A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, Volume I, Part 18

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1184

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"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 .- Flags 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 Cai- 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, comandante- 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 decided him to use every effort to prevent California from sharing the fate of Texas.

Micheltorena, the newly-appointed governor, was instructed to take with him sufficient force 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 jacket or pantaloons, but, naked, and like the savage In- dians, they concealed their nudity with dirty,

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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 Angeleños 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 northı of San Fernando, when, on the night of the 24th of October, a messenger aroused him from his slumbers with 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 might 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 lis 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-

*Bancroft's History of California, Vol. IV.

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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- geleños 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 inarched 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 Bautista, 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 looted. 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 proposed invasion of the south. He refused. Then the

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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 Cahuenga Pass to meet him. On the 20th the two armies met on the southern edge of the San Fernando valley, about fifteen miles front 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. Gantt, 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 :; "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 hint 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

they are written on, and he knew it well when he gave them to you; but if you will 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 notknow) that his Americans had abandoned him. About an hour afterwards he raised his camp and flanked us by going further into the valley to- wards San Fernando, then marching as though he 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

*Sutter had under his command a company of In- dians. He had drilled these in the use of firearms. The employing of these savages hy Micheltorena was bitterly resented by the Californians.

+Pub. Historical Society of Southern California, Vol. III.

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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 Caluenga 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. José Castro was made comandante-general. Al- varado was given charge of the custom house at Monterey, and José Antonio Carrillo was ap- pointed commander of the military district of the south. Los Angeles was made the capital, although the archives and the treasury remained in Monterey. The revolution apparently had been a success. In the proceedings of the Los Angeles ayuntamiento, March 1, 1845, appears

this record: "The agreements entered into at Cahuenga between Gen. Emanuel Michiel- torena and Lieut .- Col. José 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. José Antonio Carrillo, the Machiavel 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 came south to 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 he was implicated in a plot to depose Pico, who, by the way, was his brother-in-law. Pico placed him and two of his fellow conspirators, Serbulo and Hilario Varela, under arrest. Car- rillo and Hilario Varela were shipped to Mazat- lan to be tried for their misdeed. Serbulo Va- rela made his escape from prison. The two exiles returned early in 1846 unpunished and ready for new plots.

Pico was appointed gobernador proprietario, or constitutional governor of California, Sep- tember 3, 1845, by President Herrera. The su- preme government of Mexico never seemed to take offense or harbor resentment against the Californians for deposing and sending home a governor. As the officials of the supreme gov- ernment usually obtained office by revolution, they no doubt had a fellow feeling for 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-

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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 force of six 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 Herrera 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 i846 there was a rapid succession of important events in her history, cach 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.

U NDER 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 Cortés passed May 23, 1812, regulated the membership of the ayuntamiento according to the popula- tion of the town-"there shall be one alcalde (mayor), two regidores (councilmen), and 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 not exceed five hundred." When the population of a town ex- ceeded one thousand it was allowed two al- caldes, eight regidores and two syndicos. Over the members of the ayuntamiento 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. He acted as city or town attorney, tax collector and treasurer. The secretary was an important officer; he 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

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reported to the Departmental Assembly that no town in California had the requisite population. The ayuntamientos all closed January 1, 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.

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A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, Volume I, Part 18

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company Number of Pages: 1184

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1184