USA > California > A memorial and biographical history of the coast counties of Central California > Part 5
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The territorial deputation at Los Angeles on the 11th of January, 1832, elected Pio Pico, as gefe politico, or chief executive officer ad interim; but as the gefe provisional, Echeandia, and the ayuntamiento of Los Angeles declined to recognize him, he only served twenty days; and there was an inter- regnum till the appointment of General José Figueroa, during which period one Zam- orano, of Monterey, and Echeandia, at San Diego, pretended each to exercise authority, thus presenting the unseemly spectacle of a double-headed government. But the peo- ple generally minded their own private affairs and paid very little attention to these fac- tional lieroes.
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MONTEREY COUNTY.
Governor Figneroa arrived at Monterey, January 14, 1833. He caused a brief notice of his arrival to be printed at Monterey- which was the first printing done in Califor- nia-and circulated with an address to the people, which he brought with him from Mexico. The type used in printing his notice of arrival he also probably brought with him. They were afterward used by Walter Colton and Dr. Semple in printing, in En- glish and Spanish at Monterey, the first newspaper in the Territory, called The Cali- fornian. Figueroa was a man of much tact and considerable ability, and he soon succeeded in harmonizing all interests. In December, Juan Bandini was elected deputy to Congress.
On the first of May, 1834, the Territorial Assembly, or Diputacion Territoral, as they called themselves, met at the house of Governor Figueroa, with that officer as presi- dent, and all the members present except Pio Pico. This body had many sessions during the year as there was much public business which required attention.
Some of the more important matters con- sidered were the secularization of the mis- sions, finance, the granting of public lands, and municipal governments.
In October José Antonio Carrillo was elected member of Congress.
A company of colonists, which had been recruited in Mexico, arrived this year, on the two vessels, Natalia and Morclos, from San Blas. Some of these colonists were destined for the southern part of the Terri-
tory; the balance arrived at Monterey late in the year. Among the colonists who after- ward became prominent in Californian an- nals, were: Abrego, Covarrubias, the Coro- nels, Estraba, Olvera, Ocampo, Prudon and others. It is said that the Natalia, which was finally driven ashore in a storm at Mon- terey, was the same vessel in which Napoleon escaped from the island of Elba in 1815.
CHAPTER VII.
SECOLARIZATION.
N the meanwhile, ¿. e., from 1831 to 1834, the movement which, from the very exigencies of the case, that is, from inherent and intrinsic causes, had long been gathering in force, culminated in the decrees passed by Congress, Angnst 17, 1833, and April 16, 1834, ordering the secularization of all the missions of the republic. I'ro- visional regulations for carrying out these laws were adopted by the Diputacion Terri- torial in August. Whereupon the mission- aries abandoned many of their establishments, and either anthorized a general slaughter of cattle, or so relaxed their authority, that irresponsible parties engaged in the slangh- ter of cattle, till the Dipntacion prohibited the killing of cattle, except in the usual quantities, and by responsible persons. Dur- ing 1834 the missions of San Antonio, La Soledad and San Juan Bautista were secular- ized. In 1833, Bandini sought to liave San Diego and San Francisco declared by Con- gress as the only ports for the admission of foreign vessels; but he was unsuccessful, and
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Monterey continued, as before, the principal port of the Territory. Thomas O. Larkin, who resided so long in Monterey and who became so prominent at the time of the change of government, arrived on the New- castle, in 1832; and on the same vessel, came Mrs. Rachel Holmes, whom Larkin married in 1833, and who was the first American woman to become a permanent resident.
Governor Figueroa died at Monterey the 29th of September, 1835. Bancroft, while conceding his faults, thinks he was "the best Mexican governor ever sent to rule Cali- fornia," to which, all who intimately study his character, as illustrated by his public acts, inust assent. He was succeeded by José Castro as civil governor, and by Nicolás Gutierrez as military commander, the two departments having been separated by Fi- gueroa.
Of Governor Chico's brief administration, in 1836, not much need be said. He was one of the very worst of the Mexican govern- ors. He was violent in deportment, and scon secured the cordial emnity of the Cali- fornians. The decent people of Monterey were scandalized by his undisguised and fla- grant immoralities. And Gutierrez, who preceded and succeed him as governor, was not much better. Juan B. Alvarado headed an uprising early in November, 1836, which advanced on Monterey and summarily deposed Gutierrez. This movement, while it was ostensibly in the direction of inde- pendence, practically, was a protest against
dissolute local government, or anarchy, on the one hand, and against centralism on the other. The people of the south did not in- dorse the northern efforts to effect independ- ence; so the plan was modified. California determined to govern herself, but still as a province of Mexico. Alvarado, a native Californian, was, on the 7th of December, elected governor by the Diputacion. A long and profitless quarrel ensued between Alvarado and Carlos Carrillo and their par- tisans, which it is unnecessary to detail here. Alvarado was finally recognized by the Mexican government, news of bis appoint- ment as governor being received in Septem- ber, 1839. M. G. Vallejo was, at the same time, appointed military commander, with the rank of colonel.
The estimated population of the Monterey district, in 1840, was about 1,600, 700 of whom resided at Monterey. This number does not include the mission Indians. San Miguel mission was secularized, in 1836, by Ignacio Coronel; I. Garcia was administra- tor. The several ranches and vineyards, in- cluding the buildings, but excluding church buildings and contents, were inventoried at upward of $80,000. The secularization of San Antonio de Padua took place in 1835; and Manuel Crespí was the commissioner. La Soledad was secularized by Commissioner Nicolás Alviso, in 1835. Ex-Prefect Sarria died at this inission this year, aged nearly seventy years, after which everything went to ruin rapidly. This same year, Commis- sioner T. Castro secularized San Juan Bau-
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tista, which was then in what later was a part of Monterey county, but which now is San Benito county. The estate, aside from church property, amounting to $46,000, was inventoried at over $90,000. Much destruc- tion was wrought by both gentile and Chris- tianized Indians.
The inventory in detail showed: Buildings, $36,000; implements, furniture, etc., $7,774; church building, $35,000; ornaments, vest- menta, etc., $7,740; library, $461; six bells, $1,060; choir furniture, $1,643; vineyards, buildings, etc., outside the mission, $37,365; ranchos: San Justo, $1,300; Todos Santos, $1,755; San Felipe, $16,052; credits, $1,040; cash, $222; total, $147,413; less distributed to neophytes, $8,439, and debits, $250; leaving a balance of $138,723.
In 1840, California in general, and Monte- rey in particular, were much disturbed by a plot, or a suspected plot, of Isaac Graham and other Americans to overturn the existing * order. A considerable number of men were arrested, and forty-seven were sent to San Blas, and thence to Tepic. But eventually they were all set at liberty.
Governor Alvarado issued, January 17, 1839, a reglamento, or provisional regula- tions, for the government of the administra- tors of the missions, under which he ap- pointed as visitor-general W. E. P. Hartnell, who was honest and capable, who was well known and respected, who was a good Span- ish scholar, and who performed his duties faithfully. In 1840 Alvarado substituted mayordomos for administrators, specifying
clearly their dnties in a reglamento dated March 1, concerning which Padre Duran ex- pressed the opinion that it would "close the door to fraud and robbery, but also to all im- provement; that the doctor was prevented from killing the patient, but had no power to cnre him." In August of this year Captain Sutter came down from New Helvetia to Monterey to secure his naturalization papers as a Mexican citizen, which he obtained by making the necessary proofs, before David Spence, as justice of the peace. He also re- ceived authority to represent the provincial government at New Helvetia, or as he after- ward signed himself, “ Encargado de justicia, y representante del gobierno en las fronteras del Rio del Sacramento."
CALIFORNIA BECOMING KNOWN TO THE WORLD.
In December, 1837, Captain Belcher, whose " Narrative" was published in London, in command of the expedition formerly under Beechey, visited Monterey. In October of this year the French frigate, Venus, Petit- Thouars, commander, with a force of upward of 300 mnen, arrived at Monterey, and re- mained there nearly a month. His account of California at this period is interesting and valuable. The book published by Forbes, in 1839, is a standard work. Laplace, com- manding the French frigate, Artemise, of fifty guns and 450 men, entered Monterey bay in Angust, 1839, and remained a week. He gives an interesting picture of California as he saw it in his published account of his voyage. W. D. Phelps and T. J. Farnham
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MONTEREY COUNTY.
visited California in 1840, and afterward published books describing what they saw. So that the world was gradually acquiring information concerning this distant region, which prior to that time had been a terra incognita.
In 1841, the customhouse collections of the department amounted to $100,000. There was no meeting of the Territorial Diputacion this year. The noted visitors of 1841, who published accounts of what they saw, were Douglas, de Mofras, Pierce, Wilkes and Simpson. Numerous overland parties ar- rived this year, causing the authorities some apprehension. Alvarado had determined to send commissions to Mexico to inform the government thoroughly of the condition of affairs in California. He, therefore, on the 20th of January, 1842, despatched Manuel Castañares and Francisco Rivera from Monte- rey, on the schooner California, for Acapulco. The government decided to send troops to California; Castañares returned with an ap- pointment as administrator of customs, and brought a commission for Alvarado as colonel. Manuel Micheltorena had already been ap- pointed governor and commandante-general, the two offices being again conferred on one person.
The Superior Court met in May at Monte- rey, Juan Malarin presiding. Jnan Bandini, the fiscal or territorial attorney, having resigned, Castañares was chosen to fill his place.
THE EPISODE OF 1842.
It was in 1842 that Commodore Thomas
Ap Catesby Jones, in command of the United States fleet on the Pacific coast, because of fears of impending war with Mexico, and that the British fleet might attempt to occupy California, determined to seize Monterey, the capital. Accordingly, on the 19th of Octo- ber, Jones, with two men of war, the United States and the Cyane, entered the harbor and demanded of the governor and military commandante the surrender of Monterey. In view of " the small force at his disposal, affording no hope of successful resistance against the powerful force brought against him," Alvarado signed articles of capitula- tion. But Commodore Jones, learning from Larkin and others on shore, on the 20th, that the rumors of immediate war were unfounded, as were his suspicions that England had any present intentions of seizing the country, de- cided that, to use his own words, "the mo- tives and only justifiable grounds for a surrender of the Territory was thus suddenly removed, or at least rendered so doubtful as to make it my duty to restore things as I had found them, with the least possible delay,"_ which determination he at once proceeded to carry out on the 21st, his forces retiring to their vessels, which thereupon fired a salute in honor of the flag of Mexico, which was again raised over the fort.
The people of Monterey were much an- noyed by the soldiers which Governor Mich- eltorena had brought with him from Mexico, some of whom were pardoned convicts. They were known as Micheltorena's "cholos," and they were a pretty tough lot. The old
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MONTEREY COUNTY.
citizens of the capital and vicinity have no pleasant remembrances of this villianous gang.
CHAPTER VIII.
PREMONITION OF IMPENDING CHANGE.
N July, 1844, news was again received that war with the United States was im- minent, as the annexation of Texas had been consummated. Micheltorena announced his intention to establish his headquarters at San Juan Bautista, whither cannon were re- moved from Monterey, and where for a time the soldiers held possession; while inany of the citizens, with their movables, had retired to the interior, not so much because they feared an attack by Americans as that the "cholos" would pillage the town, if an enemy of any kind should appear, and give them the slightest pretext for such an exploit.
Manuel Castañares, who represented Cali- fornia in the National Congress, was working with zeal in behalf of California. He warned the government of its danger from within and without, urging the sending of additional troops, and the payment without further delay of those already there. He declared that the holding of California was more important to the republic than. to keep possession of Texas. He compared Califor- nia to a rough diamond. In his "Exposi- cion," addressed to the Government, Sep- LATER VIEWS OF CASTANARES. tember 1, 1844, he used these eloquent and prophetic words: "Uncared for and aban- doned as hitherto, she will be irredeemably lost. * * A powerful foreign nation will encamp there; * * then her mines will be | become thoroughly conversant with the af-
worked, her ports crowded, her fields culti- vated; then will a numerous and industrious people acquire property, to be defended with their blood; and then, all this, for our coun- try, will produce the opposite effects. And when there is no longer a remedy, when there shall begin to be gathered the bitter fruits of a lamentable negligence, and an unpardonable error, then we shall deplore in vain evils which might have been avoided!" But the Mexican Government could not be roused to a realizing sense of the situation, or would not take Castañares' view, that dis- tant California was really of more importance to Mexico than Texas. In the early part of 1845, the central government was again stirred up by reports, to which Castañares earnestly called its attention, that California would share the fate of Texas, and that Gov- ernor Micheltorena would be driven out of the country, unless something was promptly done. The administration proposed to ap- point Castañares as civil and military " gov- ernor. But he would only accept on condi- tions of being adequately supported, not with promises, but with men and resources for the accomplishment of the proposed task. But the war came on, and it was already too late to do anything to save Cali- fornia.
Mannel Castanares, who, by his residence with his family, for several years at Mon- terey, and by his able and zealous service of the province at the national capital, had
3
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fairs of California was in 1857 summoned as a witness, in the great Limantour claim to a considerable portion of the land on which the city of San Francisco is situated. This claim of the astute Frenchman was afterward proved to have been based largely on forged or falsified documents.
So, some thirteen years after Castañares left Monterey in 1844, to wit, in 1857, he came to California again, and gave his testi- mony, which it seems was favorable to Limantour, before the United States Courts.
It was the good fortune of the writer of these lines to make the acquaintance of Mr. Castañares, on his return trip to Acapulco, traveling on the same steamer, and ocenpy- ing the same state-room with him. The result of many conversations with that gen- tleman was embodied in a letter to the San Francisco Bulletin, which, in condensed form, is of sufficient general and local inter- terest to warrant its insertion here. The letter was dated-
ON BOARD THE STEAMER CALIFORNIA, AT SEA.
September 12, 1857.
«* * * Castañares says that he is now ' Gefe de Hacienda' of the department of La Puebla, i. e., collector of imposts on to- bacco, lotteries, etc., for that district, where he resides with his family. In Mexico, the government has Interior, as well as mari- time collectors of customs. [We have them now, in 1892, in the United States, but did not in 1857.] It is also the business of these officers to disburse as well as collect public
moneys, which go to the payment of govern- mental expenses, the support of troops, etc. He says that he receives and pays out monthly, $135,000, generally more now, on account of the confiscated property of the clergy. He is enthusiastic in his admiration of Comonfort; says 'he is The Man for Mexico;' that the rulers of most countries are ambitious and selfish, but that Comonfort seemed to have only the liberty and progress of Mexico in view. Of Santa Ana he said that although he was his friend personally, and his father and himself and brothers had held offices under him, yet he did not want to see him president again. He (Castañares) made reply to one of the priests of La Puebla, which is worthy of being preserved.
"In executing some of the orders of the government, one of the principal priests told him he would not grant him absolution, "Padre, si V. no me absuelve, Dios me ab- solverá!". Father, if you do not absolve me, God will!
« * * * "Castañares lived four years in Montery, from 1840 to 1844, where two of his nine children were born. He knows most of the old settlers, and captains and supercargoes of the Boston ships of that period. These he named over to me. He was afterward sent to the Mexican Congress as delegate for California for two years, 1844 and 1845. While there, and in that capacity, he opposed and prevented the grant- ing of three hundred leagues of land in the Californias to the Society of Jesus, who had asked for that amount of land, through one
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of their priests, Padre McNamara. Castañ- ares, as representative of the Californias, op- posed the measure with all his energy. He procured secret sessions of the National Chambers, for several nights previous to the final vote,-and noisy sessions they were too, he says, --- but he gained the question by only three votes. People may now make mnuch ado about the Limantour claim, which he also opposed, and doubt his testimony, but the United States have to thank him that these three hundred leagues were not granted away, and which, if done, would have to be respected. He opposed, knowing well, as he did, the true interests of California, for the same general reason, the grants to the Jesnits, to Limantour and to Capt. Smith, of Bodega; not that he had any enmity against these parties, but because he desired that the lands of California should be granted to actual settlers.
"He tried also to procure the reversal of the grant to Limantour for another reason; Limantonr was not, and never had been a citizen of Mexico, and it was against the law, then and still in force in the republic, which prohibits the cession of lands within five leagues of the coast to foreigners. (Sic.) Although Limantour had frequently loaned the Mexican Government money at large rates of interest, Castañares was in favor of paying him in some other way, at least ac- cording to law. He wrote, he says, sundry communications on this, as well as various subjects pertaining to California history at that time, which were printed, and copies of
which are yet extant, both in Mexico and in the hands of De la Torre and others in Cali- fornia. The Mexican Government, ever dil- atory, neglected his advice, and those grants were never reversed, and now he says they are good, sin duda-without doubt. Why, he says, there is Señor Bocanegra, an old man seventy-five or eighty years of age, liv- ing now in Mexico, who was minister at the time of the grant, and who has been judge of the Supreme Court of Mexico and foreign minister, etc., and a man of the highest prob- ity and honor, and is universally esteemed, whose correspondence in relation to these grants to Limantour is preserved in the pub- lic archives of the republic, and who is ut- terly incapable of deception and dishonor, he' (Bocanegra) saye the titles are good, and he lately acknowledged before witnesses his own communications on the subject as contained in the archives. * *
" Castañares says that in 1846 he was ap- pointed governor of California and he started to come to the country to assume the duties of his office, but on his arrival at Tepic he learned that the American forces were on this coast, and so it was not thought advisable to sail, and he has not been in California since 1844 till the present time. " In answer to my question as to why he came now to testify, he said that he came at the earnest request of the French minister in Mexico. In the existing difficulties be- tween his country and Spain, out of which it was feared war might result, the French minister had written several notes, favorable
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MONTEREY COUNTY.
to Mexico, to the Spanish Government; and now that the French minister had desired a Mexican citizen to come to California, and tell what he knew about a grant that was made while he was a Representative of Cali- fornia in the National Congress, the request in courtesy, not to say in gratitude, could hardly be denied. Castañares received a tele- graphic dispatch on the 4th of June last at La Puebla, from President Comonfort to come to the city of Mexico, where he immediately repaired, when the president made known the wishes of the French minister. He says he told President Comonfort that he did not wish to come; that he could not leave his office, etc. Well, said the president, you can do as you think best; but the French minister has pressed me very strongly that you go, and it would gratify me very much if you would accede to his wishes, especially in view of the favors that he has lately done to the Mexican Government.
"So Castañares could not but consent, and his evidence is before the court. He says that he has served his country thirty years; his father died when he was twenty years old, charging him, being the eldest, with the care of nine brothers and sisters and a mother, all of whom are still living, and for whom he had never ceased to care. And now, after having guarded his reputation as dearer than aught else, and kept it free from blot or blemish, to suppose that he would swear to a falsity-those do not know him who believe so idle a charge. His good name he desired to bequeath to his children untarnished that
they could not say: ' Mi padre ha deshonrad mi nombre:' My father has dishonored my name.
"All this Senior Castañares says with great earnestness and feeling. One cannot listen to him and not believe that he ' speaks the words of truth and soberness,' or at least that he is sincere in his opinions.
"Again: In hearing people talk on the sub- ject of Limantour's claims, I told him I had heard many say that if his claims were good, it was unaccountable that he had not made them before.
"Castañares replied that Limantour is, and always had been, a keen speculator, and had shown himself as such in his dealings with the Mexican Government. He had even stood ready to furnish it money or goods, at big prices, and at high rates of interest.
"He was absent in Europe, Castañares believes, from 1849 to '52, or ' 53; and then he (Limantour) thought it no bad specula - tion to let things run - the barren sand hills would not, at least, depreciate in valne. This last is merely a matter of opinion with Cas- tanares: he never heard the owner say as much, but that is the way he understood it. "That Limantour's grant is genuine and legal," and should be allowed, he does not donbt, because he knew the circumstances under which it was given, and has been
*This, however, does not agree with Castañares' concession that a law of the Mexican Republic pro- hibits the session of lands within five leagues of the coast to foreigners; and that Limantour was not and never had been a citizen of Mexico. Therefore, in any case, the grant was illegal.
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MONTEREY COUNTY.
familiar with the archives in which the records of it have been preserved.
"Castañares certifies to so many corrobora- ting circumstances, and refers to so many documents, and shows such close acquaint- ance with California history, and tells all with the sincere air of a true and honorable gentleman, that one is constrained to believe
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