USA > California > Sonoma County > An illustrated history of Sonoma County, California. Containing a history of the county of Sonoma from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108
and he came and buried them under a pine tree, piling up a few rocks to mark the spot.
Finding that Cowie and Fowler did not re- turu, there was much uneasiness in Sonoma. A party was sent up the valley to make inquiry, who learned the circumstances of their cruel murder and mutilation. Two others of the party who were out in search of horses, had been taken, and it was feared that they, too. would be killed.
The Bear Flag men were not of the class to suffer any indignity. much less a horrid outrage like this. It demanded instant and exemplary punishment. Volunteers were called for to go in search of the murderers. The whole garri- son volunteered. All could not go. Twenty- three were selected and put under command of Lieutenant W. L. Ford. Among the number was Frank Bidwell, to whom the writer is indebted for this account of the pursuit. Captain Ford and his command came first to Santa Rosa. Pa- dillo had fled. From Santa Rosa he went to the Roblar de la Miseria, Padillo's ranch. He was there told by some Indians that the marauding band had gone, some three hours before. to the Laguna de San Antonio. Captain Ford pushed on to that point and bivouacked half a mile from the supposed headquarters. Ile charged upon the house next morning and found only four men there, whom he took prisoners. Ile left some of his men to guard the prisoners and horses which he had captured.
With fourteen men he continued the pursuit. After a brief ride of a few miles lie came to the Olompali ranch, now Dr. Burdell's place, in Marin County. He saw a number of horses in a corral near the house apparently in charge of a vaquero. Ile dashed up rapidly to prevent the man in charge from turning them loose, as he proposed to contiseate them. Getting nearer he was astonished to see the Californians pouring out of the house and hastily mounting their already saddled horses. Hle had run upon the combined forces of Captain Joaquin de la Torre and the Santa Rosa murderers, numbering all told eighty-three men. Both parties had been
66
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.
surprised. Fortunately there was a willow thick- et about sixty yards from the house. While the enemy were getting in motion Captain Ford ordered his men to fall back to the brush and to dismount, tie their horses, take position in the brush, and by no means to fire until "sure of a man." There was a mountaineer in the party who went by the name of " Old Red." He was a dead shot, and was stationed in the upper end of the wood. Frank Bidwell was some distance below him. The Californians, made bold by the supposed retreat, formed their lines and eame up handsomely. Their ad- vance was led by a gallant young Sergeant. All was still in the willows. The sharp crack of a rifle broke the silence, followed by a puff of smoke, which burst through the brush. It was "Old Red," who could not hold his tire. This brought on the fight. Other shots came in quick succession. In a very few moments eight of the assaulting party lay dead upon the plain, two were wounded, and a horse with an ugly bullet-hole in his neck was struggling in the field. The young Sergeant was the last to fall, whereupon the whole band broke for the cover of the hills, receiving as they left a volley at long range as a parting salute. Twenty-three shots had been fired; eleven took effect. "()ld Red's" excuse for firing so soon was. that he was " sure of a man " anywhere in range.
As soon as the fight began a woman in the house eut Todd's bonds, and he joined his com- rades before it was over. Captain Ford rested on his arms for some time thinking that the enemy would rally and renew the fight, but they made no sign. It was enough. He thereupon set out on his return to Sonoma with his resened prisoners and his captives. The captured horses he drove before him as the spoil of war. The murder of Cowie and Fowler was avenged on the field of Olompali.
On the 20th of June, Castro made his first move in the direction of trying to recover lost ground north of the bay. On that date C'ap- tain Joaquin de la Torre crossed the bay with about seventy Californians and being joined by
Padea and Correo, took a position near San Rafael. Of these movements Fremont was speedily apprised, and now for the first time gave open recognition of the claims of the rev- olutionists upon him for active aid. On the 23d of June. Harrison Pierce, a pioneer settler of Napa Valley made a forced ride of eighty miles to Fremont's camp announcing the pres- ence of Castro's troops on the north side of the bay and the consequent peril of those who had cap- tured Sonoma. Ile received a promise from Fre- mont to come to their aid just as soon as he could put ninety men into saddle. Pierce. with this cheering news retraced the eighty miles formerly passed over, with but one change of horse, and soon carried the news to the little garrison at Sonoma, that Fremont was coming. On the evening of the day he had received the tidings Fremont and his men were on their way toward Sonoma. Of the make-up of Fremont's force. one of the party wrote as follows:
"There were Americans. French, English, Swiss, Poles, Russians. Prussians, Chileans. . Germans, Greeks, Austrians, Pawnees, native Indians, etc., all riding side by side and talking a polyglot lingual hash never exceeded in di- versibility since the confusion of tongues at the tower of Babel. Some wore the relies of their home-spun garments, some relied upon the au- telope and the bear for their wardrobe, some lightly habited in buckskin leggings and a coat of war-paint, and their weapons were equally various. There was the grim old hunter with his long heavy rifle, the farmer with his double- barreled shot-gun, the Indian with his bow and arrows; and others with horse- pistols, revolvers, sabres, ships' cutlasses, bowie-knives, and pep- per-boxes ( Allen's revolvers)." Fremont, with this incongruous band, made forced marches and reached Sonoma on the morning of June 25th. After a rest Fremont started for San Rafael in quest of Castro and Torre's forces. Castro had not crossed over as supposed and Torre was invisible. A decoy letter of Torre fell into Fremont's hands the purport of which was that Torre's force with some other imaginary
67
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.
ally was to proceed against Sonoma. Fremont at once called to saddle and his command wont toward Sonoma as fast as muscle and tendon of mustang horses would carry them. Arrived there, Fremont became satisfied that he had been deceived, and made swift haste back toward San Rafael; but it was of no avail- the wiley Torre had suceceded in getting his troops across the bay and was out of reach of the clutches of the " Path Finder."
It was on this occasion of the return of Fremont to San Rafael that occurred what has the resemblance of wanton sacrifice of human life. We allude to the shooting of Ramon and Francisco de Haro. They were of a respectable family living at Yerba Buena. They reached the San Rafael Embarcaduro in a boat managed by José R. Berryessa. The Hlaro's are said to have been quite young- only sixteen or eighteen years of age. One version is that they were taken prisoners. as spies, and were regularly sentenced and shot. But the statement that Baneroft seems to give credence to is, that when they were seen to land, Kit Carson asked Fre- mont, on starting with a squad of men to meet them, whether he should take them prisoners, and that Fremont's reply was. " we have no use for prisoners." It is then claimed that Carson and his men as soon as in shooting distance opened fire, killing them on the spot. The late Jasper ()'Farrel is given as the authority for this version, and claimed to have witnessed the whole transaction. Unless there is more light cast on this transaction than we have had as yet, the killing of those young men will always seem wanton and cruel.
Captain William D. Phelps of Lexington, Massachusetts, who was lying at Saucelito with his bark, the " Moscow," remarks, says Mr. Lancey: -
" When Fremont passed San Rafael in pursuit of Captain de la Torre's party, I had just left them, and he sent me word that he would drive them to Saucelito that night, when they could not escape unless they got my boats. I hastened back to the ship and made all safe. There was
a large launch lying near the beach; this was anchored further off, and I put provisions on board to be ready for Fremont should he need her. At night there was not a boat on shore. Torre's party must shortly arrive and show fight or surrender. Toward morning we heard them arrive, and to our surprise they were seen pass- ing with a small boat from the shore to the launch (a small boat had arrived from Yerba Buena during the night which had proved their salvation). I dispatched a note to the com- mander of the ' Portsmouth,' sloop-of-war, then lying at Yerba Buena, a cove (now San Fran- cisco) informing him of their movements, and intimating that a couple of his boats could easily intercept and capture them. Captain Montgomery replied that not having received any official notice of war existing he could not act in the matter.
" It was thus the poor scamps escaped. They pulled clear of the ship and thus escaped sup- ping on grape and canister which we had prepared for them.
" Fremont arrived and camped opposite my vessel, the bark . Moscow,' the following night. They were early astir the next morning when I landed to visit Captain Fremont, and were all variously employed in taking care of their horses, mending saddles, cleaning their arms, etc. I had not up to this time seen Fremont, but from reports of his character and exploits my imagination had painted him as a large- sized, martial-looking man or personage, tower- ing above his companions, whiskered and ferocious looking.
" I took a survey of the party, but could not discover anyone who looked, as I thought, the captain to look. Seeing a tall, lank, Kentucky- looking chap (Dr. R. Semple), dressed in a greasy deer-skin hunting shirt, with trousers to match, and which terminated just below the knees, his head surmounted by a coon-skin cap, tail in front, who, I supposed, was an officer as he was giving orders to the men, I approached and asked if the captain was in camp. Ile looked and pointed out a slender-made, well-propor-
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.
tioned man sitting in front of a tent. His dress a blue woolen shirt of somewhat novel style, open at the neck, trimmed with white, and with a star on each point of the eollar (a man-of- war's shirt), over this a deer skin hunting shirt, trimmed and fringed, which had evidently seen hard times or service, his head unineumbered by hat or eap, but had a light cotton handker- chief bound around it, and deer skin moccasins completed the suit, which, if not fashionable for Broadway, or for a presentation dress at court, | struck me as being an excellent rig to seud under or tight in. A few minutes' conversation convinced me that I stood in the presence of the King of the Rocky Mountains."
Fremont remained in the neighborhood of San Rafael until July 2nd, when he returned to Sonoma.
On the 4th of July, our national holiday was celebrated with due pomp and ceremony, and on the 5th, the California Battalion of mounted riflemen, two hundred and fifty strong, was organized. Brevet Captain John C. Fremont, Second Lieutenant of Topographical Engineers, was chosen eommandante; First Lieutenant of Marines, Archibald H. Gillespie, Adjutant and Inspector, with the rank of captain. Both of the gentlemen named were officers of the United States Government, yet this organization was consummated under the fold of the Bear flag that yet kissed the breezes of the " Valley of the Moon." The next day, the 6th of July, Fre- mont at the head of his mounted riflemen, started to make the circuit of the head of the bay, to go south in pursuit of Castro. As there were now no California soldiers north of the bay it did not require a large garrison of the bear party to hold Sonoma.
But the end was hastening. On the 7th of July Commodore John Drake Sloat having received tidings that war existed between the United States and Mexico, demanded and received the surrender of Monterey. The news was immediately sent to San Francisco, where was anchored the American war vessel, Ports- mouth. At two o'clock on the morning of July
9th, Lieutenant Warren Revere, left that vessel in one of her boats, and reaching the Sonoma garrison, at noon of that day, lowered the bear Hag and hoisted in its place the stars and stripes. And thus ended the bear flag revolution at Sonoma. Lieutenant Revere also sent Amer- ican flags to be hoisted at Sutter's Fort and at the establishment of Captain Stephen Smith at Bodega.
Lieutenant Revere was sent to Sonoma by Montgomery of the Portsmouth, to command the garrison, consisting of Company B of the battalion, under Captain Grigsby. Lientenant Grigsby tells us that " a few disaffected Califor- nians were still prowling about the district, in pursuit of whom on one occasion he made an expedition with sixteen men to the region of Point Reyes. He did not find the party sought, but he was able to join in a very enjoyable elk- hunt." In August the Vallejos, Prudon, Leese and Carrillo were released from duranee vile, and restored to their families and friends. That very amiable relations existed between the victors and vanquished is evidenced by the fact that in September, while Lieutenant Re- vere was absent on an expedition, the Vallejos were commissioned to protect the Sonoma frontier with a force of Christian Indians. Some date previous to September 11th, Lieutenant John S. Missroon, of the Portsmouth, assumed command of the Sonoma garrison.
On the 25th of September, a meeting of the "Old Bears " was held at Sonoma, at which J. B. Chiles presided and JJohn II. Nash acted as secretary, and a committee of three was ap- pointed to investigate and gather all the infor- mation possible in relation to the action of the bear flag party, and report at a subsequent meeting. Semple, Grigsby and Nash were appointed the committee. Manuel E. MeIntosh was now alcalde of Sonoma. From the bear flag conquest of Sonoma, down to the discovery of gold in California in 1848 there is little to note in connection with Sonoma. Grigsby, Revere, Missroon and Brackett were the sucees- sive military commandants, and the Indians
69
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.
were easily held in subjection by Vallejo as sub-agent of Indian affairs. In 1848 Sonoma had a total population of about 260 souls. José de los Santos Berryessa under Mexican rule liad been at the head of municipal affairs. There
was then an interregnum of military rule, after which John Il. Nash became alcalde, and was superseded in 1847 by Lilburn W. Boggs, who, aided by a council of six, administered the municipal government of Sonoma until 1848.
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.
THE PAST AND PRESENT.
CHAPTER VIIL.
THE BEAR FLAG, HOW MADE - NAMES OF THE REVOLUTIONISTS. STATE SEAL --- GENERAL MARIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO -- GENERAL JOHN A. SETTER-SONOMA DISTRICT PIONEERS-NATIVE SONS OF THE GOLDEN WEST.
1 TY the " Admission Day " edition of the Sonoma County Democrat of September 9. - 1855, appears the following. The writer, R. A. Thompson, with whom we are well ae- quainted, is painstaking and conscientious in collating facts, and as he states that much of his information is derived from actual partiei- pants, it is entitled to confident eredeuce:
" The Independents were very proud of their flag. The bear made an apt illustration of their situation. The grizzly attended strictly to his own business, and would go on munching his berries and acorns if yon let him and his ubs alone. If you undertook to erowd him ont, or to make him go any other way or any faster than he wanted to go he wonkl show fight. and when once in a fight he fought his way ont or died in his tracks.
The Independents were here, had come in good faith, and come to stay: were quiet and peaceable if let alone. General Castro under- took to crowd them. His grandiloquent proc- lamations were harmless, but vexations. At last the erisis eame. The Independents, weary of threats and rumors of war, were forced, for the sake of peace, to fight, and having " gone
in," to use the identical words of one of them, they did not intend to " back ont." The bear was typieal of that idea.
The difference of opinion about the make-up of the bear flag arises from the fact that there was more than one made. The first was a very rode affair. It is described in Lieutenant Miss- roon's report to Captain Montgomery. Lieu- tenant Missroon arrived in Sonoma Tuesday. the 16th of June, about forty-eight hours after the capture. Hle reports to Captain Montgomery on the 17th that "the insurgent party had hoisted a fløy with a white field, with a border or stripe of red on the lower part, and having a bear and star npon it." The words " California Republic " were not on it at this time, or of course so important a feature would have been uoted by Lientenant Missroon, who was on a special and exceedingly important mission from his commander. That these words were after- wards added is doubtless true. It is a matter of very little importance, but if any one wishes an exact deseription of the flag as first raised, he can satisfy himself by an examination of the above-mentioned report. The flag with the bear standing is an after prodnetion, as is also the
^1
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.
silk guerdon which Lientenant Revere presented to the pioneers. The description of the flag given by Lieutenant Missroon aecords with the account of several of the party whom the writer has personally interviewed. Of course, as there were several flags made; each differed from the other, in the material, from whom the material was obtained, by whom the flag was made, and just how the figures were placed upon it. Henee the confused and many diverse accounts of it. All are right as to what they describe; but what they deseribe is not the flag first raised by the Independents. That was rather a rude affair. In fact, the representation of the bear upon it resembled the species porcus as much as it did the ursus feror or horribilis.
There were thirty-three men in the Bear Flag party, more than half of whom came from the Sacramento Valley. Among the latter was the brave and gallant blacksmith, Samuel Neal, and Ezekiel Merritt, the captain of the company.
Following is the first list ever published of the names of all the party. A number eame into Sonoma the day after the capture, and they eontinned to come in for some time. It is very difficult to separate these from the actual mem- bers ot the party who rode into Sonoma on the morning of June 14th. The accompanying list has been a number of years making, and has been revised many times and corrected from written records and by personal interviews. There are, doubtless, still some errors, which may be corrected upon a satisfactory showing:
SACRAMENTO VALLEY .- Ezekiel Merritt, R. Semiple, William Fallon, W. B. Ide, HI. L. Ford, G. P. Swift, Samuel Neal, William Potter, Sergeant Gibson, W. M. Scott, James Gibbs, Il. Sanders, P. Storm.
NAPA. Samnel Kelsey, Benjamin Kelsey, John Grigsby, David Hudson, Will Hargrave, Harrison Peirce, William Porterfield, Patrick M.Christian, Elias Barrett, (. Griffith, William L .. Todd, Nathan Coombs, Lucien Maxwell.
SONOM .- Franklin Bidwell, Thomas Cowie, Fowler. W. B. Elliott, Benjamin Dewell, John Sears, 'Old Red.""
EUREKA.
SEAL OF CALIFORNIA.
The convention which framed the Constitu- tion of the State of California (1849), passed a resolution appropriating $1,000 for a design for the Official Great Seal. One was presented by Mr. Lyons, of which he professed to be the anthor; it represented the Bay of San Francisco, as emblematie of the commercial importance of the city and State, with the goddess Minerva in the foreground, illustrating its sudden spring- ing into maturity; and the Sierra Nevada in the distance indicative of the mineral wealth of the country. The motto was the Greek word "Eureka " (I have found it). This was pre- sented to the committee, which consisted virtu- ally of Hon. John MeDougal, his associate, Hon. Rodman M. Price, being absent. General Me Dougal was pleased with the design, and wished it adopted with little. or no alteration; but finding that impossible, he consented to several minor additions. Thus the figure of the grizzly bear was added, as appropriate to the only section of the country produeing that animal. This was especially insisted npon by some members, conspicuous among whom was the late Hon. Jacob R. Snyder, then represent- ing Sacramento County. The native Califor- nians, on the other hand, opposed it, wrongly supposing that its introduction was intended to immortalize that event. The sheaf of wheat and bunch of grapes was also adopted, as em- blems of agricultural and horticultural interests of the southern seetions of the State, particu- larly. With these exceptions the seal, as de- signed by Mr. Lyons, was that selected. After it was accepted, some of the members claimed the original design of it for Major Garnett, who, however, had expressed to Mr. Lyons, of
72
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.
Lyonsdale (as with harmless affectation the the State, or the success of the miner at eccentric First Assistant Secretary loved to des- work. CALEB LYON. ignate himself ), a desire that he alone should " Of Lyonsdale, New York. " MONTEREY, CAL., Sept. 26, 1849." be known as its anthor. Dr. Wozencraft tried to have the gold-digger and the bear struck ont, and General Vallejo wanted the bear re- ANOTHER VERSION. moved, or else fastened by a lassoo in the hands of a vaquero; but the original snited the ma- jority, and it was not altered.
September 29, 1849, Mr. Norton offered the following, which was adopted:
Resolved, That Mr. Caleb Lyon be and he is hereby authorized, to superintend the engraving of the seal for the State, to furnish the same in the shortest possible time to the Secretary of the Convention, with the press and all necessary appendages to be by him delivered to the Sec- retary of State appointed under this Constitu- tion, and that the sum of $1,000 be paid to Mr. Lyon in full compensation and payment for the design, seal, press, and all append- ages.
Resolved, That " the Great Seal of the State of California " be added to the design.
The seal is thus explained by its designer:
" Around the bend of the ring are represented thirty-one stars, being the number of States of which the Union will consist upon the admis- sion of California. The foreground figure rep- resents the goddess Minerva having sprung full grown from the brain of Jupiter. She is introduced as a type of political birth of the State of California, without having gone through the probation of a Territory. At her feet cronches a grizzly bear, feeding upon the clus- ters from a grape-vine, emblematic of the peculiar characteristics of the country.
" A miner is engaged with his rocker and bowl at his side, illustrating the golden wealth of the Sacramento, upon whose waters are seen shipping, typical of commercial greatness; and the snow-clad peaks of the Sierra Nevada make up the background, while above is the Greek motto, 'Eureka' (I have found), applying either to the principle involved in the admission of
The above gives the history of the adoption of the great seal of the State, as shown by the record. Following is another version of its origin :
Major R. S. Garnett of the United States army actually made the design of the seal which was adopted. He declined to claim it, on the ground that the knowledge of the source from which it came would prevent the adoption of the design, owing to the hostility growing up between the existing military anthorities and the nascent civil powers of California. Caleb Lyon humbly asked leave of Major Garnett to appropriate and present it as his own. Major Garnett replied that he had no idea of reaping either honor or reward from the design, and if Mr. Lyon could reconcile it to his eonscience to represent himself as the anthor of another's work, he was heartily welcome to what he could make of it.
The last account has about it the ear-mark of truth, but as to which is the more reliable account we leave to the decision of the reader.
GENERAL MARIANO GAIDALIPE VALLEJO.
A history of Sonoma County with General M. G. Vallejo ignored would be like the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out. We visited him in 1858, and were saddened by the evidences apparent on every hand of decayed gentility. That he was the friend of the Americans is not a question of doubt that the Americans prof- ited by his prodigality and are now indifferent to his needs are lamentably true. But his name will reach farther down the annals of history than it is in the power of gold to purchase name and fame.
Mariano G. Vallejo was born in Monterey, July 7. 1508. His father, Ignacio Vincente Ferrer Vallejo was a native of Spain, who came
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.