USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > A history of the city of San Francisco; and incidentally of the state of California > Part 6
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These terms were so much better for the rancheros than those of the Americans, that the latter could get but little trade, and the Hudson Bay company rap-
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idly grew in importance; but in 1844, Sir George Simpson, the governor of the company, visited the coast, condemned Ray's payment in advance, and re- fused to approve the purchase of the house. About the same time Ray made the mistake of lending the ammunition of the company, placed in his charge for purposes of trade, to Castro and Alvarado to aid them in a revolt against Governor Micheltorena, expecting to gain political influence, as well as to make a pecun- iary profit by the transaction. In this he was dis- appointed, for Sutter gathered a party of Americans and Indians and took sides against the rebels. Ray had another trouble. In consequence of his atten- tions to a native Californian lady, he had a quarrel with his wife, from whose father he had received his position. He sought relief from these vexations in intoxication, and closed one of his debauches by blow- ing out his brains. This was the end of the brief predominant influence of the Hudson Bay company in Yerba Buena, though it continued to maintain an agency here till after the American conquest. In 1844, the houses of Yerba Buena were the Hudson Bay house; the store of Spear & Hinckley; the store of Wm. A. Leidesdorff; the groceries of David Cooper, J. J. Vioget, Peter Sherreback, and Victor Prudon; the restaurant of John Fuller; the grog shops of Gregorio Escalante (Manila man) and Jacinto Mo- reno (a Lascar); the blacksmith-shop of Tinker & Thompson; the carpenter-shops of Andrews, Davis, and Reynolds & Rose; and the dwelling of Señora
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Briones. The town remained nearly stationary dur- ing 1844, 1845, and the early part of 1846. It was ex- pected, however, by the Americans and other foreign- ers in the country that California would soon become a part of the United States, and all looked to Yerba Buena as the probable metropolis.
SEC. 35. Predictions. More than fifty years ago, ambitious Americans looked forward to the time when San Francisco bay and its vicinity would belong to the United States. The revolt of Texas was foreseen, and California was too valuable to be left in the possession of a small population, content to remain stationary in the pastoral condition, while surrounding nations were ad- vancing with all the power and speed of steam. It was evident that Mexico, involved in chronic civil wars, could not continue to hold a country so remote, so rich in resources, with a population that had already outgrown many of its Mexican sympathies, and was besides not numerous enough to offer much opposition to conquest. The Americans considered themselves best entitled to the prize, because their territory of Oregon adjoined it, their whalers and other ships in the Pacific were the most frequent visitors to it, and with their adventurous and migrating disposition they could soonest supply it with the people needed to de- velop its natural wealth. A few years later they were the largest class of foreigners in the country, and hav- ing married into the most influential native Califor- nian families, their presence supplied an additional basis for their claim, which was then recognized to be
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the best; and all the travelers visiting the coast spoke of the probability that the stars and stripes would permanently wave over the future towns to be built about the shores of San Francisco bay.
No experienced navigator or hydrographic engineer has ever written of our bay, after examining it, with- out giving it liberal praise. Lieutenant Ayala, the first man to pass through the Golden Gate in com- mand of a vessel, at least the first of whose entrance there is no doubt, after making a survey of it in 1775, declared it "a collection of harbors in which all the navies of Spain could hide from one another." Vancouver visited it in 1792, and said it was " as fine a port as the world affords;" and thought its possession ought to be " a principal object of the Spanish crown." The Russian navigator Kotzebue visited the bay in in 1824, and the narrative of his voyage says:
It has hitherto been the fate of this region, like that of mod- est merit or humble virtue to remain unnoticed, but posterity will do it justice. Towns and cities will hereafter flourish where all is now desert. The water over which scarcely a soli- tary boat is seen to glide, will reflect the flags of all nations, and a happy, prosperous people, receiving with thankfulness what prodigal nature bestows for their use, will disperse its treasures over every part of the world.
The rush of whalemen to the North Pacific about 1820, made the Americans familiar with this coast; and in the course of years, many of their ships came to this harbor to get fresh water and provisions. The sailors in their conversation after reaching home, and in their letters while here, spoke in glowing terms of
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the grand bay, which was undoubtedly well adapted, by its position and circumstances, to maintain upon its shore the chief American seaport on the Pacific.
SEC. 36. Morrell. The first book speaking of Cal- ifornia, by an American, was written by Benjamin Morrell, who, in command of the schooner " Tartar," visited our harbor in 1825, and seven years later pub- lished a book, in which he said:
The bay of San Francisco, connected with the surrounding scenery, is the most delightful I have ever seen on the western coast of America. It presents a broad sheet of water, of suffi- cient extent to float all the British navy without crowding; the circling grassy shore, indented with convenient coves, and the whole surrounded with a verdant, blooming country, pleasingly diversified with cultured fields and waving forests; meadows clothed with the richest verdure in the gift of bounteous May; pastures covered with grazing herds; hill and dale, mountain and valley, noble rivers and gurgling brooks. Man, enlight- ened, civilized man, alone is wanting to complete the picture, and give a soul, a divinity, to the whole. Were these beauti- ful regions, which have been so much libeled, and are so little known, the property of the United States, our government would never permit them to remain thus neglected. The east- ern and middle states would pour out their thousands of emi- grants, until magnificent cities would rise on the shores of every inlet along the coast of New California, while the wilderness of the interior would be made to blossom like the rose.
SEC. 37. Beechey. Captain Beechey, in the course of his exploring expedition with the British govern- ment ship " Blossom," came into our bay in November, 1826, and his book, published before Morrell's, calls this a "magnificent port," and said it " possesses almost all the requisites for a great naval establishment, and is
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so advantageously situated with regard to North America and China, and the Pacific in general, that it will, no doubt, at some future time be of great im- portance."
This opinion, expressed by a distinguished hydro- graphic authority, after a careful examination of the entrance and anchorage, corroborating the unanimous declarations of the American shipmasters-Beechey found seven whalers anchored at Saucelito at one time-contributed to fix the determination of the American government to acquire the bay and its vicinity. In 1835, when the annexation of Texas was confidently anticipated, the cabinet made an offer for California to Mexico, but it was rejected; and soon afterwards the expedition under Captain Wilkes was sent out to make extensive explorations in the Pa- cific; but his instructions directed him to visit Cal- ifornia, "with special reference to the bay of San Francisco," and the surveys ordered to be made in other parts of the Pacific were presumably regarded by the American government as of secondary and in- cidental value.
Alexander Forbes, in his " History of California," written in 1835, and published in 1839, says, "The port of San Francisco is hardly surpassed by any in the world;" and as to the general resources of the adjacent regions, he expressed the opinion that, "per- haps no country whatever can excel, or hardly vie with, California in natural advantages."
SEC. 38. Wilkes, Etc. Wilkes visited San Fran-
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cisco in 1841; returned to New York the next year, and doubtless gave the chief points of his observations to the cabinet in conversation. The official report of his voyage appeared in 1845, and in it he says this is "one of the finest, if not the very best harbor in the world;" and he remarked, " the situation of California will cause its separation from Mexico before many years." Richard H. Dana's opinion, that "if Cali- fornia ever becomes a prosperous country, this bay will be the center of its, prosperity," an opinion formed after visiting the bay as a sailor, in an American vessel, that was here for hides, in the winter of 1835, and recorded in a book which appeared in 1840, found twenty times as many readers as did Wilkes's ponderous volumes.
The annexation of Texas was looked forward to, from 1837, as a certainty, and a consequent war with Mexico as a probability; and there was a fixed deter- mination in Washington, that one of the first things to be done, in case of war, was to seize California. We have no copy of the instructions issued to the Ameri- can war-ships, of which there was, at least, one con- stantly in the North Pacific; but we can infer some of their character from the conduct of Commodore Jones, who, having heard a rumor of war, arrived at Monterey with the frigate " United States" and the corvette "Cyane," on the nineteenth of October, 1842, and seized the place as the capital of the country for his government. He learned after a few hours that the rumor was false, so the next day he hauled down his
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flag and apologized; but he had already exposed the purpose of the American cabinet, and if anything could have been done by Mexico to avert the final seizure, it would doubtless then have been done; but it was too late; Mexico was too weak, and the United States too strong. When Mofras was at Los Angeles in 1842, he heard a native woman sing a Spanish song, which said that when the Americans should come California would be lost, but when the Frenchmen came the women would surrender. It was the com- mon talk among the frontiersmen in the upper Mis- sissippi valley, that California was to be settled by Americans, then made independent, and finally an- nexed; and it was confidence in such talk that stimu- lated the migrations of 1843, 1844, 1845 and 1846, across the continent from Missouri.
Robert Greenhow, librarian of the Congressional Library in 1840, published a book on the north-west coast of America, afterward enlarged into a history of Oregon, and in the first edition of his work spoke of San Francisco bay as "one of the finest harbors in the world, and possessing every requisite for a great naval establishment," and " destined to be the center of an extensive commerce." In the beginning of 1842, Sir George Simpson, the head of the Hudson Bay company, visited Yerba Buena, and five years later published a book, in which he says the bay " is one of the finest harbors in the world," " a miniature Medi- terranean," and " an inland sea."
On the twenty-fourth of June, 1845, George Ban-
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croft, then secretary of the navy, wrote to Commo- dore Sloat, commanding the American squadron in the North Pacific: "If you should ascertain, with cer- tainty, that Mexico has declared war against the United States, you will at once possess yourself of the port of San Francisco, and blockade or occupy such other ports as your force may permit." The great bay was considered the most important point.
Commodore Sloat, in his proclamation issued at Monterey, on the seventh of July, 1846, predicted " a great increase in the value of real estate;" and said " the country cannot but improve more rapidly than any other on the continent of America," under the permanent dominion of the United States, then offici- ally announced by him.
On the sixteenth of March, 1848, Edwin Bryant, alcalde of San Francisco, published a notice that the water lots in Yerba Buena cove, including thirty-five blocks now occupied for business purposes between Broadway and Folsom streets, would be sold at auc- tion to the highest bidder, on the twenty-ninth of June, and took the opportunity to say that the "town is destined to become the commercial emporium of the western side of the American continent."
The merchants of San Francisco, in March, 1848, paid Sam. Brannan, publisher of the "California Star," to print a number of his paper for circulation on the Atlantic slope, and Dr. Fourgeaud, who died several years since, furnished an article six columns long on "The prospects of California," in which he explained 7
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its resources and foretold its prosperity; and of San Francisco he said: "Our flourishing little town is des- tined ere long to become the manufacturing metropo- lis and commercial emporium of western America." Within a month after that paper was published, the little town was crazy with the gold excitement, and soon it got such a fair swing that no more predictions were needed.
SEC. 39. American Longing. The administration of Polk, installed on the fourth of March, 1845, looked forward to the acquisition of California as its chief ambition. Although the purposes of the cab- inet were kept secret, the idea of extending the American dominion on the Pacific was familiar to many minds. The Yankee traders on the coast, and the trappers and the farmers in the Sacramento basin, wrote letters glowing with praise of the climate and soil of their new home by the sunset sea-letters that frequently found their way into the newspapers. Britons and Frenchmen also longed to seize the treas- ure which they were convinced must soon become the prize of the boldest. Duflot de Mofras, in his book on Oregon and California, hinted that France ought to take California in advance of England or the United States. Forbes, in his history of California, suggested that Great Britain should take it. The Californians themselves were continually discussing the matter, the preference being generally, among those who favored a change, for the United States, which had a contiguous territory, the prestige of
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progress, the advantage of extensive commercial rela- tions, and a number of citizens already established in the country. Most of the trade was in the hands of American merchants, and the most formidable mili- tary force in California consisted of American rifle- men, who had on several occasions taken an important part in the local political convulsions.
The people were dissatisfied with the Mexican gov- ernment. It was remote and weak; it did nothing for the advancement of the country, and sent govern- ors who were unknown to the inhabitants, insolent in their manners, and incompetent to properly perform their duties. The Californians had, by long inter- course with foreigners, grown to be distinct in charac- ter and tastes from the Mexicans. On one occasion they had declared themselves independent of Mexico; and they had expelled several Mexican governors. Many of the leading families, such as the Carrillos, Vallejos, Bandinis and Ortegas were connected by marriage with Americans.
SEC. 40. Larkin. These facts were well known to the Washington cabinet, which had been actively scheming for several years to prepare the way for a seizure of California. The American consul at Mon- terey, Thomas O. Larkin, had been instructed to get all possible influence with the leading native Califor- nians. In May, 1846, a circular had been issued under the stimulus of his suggestions, calling a meet- ing of thirty prominent men, including the chief offi- cials, for the purpose of considering the condition of
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affairs, with special reference to continued adherence to Mexico. Larkin advised the adoption of a memo- rial to the central administration, praying for a better government in California, and if that could not be provided, for a sale of the territory to some other power. It was Larkin's expectation that the discus- sion of this matter, and the ill feeling that would probably follow would prepare the people for a change; and he was confident that whether money or force should control the transfer, in either case the Amer- icans would carry off the prize.
SEC. 41. Fremont's Blunder. Everything was going along smoothly with Larkin's plans, when they were disturbed by the folly and insolence of Fremont, who had arrived early in the year with an armed ex- ploring expedition, and instead of taking counsel with Larkin, and courting and conciliating the local author- ities, insulted and defied them. When he reached the vicinity of Monterey, several of the native Cal- ifornians claimed that some of the horses in the pos- session of his party had been stolen from them, and he refused to surrender them. Dolores Pacheco, alcalde at San José, sent a letter to Fremont, stating that a complaint had been made before him to recover a stolen horse, and to demand satisfaction for insults given when the owner demanded his property in the American camp. Fremont replied that the horse claimed by the native Californian had been brought from the United States, and that the claimant might consider himself fortunate in escaping without a se-
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vere whipping, instead of being merely ordered to leave the camp. He admitted that four horses had been bought of Indians in Tulare valley, and offered, if it could be shown that any of these had been stolen, to surrender them, but no further communication about the horse first claimed would receive his atten- tion, and he added: "My duties will not permit me to appear before the magistrate of your towns on the complaint of every straggling vagabond."
Dolores Pacheco sent Fremont's letters to the pre- fect of the district, Manuel Castro, who wrote to Fre- mont, ordering him to leave the country immediately. He refused to go. He wanted some supplies, and he intended to stay till he could obtain them, whether the officials liked his stay or not. This last defiance provoked the authorities so that a military force marched out to attack him; but the native Californians were not accustomed to the use of the rifle, and after taking a look at the bristling little camp, they with- drew, leaving Fremont to move off as he did, going up the Sacramento valley towards Oregon.
The more the natives heard of his conduct, the angrier they got, and they extended their denunciations to all Americans. The indignation was so strong that Governor Pico was satisfied that the proposed con- vention would do no good, so he withdrew his call for it, and it never met.
The feeling, however, that had been awakened by the call could not be suppressed. The attempts to keep the movement a secret within a small circle
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failed, and the rumors which got out, alarmed one party while they excited the other. Larkin wrote thus to the American secretary of state on the fifteenth of June:
He (Larkin, the writer) has felt certain that from the almost certain train of events now in the course of production in Cali- fornia, he would be called from his own private business to at- tend to other affairs. By withdrawing from his pursuits, he has been preparing himself and the department of state, by his numerous and voluminous correspondence in 1844 and 1845, to meet the ensuing events soon to be consummated. From a favorable disposition on his part to aid what he saw was inevita- ble, there has been no reluctance to expense and personal in- convenience, whichi as begun would have been continued. It therefore affords a sincere pleasure in being able by the new proposal to have more power and room to carry out that already begun. This will call for no remarks from natives or foreigners residing here, as the parties and entertaining of company, and several extra consular expenses, have been attributed to the fancy, or advancement of position in life, of the undersigned. The undersigned improves the opportunity of observing that there cannot be brought forward, by the president against Mexico, any claim or demand so strong and impetuous as the unjust and cruel arrest, imprisonment and shipment in irons of so many Americans from this port in April, 1840. Californians, in California, committed this most outrageous act, and they and their territory should be held responsible for the deed.
SEC. 42. Bear Flag. The folly of Fremont was followed by the blunder of the Bear Flag party. The unmeaning threats of a few ignorant native Cali- fornians irritated and perhaps alarmed the Americans north of San Francisco bay, so much that without taking advice of the naval officers, of the American consul, or of the influential and wealthy Americans,
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living south of San Francisco, they revolted; seized the town of Sonoma on the fourteenth of June; im- prisoned General M. G. Vallejo, Captain S. Vallejo, Colonel Prudon, and Mr. Leese (the last an Ameri- can, but brother-in-law of the Vallejos) ; declared California independent; and hoisted a flag showing a bear on white ground with the words " California Republic." Wm. B. Ide, who succeeded Captain S. Merritt as commander of the bear flag party, issued a proclamation in which he gave the reasons of the movement, and declared that the Americans in the territory had been "threatened by proclamation from the chief officer of the aforesaid military despotism [the government of California], with extermination if they would not depart out of the country, leaving all their property, arms, and beasts of burden." This was a great mistake on the part of Ide and his friends. The governor of California had issued no such procla- mation, nor was such a matter thought of. Although the Bear Flag party acted with far more moderation than rebels usually do, its conduct gave great offense to the native Californians, and added to the difficulty of the subsequent conquest of the country.
SEC. 43. American Flag. On the seventh of June, 1846, Commodore Sloat, while lying at Mazatlan with the frigate "Savannah," received news of the battles on the Rio Grande. Without waiting for a formal declaration of war, he set sail the next day for Monterey, where he arrived on the second of July. He counseled with Consul Larkin upon a proclamation,
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the form of which was soon agreed upon, and on the seventh of July he sent Captain Mervine ashore, with instructions to take possession of the custom house and Presidio, hoist the stars and stripes, and read the proclamation. His instructions were obeyed without resistance or objection from the native authorities or population. Governor Pico and General Castro were both absent, and no soldiers showed themselves. The proclamation announced that "henceforth California will be a portion of the United States," and promised protection to the person and property of peaceable citizens.
On the sixth, Sloat had sent a messenger to Captain Montgomery, of the war sloop "Portsmouth," then lying at Yerba Buena, giving him the news and in- structing him to hoist the flag. On the eighth Mont- gomery received the message, and hoisted the flag on the plaza, or public square, which has since been called Portsmouth Square; and, what was then the principal street, was named after him who first asserted the American authority in Yerba Buena. On the eleventh Montgomery wrote back that the stars and stripes waved at San Francisco, Sonoma, Bodega and New Helvetia. Los Angeles and San Diego were taken soon afterwards; and although there were subsequent troubles, the American conquest dates from the seventh of July, 1846.
The war lasted nearly two years, but there was little fighting in California, and that little did not come near Yerba Buena. Such as there was in the
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southern districts was chargeable mainly to the indis- cretion of Fremont and the haste of the Bear Flag party. On the fourteenth of January, 1847, Larkin wrote thus to the secretary of state:
It has been my object for some years to bring the Californians to look on our countrymen as their best friends. I am satisfied very many were of that way of thinking, and more were becom- ing so. General Castro, from the year 1842 to 1846, made every demonstration in our favor, and opened plans for future operations, granting passports to all the Americans whom I presented to him. At the same time he made some foolish proc- lamations, supposing they would only be believed in Mexico. The sudden rising of the party on the Sacramento under the Bear Flag, taking Californians' property to a large amount, and other acts, completely frustrated all hopes I had of the friend- ship of the natives to my countrymen, and of General Castro, through fear of his people, to come into the arrangements I ex- pected. On the arrival of the war squadron, from June to Oc- tober, this came to my knowledge more and more fully. During the time I accompanied Commodore Stockton, I led him to be- lieve that having taken the country the people would quietly submit; yet he should leave some forces amongst them. Among other objections of his were the expense and want of men. He has again hoisted our flag in this place. Colonel Fremont has
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