor for them.'

"Mr. Woodworth was waited upon by Ah Hee,
Jon Ling, Ah Ting and Ah Toon and kindly
consented to act. The whole affair passed off
in the happiest manner. Many distinguished
guests were present, Hon. J. W. Geary, alcalde;
E. H. Harrison, ex-collector of the port, and
others."

At the celebration of the admission of Cali-
fornia into the Union the "China Roys" were a
prominent feature. One report says: "The
Celestials had a banner of crimson satin on
which were some Chinese characters and the in-
scription 'China Boys.' They numbered about
fifty and were arrayed in the richest stuff and
commanded by their chief. Ah Sing."

While the "China Boys" were feted and flat-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tered in San Francisco they were not so enthu-
siastically welcomed by the miners. The legis-
lature in 1850 passed a law fixing the rate of
license for a foreign miner at $20 per month.
This was intended to drive out and keep out of
the mines all foreigners, but the rate was so
excessively high that it practically nullified the
enforcement of the law and it was repealed in
1 85 1. As the Chinese were only allowed peace-
able possession of mines that would not pay
white man's wages they did not make fortunes
in the diggings. If by chance the Asiatics
should happen to strike it rich in ground aban-
doned by white men there was a class among
the white miners who did not hesitate to rob the
Chinamen of their ground.

As a result of their persecution in the mines
the Chinese flocked to San Francisco and it was
not long until that city had more "China Boys"
than it needed in its business. The legislature
of 1855 enacted a law that masters, owners or
consignors of vessels bringing to California
persons incompetent to become citizens under
the laws of the state should pay a fine of $50 for
every such person landed. A suit was brought
to test the validity of the act; it was declared
unconstitutional. In 1858 the foreign miner's
tax was $10 per month and as most of the other
foreigners who had arrived in California in the
early '50s had by this time become citizens by
naturalization the foreigners upon whom the
tax bore most heavily were the Chinese who
could not become citizens. As a consequence
many of them were driven out of the mines and
this again decreased the revenue of the mining
counties, a large part of which was made up of
poll tax and license.

The classes most bitterly opposed to the Chi-
nese in the mines were the saloon-keepers, the
gamblers and their constituents. While the
Chinaman himself is a most inveterate gambler
and not averse to strong drink he did not divest
himself of his frugal earnings in the white man's
saloon or gambling den. and the gentry who
kept these institutions were the first, like Bill
Nye in Bret Harte's poem, to raise the cry.
"We are ruined by Chinese cheap labor."
While the southern politicians who were the
rulers of the state before the Civil war were

opposed to the Chinese and legislated against
them, it was not done in the interest of the white
laborer, for at one time they had made an at-
tempt to introduce the coolie system, which was
to have been a substitute for their beloved in-
stitution—slavery. They could not endure the
presence of an inferior race not in bondage. The
most intolerant and the most bitter opponents
of the Chinese then and later when opposition
had intensified were certain servile classes of
Europeans who in their native countries had al-
ways been kept in a state of servility to the aris-
tocracy, but when raised to the dignity of Amer-
ican citizens by naturalization proceeded to
celebrate their release from their former serf-
dom by persecuting the Chinese, whom they re-
garded as their inferiors. The outcry these peo-
ple made influenced politicians, who pandered to
them for the sake of their votes to make laws
and ordinances that were often burlesques on
legislation.

In 1870 the legislature enacted a law impos-
ing a penalty of not less than $1,000 nor more
than $5,000 or imprisonment upon any one
bringing to California any subject of China or
Japan without first presenting evidence of his
or her good character to the commissioner of
immigration. The supreme court decided the
law unconstitutional. Laws were passed pro-
hibiting the employment of Chinese on the pub-
lic works; prohibiting them from owning real
estate and from obtaining licenses for certain
kinds of business. The supervisors of San Fran-
cisco passed an ordinance requiring that the
hair of any male prisoner convicted of an of-
fense should be cut within one inch of his head.
This, of course, was aimed at Chinese convicts
and intended to deprive them of their queues
and degrade them in the estimation of their peo-
ple. It was known as the Pig Tail Ordinance;
the mayor vetoed it. Another piece of class
legislation by the San Francisco supervisors im-
posed a license of $15 a quarter on laundries
using no horses, while a laundry using a one-
horse wagon paid but $2 per quarter. The Chi-
nese at this time i [876) did not use horses in
their laundry business. The omrts decided
against this ordinance.

Notwithstanding the law- and ordinances

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

against them the Chinese continued to come
and they found employment of some kind to
keep them from starving. They were indus-
trious and economical; there were no Chinese
tramps. Although they filled a want in the
.state, cheap and reliable labor, at the beginning
of its railroad and agricultural development,
they were not desirable citizens. Their habits
and morals were bad. Their quarters in the
cities reeked with filth and immorality. They
maintained their Asiatic customs and despised
the "white devils" among whom they lived,
which, by the way, was not strange considering
the mobbing and maltreatment they received
from the other aliens. They made merchandise
of their women and carried on a revolting sys-
tem of female slavery.

The Burlingame treaty guaranteed mutual
protection to the citizens of China and the
United States on each other's soil ; to freedi im in
religious opinions; to the right to reside in
either country at will and other privileges ac-
corded to civilized nations. Under this treat)
the Chinese could not be kept out of California
and agitation was begun for the modification or
entire abrogation of the treat).

For a number of years there had been a steady
decline in the price of labor. Various causes
had contributed to this. The productiveness of
the mines had decreased; railroad communica-
tion with the east had brought in a number of
workmen and increased competition; the efforts
of thelabor unions to decrease the hours of labor
and still keep up the wages at the old standard
had resulted in closing up some O the manu-
facturing establishments, th< proprietors finding
it impossible to compete with eastern factories.
All these and other causes brought about a de-
pression in business and brought en in [877-78
a labor agitation that shook the foundations of
our social fabric. The hard times and decline in
wages was charged against the Chinese. No
doubl the presence of the Mongolians in Cali-
fornia had considerable to do with it and par-
ticularly in the lower grades of employment
but the depres ion was mainly caused from
over-production and the financial crisis of 1873,
which had affected tin whole I baited
Another cause local to California was the wild

mania for stock gambling that had prevailed in
( alifornia for a number of years. The bonanza
kings of the Washoe by getting up corners in
stocks running up fraudulent values and then
unloading on outside buyers had impoverished
thousands of people of small means and enriched
themselves without any return to their dupes.

Hard times always brings to the front a class
of noisy demagogues who with no remedy to
prescribe increase the discontent by vitupera-
tive abuse of everybody outside of their sym-
pathizers. The first of the famous sand lot mass
meetings of San Francisco was held July 23.
1877, on a vacant lot on the Market street
side of the city hall. Harangues were made and
resolutions passed denouncing capitalists, de-
claring against subsidies to steamship and rail-
road lines, declaring that the reduction of wages
was part of a conspiracy for the destruction of
the republic and that the military should not be
employed against strikers. An anti-coolie club
was formed and on that and the two succeeding
evenings a number of Chinese laundries were
destroyed. In a fight between the police (aided
by the committee of safely) and the rioters sev-
eral .if the latter were killed. Threats were
made to destroy the railroad property and burn
the vessels of the Pacific Mail Steamship Com-
pany unless the Chinese in their employ were
immediately discharged.

Among the agitators that this ebullition of dis-
content threw to the front was an Irish dray-
man named Dennis Kearney. Fie was shrewd
< nough to see that some notoriety and political
capital could lie made by the organization of a
Workingmen's party.

On the 5th of October a permanent organiza-
tionof the Workingmen's party of California was
effected. Dennis Kearney was chosen president,
J. G. Day, vice-president, and II. L. Knight, sec-
retary. The principles of the party were the con-
densed essence of selfishness. The working
classes were to be elevated at the expense of
every other. "We propose to elect none but com-
petent workingmen and their friends to am <>\-
lire whatever." "The rich have ruled us till they
have ruined us." "The republic must and shall
served, and only workingmen will do it."
'This party will exhaust all peaceable means of

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

.•:;::

attaining its ends, but it will not be denied jus-
tice when it has the power to enforce it." "It
will encourage no riot or outrage, but it will
not volunteer to repress or put down or arrest,
or prosecute the hungry and impatient who
manifest their hatred of the Chinamen by a cru-
sade against John or those who employ him."
These and others as irrelevant and immaterial
were the principles of the Workingmen's party
that was to bring the millennium. The move-
ment spread rapidly, clubs were formed in every
ward in San Francisco and there were organiza-
tions in all the cities of the state. The original
leaders were all of foreign birth, but when the
movement ''became popular native born dema-
gogues, perceiving in it an opportunity to ob-
tain office, abandoned the old parties and joined
the new.

Kearney now devoted his whole time to agi-
tation, and the applause he received from his
followers pampered his inordinate conceit. His
language was highly incendiary. He advised
every workingman to own a musket and one
hundred rounds of ammunition and urged the
formation of military companies. He posed as
a reformer and even hoped for martyrdom. In
one of his harangues he said: "If I don't get
killed I will do more than any reformer in the
history of the world. I hope I will be assassi-
nated, for the success of the movement depends
on that." The incendiary rant of Kearney and
his fellows became alarming. It was a tame
meeting, at which no "thieving millionaire,
scoundrelly official or extortionate railroad mag-
nate" escaped lynching by the tongues of la-
borite reformers. The charitable people of the
city had raised by subscription $20,000 to al-
leviate the prevailing distress among the poor.
It was not comforting to a rich man to hear
himself doomed to "hemp! hemp! hemp!"
simply because by industry, economy and enter-
prise he had made a fortune. It became evident
that if Kearney and his associates were allowed
to talk of hanging men and burning the city
some of their dupes would put in practice the
teachings of their leaders. The supervisors,
urged on by the better class of citizens, passed
an ordinance called by the sand-lotters "Gibbs'
gag law." On the 29th of October, Kearney and

his fellow agitators, with a mob of two or three
thousand followers, held a meeting on Xob Hill,
where Stanford, Crocker, Hopkins and other
railroad magnates hail built palatial residences.
He roundly denounced as thieves the nabobs of
Nob Hill and declared that they would soon feel
the power of the workingmen. When his party-
was thoroughly organized they would march
through the city and compel the thieves to give
up their plunder; that he would lead them to the
city hall, clear out the police, hang the pros-
ecuting attorney, burn every book that had a
particle of law in it, and then enact new laws
for the workingmen. These and other utter-
ances equally inflammatory caused his arrest
while addressing a meeting on the borders of
the Barbary coast. Trouble was expected, but
he quietly submitted and was taken to jail and a
few days later Day, Knight, C. C. < 1'Donnell and
Charles E. Pickett were arrested on charges of
inciting riot and taken to jail. A few days in
jail cooled them off and they began to "squeal."
They addressed a letter to the mayor, saying
their utterances had been incorrectly reported
l>v the press and that if released they were will-
ing to submit to any wise measure to allay the
excitement. They were turned louse after two
weeks' imprisonment and their release was cele-
brated on Thanksgiving Day, November 20. by
a grand demonstration of sand lotters — seven
thousand of whom paraded the streets.

It was not long before Kearney and his fel-
lows were back on the sand lots hurling nut
threats of lynching, burning and blowing up.
< In January 5 the grand jury presented indict-
ments against Kearney, Wellock, Knight,
O'Donnell and Pickett. They were all released
on the rulings of the judge of the criminal court
on the grounds that no actual ri.it had taken
place.

The first victory <>i the so-called Working-
men's parte was the election of a state senator in
Alameda count) to till a vacancj caused by the
death of Senator Porter. An individual by the
name <>f John W. Bones was elected. On ac-
counl of his being long and lean he was known
as Barebones and sometimes Praise God Bare-
bones. His only services in the senate were the
perpetration of some doggerel verses and a

234

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

speech or two on Kearney's theme, "The Chi-
nese Must Go." At the election held June [9,
1878, to choose delegates to a constitutional
convention of the one hundred and fifty-two
delegates the Workingmen elected fifty-seven,
thirty-one of whom were from San Francisco.
The convention met at Sacramento, September
28, 1878, and continued to sit in all one hundred
and fifty-seven days. It was a mixed assem-
blage. There were some of the ablest men in
the state in it, and there were some of the most
narrow minded and intolerant bigots there. The
Workingmen flocked by themselves, while the
non-partisans, the Republicans and Democrats,
for the most part, acted in unison. Opposition
to the Chinese, which was a fundamental prin-
ciple of the Workingmen's creed, was not con-
fined to them alone; some of the non-partisans
were as bitter in their hatred of the Mongolians
as the Kearneyites. Some of the crudities pro-
posed for insertion in the new constitution were
laughable for their absurdity. One sand lotter
proposed to amend the bill of rights, that all men
are by nature free and independent, to read, "All
men who are capable of becoming citizens of the
United States are by nature free and inde-
pendent." One non-partisan wanted to incor-
porate into the fundamental law of the state
Kearney's slogan, "The Chinese Must Go."

After months of discussion the convention
evolved a constitution that the ablest men in
that body repudiated, some of them going so fat-
as to take the stump against it. But at the elec-
tion it carried by a large majority. Kearney
continued his sand lot harangues. In the sum-
mer of [879 he made a trip through the south-
ern counties of the state, delivering his diatribes
against the railroad magnates, the land mo-
nopolists and the Chinese. At the town of Santa
Ana, now the county seat of ( )range county, in
his harangue he made a vituperative attack
upon the McFadden Brothers, who a year or
two before had built a steamer and run it in op-
position i" (In- regular coast line steamers until
forced to sell it on account of losses incurred by
the competition. Kearney made a number of
false and libelous statements in regard to tin-
transaction. While he was waiting fur tin- stage
to San Dieero in front of the hotel he was in-

fronted by Rule, an employee of the McFad-
den's, with an imperious demand for the name of
Kearney's informant. Kearney turned white
with fear and blubbered out something about
not giving away his friends. Rule struck him
a blow that sent him reeling against the build-
ing. Gathering himself together he made a rush
into the hotel, drawing a pistol as he ran. Rule
pursued him through the dining room and out
across a vacant lot and into a drug store, where
he downed him and, holding him down with his
knee on his breast, demanded the name of his
informer. One of the slandered men pulled
Rule off the "martyr" and Kearney, with a face
resembling a beefsteak, took his departure to
San Diego. From that day on he ceased his
vituperative attacks on individuals. He had met
the only argument that could convince him of
the error of his ways. He lost caste with his
fellows. This braggadocio, who had boasted of
leading armies to conquer the enemies of the
Workingmen, with a pistol in his hand had
ignominiously fled from an unarmed man and
had taken a humiliating punishment without a
show of resistance. His following began to de-
sert him and Kearney went if the Chinese did
not. The Workingmen's party put up a state
ticket in 1879, but it was beaten at the polls and
went to pieces. In 1880 James Angell of Mich-
igan, John F. Swift of California, and William
H. Trescott of South Carolina were appointed
commissioners to proceed to China for the pur-
pose of forming new treaties. An agreement
was reached with the Chinese authorities by
which laborers could be debarred for a certain
period from entering the United States. Those
in the country were all allowed the rights that
aliens of other countries had. The senate ratified
the treaty May 5th. 1881.

The following is a list of the governors of Cal-
ifornia, Spanish. Mexican and American, with
date of appointment or election: Spanish:
Caspar de Portola, [767; Felipe Barri, 177 1 ;
Felipe de Xcve, 1774: Pedro Fages, 1790; Jose
Antonio Romeu, 171)0; Jose Joaquin de Ar-
rillaga, 17(1-': Diego de Borica, 1704: Jose Joa-
quin de Arrillaga, 1800; Jose Arguello, 1814;
Pablo Vicente de Sola, iSiv Mexican gov-
ernors: Pablo Vicente de Sola, 1822: Luis

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Arguello, 1823; Jose Maria Echeandia, 1825;
Manuel Victoria, 1831 ; Pio Pico, 1832; Jose
Maria Echeandia, Agustin Zamorano, 1832;
Jose Figueroa, 1833; Jose Castro, 1835; Nicolas
Gutierrez, 1836; Mariano Chico, 1836; Nicolas
Gutierrez, 1836; Juan B. Alvarado, 1836; Man-
uel Micheltorena, 1842; Pio Pico, 1845. Amer-
ican military governors: Commodore Robert
F. Stockton, 1846; Col. John C. Fremont, Jan-
uary, 1847; Gen. Stephen W. Kearny, March
1, 1847; Col. Richard B. Mason, May 31, 1847;
Gen. Bennet Riley, April 13, 1849. American
governors elected: Peter H. Burnett, 1840.
John McDougal, Lieutenant-governor, became
governor on resignation of P. H. Burnett in
January, 1851: John Bigler, 1851: John Bigler,

1853; J- Neely Johnson, 1855; John B. Weller,
1857; M. S. Latham, 1859; John G. Downey,
lieutenant-governor, became governor in 1850
by election of Latham to United States senate;
Leland Stanford, 1S61: Frederick F. Low, 1863;
Henry II. Haight, 1867; Newton Booth, 1871;
Romualdo Pacheco, lieutenant governor, be-
came governor February, 1875, on election of
Booth to the United States senate; William Ir-
win, 1875; George C. Perkins, 1879; George
Stoneman, 1882; Washington Bartlett. [886;
Robert W. Waterman, lieutenant-governor, be-
came governor September 12, 1887, upon the
death of Governor Bartlett: H. H. Markham,
1890; James H. Budd, 1894; Henry T. Gage,
1898.

CHAPTER XXXV.

EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.

THE Franciscans, unlike the Jesuits, were
not the patrons of education. They
bent all their energies towards pros-
elyting. Their object was to fit their converts
for the next world. An ignorant soul might
be as happy in paradise as the most learned.
Why educate the neophyte? He was converted,
baptized and when granted absolution had his
passport to heaven. There were no public
schools at the missions. A few of the brightest
of the neophytes, who were trained to sing in
the church choirs, were taught to read, but the
great mass of them, even those of the third gen-
eration, born and reared at the missions, were
as ignorant of book learning as were their great-
grandfathers, who ran naked among the oak
trees of the mesas and fed on acorns.

Nor was there much attention paid to edu-
cation among the gente de razon of the pre-
sidios and pueblos. But few of the common
people could read and write. Their ancestors

had made their way in the world without 1 k

learning. Why should the child know more
than the parent? And trained to have great filial
regard for his parent, it was not often that
the progeny aspired to rise higher in the scale

of intelligence than his progenitor. Of the
eleven heads of families who founded Los An-
geles, not one could sign his name to the title
deed of his house lot. Xor were these an ex-
ceptionally ignorant collection of hombres. Out
of fifty men comprising the Monterey company
in 1785, but fourteen could write. In the com-
pany stationed at San Francisco in [794 not a
soldier among them could read or write; and
forty years later of one hundred men at Son, una
not one could write his name.

The first communit} wanl the American pio-
neers supplied was (he school house. Wher-
ever the immigrants from the New England
and the middle states planted a settlement, there,
at the same time, the) planted a school h
The first community want that the Spanish
pabladores (colonists) supplied was a church.
The school house was nol wanted or if wanted it
was a long felt want that was rarely or never
satisfied. At the time of the acqui
ifornia by the Americans, sevent) seven years
from the date of its first settlement, there was
not a public school house owned by any pre-
sidio, i'ii. bio 1 ir city in a I I ■■ >ry

The first public school in California was

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

opened in San Jose in December, 1794, seven-
teen years alter the founding of that pueblo.
The pioneer teacher of California was Manuel
de Vargas, a retired sergeant of infantry. The
school was opened in the public granary.
Vargas, in 1795, was offered $250 to open a
school in San Diego. As tins was higher wages
than he was receiving he accepted the offer.
Jose Manuel Toca, a gamute or ship boy. ar-
rived on a Spanish transport in 1795 and the
same year was employed at Santa Barbara as
schoolmaster at a yearly salary of Si 25. Thus
the army and the navy pioneered education in
California.

Governor Borica, the founder of public
schools in California, resigned in 1800 and was
succeeded by Arrillaga. Governor Arrillaga, if
not opposed to, was at least indifferent to the
education of the common people. He took life
easy and the schools took long vacations; in-
deed, it was nearly all vacation during his term.
Governor Sola, the successor of Arrillaga, made
an effort to establish public schools, but the in-
difference of the people discouraged him. In
the lower pueblo. Los Angeles, the first school
was opened in 1817, thirty-six years after the
founding of the town. The first teacher then-
was Maximo Piha. an invalid soldier. He re-
ceived $140 a year for his services as school-
master. If the records are correct, his was the
only school taught in Los Angeles during the
Spanish regime. < hie year of schooling to forty-
years of vacation, there was no educational
cramming in those days. The schoolmasters of
the Spanish era were invalid soldiers, possessed
of that dangerous thing, a "little learning: ' and
it was very little indeed. About all they could
teach was reading, writing and the doctrina
Christiana. They were brutal tyrants and their
school government a military despotism. They
did not spare the roil or the child, either. The
rod was too mild an instrument of punishment.
Their implement of torture was a cat-o'-nine-
tails, made of hempen cords with iron points.
To fail in learning the doctrina Christiana was
an unpardonable sin. for this, for laughing
aloud, playing truant or other offenses no more
heinous, the guilty boy "was stretched face
downward upon .1 bench with a handkerchief

thrust into his mouth as a gag and lashed with a
dozen or more blows until the blood ran down
his little lacerated back." If he could nut im-
bibe the Christian doctrine in any other way,
it was injected into him with the points of the
lash.

Mexico did better for education in California
than Spain. The school terms were lengthened
and the vacation shortened proportionally. Gov-
ernor Echeandia, a man hated by the friars, was
an enthusiastic friend of education. "He be-
lieved in the gratuitous and compulsory educa-
tion of rich and poor, Indians and g ente de
razoy alike." He held that learning was the
corner-stone of a people's wealth and it was the
duty of the government to foster education.
When the friars heard of his views "they called
upon God to pardon the unfortunate ruler un-
able to comprehend how vastly superior a re-
ligious education was to one merely secular."
Echeandia made a brave attempt to establish a
public school system in the territory. He de-
manded of the friars that they establish a-school
at each mission for the neophytes; they prom-
ised, but, with the intention of evading, a show
was made of opening schools. Soon it was re-
ported that the funds were exhausted and the
schools had to close for want of means to sup-
port them. Nor was Echeandia more successful
with the people. He issued an order to the
commanding officers at the presidios to compel
parents to send their children to school. The
school at Monterey was opened, the alcalde act-
in- as schoolmaster. The school furniture con-
sisted of one table and the school books were
one arithmetic and four primers. The school
funds were as meager as the school furniture.
Echeandia, unable to contend against the enmity
of the friars, the indifference of the parents and
the lack of funds, reluctantly abandoned his
futile fight against ignorance.

( hie of the most active and earnest friends of
the public schools during the Mexican era was
the much abused Governor Mic'heltorena. He
made an earnest effort to establish a public
school system in California. Through his efforts
schools were established in all the principal

Panel 'ft'- California Pastoral.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD-.

towns and a guarantee of $500 from the ter-
ritorial funds promised to each school. Michel-
torena promulgated what might be called the
first school law of California. It was a decree
issued May 1, 1844, and consisted of ten articles,
which prescribed what should be taught in the
schools, school hours, school age of the pupils
and other regulations. Article 10 named the
most holy virgin of Guadalupe as patroness of
the schools. Her image was to be placed in
each school. But, like all his predecessors,
Micheltorena failed: the funds were soon ex-
hausted and the schools closed.

Even had the people been able to read there
would have been nothing for them to read but
religious books. The friars kept vigilant watch
that no interdicted books were brought into the
country. If any were found they were seized
and publicly burned. Castro, Alvarado and Val-
lejo were at one time excommunicated for read-
ing Rousseau's works, Telemachus and other
books on the prohibited list. Alvarado having
declined to pay Father Duran some money he
owed him because it was a sin to have anything
to do with an excommunicated person, and
therefore it would be a sin for the father to take
money from him, the padre annulled the sen-
tence, received the money and gave Alvarado
permission to read anything he wished.

During the war fur the conquest of California
and for some time afterwards the schools were
all closed. The wild rush to the gold mines in
1848 carried away the male population. No one
would stay at home and teach school for the
paltry pay given a schoolmaster. The ayunta-
miento of Los Angeles in the winter of 1849-50
appointed a committee to establish a school.
After a three months' hunt the committee re-
ported "that an individual had just presented
himself who, although he did not speak English,
yet could he teach the children many useful
things; and besides the same person had man-
aged to get the refusal of Mrs. Pollerena's house
for school purpose." At the next meeting of the
ayuntamiento the committee reported that the
individual who had offered to teach had left for
the mines and neither a school house nor a
schoolmaster could be found.

In June, 1850, the ayuntamiento entered into

a contract with Francisco Bustamente, an ex-
soldier, "to teach to the children first, second
and third lessons and likewise to read script, to
write and count and so much as I may be com-
petent to teach them orthography and good
morals." Bustamente was to receive $60 per
month and $20 for house rent. This was the
first school opened in Los Angeles after the
conquest.

"'I he first American school in San Francisco
and. we believe, in California, was a merely pri-
vate enterprise. It was opened by a Mr. Mars-
ton from one of the Atlantic states in April,
1N47. in a small shanty which stood on the block
I iet ween Broadway and Pacific streets, west of
Dupont street. There lie collected some twenty
or thirty pupils, whom he continued to teach for
almost a whole year, his patrons paying for tui-
tion."*

In the fall of 1847 a school house was built
"ii the southwest corner of Portsmouth square,
fronting on Clay street. The money to build it
was raised by subscription. It was a very mod-
est structure — box shaped with a door and two
windows in the front and two windows in each
end. It served a variety of purposes besides that
of a school house. It was a public hall for all
kinds of meetings. Churches held service m it.
1 he first public amusements were given in it.
At one time it was used for a court room. The
first meeting to form a state government was
held in it. It was finally degraded to a police
office and a station house. For some time after
it was built no school was kept in it for want of
funds.

On the Jisi of February, 1848, a town meet-
ing was called for the election ,,f a board of
school trustees and Dr. P. Fourguard, Dr. |.
Townsend, C. L. Ross, J. Serrini and William
H. Davis were chosen. < )n the 3d of April fol-
lowing these trustees opened a school in the
school house under the charge of Thomas
Douglas, A. M.. a graduate of Yale College and
an experienced teacher of high reputation. The
board pledged him a salary of $1,000 per an-
num and fixed a tariff of tuition to aid towards
its payment; and the town council, afterwards,

\iiii.m- of San Francisco.

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

to make up any deficiency, appropriated to the
payment of the teacher of the public school in
this place $200 at the expiration of twelve
months from the commencement of the school.
"Soon after this Mr. Marston discontinued his
private school and Mr. Douglas collected some
forty pupils."*

The school flourished for eight or ten weeks.
Gold had been discovered and rumors were
coming thick and fast of fortunes made in a day.
A thousand dollars a year looked large to Air.
Douglas when the contract was made, but in the
light of recent events it looked rather small.
A man in the diggings might dig out $1,000 in a
week. So the schoolmaster laid down the
pedagogical birch, shouldered his pick and hied
himself away to the diggings. In the rush for
gold, education was forgotten. December 12,
1848, Charles \Y. II. Christian reopened the
school, charging tuition at the rate of $10. Evi-
dently he did not teach longer than it took him
to earn money to reach the mines. April 23,
[849, the Rev. Albert Williams, pastor of the
First Presbyterian church, obtained the use of
the school house and opened a private school,,
charging tuition. He gave up school teaching
to attend to his ministerial duties. In the fall
of '49 John C. Pelton, a Massachusetts school-
master, arrived in San Francisco and December
26 opened a school with three pupils in the Bap-
tist church on Washington street. He fitted up
the church with writing tables and benches at
his own expense, depending on voluntary con-
tributions for his support. In the spring of
1850 he applied to the city council for relief and
for his services and that of his wife he received
$500 a month till the summer of 1851. when he
closed his school.

Col. T. J. Xevins. in June. 1850, obtained rent
free the use of a building near the present inter-
section of Mission and Second streets for school
purposes, lie employed a Mr. Samuel New-
ton as teacher. The school was opened July
13. The school passed under the supervision
of several teachers. The attendance was small
at first and the school was supported by con-
tributions, but later the council voted an ap

propriation. The school was closed in 1851.
Colonel Nevins, in January, 1851, secured a
fifty-vara lot at Spring Valley on the Presidio
road and built principally by subscription a
large school building, employed a teacher and
opened a free school, supported by contributions.
The building was afterwards leased to the city
to be used for a free school, the term ot the
lease running ninety-nine years. This was the
first school building in which the city had an
ownership. Colonel Xevins prepared an ordi-
nance for the establishment, regulation and
support of free common schools in the city.
The ordinance was adopted by the city council
September 25, 185 1, and was the first ordinance
establishing free schools and providing for their
maintenance in San Francisco.

A bill to provide for a public school system
was introduced in the legislature of 1850, but
the committee on education reported that it
would be two or three years before any means
would become available from the liberal pro-
visions of the constitution; in the meantime
the persons who had children to educate could
do it out of their own pockets. So all action
was postponed and the people who had children
paid for their tuition or let them run without
schooling.

The first school law was passed in 1851. It
was drafted mainly by G. LI. Lingley, John C.
Pelton and the superintendent of public instruc-
tion, J. G. Marvin. It was revised and amended
by the legislatures of 1852 and 1853. The state
school fund then was derived from the sale and
rental of five hundred thousand acres of state
land; the estates of deceased persons escheated
to the state; state poll tax and a state tax of
five cents on each $100 of assessed property.
Congress in 1853 granted to California the 16th
and 36th sections of the public lands for school
purposes. The total amount of this grant was
six million seven hundred and sixty-five thou-
sand five hundred and four acres, of which
forty-six thousand and eighty acres were to be
deducted for the founding of a state university
or college and six thousand four hundred acres
for public buildings.

The first apportionment of state funds was
made in 1854. The amount of state funds for

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

that year was $52,961. The county and mu-
nicipal school taxes amounted to $157,702.
These amounts were supplemented by rate bills
to the amount of $42,557. In 1856 the state
fund had increased to $69,961, while rate bills
had decreased to $28,619. That year there were
thirty thousand and thirty-nine children of
school age in the state, of these only about
fifteen thousand were enrolled in the schools.

In the earlier years, following the American
conquest, the schools were confined almost en-
tirely to the cities. The population in the coun-
try districts was too sparse to maintain a school.
The first school house in Sacramento was built
in 1849. lC was located on I street. C. H. T.
Palmer opened school in it in August. It was
supported by rate bills and donations. He gath-
ered together about a dozen pupils. The school
was soon discontinued. Several other parties
in succession tried school keeping in Sacra-
mento, but did not make a success of it. It was
not until" 1851 that a permanent school was es-
tablished. A public school was taught in Mon-
terey in 1849 by Rev. Willey. The school was
kept in Colton Hall. The first public school
house in Los Angeles was built in 1854. Hugh
Overns taught the first free school there in 1850.

The amount paid for teachers' salaries in 1854
was $85,860; in 1900 it reached $4,850,804. The
total expenditures for school purposes in 1854
amounted to $275,606; in 1900 to $6,195,438.
The first high school in the state was established
in San Francisco in 1856. In 1900 there were
one hundred and twenty high schools with an
attendance of twelve thousand one hundred and
seventy-nine students. Two million dollars were
invested in high school buildings, furniture and
grounds. Five hundred teachers were employed
in these schools.

Till-: TXIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC.

This institution was chartered in August,
1 85 1, as the California W'esleyan College, which
name was afterwards changed by act of the leg
islature to that it now bears. The charter was
obtained under the general law of the state as
it then was, and on the basis of a subscription
of $27,500 and a donation of some ten acres of
land adjacent to the village of Santa Clara. A

school building was erected in which the pre-
paratory department was opened in May, 1852,
under the charge of Rev. E. Banister as prin-
cipal, aided by two assistant teachers, and be-
fore the end of the first session had over sixty
pupils. Near the close of the following year
another edifice was so far completed that the
male pupils were transferred to it. and the Fe-
male Collegiate Institute, with its special course
of study, was organized and continued in the
original building. In 1S54 the classes of the
college proper were formed and the requisite
arrangement with respect to president, faculty,
and course of study made. In 1858 two young
men, constituting the first class, received the de-
gree of A. I',., they being the first to receive
that honor from any college in California. In
1865 the board of trustees purchased the Stock-
ton rancho, a large body of land adjoining the
town of Santa Clara. This was subdivided into
lots and small tracts and sold at a profit. By
this means an endowment was secured and an
excellent site for new college building obtained.

THE COLLEGE of CALIFORNIA.

The question of founding a college or uni-
versity in California had been discussed earlv in
1849, before the assembling of the constitutional
convention at San Jose. The originator of the
idea was the Rev. Samuel H. Willey, D. D., of
the Presbyterian church. At that time he was
stationed at Monterey. The first legislature
passed a bill providing for the granting of col-
lege charters. The bill required that application
should be made to the supreme court, which was
to determine whether the property possessed be
the proposed college was worth $20,000, and
whether in other respects a charter should be
granted. A body of land for a college site had
been offered by James Stokes and Kimball II.

Dimmick to be selected from a large tract they
owned on tlie Guadalupe river, near San Jose.
When application was char-

ter the supreme court refused to give a charter
to tlie applicants on the plea that the land
was unsurveyed and the ml'' not fully deter-
mined.

The Rev. Henry Durant, who had at one time
been a tutor in Vale College, came to 1 alifornia

-Ill

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

m 1S53 to engage in teaching. At a meeting
cf the presbytery of San Francisco and the Con-
gregational Association of California held in
Nevada City in May, 1853, which Mr. Durant
attended, it was decided to establish an acad-
emy at Oakland. There were but few houses
in Oakland then and the only communication
with San Francisco was by means of a little
steamer that crossed the bay two or three times
a day. A house was obtained at the corner of
Broadway and Fifth street and the academy
opened with three pupils. A site was selected
for the school, which, when the streets were
opened, proved to be four blocks, located be-
tween Twelfth and Fourteenth, Frankkn and
Harrison streets. The site of ( )akland at that
time was covered with live oaks and the sand
was knee deep. Added to other discourage-
ments, titles were in dispute and squatters were
seizing upon the vacant lots. A building was
begun for the school, the money ran out and
the property was in danger of seizure on a me-
chanics' lien, but was rescued by the bravery
and resourcefulness of Dr. Durant.

In 1855 the College of California was char-
ters! and a search begun for a permanent site.
A number were offered at various places in the
state. The trustees finally selected the Berkeley
site, a tract of one hundred and sixty acres on
Si raw berry creek near Oakland, opposite the
Golden Gate. The college school in Oakland
was nourishing. A new building, Academy
Hall, was erected in 1858. A college faculty
was organized. The Rev. Henry Durant and
the Rev. Martin Kellogg were chosen pro-
fessors and the first college class was organized
in June, i860. The college classes were taught
in the buildings of the college school, which
were usually called the College of California.
The college classes were small and the endow-
ment smaller. The faculty met with many dis-
couragements. It became evident that the in-
stitution could never become a prominent one
in the educational field with the limited means
of support it could command. In 1863 the idea
of a state universitj began to be agitated. A bill
was passed by the state legislature in 1866, de-
voting t<> the support of a narrow polyte,chnical
school, the federal land grants to California for

the support of agricultural schools and a college
of mechanics. The trustees of the College of
California proposed in 1867 to transfer to the
state the college site at Berkeley, opposite the
Golden Gate, together with all the other assets
remaining after the debts were paid, on con-
dition that the state would build a University of
California on the site at Berkeley, which should
be a classical and technological college.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.

A bill for the establishing of a state university
was introduced in the legislature March 5, 1868,
by Hon. John W. Dwindle of Alameda county.
After some amendments it was finally passed,
March 21, and on the 27th of the same month a
bill was passed making an appropriation for the
support of the institution.

The board of regents of the university was
organized June 9, 1868, and the same day Gen.
George B. McClellan was elected president of
the university, but at that time being engaged in
building Stevens Battery at Xew York he de-
clined the honor. September 23, 1869, the
scholastic exercises of the university were be-
gun in the buildings of the College of Califor-
nia in ( )akland and the first university class was
graduated in June, 1873. The new buildings of
the university at Berkeley were occupied in
September, 1873. Prof. John Le Conte was act-
ing president for the first year. Dr. Henry
Durant was chosen to fill that position and was
succeeded by D. C. Oilman in 1872. The corner-
stone of the Agricultural College, called the
South Hall, was laid in August. 1872, and that
of the North Hall in the spring of 1873.

The university, as now constituted, consists
of Colleges of Letters, Social Science, Agricul-
ture, Mechanics. Mining, Civil Engineering,
Chemistry and Commerce, located at Berkeley;
the Lick Astronomical Department at Mount
Hamilton: and the professional and affiliated
> olleg< s in San Francisco, namely, the Hastings
College of Law, the Medical Department, the
Post-Graduate Medical Department, the Col-
lege of Dentistry and Pharmacy, the Veterinary
Department and the Mark Hopkins Institute of
Art. The total value of the property belonging
to the university at this time is about $5,000,000

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

241

and the endowment funds nearly $3,000,000.
The total income in 1900 was $475,254.

LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY.

"When the intention of Senator Stanford to
found a university in memory of his lamented
son was first announced, it was expected from
the broad and comprehensive views which he
was known to entertain upon the subject, that
his plans, when formed, would result in no ordi-
nary college endowment or educational scheme,
but when these plans were laid before the people
their magnitude was so far beyond the most ex-
travagant of public anticipation that all were as-
tonished at the magnificence of their aggregate,
the wide scope of their detail and the absolute
grandeur of their munificence. The brief his-
tory of California as an American state com-
prises much that is noble and great, but nothing
in that history will compare in grandeur with
this act of one of her leading citizens. The
records of history may be searched in vain for
a parallel to this gift of Senator Stanford to the
state of his adoption. * * ■ * By this act
Senator Stanford will not only immortalize the
memory of his son, but will erect for himself a
monument more enduring than brass or marble,
for it will be enshrined in the hearts of succeed-
ing generations for all time to come.""

Senator Stanford, to protect the endowments
he proposed to make, prepared a bill, which was
passed by the legislature, approved by the gov-
ernor and became a law March 9, 1885. It is
entitled ''An act to advance learning, the arts
and sciences and to promote the public welfare,
by providing for the conveyance, holding and
protection of property, and the creation of trusts
for the founding, endowment, erection and
maintenance within this state of universities,
colleges, schools, seminaries of learning, me-
chanical institutes, museums and galleries of
art."

Section 2 specifies how a grant for the above
purposes may be made: "Any person desiring
in his lifetime to promote the public welfare by
founding, endowing and having maintained
within this state a university, college, school.

Monograph of Leland Stanford Junior University.

seminary of learning, mechanical institute, mu-
seum or gallery of art or any or all thereof, may,
to that end, and for such purpose, by grant in
writing, convey to a trustee, or any number of
trustees named in such grant (and their suc-
cessors), any property, real or personal, belong-
ing to such person, and situated or being within
this state; provided, that if any such person be
married and the property be community prop-
erty, then both husband and wife must join in
such grant." The act contains twelve sections.
After the passage of the act twenty-four trus-
tees were appointed. Among them were judges
of the supreme and superior courts, a United
States senator and business men in various
lines.

Among the lands deeded to the universit) b)
Senator Stanford and his wife were the Palo
Alto estate, containing seventy-two hundred
acres. This ranch had been devoted principally
to the breeding and rearing of thoroughbred
horses. On this the college buildings were to
be erected. The site selected was near the town
of Palo Alto, which is thirty-four miles south
from San Francisco on the railroad to San Jose,
in Santa Clara county.

Another property donated was the Vina
rancho, situated at the junction of Deer creek
with the Sacramento river in Tehama county.
It consisted of fifty-five thousand acres, of
which thirty-six thousand were planted to
and orchard and the remainder used for grain
growing and pasture.

The third rancho given to the support of the
university was the Gridley ranch, containing
about twenty-one thousand acres. This was sit-
uated in Butte county and included within its
limits some of the richest wheat growing lands
in the state. At the time it was d
sessed value was Si. 000,000. The total amount
of land conveyed to the university by .'■
trust was eighty-three thousand two hundred
acre-..

The name selected [or the institution was Le-
land Stanford Junior University. The corner-
stone of the university was laid May 1 |
1,\ Senatoi ai I I Stanford. The site

of the college buildings is aboul one mile west
from Palo Alto. In his address to the trustees

242

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

November 14. [885, Senator Stanford said: "We
do not expect to establish a university and fill
it with students at once. It must be the growth
of time and experience. Our idea is that in the
first instance we shall require the establishment
of colleges for both sexes; then of primary
schools, as they may be needed; and out of all
these will grow the great central institution for
more advanced study." The growth of the uni-
versity has been rapid. In a very few years after
its founding it took rank with the best institu-
tions of learning in the United States.

NORMAL SCHOOLS.

The legislature of 1862 passed a bill author-
izing the establishment of a state normal school
for the training of teachers at San Francisco or
at such other place as the legislature may here-
after direct. The school was established and
conducted for several years at San Francisco,
but was eventually moved to San Jose, where a
site had been donated. A building was erected
and the school became a flourishing institution.
The first building was destroyed by fire and the
present handsome and commodious building
erected on a new site. The first normal school
established in the state was a private one, con-
ducted by George W. Minns. It was started in

San Francisco in 1857, but was discontinued
after the organization of the state school in 1863,
Minns becoming principal. A normal school
was established b\ the legislature at Los An-
geles in 1881. It was at first a branch of the
state school at San Jose and was under control
of the same board of trustees and the same prin-
cipal. Later it was made an independent insti-
tution with a board and principal of its own.

Normal schools have been established at
Chico (1889), San Diego (1897) and San Fran-
cisco (1899). The total number of teachers em-
ployed in the five state normal schools in 1900
was one hundred and one, of whom thirty-seven
were men and sixty-four women. The whole
number of students in these at that time was
two thousand ami thirty-nine, of whom two hun-
dred and fifty-six were men and one thousand
eight hundred and thirty-nine women.

The total receipts for the support of these
schools from all sources were for the year end-
ing June 30, 1900, $251,217; the total expendi-
tures tor the same time were $206,001 ; the value
of the normal school property of the state is
about $700,000. The educational system and
facilities of California, university, college, nor-
mal school and public school, rank with the best
in the United States.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

CITIES OF CALIFORNIA— THEIR ORIGIN AND GROWTH.

ftLTHOUGH Spain and Mexico possessed
California fur seventy-seven years after
the date nf the first settlement made in
it, they founded but few towns and but one of
those founded had attained the dignity of a city
at the time of the American conquest. In a
previous chapter I have given sketches of the
founding of the four presidios and three pueblos
under Spanish rule. Twenty missions were es-
tablished under the rule of Spain and one under
the Mexican Republic. While the country in-
creased in population under the rule of Mex-
ico, the only new settlement that was formed
was the mission at Solano.

Pueblos grew up at the presidios and some of
the mission settlements developed into towns.
The principal towns that have grown up around
the mission sites are San Juan Capistrano, San
Gabriel, San Buenaventura, San Miguel. San
Luis Obispo, Santa Clara and San Rafael.

The creation of towns began after the Ameri-
cans got possession of the country. Before the
treaty of peace between the United States and
Mexico had been made, and while the war wa-
in progress, two enterprising Americans. Robert
Semple and '1". O. Larkin, had created on paper
an extensive city on the Straits of Carquinez.
The city of Francisca "comprises five miles."

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

so the proprietors of the embryo metropolis an-
nounced in the Califoniian of April 20, 1847,
and in subsequent numbers. According to the
theory of its promoters, Francisca had the
choice of sites and must become the metropolis
of the coast. "In front of the city," says their
advertisement, "is a commodious Bay, large
enough for two hundred ships to ride at anchor
safe from any wind. The country around the
city is the best agricultural portion of California
on both sides of the Bay; the straits being only
one mile wide, an easy crossing may always be
made. The entire trade of the great Sacra-
mento and San Joaquin Valleys (a fertile coun-
try of great width and nearly seven hundred
miles long from North to South) must of neces-
sity pass through the narrow channel of Car-
quinez and the Bay, and the country is so situ-
ated that ever) person who passes from one side
of the Hay to the other will find the nearest and
best way by Francisca."

In addition to its natural advantages the pro-
prietors offered other attractions and induce-
ments to settlers. The}' advertised that they
would give "seventy-five per cent of the net pro-
ceeds of the ferries and wharves for a school
fund and the embellishment of the city"; "they
have also laid out several entire squares for
school purposes and several others for public
walks" (parks). Yet, notwithstanding all the su-
perior attractions and natural advantages of
Francisca, people would migrate to and locate
at the wind-swept settlement on the Cove of
Yerba Buena. And the town of the "good
herb" took to itself the name of San Francisco
and perforce compelled the Franciscans to be-
come Benicians. Then came the discovery of
gold and the consequent rush to the mines, and
although Francisca, or Benicia. was on the
route, or one of the routes, somehow San
Francisco managed to get all the profit out of
tile trade and travel to the mines.

The rush to the land of gold expanded the
little settlement formed by Richardson and Leese
on the Cove of ^ erba Buena into a great city
that in time included within its limits the mis-
sion and the presidio. The consolidation oi' the
city and county governments gave a simpler
form of municipal rule and gave the city room

to expand without growing outside of its mu-
nicipal jurisdiction. The decennial Federal cen-
sus from 1850 to the close of the century indi-
cates the remarkable growth of San Francisco.
Its population in 1850 was 21,000; in i860, 56,-
802; in 1870, 140,473; in 1880, 234,000; in
1890, 298,997; in 1900, 342,742.

LOS ANGELES.

The only settlement under Mexican domina-
tion that attained the dignity of a ciudad, or city,
was Los Angeles. Although proclaimed a city
by the Mexican Congress, more than ten years
before the Americans took possession of the
country, except in official documents, it was
usually spoken of as el pueblo — the town. Its
population at the time of its conquest by the
Americans numbered about sixteen hundred.
The first legislature gave it a city charter, al-
though fifteen years before it had been raised to
the dignity of a city ; the lawmakers for some
reason cut down its area from four square
leagues to four square miles. This did not affect
its right to its pueblo lands. After the appoint-
ment of a land commission, in 1851. it laid claim
to sixteen square leagues, but failed to substanti-
ate its claim. Its pueblo area of four square
leagues (Spanish) was confirmed to it by the
commission. Within the past seven years, by
annexation, its area has been increased from the
original four square leagues, or about twenty-
seven miles, to thirty-seven square miles. Its in-
crease in population .hiring the past twenty years
has been the greatest of any of the large cities of
the state. In 1880 it had 11,183 inhabitants; in
1890, 50,353; in [900, 102.420. Its growth
since 1900 has exceeded that of any similar pe-
riod in its history. Its estimated population
January, 1903, is 125,000.

OAKLAND.

Oakland, the third city in population among
the cities of California, is the youngest of the
large cities. It is purel) American by birth.
Its site during Spanish and Mexican rule was
uninhabited and was covered with oak trees and
chaparral. The territory which I lakland
was part of a live league grant made to f.uis
.Maria Peralta, a Spanish soldier, who came to

244

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the presidio of San Francisco in 1790. August
16, 1820, Governor Sola granted him the Rancho
San Antonio. His military service had extended
over a period oi forty years. In 1842 he divided
the grant among his five sons, the portion em-
braced in Oakland falling to the allotment of
Vicente.

The first permanent settlers and the fathers
of Oakland were Moore, Carpentier and Adams,
who squatted on the land in the summer of 1850.
The Peraltas made an attempt to evict them,
but failed. This trio of squatters obtained a
lease from Peralta, laid out a town and sold lots,
giving quit-claim deeds. They erected houses
and are considered the founders of the town.
Other squatters followed their example and pos-
sessed themselves of the Peraltas' land. This
involved the settlers in litigation, and it was
many years before titles were perfected. The
Peralta litigants finally w 1 in.

May 4. 1852, the town of Oakland was incor-
porated. March 25, 1854, it was incorporated as
a city and Horace W. Carpentier was elected
the first mayor. The first ferry charter was
granted in 1853. Defective titles and the water-
front war between the city authorities and H. W.
Carpentier retarded its growth for a number
of years. In 1860 its population was about
1,500. The completion of the overland railroad,
which made Oakland its western terminus,
greatly accelerated its growth. The water-front
war was continued; instead of Carpentier, the
city now had the Central Pacific Railroad Com-
pany to contend with. The controversy was
finally ended in 1882. and the city won. The
population of Oakland in 1890 was 48,682; in
1900, 66,960. According to a recent census
(November, 1902), it exceeds 88.000.

SACRAMENTO.

Sutter built his fort near the junction of the
Sacramento and American rivers in 1830. It
was then the most northerly settlement in Cali-
fornia and became the trading post for the
northern frontier. It was the outpost to which
the tide <>f overland immigration flowed before
and after the discover) of gold. Sutter's settle-
ment was also known as New Eielvitia. After
tin discovery of gold at Coloma it was. during

1848, the principal supply depot for the mines.
Sutter had a store at the fort and did a thriving
business. Sam LJrannan, in June, 1848, estab-
lished a store outside of the fort, in a long adobe
building. His sales amounted to over $100,000
a month. His profits were enormous. Gold
dust was a drug on the market and at one time
passed for $8 an ounce, less than half its value.
In September, 1848, Priest, Lee & Co. estab-
lished a business house at the fort and did an
immense business. The fort was not well lo-
cated for a commercial center. It was too far
away from the river by which all the freight
from San Francisco was shipped. The land at
the embarcadero was subject to overflow and
was deemed unsuited for the site of a city. Sut-
terville was laid out on rising ground three miles
below. A survey of lots was extended from
the fort to the embarcadero and along the river
bank. This embryo town at the embarcadero
took the name of Sacramento from the river.
Then began a rivalry between Sutterville and
Sacramento. The first house in Sacramento,
corner of Front and I streets, was erected in
January, 1849. The proprietors of Sutterville,
McDougall & Co., made an attempt to attract
trade and building to their town by giving away
lots, but Sutter beat them at that game, and
Sacramento surged ahead. Sam Brannan and
Priest, Lee & Co. moved their stores into Sac-
ramento. The fort was deserted and Sutterville
ceased to contend for supremacy. In four
months lots had advanced from $50 to $1,000
and business lots to $3,000. A regular steam-
boat service on the river was inaugurated in
August, 1849, anc ' sailing vessels that had come
around the Horn to avoid trans-shipment worked
their way up the river and landed their goods at
the embarcadero. The first number of the
Placer Times was issued April 28, 1849. The
steamboat rates of passage between San Fran-
cisco and Sacramento were: Cabin, $30: steer-
age, $20; freight, $2.50 per one hundred pounds.
By the winter of 184(1 the population of the town
had reached live thousand and a year later it
had doubled. Lots in the business section were
held at $30,000 to $50,000 each. The great flood
of [849-50, when four-fifths of the city was
under water, somewhat dampened the enthusi-

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

asm of the citizens, but did not check the growth
of the city. Sacramento became the trading-
center of the mines. In 1855 its trade, princi-
pally with the mines, amounted to $6,000,000.
It was also the center of the stage lines, a dozen
of which led out from it.

It became the state capital in 1853, and al-
though disastrous floods drove the legislators
from the capital several times, they returned
when the waters subsided. The great flood of
1861-62 inundated the city, and compelled an
immense outlay for levees and for raising the
grades of the streets. Sacramento was made the
terminus of the Central Pacific Railroad sys-
tem, and its immense workshops are located
there. Its growth for the past thirty years has
been slow but steady. Its population in 1890
was 26.386; in 1900, 29,282.

SAN JOSE.

The early history of San Jose has been given
in the chapter on Pueblos. After the American
conquest the place became an important busi-
ness center. It was the first state capital and
the removal of the capital for a time checked its
progress. In 1864 it was connected with San
Francisco by railroad. The completion of the
railroad killed off its former port, Alviso, which
had been laid out as a city in 1849. Nearly all
the trade and travel before the railroad was built
had gone by way of Alviso down the bay to
San Francisco. San Jose and its suburb, Santa
Clara, early became the educational centers of
California. The first American college founded
in the state was located at Santa Clara and the
first normal school building erected in the state
was built at San Jose. The population of San
Jose in 1880 was 12,570; in 1900, 21,500.

STOCKTON.

In 1844 the Rancho Campo de los Franceses,
Camp of the French, or French Camp, on which
the city of Stockton is located, was granted to
William Gulnac by Governor Micheltorena. It
contained eleven leagues of 48,747 acres of land.
Capt. Charles M. Weber, the founder of Stock-
ton, was a partner of Gulnac, but not being a
Mexican citizen, lie could not obtain a land
grant. After Gulnac obtained the grant he con-

veyed a half interest in it to Weber. Weber
shortly afterward purchased his partner's inter-
est and became sole owner of the grant. Some
attempts were made to stock it with cattle, but
Indian depredations prevented it. In 1847, afte r
the country had come into the possession of the
Americans, Weber removed from San Jose,
which had been his place of residence since his
arrival in California in 184 1, and located on his
ranch at French Camp. He erected some huts
for his vaqueros and fortified his corral against
Indians. In 1848 the site of the city was sur-
veyed and platted under the direction of Captain
Weber and Maj. R. P. Hammond. The rancho
was surveyed and sectionized and land offered
on most advantageous terms to settlers. Cap-
tain Weber was puzzled to find a fitting name
for his infant metropolis. He hesitated between
Tuleburgh and Castoria (Spanish for beaver).
Tules were plentiful and so were beaver, but
as the town grew both would disappear, so he
finally selected Stockton, after Commodore
Stockton, who promised to be a godfather to
the town, but proved to be a very indifferent
stepfather; he 'never did anything for it. The
discovery of gold in the region known as the
southern mines brought Stockton into promi-
nence and made it the metropolis of the south-
ern mining district. Captain Weber led the party
that first discovered gold on the Mokelumne
river. The freight and travel to the mines on
the Mokelumne, Tuolumne and Stanislaus rivers
passed through Stockton, and its growth was
rapid. In October, 1849, the Alta California
reports lots in it selling from $2,500 to $6,000
each, according to situation. At that time it had
a population of about one thousand souls and a
floating population, that is, men coming and
going to the mines, of about as many more. The
houses were mostly cotton-lined shacks. Lum-
ber was $1 a foot and carpenters' wage- $16 per
day. There was neither mechanics nor mate-
rial to build better structures. Every man was
his own architect and master builder. Cloth
was scarce and high and tacks at .me time were
worth $5 a package; even a cloth house was no
cheap affair, however flimsy and cheap it might
appear. I hi the morning of December 23, [849,
the business portion of the town was swept out

246

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RED )RD.

of existence by lire. Rebuilding was begun al-
most before the embers of the departed city
were cold and a better city arose from the ashes
of the first. Alter the wild rush of mining days
was over, Stockton drifted into a center of agri-
cultural trade and it also became a manufactur-
ing city. Its growth has been steady, devoid of
booms or period -.. of inflation, followed by col-
lapse. Its population in [890 was 14,424; in
1900, 17,506.

SAN DIEGO.

In former chapters I have described the
founding of the presidio and mission of San
Diego. A pueblo of twenty-five or thirty houses
grew up around the presidio. This is what is
known as Old San Diego. In 1850 it was in-
corporated as a city. March 18, 1850, Alcalde
Sutherland granted to William Heath Davis and
five associates one hundred and sixty acres of
land a few miles south of Old Town, in con-
sideration that they build a wharf and create
a "new port." The town of Xew San Diego was
laid out, the wharf was built, several houses
erected, and government barracks constructed.
A newspaper was established and the Panama
steamers anchored at the wharf. San Diego
was riding high on the wave of prosperity. But
the wave broke and left San Diego stranded on
the shore of adversity. In 1868, A. E. Horton
came to San Diego. He bought about nine-
hundred acres of pueblo lands along the bay at
twenty-six cents an acre. He subdivided it, gave
away lots, built houses and a wharf and soon
infused life into the sleepy pueblo. In [884
the Southern California Railroad was completed
into the city. In 1887 San Diego experienced a
wonderful real estate boom and its growth for
several years was marvelous. Then it came to
a standstill, but has again started on the high-
way to prosperity. Its population in 1890 was
16,159; in 1900, 17,700.

FRESNO CITY.

Fresno City was founded by the Southern
Pacific Railroad in May, 1K72. The road at that
time was in the course of construction. The
outlook for a populous town was not brilliant.
Stretching for miles away from the town site in
different directions was an arid-looking plain.

The land was fertile enough when well watered;
but the few settlers had no capital to construct
irrigating canals.

In 1875 began the agricultural colony era.
The land was divided into twenty-acre tracts. A
number of persons combined together and by
their united capital and community labor con-
structed, irrigating canals and brought the land
under cultivation. The principal product is
l he raisin grape. Fresno City became the
county seat of Fresno county in 1874. It is now
the largest and most important city of the
Upper San Joaquin Valley. Its population in
1890 was 10,818; in 1900, 12,470.

VALLEJO.

Vallejo was founded for the state capital. It
was one of several towns which had that tem-
porary honor in the early '50s, when the state
capitol was on wheels, or at least on the move.
The original name of the place was Eureka.
General Vallejo made a proposition to the leg-
islature of 1850 to grant the state one hundred
and fifty-six acres of land and to donate and
pay to the state within two years after the ac-
ceptance of- his proposition $370,000, to be used
in the erection of public buildings. The legisla-
ture accepted his proposition. The location of
the state capital was submitted to a vote of the
people at the election on October 7, 1850, and
Vallejo received more votes than the aggre-
gated vote of all its competitors. Buildings
were begun, but never completed. The legisla-
ture met there twice, but on account of insuffi-
cient accommodations sought other places
where they were better cared for. General Val-
lejo's proposition at his own request was can-
celled. In 1854 Mare Island, in front of Val-
lejo, was purchased by the general government
for a United States navy yard and naval depot.
The government works gave employment to
large numbers of men and involved the expedi-
ture nf millions of dollars. The town began to
prosper and still continues to do so. Its popu-
lation in 1800 was 6,343; in 1900, 7,965.

NEVADA CITY.

\\> mining town in California was so well and
so favorably known in the early '50s as Nevada

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

City. The first discovery of gold near it was
made in September, 1849; and the first store
and cabin erected. Rumors of rich strikes
spread abroad and in the spring of 1850 the rush
of gold-seekers came. In 1851 it was estimated
that within a circuit of seven miles there was a
population of 30,000. In 1856 the business sec-
tion was destroyed by fire. It was then the
third city in population in the state. It has had
its periods of expansion and contraction, but
still remains an important mining town. Its
population in 1880 was 4.022: in 1890, 2,524;
in 1900, 3,250.

GRASS VALLEY.

The first cabin in Grass Valley was erected in
1849. The discoveries of gold quartz raised
great expectations. A quartz mill was erected
in 1850, but this new form of mining not being
understood, quartz mining was not a success;
but with improved machinery and better meth-
ods, it became the most important form of min-
ing. Grass Valley prospered and surpassed its
rival, Nevada City. Its population in 1900 was
4.7I9-

EUREKA.

In the two hundred years that Spain and Mex-
ico held possession of California its northwest
coast remained practically a terra incognita, but
it did not remain so long after the discovery of
gold. Gold was discovered on the head waters
of the Trinity river in 1849 am ' parties of pros-
pectors during 1849 alK l l &5° explored the
country between the head waters of the Trinity
and Klamath rivers and the coast. Rich mines
were found and these discoveries led to the
founding of a number of towns on the coast
which aspired to be the entrepots for the sup-
plies to the mines. The most successful of these
proved to be Eureka, on Humboldt Bay. It
was the best located for commerce and soon
outstripped its rival-. Areata and Bucksport.
Humboldt county was formed in 1854. and Eu-
reka, in 1S56, became the county seat ami was
incorporated as a city. It is the largest -hip-
ping point for lumber on the coast. It is also
the commercial center of a rich agricultural and
dairying district. Its population in 1880 was
2,639; in t8 9°- 4' 8 5 S: in } 9°°' 7~2> 2 7-

MARYSVILLE.

The site on which Alary sville stands was first
known as New .Mecklenburg and was a trading
post of two houses, in October, 1848, M. C.
Nye purchased the rancho and opened a store
at New Mecklenburg. The place then became
known as Nye's rancho. In 1841) a town was
laid out and named Vubaville. The name was
changed to Marysville in honor of the wife of
the proprietor of the town Covilland. His wife
was Alary Murphy, of the Donner party. Marys-
ville, being at the head of the navigation of the
north fork of the Sacramento, became the en-
trepot for mining supplies to the miners in the
rich Yuba mines. Alter the decline of mining
it became an agricultural center for the upper
portion of the Sacramento. Its population in
1880 was 4,300; in 1890, 3,991; in 1900, 3,397.

The Placer Tunes of May 8, 1850, contains
this notice of Reading, now changed to Red-
ding: "Reading was laid off early in 1850 by
P. B. Reading at the headwaters of the Sacra-
mento within forty-five miles of the Trinity
diggings. Reading is located in the heart of a
most extensive mining district, embracing as it
does, Cottonwood, Clear, Salt. Dry, Middle and
I )Inev creeks, it is in close proximity to the Pitt
and Trinity rivers. The pet steamer. Jack
Hayes, leaves tomorrow morning (May 9. 1850)
for Reading. It has been hitherto considered
impossible to navigate the Sacramento to this
height.*' The town grew rapidly at first, like
all mining towns, and like most of such towns
it was swept out of existence 1>\ tire. It was
devastated by fire in December. [852, and again
in June, 1853. It- original name. Reading, got
mixed with fort Redding and it now appear- on
all railroad maps and guides as Redding. Its
population in [890 was 1.821; in 1000, 2.940.

Pasadena is a child of the colony era of the
early "70s. Its original name was the Indiana
Colony. In [873 a number of persons formed a
company for the purchasing of a large ti
land and subdividing it among them. The;, in-

IMS

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

corporated under the title of the San Gabriel
Orange Grove Association and purchased four
thousand acres in the San Pasqual rancho, sit-
uated about nine miles east of Los Angeles city.
This was divided on the basis of one share of
stock being equivalent to fifteen acres. Each
stockholder received in proportion to his invest-
ment. The colonists turned their attention to
the cultivation of vineyards and orange or-
chards. In 1S75 the name was changed to Pasa-
dena, an Algonquin word meaning Crown of the
Valley. The colony had become quite noted for
its production of oranges. In 1887 the great
real estate boom struck it and the cross roads
village suddenly developed into a city. It has
become famous as a tourist winter resort. Its
population in 1890 was 4,882; in 1900, 9,117.

Pomona was founded by the Los Angeles Im-
migration and Land Co-Operative Association.
This company bought twenty-seven hundred
acres of the Rancho San Jose, lying along the
1 isl in border of Los Angeles county. The
town was laid off in the center of the tract. The
remainder of the tract was divided into forty-
acre lots. The town made a rapid growth at
first, but disaster overtook it. First the dry
season of 1876-77, and next a fire that swept
it almost out of existence. In 1880 its popula-
tion had dwindled to one hundred and eighty
persons. In about 1881 it began to revive and
it has made a steady growth ever since. It is
the commercial center of a large orange grow-
in- district. Its population in 1890 was 3,634;
in 1900, 5,526.

SAN BERNARDINO.

San Bernardino was originally a Mormon col-
ony. In [851 one hundred and fifty families
were sent from Salt Lake to found a colony or
a stake of Zion. The object of locating a colon)
at tin's point was to keep open a line of commu-
nication with some seaport. San Bernardino was
near ill.- old Spanish trail which led .ml through
the Cajon pass. < loods could he transported
io Salt Lake from San Pedro at all seasons of
the year, which could not be done to Salt Lake

over the central route westward or eastward
during the winter. The leaders of the Mormon
colony, Lyman and Rich, bought the San Ber-
nardino rancho from the Lugos. A portion of
the land was subdivided into small tracts and
sold to the settlers. The Mormons devoted
themselves to the cultivation of wheat, of which
they raised a large crop the first year and re-
ceived as high as $5 per bushel. The colony
prospered for a time, but in 1857 the settlers,
or all of them that would obey the call, were
called to Salt Lake by Brigham Young to take
part in the threatened war with the United
States. The faithful sold their lands for what-
ever they could get and departed. The gentiles
bought them and the character of the settlement
changed. The city of San Bernardino has an
extensive trade with the mining districts to the
east of it. Its population in 1890 was 4,012; in
1900, 6,150.

RIVERSIDE.

Riverside had its origin in the colony era. It
began its existence as the Southern California
Colony Association. In 1870 an association, of
which Judge John W. North and Dr. James P.
( Ireves were leaders, purchased four thousand
acres of the Roubidoux rancho and adjoining
lands, aggregating in all about nine thousand
acres. This was subdivided into small tracts
and sold to settlers at a low price. A town was
iaid off and named Jurupa, but this being diffi-
cult of pronunciation its name was changed to
Riverside, which eventually became the name of
the settlement as well. An extensive irrigrating
system was constructed and the cultivation of
citrus fruits became the leading industry. The
Bahia or Washington navel orange has made
Riverside famous in orange culture. It was
propagated by budding from two small trees
sent by the Department of Agriculture to a citi-
zen of Riverside. The city of Riverside in area
is one of the largest cities of the state. Its
boundaries include fifty-six square miles. Its
corporate lines take in most of the orange
groves of the settlement. By this means mu-
nicipal regulations against insect pests can be
better enforced. The population of Riverside in
1890 was 4.683; in 1900, 7,973.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

EARLY DAYS AND PRESENT PROGRESS.

BY C. H. RODGERS.

Awa\ hack in the dim ages, in an arm of the
sea, the tides swelled and receded — breakers
dashed against the confining mountains — •
strange monsters of the deep disported over the
waves or basked in the shallows.

As time wore on. and with each season's
freshets, streams that emptied into this bay
came laden with the wash from the mountains.
( In meeting the salt waters the current was
checked and matter held in suspension settled
to the bottom. With this constant deposit the
water grew shallower and shallower, finally
receding entirely, leaving a marsh) waste cov-
ered with coarse vegetation.

This, in turn, was periodically inundated by
swollen torrents laden with mineral, vegetable
and animal matter — the cream of the lands
drained.

With the addition of these deposits, possibly
aided b) upheaval, the surface was gradually
raised until was formed one of the richest and
must productive spots on earth, the land we now
occupy, Pajaro valley.

I'ajaro valley, at a remote period, may have
been the great highway for the drainage waters
of the western slope of the Sierras and the vast
central valley of California including the river
systems of the Sacramento and San Joaquin.

In a report written in [845 by Lieut.
Joseph W. Revere of U. S. Navy, we find as fol-
lows: "The Indians have a tradition that at no
remote period of lime the Bay of San Fran-
cisco was a great inland lake or sea oi fresh
water, the only outlet being the Rio de los
Pajaro (Bird men which still empties into the
Ba 3 of Monterey. General Vallejo informed me
that a ver) old Indian had told him that he had
heard his father say that his grandfather bad
traveled 1>\ land to the 'I'm' or east at
Monterey, from the north to the south side of

the bay, across what is now its entrance, but
which was then a mountain, and that an earth-
quake rent the mountain asunder and opened
the present passage into the Pacific. < If coin-.
the lcwel of this huge lake was much higher than
the Pacific and it must have covered the whole
of the valleys leading down to it. including the
vast Tulare valley and plains. All these valleys
bear evidence of having once been the bed of
a large body of water which has partially been
drained off. The former existence of such a
wide spreading sheet of water may still lie traced
and its channel is still noticeable in examining
the Title lakes, all of which communicate at a
high stage of water with the San Joaquin. The
shells and other deposits are appropriate b 1 fresh
water and can he accounted for on no other
hypothesis than the Indian tradition."

Those familiar with the topograph)' of this
coast will agree that were an obstruction placed
across Golden Gate, conditions as described in
the Indian tradition would exist to-day.

A familiar instance of the filling in process
and formation of new land by streams, and
one which serves to illustrate the theory already
advanced, is shown in the College lake. Thirty
years ago the lake extended one-fourth of a
mile further northward than now and the depth
in the middle was about thirty feel. 1 hi accoun
of the leposil brought in by streams on the
north this part has receded and the depth of
the lake has decreased at least one-half.

I lie tirst recorded discover) 1 1 Pajaro valley
by civilized man was made on 1 Ictober 8, 170.1.
b) an expedition headed b) I 'on 1 laspa
tola. Governor of California, who, wi
priests, about thirt) fivi soldiers and tin.
dians, were orderei ' ■

locate Montere) ba

\1ie1 the tiresomi inn

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

dred miles over desert and parched soil, so
bl} impressed were these people with the
beauties of this valley that Father Crespi, the
scribe of the party, wrote of it: "A meadow
beautiful to behold because of the great variety
of trees and plants." The first mention of the
iidw 1 was made at this time and was discov-
ered in our valley.

1 1 is said that the places traversed by this
party were named by something suggested by
the surroundings.

Pajaro (bird). What name more appropriate!
Where else could such numbers and variety be
found! The absence of birds in their journey.
-him :ed with the animated scene spread out
before them — a beautiful valley tenanted by
myriads of the feathered tribe, could not fail to
impress them. What other name could be sug-
gested? Greeted by songsters — canaries, ori-
oles, larks, linnets, blue-birds, mocking-birds,
robins. From trees on the hillside came the

whistle of the quail, chirp of jay anil w 1-

pecker, wail of the dove. From the willows
along tlie streams were heard the caw of the
ciow and twitter of blackbirds. Humming-
birds flitted anion-- the flowers. Floating on
waters of lake, stream ami slough were count-
less water fowl — geese, ducks, swans, and
wading in the marshes the crane, snipe, curlew.
Circling overhead were the eagle, hawk and
buzzard. Even at night the explorers were re-
minded of the presence of birds through hav-
ing their slumbers disturbed by hoot and
screech of owls.

! or the lift}- years succeeding its discovery
very little is recorded of I'ajaro. although it
was traversed frequentl) by people passing from
the Mission of Santa Cruz to Monterey and

The first to appreciate the locality as a suit-
able place to establish a home was Don
Antonio Maria Castro, who applied in [820 to
ivernmenl of Spain for a grant of land
which he called Vega del Rio del I'ajaro
(meadow of the river of the Pajaro) and which
land extended along the south side of the
I'ajaro river from a point near Vega station to
\romas I'. O., and contained 1.310 acres. The
grant was not received From Spain, for in [821,

and shortly after the application was made.
Mexico rebelled and overthrew Spanish rule in
this territory. The grant was given by Mexico
in 1833.

The next applicant tor land was Manuel
Jimeno. In 1823 he received the grant known
as Salsipuedes rancho. It extended from Salsi-
puedes creek and College lake eastward to Chit-
tenden and from Pajaro river to the top of the
mountains and contained 31,200 acres.

The same year (.1823) Don Luis Antonio
Argueleo, who signed himself as "Superior Po-
litical and Military Chieftain of Upper Cali-
fornia, located at Monterey," granted to Don
Jos, Amesti the Rancho de los Corralitos. This
extended from College lake to the western con-
fines of the valley and from Corralitos creek
northward well into the mountains. It con-
tained four square leagues.

Don Jose Joaquin Castro acquired the San
Andreas rancho in 1833. This tract contained
8,900 acres and was bounded by the ocean, the
slough west of town, the Corralitos creek from
the McNeely place to the bridge on the Santa
Cruz road, one mile west of Whiskey Hill.
From this point the boundary was a line run-
ning due west to the ocean.

Rancho Laguna de las Calabasas was wedged
in between the San Andreas and Corralitos
ranchos. It was granted to Francisco Hernan-
dez and contained 2.300 acres.

In 1834 Don Ignacio Vallejo acquired the
grant called Bolsa de San Cayetano. This ex-
tended along the south side of I'ajaro river from
near Vega station to the ocean and contained
8,866 acres.

Rancho Bolsa del I'ajaro. on which Watson-
ville is located, was -ranted to Don Sebastian
Rodriguez in 1837. This rancho extended from
the ocean to Salsipuedes creek and from I'ajaro
river to the slough west of town. It contained
5.400 acres.

One of the conditions exacted by the Mex-
ican Government in giving these grants was
that fruit tret's should he planted. The pear
was the variety most commonl} planted in this
section, although some apples were planted.
The trees, being seedlings, did not produce de-
sirable fruit.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

It is interesting to reail the formalities re-
quired in securing these grants. The profuse
wording of the application; the order setting
aside the land: the appointment of an army
officer and witnesses to go with the grantee
for the purpose of installing him in his new pos-
sessions; how the official took the owner by
the hand, led him around, caused him to pull
up weeds and to throw stones and then pro-
claim him the owner of the premises. The gov-
ernment was \cr\ liberal with the public lands,
as any applicant was entitled to eleven square
leagues.

Pajaro valley at this time was one great
meadow, covered with wild oats, clover alfilaria
and other grasses. Mustard grew so tall that
a man on horseback could not see over the top
of it. The mountains from the San Jose road
westward was one unbroken forest, composed
principally of giant redwoods, with a sprinkling
of fir, tanbark and other oaks, madrone and
laurel, while along the streams and scattered
here and there were willow, alder, sycamore
and cottonwood trees. Wild animals were
plentiful. There were elk, deer, antelope, rab-
bits, grizzly bear, wolf, coyote, lion, fox,
badger, skunk, wildcat, squirrels, etc. The In-
dians found in Fajaro were not hostile and gave
no trouble.

< hi each rancho, generally on an eminence,
was located the ranch house, made of adobe
and covered with tiling. In this lived the Don
and his family, while near by were huts for
the "peons" (servants). The peons looked after
the stock and cultivated the small patches of
grain and vegetables. There were no fences
between the ranchos and the stock roamed at
will. ( )nce or twice a year a "rodeo" was held.
All the horses and cattle were rounded up and
the young branded. Only enough land was
farmed to raise sufficient grain and vegetables
for ranch use. Plowing was done with a forked
limb pulled by oxen. Grain was cut with a
sickle and threshed by running horses over it.
Flour was made by grinding wheat between two
large flat stones about four feet in diameter,
the bottom stone stationary and the top one
caused to revolve around horizontally by means
of a [ever pulled b) a horse. The stones used

for this purpose came from the mountains near
Gilroy.

Supplies, such as clothing, tobacco, coffee,
sugar, etc.. were procured at Santa Cruz or
.Monterey in exchange for hides ami tallow.

The only vehicle used was called "carreta."
This was a two-wheeled affair. The wheels
were solid sections of oak trees, with wooden
axle on which a large box was mounted, a pole
with cross-bar attached to the end, which cross-
bar was fastened with strips of rawhide to horns
of two bulls or oxen, completed the outfit.
This vehicle was used not only for conveying
freight, but it served as carriage as well for
the ladies and children. In this they rode to
"la fiesta," the barbecue or to church.

For amusement, aside from the "rodeo," they
had frequent gatherings at the different ranch
houses. The program generally began with a
barbecue on Saturday, followed by music and
dancing all night and wound up with a bear
and bull light on Sunday. When a wedding
occurred the festivities lasted a week. The
grizzly bears for the lights were lassoed by the
vaqueros along the foothills of our valley.
Around Corralitos, and particularly em the land
adjacent to the Corralitos school house, it is
said that the vaqueros never failed to capture
the grizzly. The method was for several
vaqueros to surround and lasso the bear, then
bind him on to a litter made of poles and with
their riatas drag him to the ranch house,
times a distance of several miles.

Life on the rancho was a lazy, dreamy, happy
existence. In a recent interview our friend I 'on
Ricardo Castro, on being asked how time was
principally occupied by the rancheros, replied
with a shrug of the shoulders. "Oh, talking
and smoking cigarettes." In a "land of plenty,"
with no cares, no ambitions, no annoyani
cept an occasional horse stealing raid bj "los
Indios bronchos" from about Lake Tulare and
the mountains
could have been desired?

Such, briefly, were the conditions existing
when the venturesome "Gringos" began pour-
ing into the vallej . if calm, peace
and happiness was soon swepl aside and the
great, big-hearted Don, unable to withstand the

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

shrewd Yankee, was shortly robbed of his her-
itage and sent "a wanderer without where to
lay his head."

In [851 J. B. Hill, the first American settler.
leased from Manuel Jimeno 1,000 acres of Sal-
■ ipuedes ranch. The tract leased extended from
the Salsipuedes creek to the little stream run-
ning through the Willoughby farm. With Hill
came our old friend. Hon. Ed Martin, who al
that time was a mere youth. In the autumn
of 1851, just iifn years ago, Mr. Martin opened
the first furrow ever struck (iff in Pajaro 1>\
an American, and this with the first iron plow
brought to the valley. This plowing was done
about where the Silliman homestead now
stands. As this was his first attempt at plowing,
Mr. Martin assures us thai the furrow would
hardly do to follow in planting a tree row.

In the spring of 1852 Hill planted about 200
acres of potatoes. It is said that the crop
raised sold at from 14 cent- to 16 cents per
pound. The high price of potatoes, the won-
derful fertility of the soil, and the report that
much of the district was government land.
caused a rush 1 if home-seekers. A large num-
ber of these early settlers "squatted" on lands
owned by the Mexicans, and caused much
10 ml i!e before they were evicted. Judge Wat-
son, after whom our town was named, was a
'■squatter," and had no title to the land which
In sold. Man}- of those interested in our val-
ley in the early '50s were young, energetic, in-
telligent and well educated. Among- the list
Gen. W. T. Sherman. Gen. E. D. Baker,
Eugene Kelly, \\ . W. Stowe, William F. White,
< harles Ford, J. 1). Carr, 1). M. Clough, Cooper
Brothers and G. M. Bockius.

I )uring the pi itati 1 1 xcitement n illowing Hill's
success, W. W. Stone and Charles Ford formed
a partnership and leased a large part of the
\.mesti bottom. Their camp was located near
the little bridge on I ake farm, now owned by
Mrs. K. J. Sanborn, The variet) must popular
was the "I [umboldl Red" potato and the yield
ran from 200 t.i 30 1 sacks per acre.

hist house in Watsonville was built in
[852 li\ 1. lewdly Thrift. It was a split lumber
affair and st 1 on the ground now occupied

by the Eagle restaurant. It served as post-
office, general merchandise store, saloon and
hotel.

In 1853 the first orchard planted by an Amer-
ican was set out on the Jesse D. Carr place
(now the Silliman homestead). This orchard
was about two acres in extent anil contained
a general mixture of fruit for home use. Some
nf the trees are still bearing.

The same year (1853) the first school was
organized. It was conducted in the South
Methodist church and was located about where
Gaffey's office now stands. The teacher was
a Mr. Dunn and was brought here by J. D.
( !arr.

It seems a strange coincidence that the found-
ing of our orchard industry and of our schools
should occur simultaneously, and that both
sin mil be brought about by the same man —
Jesse D. Carr.

The second orchard planted was by William
F. White, in 1854. During the next two or
three years several small family orchards were
planted. The Coopers and others planted a
few trees on their town lots. Scott planted fruit
trees mi a portion of what is now the plaza.
The latter were still standing as late as 1S711.

< 1. M. Bockius was one of the early planters,
he having set nut fifty-two trees of mixed va-
rieties in 1857.

The first commercial orchards were set nut
by Isaac Williams and Judge R. F. Peckham in
1858. Williams planted thirteen acres, prin-
cipally apples, on land now owned by K. F.
Redman. Peckham planted six acres on what
is mm called the Gaily place. The Muss peach
orchard and the Sanford orchard were planted
about this same time.

As these earl) orchards were entirely experi-
mental, it was the rule to plant many varieties.
With apples the popular varieties were Smith
Cider, Rhode Island Greening, Rambo, Graven-
stein, Jonathan, Newtown Pippin and Bellefleur.
The favorite plums were the Egg plum, \\ ash
ingtiin, Jefferson and Green Gage.

In cherries. Governor Wood, Napoleon Big-
erreau, Blackheart and Black Tartarian.
I he ( rawford was the favorite peach.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

In apricots the Royal and Moorpark were
planted, but the Moorpark proved a failure, as
it flourishes only in warm climates.

With pears the favorites were Winter Wilis
an.l Bartlett.

Most of the trees were procured from San
Jose nurseries and were hauled in wagons, there
being no other means of transportation. These
trees cost at the nurseries from Si to $1-50 each.

In i860 the total amount planted to fruit trees
in our valley did not exceed fifty acres. By this
time it had been demonstrated that our soil
and climate were well adapted to the production
of a great variety of fruit-. < Kir apples particu-
larly showed the highest perfection. High
prices stimulated the planting of quite an acre-
age of apples during the next five years, or be-
tween i860 and 1865. People began to plant
on a larger scale — some planting as much as
twenty acres.

In the winter of 1861-2 Jacob Blackburn
planted an apple orchard of twelve acres. This
was for many years the model orchard of the
valley. This orchard still stands, and with
proper pruning, spraying and cultivation could
he made to yield a fair profit for many years to
come.

Uncle Jake Blackburn might well he called
the father of the apple industry in Pajaro. He,
above all others, through the experiments which
he conducted, demonstrated the most profitable
varieties to plant. Being a man of keen obser-
vation and rare judgment, thorough in all that
pertained to the management of his orchard
and enthusiastic in the industry, his advice, al-
ways cheerfully given, was much sought, and
his orchard methods widely adopted.

The same winter, that of 1861-2, James
Waters planted 1,900 apple trees on the bottom
land now owned by William Birlem and the
adjoining piece belonging to the orphanage.
After tile abatement of the renowned flood of
'62 not one tree was left. All were either cov-
ered with debris or were washed away. Some
pear trees which he planted on the hillside
near by still stand.

Louis Martinelli, Daniel Tuttle, I. urn Smith,
Thomas Beck, Mike Gagnon, Dunlap and
others followed with their plantings within the

next year or two. In 1863 G. M. Bockius
planted a pear orchard of ten acres.

As this valley was so isolated on account of
such poor shipping facilities, and as other sec-
tions more favorably situated were raising-
enough to supply tlie market-, prices rilled low.
and few trees were planted (hiring the period
between 1865 and 1875.

Io illustrate of how- little consequence apples
were considered during this time: When I.
M. Rodgers planted an orchard of four acres
in 1868 he was derided by some of his friends
and neighbors for planting so much. They
said that he would have more than enough for
family use and that he could not sell the bal-
ance. Their prediction proved true for a time,
for during the next few years orchardists W er<
glad to get 25 or 30 cents per box for their
apples.

This was not the case with pears at this time,
however, for Judge Bockius informs us that in
1868 Porter Bros, of Chicago came here and
paid him $2.50 per box for his pears, and they
furnished boxes and did the packing. The price
of pears did not remain high many years. At
present very few are raised and there is only a
slight demand for them.

Jacob Blackburn and James Waters planted
the first nursery in 1867. After the death of
Mr. Blackburn the business was carried on by
Mr. Waters, and has increased in extent until
upward of a quarter of a million trees are raised
annually.

In about 1867 the first shipment of apples
from Pajaro valley was made h\ [saac Williams.
The) were shipped by way of Hudson's land-
ing to San Francisco. Charles Williams, a
merchant of Watsonville, was the first to lun
fruit on the tree and handle it after the man-
ner of our present system. This was in

In 1S70 the Space devoted to fruit trees in
Pajaro valley (lid not excei d

The handling of our fruit was greatly facili-
tated on the completion of the railroad into our
vallej in [870, bul this did not stimulate tree
planting.

The first strong, lasting demand for Pajaro
apples dates back to the de< line of the industry
in Santa Clara valley and othei apple produc-

254

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ing districts. Through gross neglect on the
part of the growers in those sections, the per-
nicious, or San Jose, scale and the codling ninth
had caused Mich inroads upon the apple orch-
ards that by 1877 a shortage occurred, and buy-
ers began to search for apples in outside ter-
ritory.

Marco Rabasa came first, and was shortly
followed by L. < '.. Sresovich. Up to this time
we had no fruit pests. Codling moth was
brought into our valley 111 old boxes shipped in
by these men. San Jose scale made its appear-
ance in about 1880. and probably originated
from nursery stock brought from San Jose.

The continued decrease in the output from
San lose, with consequent increase in demand
and prices, greatly stimulated the planting of
trees, and yearly from that period there has
been a constantly increasing acreage planted.

These early buyers paid the orchardist from
$100 to $150 per acre for the fruit on the tree,
and in turn sold it at from $2.50 to $4 per box
in San Francisco. It is said that one season
in the late 70s Rabasa secured the fruit on the
Blackburn orchard for $1,800. After selling
enough to pay for the fruit he sold the balance
to L. G. Sresovich for $8,000.

The acreage planted to trees in 1880 did not
exceed 500 acres.

Another factor which figured in the in-
creased acreage during this period was the
strawberry industry. The completion of the
Corralitos water system in 1878 afforded water
for irrigation purposes, and in the early '80s
large acreages were planted to strawberries.
\s trees planted among the berries grew vig-
orously and required no special care, and
as berries could be profitably grown until
the trees attained bearing age, the thrifty berry
-rower made it a rule to plant out all berry fields
to apple trees.

J. M. Rodgers in [882 planted the first prune
orchard. Its size was four and one-half acres.
In 1887 when the tree-, were live years old. the
prunes in this orchard sold on the tree for
$I,8oo. This sale was the primary cause of 3U( h
a large acreage being planted during the next
In 180} there were close to 1.500
planted to Petit jinnies. Prices were so

low by 1896 that most of the prunes in the val-
K\ proper were dug up and replaced by ap-
ples.

To give an idea of the extent of the industry
when at its height, the reports for 1896 from
the different drying plants in our valley give the
total of 2,269,800 pounds green. The Pajaro
\ alley fruit Exchange handled about one-half
1 if these.

With the decline of the prune the apricot
came to the front in the foothill sections and
is proving a profitable crop. Some portions of
the district raise a very large, handsome canning
apricot. The Royal is the favorite. By 1890
the area devoted to fruit trees was about 2,500
acres.

While there was a steady increase in the
acreage yearly planted to apples during the de-
1 ade sui ceeding :88o, the most extensive plant-
ing in the history of the industry began about
1890.

By this time those who had hesitated, fearing
that the business would be overdone, now
gained confidence in the stability of the apple
market. The chief factor, however, in bring-
ing about this accelerated planting of trees was
the establishment of the sugar factory in 1888.
The farmer soon learned that he could raise
trees and at the same time make the land yield
a good profit by raising beets between the trees.
To such an extent was this plan carried out
that about 1895 tlie sugar factory officials, becom-
ing alarmed lest no beet acreage would be left,
and to discourage tree planting, refused to give
out contracts for planting beets in orchards.
slating, it is said, among other reasons, that
they did not propose to ruin their own business
li\ encouraging fruit tree planting. This, how-
ever, did not deter the fanner in the least, as
he could raise other crops — beans, potatoes and
corn — between the trees.

While it was demonstrated in the '60s that
the Newtown and P.ellerleur attained their high-
est perfection here, and while, as time wore on,
they continuallj gained in public favor, and
were mainly planted, yet there were those who,
thinking these two varieties would be overdone,
planted other varieties, their preference running
1. . led apples.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Between 1885 and 1895 considerable acreages
were planted to Missouri Pippin, Red Pear-
main, Lawver and Lang-ford Seedling. As
these had to come in sharp competition with
the eastern red apple, and as our Newtown
Pippins and Bellefleurs were more in demand
and commanded higher price-, the two last
named varieties have been almost exclusively
planted since 1895.

With our Newtown Pippins and Bellefleurs
we challenge the world for size, flavor and keep-
ing quality.

We have seen the yield of apples increase
from about 150,000 boxes in 1890 to 1,500,000
boxes in 1901. Of course this number of boxes
are not all sent out of the valley. There is con-
siderable waste through decay and windfalls,
and much of the poorer quality is converted
into the dried product and into cider and vine-
gar.

The beginning of the twentieth century finds
Pajaro valley fruit district to contain:

Apples 790,800 trees or. . . . 12,150 acres

Prunes 120,600 trees or. .. . 1,200 acres

\pricots 69,600 trees or. .. . 995 acres

Cherries 15.300 trees or. . . . 218 acres

Pears 7,200 trees or. . . . 102 acres

Peaches 6,700 trees or. . . . 96 acres

Trees ....1.010,200 Acres. . 14,761

Add to this 170 acres of grapes and 1,000
acres of berries and it will lie seen that Pajaro
fruit district contains 15.031 acres planted to
fruit.

The walnut thrives well here, and although
there are no large acreages figures show a total
■ if 7,000 trees. The chestnut also thrives in
our valley. The warmer foothill sections pro-
duce oranges, very choice lemons, and figs.

About one-third of the apple acreage is lo-
cated on the Monterey side of the valley.

To illustrate the extent of tree planting in
the vallej at present, it may be said that, during
the year [901, 58,400 apple trees were planted
mi the Santa Cruz side and about 48,800 "ii
tin- Monterej side, or a total of 107,200, cov
ering an area .if 1.7X0 acres.

It is not generally known that the largesl

orchards in our valley are owned b) v. ■
Women of intelligence', energy and business
ability, who can manage their farms success-
fully, and yet they have no voice in the control
of our government. Women who are paying
thousands in taxes into our treasury, and yet
they have no voice in selecting those who con-
trol this money, while the most miserable
"dago," illiterate, knowing nothing about, and
caring less, for our American institutions, may
dictate the policy of our government or vote
away her property. Is this "equal rights and
justice to all?"

Our apples are handled principally by Sla-
vonian packers, there being twenty-two of these,
tour American and one Chinese, or a total of
twenty-seven firms engaged in the business.
The fruit is mainly bought on the tree, the
orehardist receiving from Sioo to $200 per acre
yearly for orchards in full bearing. As failure
of the apple crop is unknown in our valley, these
buyers often contract for orchards for terms
extending four years in advance.

This method. of handling fruit, while bringing
to the grower and packer good returns, is nol
adding to our reputation abroad.

We have a few firms who are doing good
work and deserve credit for the choice pack
sent .nit. The present system has a tendency
to make the -rower careless and indifferent in
the management of Ids orchard, while most of
the packers, having no permanent interest at
stake, propose to "make hay while the sun
shines," ami consequently push onto the mar-
ket everything possible. If the present system
of handling apples continues it will, within a few
years, bring a hardship upon our leading in-
dustry, and the producer, as is always the case,
will suffer the I< iss.

The 011I3 method b\ winch we can hope to
build up and maintain a high reputation is for
the orehardist to pack bis own fruit; to handle
through a fruit exchange, or to encourage the
distributers of our ap] iblish packing

houses and bin apples 1>\ weighl or box from
the grower. In the event of either it would
lie material!} to the interest of the orehardist
to carefull) prune and spray the trees, thin the
fruit ami cultivate the s ducing

256

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

nothing but choice apples. The pack, if left
to the exchange or to the distributer, would be
the best, as nothing would be accepted by either
except the best. This method of handling would
build up a higher reputation for our fruit, in-
crease demand, and our product would com-
mand higher prices than ever.

To illustrate what profits may be made in
handling apples under our present system, a
few figures are herewith submitted:

Average number boxes on one acre apples.

full bearing 1 -coo

Allowing for waste 25 per cent 250

Number of boxes of salable apples 7?'>

Gross returns on 750 boxes at js cents

per box $ 5' '-'

Amount paid to orchardist for one acre.

full hearing ■ • ■ J 75

Expenses, including picking, packing,

boxes, etc., 35c box 262

Total expense to packer S 437

Xet return to packer for one acre, full
bearing 1 -5

With the high prices prevailing this season
the profit to the packer would be close to $250
on this one acre. Most of our apples are sold
f. o. b. cars Watsonville, and are bought by
agents sent here by eastern and foreign estab-
lishments. As the output is growing beyond
the capacity of our packers, a splendid oppor-
tunity is now open in this line to those who
have a reasonable capital to invest.

Though our crop of r, 500,000 seems large,
we raise only I per cent of the apples grown
in the United States. The returns received by
the orchardist for his apples lias materially ad-
vanced prices of land. And this fact is made
quite obvious to the fruit grower when the tax
collector favors our end of the county with his
presence. \.side from a high valuation placed
on the land, some of our fruit trees are as-
-1 ssed as high as $1.25 a piece.

As to ins, et pests, we have quite a num-
ber. Although they have caused consider-
able loss to the orchardist. through neglect on
his part, our climatic conditions are such that
do not multiph as rapidb as- in wanner

climates. We have also many beneficial in-
sects which aid in holding these pests in check.
Our worst pests are the codling moth, wooly
aphis and several kinds of scale insects. Mosl
of the orchardists have joined in a crusade
against these pests, and by another year it is
hoped the worst will be reduced to the mini-
mum. It is the duty of the orchardist to pro-
duce good, clean fruit, and then to see that it
is put upon the market in the proper shape.

We will be obliged to send out nothing but
the choicest fruit if we hope to maintain our
prestige in the market of the world. In the
near future we will be brought into sharp com-
petition with territory now developing. Mil-
lions of apple trees are being planted in ( )re-
gon, Washington, Idaho. Montana, the slates
of the Middle West, Canada, Australia. New
Zealand, South Africa, and even South America
will be a competitor. The territories named
have some advantages over us. the chief one
being- in the matter of transportation. As an
illustration of difference in freight, our rates
on apples to New York are about one and one-
half times those of Oregon. The S. I'. R. R.
Co. makes more out ,,1 our apple orchards in
one week than the orchardist does in a whole
year. They charge from $250 to $350 to haul
from here to Xew York the apples raised on one
acre in full bearing'. The sale of apples alone
brings into this valley this season over $1,000,-
000, and while figures are not at hand, the other
fruits, beets, potatoes, beans, corn, wheat, oats,
barley, cattle and dairy products will probably
bring in a million more.

While deploring the existence of some draw-
backs and the necessity of mentioning them.
this article would not be complete without giv-
ing the worst along with the best. We think
these matters can and will be remedied by the
movemenl now set on Foot b) our Board oi
Trade and Orchardists' Association. The in-
fluence exerted b\ these organizations is al-
ready perceptible. There is an awakening. The
spirit of progressiveness prevails. \ campaign
is inaugurated for the advancement of all the
interests of our community and against
thing which retards our prosperity. 'I he ob
structionist, the mossback and the 'kicker" will

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

either have to "line up" or take a place in the
rear.

Withal, we believe there is no more prosper-
ous community to be found. On every hand
are evidences of comfort and prosperity. A
land where the real estate boomer is extinct,
where the mortgage holder is scarce, where
every man who will may have a bank account.
With the richest of soil, bountiful rainfall, fail-
ure of crops unknown, irrigation unnecessary,
producing to perfection the greatest variety of
products, the agriculturist's paradise, the land
of plenty. Such is Pajaro on the fiftieth anniver-
sary of American occupancy and the beginning
of the twentieth centurv.

FREDERICK A. HIHN.

This California pioneer of 1849 was born at
Holzminden, duchy of Brunswick, Germany,
August 16, 1829, and was one of a family
comprising seven boys and two girls, wdiose
father was a merchant. He was educated in the
Holzminden high school and at the age of fif-
teen became an apprentice in the mercantile
house of A. Hoffman of Schoeningen. Three
years later, on completing his time, he embarked
in the business of collecting medicinal herbs and
preparing them for market. Disliking the
German form of government and yearning for
political liberty, he was preparing to emigrate
to Wisconsin when news of the gold discoveries
in California reached Germany, and he decided
to join the great throng seeking the gold lands.

With sixty or more companions. .Mr. Hihn
mailed from Bremen in the brig Reform, April
jo. 1849. an< ' after two months reached the har-
bor of Rio Janeiro. The beauties of tropical
vegetation and scenery made the country seem
a paradise, and the balmy air, filled with the
delicious odor of orange blossoms, entranced
them, but they were disenchanted by the monot-
onous ejaculations and dog-trot of large gangs
of slaves passing by, loaded down with heavy
burdens. After five days they set sail again,
t (pposite the La Plata rive.r they endured a ter-
rific storm, then they passed through the straits
of La Maire and came in full sight of Cape
Horn, a tall cliff jutting boldly out into the

ocean. It was midwinter and the thermometer
low, but all thronged the deck to view the great
column and bid adieu to the Atlantic ocean. It
seemed to them as if they were entering a new
world. In two more weeks they landed at Val-
paraiso, from where, after four days, they sailed
for San Francisco, and October 12, 1849, en-
tered the Golden Gate. The harbor was full of
ships, and, though the town was small, every
nationality seemed to be represented. They
landed near the foot of Washington street, not
far from Montgomery street.

Although near the rainy season most of the
passengers of the Reform at once proceeded to
the mines. Mr. Hihn joined, a party of six. led
by Henry Gerstecker. After innumerable
troubles they reached the south fork of Feather
river in the early part of November. They
bought a mining claim and prepared to locate
for the winter, but it commenced to rain, the
river rose and washed away their tools, and for
a time they were forced to subsist on manzan-
ita berries. After two weeks it was decided to
return to Sacramento, where they arrived about
December 1, and there the party disbanded. Mr.
Hihn remained in Sacramento and engaged in
the manufacture of candy with F. Kunitz, who
for many years was his near neighbor in Santa
Cruz, but is now deceased. For a few weeks
they did a good business, but about Christmas
the Sacramento and American rivers overflowed
their banks and the candy factory with all its
contents was destroyed. In the summer of 1850
Air. Hihn worked in the mines at Long Par on
the American river, below Auburn, with mod-
erate success. In the fall he returned to Sacra
mento and became one of the proprietors of two
hotels on K street, named respectively the Uncle
Sam House and the Mechanics Exchange.
Times getting very dull he sold out during the
next winter and opened a drug store in San
Francisco, on Washington street near Maguire's
1 ipera house.

The great fire of May, 1S51. took nearly all
of his world!) g Is and the balance was con-
sumed in the June tire of that year. Despairing
of ever again succeeding, he was p
through the burnt district on his way to take
passage for his native land, when he saw one of

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

his friends who had been burned out shoveling
the burning coals out of the way. "What are
you doing?" was asked. "Building a new store,"
was the reply. "What! After you have been
burned out twice within two months?" Said
the friend, "Oh. some one will carry on busi-
ness here." "I might as well do it as any one
else," thought Mr. Hihn, and -so he remained,
this incident changing his mind. New courage
pervaded him and he formed a partnership with
Henry Hintch to open a store in some town
south of San Francisco, where it was supposed,
though money was not so plenty, the danger
from fire was less and life more agreeable. In
October, 185 1, they came to Santa Cruz, where
they located at the junction of Front street and
Pacific avenue. Soon afterward Mr. Hintch
went back to the city, but Mr. Hihn remained.
Having the advantage of a good mercantile edu-
cation, speaking English, German, French and
Spanish fluently, besides having some knowl-
edge of other languages, he soon succeeded in
establishing a large and prosperous mercantile
business. In 1853 he erected a two-story build-
ing, which was considered a fine structure in
that day. Then came the trying times for Santa
Cruz. Wheat, potatoes and lumber, the princi-
pal products of the neighborhood, were almost
worthless. Wheat sold for a cent a pound, pota-
toes rotted in the fields, and lumber went down
from $55 to $12 per thousand feet. Instead of
despairing, this only spurred Mr. Hihn on to
greater exertions. He could not afford to sell
his goods on credit, so he exchanged them for
the products of the country, paying part cash.
The wheat was ground into flour, and large
quantities of the latter, together with lumber
and shingles, were shipped to Los Angeles and
Monterey. Many days more than $500 worth of
eggs were taken in and shipped to San Fran-
cisci '. Fresh butter was put up in barrels and
sold in the fall and winter in place of eastern
butter. In this manner the hard times wen
converted into good times for the young mer-
chant and his patrons, and in 1857 he counted
himself worth $30.0011, but his health had suf
fered by hard work and business worry, and he
turned his business over to his younger brother,
1 tugo.

November 23, 1853, Mr. Hihn married The-
rese Paggen, a native of France, and of German
parentage. The children of this marriage are:
Katie C, formerly the wife of W. T. Cope;
Louis W., deceased, who married Harriet Israel:
August C, who married Grace Cooper; Fred O.,
who married Minnie Chace; Theresa, wife of
George Ready: and Agnes, wife of C. B.
Younger. The first residence of Mr. and Mrs.
Hihn was in the second story of the store at the
junction of Pacific avenue and Front street.
This building now stands on Pacific avenue
north of the store of Williamson & Garrett and
the second story is occupied by the Decorative
Art Society. In 1857 Mr. Hihn established his
family home on Locust street and in 1872 he
built the mansion on that street where he has
since resided.

Soon after arriving in Santa Cruz Mr. Hihn
directed his attention to real-estate operations,
his general method being to buy large tracts,
grade and open streets and roads, plant shade
and other tre.es, and generally improve the land
and neighborhood. Then he subdivided these
tracts into lots and parcels and sold on such
terms as would suit the convenience of buyers.
"Homes for a thousand families" was the favor-
ite heading of his real-estate advertisements. A
novel feature was the following clause which
he inserted in his contract for the sale of land:
"In the event of the death of the buyer, all ma-
ture installments having been promptly paid, the
heirs of such deceased buyer are entitled to a
deed without further payment." Considering
that but ten per cent of the purchase price was
required to be paid at the time of buying, this
was certainly an inviting proposition, of which
many availed themselves in order to secure a
home. The seller claimed that the losses by
death were well covered 1>\ increased sales and
the enhancement of values of unsold land. Mr.
Hihn's real-estate operations extended to nearly
all parts of Santa Cruz county. Capitola, one of
the most pleasant watering places on the coast.
was founded by him, and many of the streets
in Santa Cruz and adjoining towns owe their
origin to this indefatigable worker. He also
owns some choice corner lots in San Francisco,
conspicuous anion- which are the headquarters

HISTORICAL AXD BIOGRAPHK \I RECORD.

26J

of the Evening Post, and the lot on the south-
easl corner of Market and East.

While giving close attention to his private
affairs, Mr. Hihn has always been foremost in
advancing' public interests. Among the works
and measures of improvements in which he was
a leading spirit are the construction of a wagon
road across the Santa Cruz mountains, con-
necting Santa Cruz with the outside world by
telegraph: the construction and operation of the
railroad from Santa Cruz to Pajaro and the
opening of the cliff road in front of Santa Cruz,
extending eastward to Capitola. In i860, when
even San Francisco had to depend upon the
Sausalito boats for much of its water, when
there was no Spring valley and the Bensley
works were in their infancy, Mr. Hihn made
water pipes from redwood logs and supplied
the people of Santa Cruz with water for domes-
tic use and fire protection. Afterward he en-
larged these works and built works in other
parts of the county, and until lately all the wa-
ter used in Santa Cruz, East Santa Cruz, Capi-
tola, Soquel and Valencia was supplied by him.
He assisted in the organization of the Society
of California Pioneers of Santa Cruz county, of
which he since has been the president. In 1887
he assisted in organizing the City Bank and City
Savings Bank of Santa Cruz.

In public office Mr. Hihn served as school
trustee of Santa Cruz when there was only
one teacher in the city, and under his manage-
ment a high-school class was organized and
maintained by subscription. For six years he
served as county supervisor. Times were dull
then and money scarce, the county was in debt,
and county warrants sold at sixty rents on the
dollar. Through his influence these warrants
were brought up to par value and the county
debt was largely reduced without increasing
taxation. The county court-house and a ver\
substantial jail were erected under his careful
management. In 1869 he was elected to the
state assembly, and during that term he per
formed a prodigious amount of work, a few of
the measures he originated being the following
acts of legislature: A new charier for the city
of Santa Cruz; a new financial system for the
county of Santa Cruz; concerning estray ani-

mals; appointment of a commission to examine
and survey Santa Cruz harbor for a breakwater;
concerning roads and highways; authorizing a
levy of district taxes for building school houses;
authorizing supervisors of counties to grant
wharf franchises; providing for fees and salaries
of state and township officers; authorizing su-
pervisors to aid in the construction of railroads
in their respective counties.

One of the most important measures Mr.
Hihn originated was that to refund the state
debt, un