USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > The beginnings of San Francisco : from the expedition of Anza, 1774, to the city charter of April 15, 1850 : with biographical and other notes, Vol. II > Part 1
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Gc 979.402 Sa519e v.2 1434023
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01115 0007
THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
The
Beginnings of San Francisco
from the
Expedition of Anza, 1774
to the
City Charter of April 15, 1850
With Biographical and Other Notes
V. 2
By
ZOETH SKINNER ELDREDGE
SAN FRANCISCO ZOETH S. ELDREDGE
1912
COPYRIGHT, 1912 BY ZOETH S. ELDREDGE SAN FRANCISCO
PRINTED BY JOHN C. RANKIN COMPANY 54 & 56 DEY STREET NEW YORK
1434023
VOLUME II.
CONTAINS
Chapters XIII. to XVII. Notes 33 to 40 Appendix Index
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CHAPTER XIII.
THE COMING OF THE ARGONAUTS 1849-1850
Y EARS before the discovery of gold on the American river gold placers had been worked in California with varying degrees of success. But little attention was paid to this industry and it was not considered of much importance by either the Californians or the foreigners residing in their midst. The priests discouraged mining, the ran- cheros were indifferent to it, and neither class wished to see the country filled with a mining population. On March 2, 1844, the deputy for California to the Mexican congress, Don Manuel Castañares,* re- ported to his government the discovery of gold in the vicinity of Los Angeles the previous year. These mines had produced from about the middle of the year to December 1843 two thousand ounces, the most of which had been sent to the United States. He said the placers extended a distance of nearly thirty leagues (seventy-eight miles). William H. Thomes, writing from San Pedro where the ship Admittance was taking cargo June 30, 1843, says: "Here we also received ten iron flasks of gold dust, although where the latter came from no one knew, but it was reported that the merchants of the Pueblo los Angeles traded for it with the Indians and the latter would not reveal the source whence it came. "t When Alfred Robinson went to the United States
* Castañares: Coleccion de Documentos.
t Thomes: On Land and Sea, p. 253.
443
1
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
in 1843, he carried to the mint in Philadelphia a package of gold dust from Abel Stearns of Los Angeles, the assay of which showed it to be .906 fine.
The placers from which this gold came were on the San Francisco rancho, near the mission of San Fernando. The rancho had formerly belonged to the mission, but at this time was in possession of the Del Valle family. The discovery was made in March 1842 and in the following May, Ignacio Del Valle was appointed encargo de justicias to preserve order in the mining district. William H. Davis says that from eighty to one hundred thousand dollars of gold was taken from these places in two years. Colonel Mason in his report of August 17, 1848, on the gold fields of California says: "The gold placer near the mission of San Fernando has long been known but has been but little wrought for want of water."
But the event that was to set the world ablaze and create an empire on the shores of the Pacific was the discovery by James W. Marshall of gold on the American river January 24, 1848. It may seem strange that in a community where the some- what extensive placers of the San Fernando valley received so little attention a discovery of gold placers in the Sacramento valley should have created such intense excitement. It may be that the reason for this was that the discovery on the American river was so quickly followed by reports of the great ex- tent of the gold region and the astonishing richness of the placers. The gold deposits were on or near
445
THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD
the surface, no capital was required to work them, and a laboring man with nothing but his pick, shovel, and pan could obtain from one to two or more ounces per day, with the possibility, always, of acquiring a fortune in a few weeks.
In the foothills of the sierras about forty-five miles northeast of the Embarcadero of the Sacra- mento, on the south fork of the American river, Captain Sutter was building a sawmill in the fall and winter of 1847, and employed James W. Marshall to superintend the work. In digging a tail race for the mill, Marshall was in the habit of turning the water into the ditch at night to wash out the dirt loosened by the workmen during the day. On the
morning of January 24, 1848, Marshall saw and picked up in the mill race a glittering piece of gold weighing about half an ounce. The men picked up other particles and, satisfied of the importance of the find, Marshall went to Sutter with it. Sutter was anxious to complete his mill and also a grist mill he was erecting on the American river, and he and Marshall agreed to keep the discovery quiet. The attempt was useless; the men soon quit work and went to digging gold. Sutter, who was sub-Indian agent for the Sacramento valley, obtained from the Indians of the Yalesumi tribe a lease of twelve square miles on the American fork and sent it to Governor Mason for confirmation. This Mason refused, say- ing that the United States did not recognize the right of Indians to sell or lease to private individuals land on
446
THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
which they resided .* The news of the discovery spread like magic. Remarkable success attended the labors of the first explorers and in a few weeks hundreds were engaged in the placers. By August Ist it was estimated that four thousand men were working in the gold district, of whom more than one- half were Indians, and that from thirty to fifty thousand dollars worth of gold was daily obtained. Colonel Mason reports that no thefts or robberies had been committed in the gold region, and it was a matter of surprise to him that so peaceful and quiet a state of things should continue to exist.
The discovery changed the whole character of California. Its people, before engaged in agricul- ture and in cattle raising, had gone to the mines or were on their way thither. Laborers left their work- benches and tradesmen their shops; sailors deserted their ships as fast as they arrived on the coast. Mason reports that seventy-six soldiers had deserted from the posts of Sonoma, San Francisco, and Monterey, and for a few days he feared that garri- sons would desert in a body. As a laborer, a soldier could earn in one day at the mines double a soldier's pay and allowances for a month; while a carpenter or mechanic would not listen to an offer of less than fifteen or twenty dollars a day. "Could any com- bination of affairs try a man's fidelity more than this?" writes the governor, "I really think some ex- traordinary mark of favor should be given to those
* Ex. Doc. 17, p. 490.
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COLONEL MASON'S REPORT
soldiers who remain faithful to their flag throughout this tempting crisis." In July 1848 Colonel Mason made a tour of the mining region. "Many private letters have gone to the United States," he says, "giving accounts of the vast quantity of gold recently discovered, and it may be a matter of surprise why I have made no report on this subject at an earlier date. The reason is that I could not bring myself to believe the reports that I heard of the wealth of the gold district until I visited it myself. I have no hesitation now in saying that there is more gold in the country drained by the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers than will pay the cost of the present war with Mexico a hundred times over."* In November he writes: "Gold continues to be found in increased quantities and over an increased extent of country. I stated to you in my letter, No. 37, that there was more gold in the country drained by the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers than would pay all the cost of the war with Mexico one hundred times over; if I had said five hundred times over, I should have been nearer the mark. Any reports that may reach you of the vast quantities of gold in California can scarcely be too exaggerated for belief. "}
San Francisco was not inclined to accept the reports of gold discoveries. Bancroft says a few men slipped out of town to investigate for themselves, keeping their movements quiet as if fearing ridicule.
* Mason to Jones, Adj. Gen. U. S. A., Aug. 17, 1848. Ex. Doc. 17, p. 528.
t Mason to Jones, November 24, 1848. Ex. Doc. 17, p. 648.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
Presently several well-laden diggers arrived bringing bottles, tin cans, and buckskin bags filled with the precious metal. "Sam Brannan, holding in one hand a bottle of gold dust and swinging his hat with the other, passed along the street shouting: 'Gold! Gold! Gold from the American river.'"* The excitement was prodigious and in a few days the exodus had begun. By boat, by mule and horse, or on foot they went, all eager to reach the mines, fearful that the gold would be gone before they could get there and receive their share. Business houses closed their doors. There was no service in the little church on the plaza and a padlock was on the door of the al- calde's office. The ships in the harbor were deserted alike by masters and sailors. Soldiers deserted their posts and fled, taking their arms, horses, blankets, etc., with them; others were sent after them to force them back to duty and all, pursuers and pursued, went to the mines together. General Sherman, then lieutenant of 3d artillery, tells how he organized a force of seven officers to pursue and bring back twenty-eight men of the 2d Infantry who had de- serted in a body taking their arms and accoutrements. They captured and brought in twenty-seven of them.t
On the 25th of July, 1848, Governor Mason issued a proclamationį which recited the fact that many citizens had gone to the gold mines without making
* Bigler: Diary of a Mormon in California, MS. 79.
+ Sherman: Memoirs, i, pp. 71-72.
# Ex. Doc. 17, p. 580.
449
MILITARY FORCE IN CALIFORNIA
proper provision for the families they had left behind; that many soldiers, tempted by the flattering pros- pects of sudden wealth had deserted their colors to go to the same region, regardless of their oaths and obligations to the government, thus endangering the safety of the garrison; and he declared that unless families were guarded and provided for by their natural protectors, and unless citizens lent their aid to prevent desertions, the military force in Cali- fornia would concentrate in the gold region, take military possession of the mining district, and exclude therefrom all unlicensed persons. All citizens em- ploying or harboring deserters would be arrested, tried by military commissions, and punished accord- ing to the articles of war.
Let us see what military force the governor had at command to enforce his decrees. Twelve days after issuing the foregoing proclamation the governor received notice of the ratification of the treaty of peace between the United States and Mexico and he at once ordered the New York volunteers-Steven- son's regiment-mustered out, their term of service ending with the war. The Mormon battalion had been previously mustered out on expiration of their term of service. This left the commander but two companies of regular troops, viz: F company, 3d artillery, numbering sixty-two officers and men, and C company, Ist dragoons, eighty-three, a total in California of one hundred and forty-five soldiers, with the ranks being depleted daily by desertions,
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
and not a warship on the coast of the province. The governor, without the machinery of civil government, with no civil officers save the few alcaldes he had appointed, and unsustained by adequate military force, was compelled to exercise control and main- tain order in a country extending over six hundred miles in length by two hundred in width, over a com- munity composed of about equal numbers of Cali- fornians and foreigners, the latter largely made up of runaway sailors and men accustomed to a lawless life, jealous of each other and of the Californians, all wrought up to an intensity of excitement by the gold discoveries, and now increased by a thousand soldiers discharged without pay .* It was a case requiring skill, judgment, and determination. All the complex responsibilities of a civil administration thrust upon a military commander, without council or legislative support, were to be met and the honor of the United States government maintained. The trial of criminals, the establishment of port duties, the registration of vessels, the making of custom house regulations, the examination of ship's papers, the collection of duties, the appointment of collec- tors, alcaldes, judges, etc., the prevention of smug- gling, represent a few of the responsibilities of the governor. On August 14, 1848, Major Hardie wrote the governor from San Francisco that the deficiency of force to support the civil organization at that place
* Mason to Adj. Gen. Ex. Doc. 17, p. 338. Mason says he should have a full regiment of infantry, a battalion of dragoons, and one of artillery.
451
DISORDER IN SAN FRANCISCO
was likely to be productive of the most serious con- sequences. That the lower classes of the community were of the most lawless kind, and when their ranks were swelled by disbanded volunteers, freed from the restraints of discipline, there would be no security for life or property. Captain Folsom, assistant quartermaster, wrote the same day that acts of disgraceful violence were of almost daily occurrence on board the shipping in the harbor and the officials had no power to preserve order; that his "office is left with a large amount of money and gold dust in it, and the volunteers are discharged without pay." "We collect port charges, etc.," he writes, "from both foreign and American vessels, and in return we are under the most imperative obligation to protect trade. "* It is not to be wondered at that Mason, as colonel of Ist dragoons, applied to the War Depart- ment November 24, 1848, to be ordered home, having been absent from the United States for two years.
In addition to the outrages committed by lawless men, the disbanding of the Mormon battalion and the Stevenson regiment, together with the absence at the mines of a large portion of the citizens, left the country defenceless against inroads of hostile Indians.
In the attempt to stay the desertion of his men Colonel Mason granted furloughs permitting them to go to the gold fields for periods of two or three months. These soldiers met with varying degrees
* Ex. Doc. 17, pp. 612-613.
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THE BEGINNNIGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
of success. One of them, private John K. Haggerty, of F company, 3d artillery, came back from the mines with sixty pounds of gold ($15,000).
Throughout the Americas and Europe the most astonishing reports were received from the gold fields of California. General Smith writing from Panama January 7, 1849, says that none of the accounts received were exaggerated; that there had been brought to Valparaiso and Lima before the end of 1848, gold valued at $1,800,000; that the Brit- ish consul at Panama had forwarded 15,000 OZs. ($240,000) across the isthmus, and that the com- mander of the Pandora, Royal Navy, informed him that the truth was beyond the accounts he had heard. General Smith was also informed that hundreds of people from the west coast of South America were embarking for the gold fields. In a subsequent letter he says that he has learned from many sources that there was a great emigration of people of all nations to California and that many are going off with large quantities of gold. He says that on his arrival there he shall consider every one, not a citizen of the United States, who enters on public land and digs for gold, as a trespasser and shall so treat him.
On the 12th of April 1848, the Pacific Mail was incorporated with a capital of five hundred thousand dollars, and contracts were entered into for the building of three steamers; the California, 1050 tons, the Oregon, 1099 tons, and the Panama, 1087 tons, the California was completed first and sailed from
453
MASON'S REPORT SENT TO CONGRESS
New York October 6, 1848, under command of Cleveland Forbes. She carried no passengers for California .*
Meanwhile the reports from California of the extent of the gold fields, and the marvelous quanti- ties of the metal obtained by men unskilled in mining and without capital were received in the eastern states and in Europe. In November 1848 came Lieutenant Loeser of the 3d artillery, with despatches from the military governor of California, confirming the most extravagant reports from the gold fields, and bringing tangible evidence in the shape of a box filled with gold dust. The gold was placed on exhibition at the war office and the president embod- ied Mason's report in his message to congress Decem- ber 5th.t The entire community went wild with excitement. Mason's report with the president's indorsement was published in the principal news- papers throughout the world. The "gold fever" was on and from all parts of the world companies were fitting out for California. From Sonora in Mexico, thousands of men came overland, while from the coasts of Chili and Peru as many more came by sea. Thousands started from the Atlantic ports of the United States for Panama, for Vera Cruz, and for Nicaragua. The steamer Falcon from
* The Pacific Mail was incorporated for the purpose of carrying the mails between Panama and the Columbia river. The enormous business consequent on the discovery of gold in California caused the original design to be abandoned. t The gold was later deposited at the mint at Philadelphia and found to be .894 fine, value: a few cents over $18.00 per oz.
!
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
New Orleans landed at Chagres the first adventurers for California, several hundred in number, all deter- mined to board the steamer California at Panama, if possible. The route across the isthmus was a fearful one; by canoe up the Chagres river to Cruces, the head of navigation, thence on mule, if one was to be had, or on foot to Panama. There was an insufficient number of boats to carry the adventurers up the river-a journey of several days-and consequently a vexatious wait at Chagres had to be endured. From Cruces to Panama the baggage had to be carried on the backs of men. The excessive rains, the trouble, vexation, and exposure caused a vast amount of sick- ness and few escaped the "Chagres fever." To aug- ment their troubles the cholera made its appearance followed by a number of deaths. This caused a stampede when all baggage and property of every description was abandoned and left on the route while the panic-stricken emigrants fled to Panama. Their belongings were afterwards brought in by natives who were satisfied with a reasonable compen- sation for their faithful services. The Falcon brought to Chagres Major-general Persifer F. Smith ap- pointed to command the Third (Pacific) Division. Captain Elliott and Major Fitzgerald of his staff were taken with cholera, and Elliott died and was buried in the church yard at Cruces .* Arriving at
* The death rate from cholera was so great at Cruces that the later parties, panic stricken, left the river at Gongora and made their way to the coast as best they could.
455
THE CALIFORNIA AT PANAMA
Panama there was a long wait for the steamer, while the numbers of emigrants increased daily and the inhabitants of the city became alarmed at the prospect of pestilence and famine. Provisions rose to famine prices and there was much distress and suffering among the emigrants. At length the long looked for steamer was sighted and anchored in the harbor January 17th. All was excitement and many hurried off to the ship thinking to secure passage, but they were not permitted to board and were obliged to return. The ship had accommodation for seventy-five, cabin and steerage, and fifteen hundred clamored for passage. She had stopped at Callao and had taken on fifty passengers for San Francisco, although it was understood that none were to be accepted until Panama was reached. It was decided that the New York passengers holding through tickets should be first provided for; after- wards those from South America, and finally as many as possible from among the first applicants for passage at the office in Panama .* On the Ist of February the California sailed for San Francisco with three hundred and fifty passengers. Ť The ship was so crowded it was difficult to move about, either on deck or in the cabin.
It was on the 28th of February that this modern Argo steamed past the rugged cliffs of the Golden
* Robinson: Life in California, p. 236.
t Smith to Adj. Gen. Executive Doc. 17, p. 710. The number of emigrants on the California has been variously stated from 350 to 500. Robinson says 400.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
Gate into the warm sunshine of a California spring, past the green slopes of Marin and the purple heights of Tamalpais, past the islands of the bay and the Alta Loma, and cast anchor before a most disreput- able collection of adobe houses, wooden shacks, and tents-the outpost of this new Colchis-with its background of wind swept dunes, bleak and desolate. The weary Argonauts were joyfully welcomed. The ships in the harbor donned their gayest bunting; the guns of the Pacific squadron boomed while the yards of the war ships were manned with blue jackets. The rains of winter had driven the miners to cover and the town was full. Gold dust was plenty and the gambling houses ran day and night. The people were rough and uncouth but they gave the new comers a hearty welcome and celebrated with ardor the establishment of steam communication with the world.
There was nothing lofty in the motive that brought this band of adventurers to these shores and nothing particularly remarkable about the men who composed it. They were strong, courageous, undaunted. They came to make a fortune and return; they remained to create an empire. It was the part the Argonauts played in founding and building a great commonwealth on the Pacific coast that gives significance to their coming. Among this first band were De Witt Clinton Thompson, who commanded a California regiment in the war of the Rebellion, John Bigelow, first mayor of Sacra-
PASSENGERS ON THE CALIFORNIA 457
mento, Rev. O. C. Wheeler, who erected the first Baptist church, Rev. S. W. Willey, founder of the State University, Pacificus Ord, judge and member of constitutional convention, Wm. Van Voorhies, first secretary of State, Rodman M. Price, member of constitutional convention, later governor of New Jersey, William Pratt, surveyor general of California, Eugene L. Sullivan, collector of the port, Lloyd Brooke, one of the founders of Portland, Oregon, Alexander Austin, Asa Porter, Samuel F. Blaisdell, Henry F. Williams, Richard W. Heath, Robert B. Ord, William P. Walters, Edwin L. Morgan, Malachi Fallon, B. F. Butterfield, A. M. Van Nostrand, Charles M. Radcliff, Samuel Woodbury, Isaac B. Pine, and Oscar J. Backus. Alfred Robinson, who had been appointed agent of the Pacific Mail, also returned on the California, and Major General Persifer F. Smith and staff were on board. Hardly had the ship come to anchor when her crew deserted, only one engineer remaining faithful to his obliga- tions.
When the California sailed away from Panama she left behind a multitude of emigrants, all disap- pointed, some filled with rage, some with despair. A few sailing vessels were chartered to carry the ad- venturers to California and it is said that a few tried in log canoes to follow the coast only to perish or be driven back after futile struggles with winds and currents .* The Oregon, second steamer of the
* Bancroft: Hist. Cal., p. 135.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
Pacific Mail, arrived at Panama about the middle of March. The crowd had doubled. The Oregon took on about five hundred, and reached San Fran- cisco April Ist. Profiting by the experience of the California, the captain took the precaution to anchor his ship under the guns of a man-of-war, and placed the most rebellious of his crew under arrest. With barely enough coal to carry him to San Blas he sailed April 12th, carrying back the first mail, treasure, and passengers. On the Ist of May, the California having obtained a crew sailed for Panama. The Panama, third steamer of the Pacific Mail, arrived at San Francisco June 4th, sixteen days from Panama. The Oregon brought John H. Redington, Dr. Mc- Mullan, John McComb, Stephen Franklin, Ferdinand Vassault, George K. Fitch, A. J. McCabe, S. H. Brodie, John M. Birdsell, Joseph Tobin, and many others well known in California, while on board the Panama were Wm. M. Gwin, first United States senator from California, John B. Weller, boundary commissioner, D. D. Porter,* Major W. H. Emory, of the boundary survey. Lieut. Colonel Joseph Hooker,Į Major Mckinstry, T. Butler King, agent of the United States to California, Hall McAllister, Lieut. George H. Derby ("John Phoenix"), John V. Plume, P. A. Morse, Lafayette Maynard, H. B.
* Afterwards admiral.
t Emory first came with Kearny in 1846.
# Later Major General (Fighting Joe). He came to California as Asst. Adj. General to General Smith, Pacific Division.
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