USA > California > San Diego County > San Diego > City of San Diego and San Diego County : the birthplace of California, Volume I > Part 11
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"But it was not only the Spanish wives of the native Americans who espoused the cause of the United States-the same was true of some of the most conspicuous who were Spanish through and through. High on the role of American patriots of 1846 are the names of Arguello, of Pedrorena, and of that tireless and invaluable friend of our country's cause, Juan Bandini. It was Bandini's best saddle horse that carried General Fremont from San Diego to Los Angeles, and it was the ever memorable daughters of Bandini- Josefa, Ysabel and Arcadia-whose willing hands made one of the first American flags ever unfurled in San Diego. The demand for the flag at the outbreak of the war exceeded the supply, and the Bandini girls made one of red and blue flannel and white muslin sheet. There is a tradition in Old Town that it was this flag that was officially raised here fifty years ago today, but Sherman tells us that this could not have been so, because a thorough search of the archives of Washington shows us that it was a national flag that was used on this famous occasion. However, there is no doubt that the national colors, fashioned by the patriotic young girls of the Bandini family
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was one of the first, if not the very first, of American flags raised in San Diego.
"All honor to those of Spanish name and blood who took sides with the United States in the troublous days of '46! Their traditions and, in many cases, their own memories, went back to days when this land belonged to Spain, and their sympathies were with the mother in Europe, rather than with the robust daughter, Mexico, whose unwilling subjects they had become. As between Spain and Mexico, or as between Spain and the United States, they were irre- sistibly borne, alike by inclination and by interest, to the side of that mighty power whose dominion over the Pacific Coast they clearly saw to be inevitable. If Mexico had won, men like Arguello, Pedrorena and Bandini would have been prosecuted as traitors; as the event transpired, it is our privilege to crown them with the deathless laurel of patriotism. Presented with a difficult choice, they fought for the country which they craved an opportunity to love and serve-the country they believed best fitted to rule the destinies of California.
"On the forenoon of July 29, 1846, the American sloop-of-war, Cyane, stood in for the harbor of San Diego. At 11:30 a. m. she dropped anchor and prepared to take formal possession of the town in the name of the United States. The sloop-of-war was in the command of Capt. Samuel F. Dupont and brought eighty men belong- ing to the California battalion, eighty marines, four Delaware Indians and Kit Carson. The soldiers were in command of Major John C. Fremont, then in the midst of his dramatic career, and on his way to high military and political honors.
"At 4:40 p. m. a party was sent ashore under Lieutenant Rowan, accompanied by a marine guard under Lieutenant Maddox, to take possession of the town and hoist the American flag. The records show that twenty minutes later Major Fremont left the ship with a detachment of his men, and he tells us in his own memoirs that no opposition was encountered. Thus, at the very spot where we are now assembled, and almost at the hour, sixty years ago today, the starry flag was given to the breeze and San Diego became a part of the United States. J. C. Fremont was in command of the land forces, though he came upon orders of a superior, who, as it happened, was much more closely identified with subsequent events in San Diego during the war. This superior officer was Commodore Robert F. Stockton, who was in supreme command, and who played a noble part in the conquest of California."
The raising of the flag was by Major Woodworth, U. S. A., assisted by Mayor John L. Sehon.
Following the raising of the flag was the unveiling of the mont- ment-a granite boulder, surrounded with galvanized iron chains, attached to granite posts, and bearing this inscription on a copper plate :
ON THIS SPOT The United States Flag Was First Raised In Southern California By Col. John C. Fremont July 29, 1846.
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The stone had been covered with an old flag. Advancing to the monument under escort of Mayor Sehon and U. S. Grant, Jr., and surrounded by Major Sherman, Colonel Blackmer, Col. Joseph Dexter and others who were to take part in that feature of the program, Miss Fremont removed the flag from the stone.
After peace with Mexico was declared San Diego was guarded by American forces for more than a year and a half, but the troops had practically no trouble with Mexicans or Indians. The first troops here were the Mormon battalion, under Capt. Jesse D. Hunter, which on its way into San Diego camped for a time at the old Mission, then sadly dilapidated. They arrived here when the winter rains made fuel necessary and this was obtained with some difficulty. Captain Hunter's wife accompanied the expedition, and gave to him while here a son said to be the first child of American parents born in San Diego. He was named Diego Hunter and lived here for several years, dying in recent years at San Luis Rey, in this county. The Mormon troops were followed by Company I of the Stephenson regiment of New York. It was mustered out Sept. 25, 1848. Troops were quartered at the old Mission for several years after that.
In 1849 California's constitutional convention was held at Mon- terey, and the preliminary steps were taken by which the Golden State was soon added to the Union. The next spring the Legislature created the county of San Diego and included in its broad expanse what later became Imperial County, thereby making the eastern boun- dary of San Diego County run to the Arizona line. Yet this vast domain, according to the first Federal census taken in San Diego, con- tained only 798 residents and of these 650 lived in the little town.
It was at this period that the first attempt was made to establish a town on the site of the present city. This attempt naturally was opposed by many residents of Old Town and also drew opposition from La Playa, across the bay on the Point Loma shore. La Playa's claim to attention was based largely on the fact that, unlike Old Town, it was near deep water, but so was the new site. and for a time it appeared that the effort to build a city on that new site would be successful. Support to the venture was given by the Government authorities who established here a base of military supplies not only for what troops were left at or near San Diego but also for Fort Tejon, Fort Yuma and other points. Fort Yuma for a time was supplied by small steamers which ran from San Francisco down the coast and up around into the Gulf of California. In 1851, however, pack trains began to take supplies to Yuma from San Diego, William H. Hilton having the contract for that work, dangerous because of the hard trip across the desert section of Imperial Valley.
The site for the new city was selected by Andrew B. Gray, who came here in 1849 as surveyor for the boundary commission ap- pointed to fix the line between the United States and Mexico. Gray quickly saw the natural advantages of the site, its nearness to deep water and its climatic charm. The officers of the survey party had established a camp near the site of the Government barracks on what is now Market Street, near the Coronado ferry entrance, and the merits of the plan were soon firmly established in Gray's mind. So, early in 1850. Gray told William Heath Davis about it. and Davis
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agreed to go in with him. The two took in Jose Antonio Aguirre, Miguel de Pedrorena, two prominent Spanish residents, and William C. Ferrell, who became San Diego's first district attorney. While they were considering ways and means, a vessel arrived at La Playa with material for the building which the Government had decided to build here to house army supplies. Lieut. Thomas D. Johns was in charge of this task, and to him the planners of the new city went in haste, held earnest conversation with him and convinced him that La Playa was not the place but that the new town, not yet laid out, was. Lieutenant Johns was convinced and had the building materials shipped across the bay. Davis, who had most of the necessary capital, agreed to build a wharf and warehouse which he was to own, with the land they occupied. Within a month the plan had progressed so well that application for the land for the new town site was made. It was granted on March 18, 1850, by Thomas W. Sutherland, an attorney who was then alcalde of San Diego and who soon after became city attorney. The site contained 160 acres and ran from Front Street on one side and Broadway on another to the waterfront. The partners paid $2,304 for it. In a short time they had lumber and bricks for buildings, as the brig Cybell had arrived at San Francisco with a large cargo made up of those building materials. The vessel also carried several small buildings ready to be put together. Davis bought the whole cargo and had it brought to San Diego, where the "portable" houses were later used to a considerable extent. The first was put up for Davis, on what is now State Street, between G and Market ; later it was moved to Eleventh Street, between K and L, where it still stands. Davis completed the warehouse and wharf in the summer of 1851. It stretched 600 feet out from Atlantic Street. with a turn in it. The old barracks were built in the same year. At about that time John Judson Ames started his Herald, San Diego's first newspaper, in the new town, having been induced to do so by Davis, who lent him $1,000 to get a start. There were many other indications that the new San Diego would be a success, but there was one serious problem, that of water. It was not possible, with the means then at hand, to construct a system for the storage of water from mountain streams, and the supply had to be obtained from wells. One well was put down near the site of the present courthouse, and several others which gave a fair supply were soon dug. It looked bright for the new town. Yet, with all the help given by the presence of a Government establishment and despite the fact that several merchants were in business there, the venture did not succeed. The town simply did not grow. It was soon derisively called "Gray- town" or "Davis' Folly" by those who pinned their faith to the su- premacy of Old Town. John Russell Bartlett, who came here early in 1852, said there was "no business to bring vessels here. except an occasional one with Government stores," referred to the scarcity of water and fuel and added, "without wood, water or arable land, this place can never rise to importance."
Only a few months after Davis and Gray started the new town, another tract, known as Middletown and containing 687 acres, was opened up. On May 27. 1850. Alcalde Joshua H. Bean granted this to a group of men including Oliver S. Witherby, who had come here
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as quartermaster and commissary of the boundary commission and who was elected to the first assembly at Monterey ; William H. Emory ; Col. Cave Johnson Couts, who later married Ysidora Bandini and in 1853 went to live on the famous Guajome ranch; Thomas W. Sutherland, who as alcalde of the town had granted the new town tract to Davis and his associates; Agostin Haraszthy, who was San Diego County's first sheriff and who later was elected assemblyman ; Don Juan Bandini, Jose M. Estudillo, Charles P. Noell, who had come to San Diego only a short time before and who put up, it is said, the first wooden building in the new town, and Henry Clayton, who had come here as surveyor of the boundary commission and remained here to do similar work as city and county surveyor. The Middletown project languished along with Davis' Town, although the property became immensly valuable in later years, as did that included in the Davis-Gray tract.
While the new town was striving for supremacy, there was at one time considerable anxiety among the people of the whole bay section over an Indian outbreak, known as the Garra uprising, the most serious of several which threatened the safety of the white in- habitants of San Diego County. There had been one serious out- break in 1837, resulting in the murder of a rancher named Ybarra and two of his vaqueros, the burning of their home on the San Ysidro rancho and the abduction of the two Ybarra girls. The Garra up- rising, however, was of much larger proportions.
The outbreak took its name from Antonio Garra, an Indiana from San Luis Rey, who had received some education at the mission of that place and who become chief of the Cupeno Indians at Warner's ranch. Living with the tribe then was William Marshall, a renegade sailor from Rhode Island, who had deserted from a whale ship at San Diego some six or seven years before and had reverted to say- agery, marrying an Indian girl. Smythe credits the renegade Mar- shall with furnishing the "brains" of the uprising and filling Garra's head with dreams of conquest, in which he proposed that several thousand Indians living in and about San Diego County should be amalgamated into a fighting force to overwhelm the whites. Warner's ranch had been occupied in 1848 by Col. Jonathan J. Warner known as Don Juan Warner, a Connecticut man who came to California in 1831 and settled at Los Angeles, marrying Anita Gale, daughter of William A. Gale. He was San Diego's first state senator and dur- ing his residence in the county a man of considerable importance. In the attack on his ranch he did valiant service of defence, being an excellent marksman, but was unable to save it.
Some of the incidents of this affair are graphically told in the columns of the San Diego Herald. In the issue of Nov. 20, 1851. the editor voiced disappointment that news was scarce, a fact often weigh- ing heavily upon the editor of a small town newspaper, and devoted some of his more or less valuable space to an account of some brandy which he had sampled. Apparently it was of as bad a quality as some of the so-called liquor illegally made and sold since the days of national prohibition. His comment thereon was that "for over an hour we could not tell whether we had swallowed a cocktail or a torchlight procession." Ames' lament of the lack of news may have
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encouraged the making of some, for the very next week he had something of importance to tell, as set forth in the issue of Nov. 27:
"Our city," said the newspaper, "was thrown into a high state of excitement by the arrival of an express from Agua Caliente, the residence of the honorable J. J. Warner [later called Warner's Hot Springs, and, more recently, just Warner's], state senator conveying the intelligence that the Indians, who are numerous in that vicinity, had arisen and attacked his ranch, destroying all of its household property and driving away his stock, consisting of large and valuable bands of cattle and horses. On the 20th instant Mrs. Warner was warned by a friendly Indian that his people designed against the Americans and that the initiative on their part would be an attack upon her house. Alarmed at this, Mr. Warner immediately dispatched his family for this place and proceeded to put his house in a state of defence. He caused his cattle to be corraled, and had four horses saddled and tied to his door, to be use to convey intelligence to his neighbors in case the Indians appeared.
"The following night about 2 o'clock Mr. Warner's house was surrounded by a party of Indians, 100 strong, who deliberately drove away his cattle and attacked his premises. Mr. Warner, aided by two employes, opened fire upon the enemy, who returned, it, killing one of his party. Ammunition soon becoming scarce, Mr. Warner deemed it prudent to retire; not, however, until he had satisfied himself that he had killed four of the enemy. The Indians rifled the house of everything it contained and are now in arms in the moun- tains, defying the whites and boldly proclaiming their intention to massacre every white in the state.
"The Indians have since killed four Americans at the Springs, making a total of nine men murdered since the commencement of this unhappy outbreak.
"The family of Don Santiago Arguello in the valley of Tejuan have abandoned their rancho and are on their way to this city, fear- ing an outbreak on the part of the numerous Indians resident in that valley. It is known that Chief Antonio has invited them to join in the war."
The outbreak assumed such proportions that Ames, desiring to get the latest news for his paper, delayed publication on the follow- ing week by one day. Even then, however, he had little to print in his paper and, as he quaintly remarked. "nobody to read it if it were printed," as most of the male population of San Diego seemed to have set forth for the mountains to quell the outbreak. The next issue, dated December 11, contained the real news, set forth in part as follows :
"The company of volunteers which left this city on Thursday the 27th ultimo, under the command of Major Fitzgerald, camped at the Soledad that night and the next day pushed on toward Agua Caliente, where they arrived on Tuesday and proceeded to burn the town,- the Indians having abandoned it. Warner's ranch, three miles this side of Agua Caliente, they found totally ruined-cattle driven off,
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agricultural implements burned and the whole place made completely desolate. The dead bodies of two Indians were found near the ruins.
"In the meantime Col. Haraszthy went out with a small party and captured the notorious Bill Marshall, who is said to have ordered the murder of Mr. Slack and three others at Agua Caliente. [The Mr. Slack was Levi Slack, partner of E. W. Morse.] This Marshall is said to be from Providence, R. I., and came out to this country in 1844 in a whale ship, from which he deserted. He married a daughter of one of the chiefs of this tribe which has committed these depreda- tions, and is believed to be the chief agent in banding together these hostile tribes of Indians. He is now undergoing a court-martial trial at Old Town which is not yet concluded. They have engaged some three days in examining witnesses and have not yet decided whether they will hang him or not. Colonel Haraszthy is the presid- ing judge and the prisoner is defended most ably by Major MeKin- stry-Judge Robinson in behalf of the State. The testimony thus far has been very conflicting, and many persons believe Marshall to be innocent, although the great majority are for hanging him."
The next issue, December 18, told of . Marshall's fate :
"The trial of Bill Marshall and Juan Verdugo was concluded on Friday evening last, and on Saturday morning it was announced on the Plaza that they would be executed at 2 o'clock the same day. The Fitzgerald volunteers were ordered to be on duty at that time to conduct the prisoners to the scaffold, which had been erected a short distance out of town, near the Catholic burying grounds.
"The graves were dug and all preparations made during the fore- noon, for carrying out the sentence of the court-martial. AAt about 2 o'clock the volunteers were under arms and the people began to gather in considerable numbers about the Plaza and courthouse. A priest was with the prisoners most of the forenoon and accompanied them to the gallows, where they received final absolution.
"Marshall said he was prepared to die and hoped to be pardoned for his many transgressions. He still insisted that he was innocent of exciting the Indians to murder the whites, the crime for which he was about to die.
"Verdugo spoke in Spanish. He acknowledged his guilt and admitted the justness of the sentence passed upon him ; said he was ready to yield up his life as a forfeit for his crimes and wickedness.
"The ropes were then adjusted-the priest approached them for the last time-and said some consoling words to them-repeated a final prayer-extended the crucifix, which each kissed several times, when he descended from the wagon, which immediately moved on, leaving the poor unfortunate wretches about five feet from the ground. Marshall struggled considerable, but Verdugo scarcely moved a muscle. Both of them were in their shirt sleeves, and neither of them hoodwinked.
"After being suspended about an hour and a half, the bodies were cut down and interred in the Catholic burying ground."
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Antonio Garra, the Indian chief of the tribe which had been in the vicinity of Warner's was captured soon after this, was tried and convicted by court-martial on charges of murder and theft grow- ing out of the uprising. The Herald in somewhat vivid words de- scribes his execution in its issue of January 17, 1852. The execution was at Old Town, "the sun's last rays were lingering on the hills off Point Loma" as the firing squad did its work, and "in an instant the soul of the 'brave' winged its flight to the regions of eternity, ac- companied by the melancholy howling of dogs, who (sic) seemed to be aware of the solemnity of the occasion-casting a gloom over the assembled hundreds."
The Fitzgerald Volunteers were a company so named in honor of its commander, Major G. B. Fitzgerald, an army officer. With him served Cave Johnson Couts as Captain, Agostin Haraszthy, Robert D. Israel, Philip Crosthwaite, Henry Clayton, George P. Tebbetts and other well known San Diegans of the time; as Editor Ames has said. nearly all the men from San Diego went out with this force, determined to strike a punishing blow on the Indians. Col. J. Bankhead Magruder was in command of the American troops quar- tered at the old Mission, but he had only a few men, and the equip- ment of guns was poor. He lent some guns to the volunteers. Mar- shall was caught by a scouting party. Garra was given up by an Indian chief, whom he tried to win over from sympathy with the whites. Many Indians were killed in this "cleaning-up" work of the volunteers and regular troops, and this retaliation had such an effect that after that time there was no other serious outbreak in this section. There were murders, marauding and pillaging, but no real warfare. In and near San Diego the Indians sometimes got intoxicating liquor, with the usual results, and there were many stabbing and cutting affrays. Vigilante parties took care of the situation from time to time, official authority being apparently slow in action.
The business center of the new town of San Diego was at about where California and G streets now cross. That at the time was near the high tide line. By the northeast corner there was a large two- storv building of frame construction. On the ground floor were the offices of Hooper & Co., while above were the offices of the Herald. Across the street were the old barracks, which remain today, in a remarkable state of preservation and still used for the troops of the nation after some 70 years. The first issue of the Herald, which was largely devoted to publication of San Francisco advertisements, contains notice which give some idea of the business life of the new town in May of 1851. The leading firm was Hooper & Co., whose advertisements contained this information :
"Hooper & Co., Wholesale. Retail and General Commission Mer- chants, Corner of Fourth and California streets, New San Diego. Keep constantly on hand a large assortment of General Merchandise, consisting in part of Chile Flour, rice. butter, chocolate, sardines, assorted meats, oysters. lobsters, pickles, assorted sauces, hams, cheese, mead syrup, lemon syrup, cider in cases, brandy, 'cognac,' Stoughton bitters, saleratus, almonds, coffee, sugar. candy, pork, bacon, hams, dried peaches and apples, sperm and adamantine candles, boots and
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shoes, brooms, double bedsteads, black currants, English pearl barley, mackerel, pickled salmon, etc., wooden pails, tin ware, tubs, clocks, shirting and sheeting, flannels, calico, clothing, wool hats, socks, drawers, shirts, table covers, ribosas, handkerchiefs, candle wick, cambric, combs of all kinds, muslins, fancy soaps, hooks and eyes, tapes, nails, hardware, potatoes, lumber, etc., etc.'
Ames and Pendleton, wholesale, retail and general commission merchants had a store on California Street and advertised drygoods, hardware, cooking stoves and rough lumber for sale. George F. Hooper advertised 400 tons of coal, 12 good mules, 30,000 feet of Maine lumber which had been shipped in and, last but not least, a number of valuable books.
On the east side of what is now New Town Park, then called Plaza Pantoja, after Don Juan Pantoja, a Spanish pilot who was in San Diego in 1782, was the Pantoja House. Charles J. Laning was its proprietor, and his advertisement announced that he had fitted up the hotel in the best style and could provide for guests the very choicest of wines and liquors. Also, the Pantoja House had what was set forth in print as a very fine billiard room, containing a remarkable table, and this room was kept lighted until midnight every night for those who cared to test their skill with ball and cue.
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