USA > California > A picture of pioneer times in California, illustrated with anecdotes and stores taken from real life > Part 3
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Ireland. Then will Poland resume her place as a nation of free- men. Yes; in the shadow of our moral influence and power, all this will come to pass. The flag of the nationalities will every- where be unfurled, to the dismay of all wicked, robbing nations.
This vision is no phantom; everything points to its realization. Already our influence begins to show itself throughout the world and has struck the shackles from many a fettered limb, and un- locked the door of many a cruel prison.
True to the tactics so much admired by the authors of the " Annals," England for fifty years fanned the flame of discord in our country, by urging on the freemen of the North against the slave power of the South. Success seemed to crown her efforts, for the time came when brother cut down brother with the fury of madmen; but no sooner had the terrible struggle commenced than England changed her position, and is now found on the side she before denounced; in every possible way she aids those in arms against the Union, hoping soon to see the scattered frag- ments of the proud young republic at her feet. Great was her disappointment for what she helped to bring about, for a wicked object ended in making this republic ten times more powerful than it was before. It removed forever a terrible evil from our midst, and with it the only question that could divide us section- ally, and endanger our union as one nation. Besides, it mani- fested to the world our immense resources and power; the extent of which we did not until then ourselves know.
When the civil war commenced the London Times concluded a long article on the " American question " by declaring that "England could send a fleet into Chesapeake Bay and dictate to both North and South terms of peace." At the close of the war, when Grant and Sherman led their great victorious armies to Washington for a general review, the same paper, in an article on Canada, concluded by declaring " that the question of the final position of that country was now decided, and that if Canada did not want to join the American Union, she must her- self keep out of it, for that it was now evidently absurd to sup- pose that England could, by force of arms, oppose the action of the American government on their own continent."
CHAPTER III.
THE CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA-THE ABSURD ACCOUNT OF IT GIVEN IN THE " ANNALS"-EXAGGERATIONS AND MISSTATEMENTS-STOCKTON, KEARNY AND FREMONT-STOCKTON'S MARCH TO LOS ANGELES-HIS RECEPTION AT SAN FRANCISCO-HIS ALLEGED PROJECT OF INVADING MEXICO-SECOND REDUCTION OF CALIFORNIA.
The next part of the "Annals" worthy of note is the history it gives of " The Conquest of California." This account is im- mensely amusing to us '49-ers, who have conversed with so many native Californians and Americans who were personally actors in the scenes of those days, to read over this " history." As given in the " Annals," you see that the authors are tired of the belittling process they so freely indulged in while giving their account of the Missions, and now, borrowing the gasconade style from our Mexican neighbors, proceed to the work of making their readers believe that the reduction of California to American rule was one of the most sanguinary and terrible struggles of modern times, when our gallant, heroic leaders met giants in power, all splendidly equipped for war, who fought for their firesides, their altars, their wives and children, with the ferocity of enraged tigers guarding their young; showing on every battle- field by their undaunted courage that they held life as worthless if victory did not strew her laurels around their banner.
The authors of the " Annals" seem to have one object steadily in view in their narrative-the exaltation of Commodore Stock- ton, which would be harmless but that they do it at the expense of equally deserving and brave men. Colonel Fremont comes next, in their estimation, as deserving of praise. The gallant General Kearny, however, was a failure out here in California, if we are to believe the authors of the " Annals." The history begins by introducing Colonel Fremont. In doing so they say:
"Col. John C. Fremont is generally considered the conqueror of Califor- nia. While his exploits, undertaken with so small a force and against such
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superior numbers, place him on a par with the famous heroes of the days of chivalry, yet to the noble, daring and energetic measures adopted and prosecuted by Commodore Robert F. Stockton, as we shall hereafter see, may fairly be attributed the final reduction of the country."
Commodore Stockton is introduced as follows:
"Commodore Robert F. Stockton arrived at Monterey, on the frigate 'Congress' on the fifteenth day of July, 1846, and on the 23d of that month assumed the command of the squadron, Commodore Sloat having left on that day, to return to the United States. The bold and comprehensive mind of Stockton perceived at once the circumstances by which he was sur- rounded. He was deeply impressed with the grave and important trust that devolved upon him. He was not dismayed nor perplexed with the import- ance of his mission nor the difficulties he was compelled to confront; with a decision of character, promptitude and sagacity worthy of commendation, he adopted a plan of campaign, which, if judged by its results, is unsurpassed in the most brilliant records of military achievements.
Then comes an account-full of exaggeration, and so extrava- gant and absurd that it is not even amusing-of Stockton's chase after the Californians down the coast, with whom he never fairly caught up, and that was not his fault, for they took right good care to keep out of his reach. At length he finds himself in un- disputed possession of Los Angeles, without a battle, or the loss of a single man. Now, hear our authors, in their account of this expedition, and I will only quote the last part of it : " The con- ception of such an expedition into the heart of an enemy's unknown country with a force composed principally of sailors unaccus- tomed to the fatigues and hardships of a long march, to encoun- ter an opposing enemy, of vastly superior numbers, upon their own soil, in defence of their own country, well armed and the best horsemen, and mounted on the finest horses in the world," equals the most intrepid courage, indomitable energy, fertility of re- source and self-reliance, such as we find only combined in minds of the highest order and characters cast in heroic moulds. Yes; despite of all the difficulties which he had to encounter, in the language of the dispatch to the Government: " In less than one month from the time he assumed command he had chased the Mexican army more than one hundred miles along the coast, pur- sued them into the interior of their own country, routed and dis- persed them, and secured the territory to the United States; ended the war, restored peace and harmony among the people, and put a civil government into successful operation." The authors then tell us that after Commodore Stockton left Los
--
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Angeles he went on a visit to San Francisco. This trip they des- cribe in characteristic language, as follows : "Everywhere, in his progress throughout the country, the Commodore was greeted with au enthusiastic welcome, and hailed as the conqueror and deliverer of the country. At San Francisco the entire popula- tion of the place and the adjoining country, gave him a formal reception. Men, women and children marched in procession to low water mark to meet him, and addressed him in terms of the most exhaustive praise and admiration !"
The success of Stockton in chasing the California rabble down the coast to Los Angeles seems to have so elated him, if we are to credit the authors of the " Annals," that he really believed himself to be some wonderful conqueror, for they go on to tell us that he now became possessed of the belief that he could over- run all Mexico with a handful of volunteers raised in California, out of its sparse population. Hear what our authors say on this point, and judge for yourselves if they meant it in ridicule or in sober earnestness. If in earnestness, then they must surely be- lieve they were writing their book for dunces. The probability is, however, that they misrepresented Stockton, and that no such scheme as they attribute to him ever entered seriously into his plans, for he was a man of uncommon good sense and excellent judgment. Here is what they tell us : " He conceived the most magnificent and bold design of recruiting a force of volunteers in California from among the American population then about settling in the territory, sailing with them to Acapulco, then starting across the continent to unite with the force of General Taylor, then, as he supposed, approaching the City of Mexico. Certainly, a more daring, brilliant and master stroke of military sagacity has never been conceived. It reminds us of the famous exploits of the most renowned heroes of modern and ancient times." If there ever was a vague idea in Stockton's mind of marching through Mexico with his sailors and volunteers, it was dissipated by the news which reached him, immediately after his arrival in San Francisco from Southern California. The news ยท was that the Californians had driven his men out of Los Angeles, and were vowing vengeance, and murdering every straggling American they could lay their hands on. There was no alterna- tive under those circumstances but to retrace his steps and do his work all over again. He knew the terrible heroes he had to
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encounter, or, more properly speaking, to run after, but, noth- ing daunted, he summoned all his available forces, and sailed with them for San Pedro.
He arrived there about the 23d of October, and landed his forces, " in the face of the enemy," as the " Annals " have it. The enemy, as a matter of course, fled; but Stockton was a little cautious, for some reason or other, and instead of following up the flying Californians, he re-embarked his men and sailed for San Diego. This town he found in possession of a few swag- gering Californians, who beat a hasty retreat, as usual, at sight of the Americans! Then comes an account of Stockton's second reduction of California, in which two " terrible" battles were fought. The march through the country is described as follows, on page 120 of the " Annals:"
" Their route lay through a rugged country, drenched with the Winter rain, and bristling with the lances of the enemy. Through this the Commodore led his seamen and marines, sharing himself, with the General at his side (Kearny), all the hardships of the common sailor. The stern engagements with the enemy derive their heroic features from the contrast existing in the condition of the two. The Californians were well mounted and whirled their flying artillery to the most convenient positions. Our troops were on foot mired to the ankle, and with no resources, except their own indomitable res- olution and courage. Their exploits may be left in the shadow by the clouds that roll up from the plains of Mexico, but they are realities here, which im- press themselves with a force which reaches the very foundations of social order."
If the last part of this quotation means anything, it means to say that all the battles fought by General Taylor and General Scott in Mexico were but as smoke when compared to the mighty battles fought by Stockton in California. Commodore Stockton may well exclaim, " Save me from my friends." The first opposition the Americans met with was at Rio San Gabriel. There the Californians made a futile effort to dispute the passage of this stream, and, using the crest of a high cliff, were enabled to annoy the Americans very much while they were engaged in crossing their guns. The crossing being effected, the Califor- nians, as usual, ran away; or, to speak more politely, retreated as fast as their horses could take them. This skirmish should be regarded as one of the greatest battles of the whole war, for the Californians succeeded in killing two sailors and wounding nine others. The next day the Californians made a stand on
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the Plains of Mesa, about six miles from Rio San Gabriel, and all accounts agree that in this case they did make a sort of a little fight, in which several Californians were wounded and many of them lost their mustangs. They did not suffer much, however, from the loss of horses, as those unhorsed and wounded soon found places behind those who were more fortunate, and very soon the whole motley rabble fled never again to reassemble, amid the loud cheering and boisterous laughter of the Americans. It is said that the Californian commander never forgave Stock- ton and Kearny for allowing their men to indulge in this laugh- ing. They insist that it was a breach of good manners that gentlemen should not have been guilty of towards a fallen foe. It is said, also, that whenever these same Californian command- ers proposed to one of their countrymen to raise another crowd to contend once more with the Americans, the party addressed immediately met the proposition with a loud laugh, intended to imitate the Americans' laughing on that day. So it may be said that the Americans in the end laughed California away from Mexico, as the old Whig party once sung the Democrats out of office and themselves into their snug places. Now let me quote the " Annals'" account of this battle, just for your amusement:
" The Californians made a gallant charge. It is said by those who wit- nessed it to have been a brilliant spectacle. Gayly caparisoned, with ban- ners flying, mounted on fleet and splendid horses ( !!! ), they dashed on, spurring to the top of their speed, on the small but compact square into which the American force was compressed. The very earth appeared to tremble beneath their thundering hoofs, and nothing seemed capable of resisting such cavalry. But inspired with the cool courage and indomitable heroism of their leader, his men patiently awaited the result. The signal was at length given, and a deadly fire, discharged according to orders at the horses, was poured into the ranks of the advancing foe, which emptied many saddles and threw them into complete confusion. Retreating a few hun- dred yards, they again formed, and, dispatching a part of their force to the rear, they attacked simultaneously three sides of the square. Orders were renewed to reserve fire until the enemy's nearer approach, and with the same decisive results, their ranks breaking up and retreating in disorder. A third time, having rallied, they returned to the charge; but once more their ranks were thinned by the deadly aim of the assailed, and, despairing of their ability to cope with men so cool, unflinching, resolute-confused and discomfited, they scattered and fled in every direction."
The three principal commanders in the reduction of California to American rule, Stockton, Kearny and Fremont, were as brave and gallant men as ever walked the deck of a ship in battle, or
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led an army on the field. They stood in no need of all this bombast and absurd exaggeration at the hands of the authors of the " Annals." They captured every town that needed to be captured; they chased every army and rabble that it was neces- sary to chase and disperse; they killed every man that it was necessary to kill, which fortunately proved to be very few; they acted with consideration towards their own people, and with good faith, justice, and, in fact, with great kindness, to the native Californians. Not one tyrannical, selfish act has ever been laid to their charge; except, perhaps, as to Fremont in one case. It is asserted that he had the two De Harro brothers shot down while approaching him with a flag of truce. I sincerely hope that this charge may originate in some grave mistake, and may, on a thorough investigation, be found to be groundless, for it is the only solitary instance in which any of our commanders are charged with an objectionable act. As a rule, our command- ers showed great prudence and uncommonly good judgment, in all deserving well of their countrymen, and they have all been honored by them. The slurs of the " Annals " towards General Kearny fall harmless, for he was vindicated by his government, and honored by the whole people. It is a cause of just pride to us all that our government intrusted the work here necessary to be done to such faithful and able commanders; but the fact that all this can be truly said, is no reason for misrepresenting the true state of the country at the time of its acquisition by our government. The history of the past must be the guide for future generations; therefore, it should be truly given. It is unworthy of Americans, and not like them, to indulge in boast- ful laudations of their own exploits. With them the simple truth of history in regard to their country is glorious enough, and is all they wish or ask to go on record. At the date of Stockton's arrival in California-July, 1846-the Mexican people of the territory were, as a whole, a poor, miserable race-mostly half-breed Indians-lazy, indolent and without any ambition, and terribly demoralized in their lives. The most of them were not only bad material for soldiers, but were absolutely deter- mined not to fight. There were men, of course-a nearly pure blood Castilian class-who were altogether superior to the great mass of the population. They were, however, insignificant in number, when looked to as material for an army. Most of
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these families were in favor of continuing their connection with Mexico, because they knew that through that connection they gained their importance and rank over the Indians and half- breeds, and their means of living in ease and comfort. They were in favor of it, just as a business proposition, and not through national pride or any particular love of Mexico. On the contrary, they rather despised Mexico, and would long since have cut loose from her, if the connection had not paid them in a financial point of view. This being their position, they appear from the first to have made up their minds not to risk too much in the struggle with the Americans-certainly not their lives. Besides, they were wholly unprepared, and almost destitute of the necessary munitions and equipments for war. They had a few old, rusty, worthless cannon, taken from the Missions, a few long swords, in the use of which they were entirely un- skilled; but the swords were so few in number that their want of skill in the use of them made very little difference. They had carbines and pistols- few in number, however, mostly about such as were used by the brigands in the mountains of Europe one hundred years before. As to wagons or wheeled vehicles of any description, they may be said to have been wholly destitute; for all they had were the unwieldy Californian carts, known among Americans as California steamers. The wheels of these carts were about two feet and a half in diameter, cut from the trunk of a sycamore tree, in one solid piece; each wheel weighing about three hundred pounds. To these carts were attached half wild California oxen, with the most primitive sort of harness. Such were their means of transportation.
General Sherman, in his " Memoirs," page 19, alludes to the want of all sorts of wagons in Monterey, in January, 1847, the date of his first arrival in California. He says:
" Immediate preparations were made for landing, and, as I was quarter- master and commissary, I had plenty to do. There was a small wharf and an adobe custom-house in possession of the navy; also a barrack of two stories, occupied by some marines, commanded by Lieutenant Maddox; and on a hill to the west of the town had been built a two-story block house of hewed logs, occupied by a guard of sailors under command of Lieutenant Baldwin, United States Navy. Not a single modern wagon or ox-cart was to be had in Monterey. Nothing but the old Mexican cart with wooden wheels, drawn by two or three pairs of oxen, yoked by the horns. A man named Tom Cole had two or more of these, and he came into immediate requisi- tion."
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Of all the absurd things that are told of in the " Annals " in relation to the conquest of California, the most absurd is what they tell us of California horses. They talk of them as the " finest horses in the world," and of the California cavalry as " the finest mounted cavalry in the world;" when the fact is, that this race of California horses is the most miserable and contemptible known to exist in the world. They are a sort of mustang breed, with neither strength, long endurance nor size. Their general color is a wornout, muddy mixture of all colors. They are intractable, unreliable-being almost in their natures untamable-and have to be subdued and broken in after every short rest given to them. They are utterly unfit for draught purposes, and were seldom or never used for such by the Cali- fornians. They were used for horseback riding altogether. A Californian would catch one of these mustangs out of the herd, bridle him with a Mexican bridle, that has a bit so severe that he can break the jaw of the animal, if he wishes. He saddles it with a saddle that has a cincha, or girth, so contrived that he can draw it tight enough to break in the animal's ribs, if he sees fit to do so. He then rigs himself with a pair of Mexican spurs, that have barbs three or four inches long in the rowels, with which he can tear out the bowels of his horse. Then, taking his riata in his hand, he leaps on the unfortunate brute and spurs it on at the top of his speed, without feeling or mercy, for the next four or five days; in all that time scarcely giving it a bit to eat. When so worn out as to be unable to carry its rider a mile further, the bridle and saddle are taken off, and the ani- mal turned back into the herd-the mouth all lacerated and sore, the flanks streaming with blood, and the body swollen from the saddle. Then another animal is taken from the herd, to be treated in exactly the same way. This was the universal treat- ment horses received in California before the American rule, and it is not surprising, therefore, that such treatment and brutality produced the miserable stock of horses we found the Californians in possession of when we came to the State in forty-nine. The California mustang is not even a respectable apology for the noble animal we distinguish as a horse. Hap- pily, the California Legislature has taken the matter in hand, and by judicious enactments secured the extinction of the whole miserable breed.
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Now, what did the California army itself consist of ? From the way the " Annals " speak of the California forces, one would be led to suppose that those armies consisted of splendidly drilled cavalry regiments, well mounted, well clothed, well fed, and well armed. The truth is, however, that there was no such thing as a well drilled company of a hundred men, at any time, in the service of the California leaders. There may have been three or four hundred men, on one or two occasions, who were willing to fight and do their duty as soldiers; but, taken as a whole, the forces under the command of the California generals consisted of all the vaqueros throughout the country, gathered together by the call of the leading Californians to assist in driving the Americans out of the country, which they were per- fectly sure they could do by a show of numbers, without striking a blow. They. were undrilled, and unarmed to a great extent; but they had great reliance on their riatas, and a good deal more on the fleetness of their mustangs, in case they should find it necessary to retreat, or, in plain English, to run away. The generals found them plenty of beef and frijoles; so every young Californian and strolling Indian, in the whole country, mounted his best mustang and went to the war, just as he would have gone to a frolic or a fandango.
When the Americans came in sight, though they were few in number-not over four or five hundred, perhaps, at any one time -yet this number astonished the vaqueros, for they had never seen so many Americans together before. The first sight was generally enough for most of them; and well regulated little de- tachments of four, five, and sometimes ten or twenty, were soon seen on the retreat-rather fast, too. When the Commander re- monstrated with some of these parties, they coolly declared that they " had only gone on a pasear, that they had much business at home requiring their immediate attention," and after thank- ing the General, in the most polite terms (politeness is a charac- teristic of all Californians) for the entertainment he had given them, bade him adieu, telling him at the same time to " be sure to drive the Americans out of the country, for they were a very bad people." When deserted in this way, the generals, colonels and captains had nothing to do but to mount their handsomely caparisoned mustangs, fold their graceful and beautifully orna- mented cloaks around their shoulders, and with dignity retreat before the triumphant Americans. There were many other bat-
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