Historical and biographical record of southern California; containing a history of southern California from its earliest settlement to the opening year of the twentieth century, Part 19

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1366

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Never before or since, in the history of the flag, did such a queer concourse combine to pro- cure a staff to float Old Glory.

The carpenters among the volunteers spliced the two pieces of timber together and soon fashioned a beautiful flagstaff a hundred and fifty feet in length. The pole was raised near

what is now the southeast corner of North Broad- way and Fort Moore Place. By the first of July work had so far progressed on the fort that Col. Stevenson decided to dedicate and name it on the 4th. He issued an official order for the celebration of the anniversary of the birthday of American Independence at this port, as he called Los Angeles. The following is a synopsis of the order: "At sunrise a Federal salute will be fired from the field work on the hill, which com- mands this town, and for the first time from this point the American standard will be dis- played. At 10 o'clock every soldier at this post will be under arms. The detachment of the 7th Regiment, N. Y. Volunteers, and Ist Regi- ment, U. S. Dragoons (dismounted), will be marched to the field work on the hill, when, to- gether with the Mormon battalion, the whole will be formed at II o'clock A. M. into a hollow square, when the Declaration of Independence will be read. At the close of this ceremony the field work will be dedicated and appropriately named ; and at 12 o'clock a national salute will be fired. The field work at this post having been planned and the work conducted entirely by Lieut. Davidson of the First Dragoons, he is requested to hoist upon it for the first time, on the morning of the 4th, the American Standard. It is the custom of our country to confer on its fortifications the name of some distinguished individual who has rendered important services to his country either in the councils of the na- tion or on the battlefield. The commandant has therefore determined, unless the department of war shall otherwise direct, to confer upon the field work erected at the port of Los Angeles the name of one who was regarded by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance as a perfect specimen of an American officer, and whose character for every virtue and accomplishment that adorns a gentleman was only equalled by the reputation he had acquired in the field for his gallantry as an officer and soldier, and his life was sacrificed in the conquest of this terri- tory at the battle of San Pasqual. The con- mander directs that from and after the 4th in- stant it shall bear the name of Moore."

Benjamin D. Moore, after whom the fort was named, was captain of Co. A, First U. S. Dra- goons. He was killed by a lance thrust in the disastrous charge at San Pasqual. Capt. Stuart Taylor at this celebration read the Declaration of Independence in English, and Stephen C. Foster read it in Spanish. The native Cali- fornians seated on their horses in rear of the soldiers listened to Don Estevan as he rolled out in sonorous Spanish the Declaration's ar- raignment of King George III. and smiled. They had probably never heard of King George

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or the Declaration of Independence either, but they knew a pronunciamiento when they heard it, and after a pronunciamiento in their govern- mental system came a revolution-therefore they smiled at the prospect of a gringo revolu- tion. The old fort was located along the east- erly line of what is now North Broadway at its intersection with Fort Moore Place. It began near the northerly line of Dr. Wills' lot and ex- tended southerly to the fourth lot south of Fort Moore Place, a length of over 400 feet. It was a breastwork with bastions and embrasures for cannon. The principal embrasure covered the church and plaza. It was built more for the suppression of a revolt than to resist an invasion. It was a strong position; two hundred men, about its capacity, could have defended it against one thousand if the attack came from the front, but it could easily have been outflanked.

In the rear of the fort a deep ravine ran diagonally from the cemetery to Spring street just south of Temple. The road to the ceme- tery led up this ravine and many an old Cali- fornian made his last journey in this world up cemetery ravine. It was known as the Cañada de Los Muertos (the cañon of the dead). The -1th of July, 1847, was a crackerless 4th. The American boy with his fireworks was not in evi- dence, and the native muchacho knew as little about firecrackers as he did about the 4th of July. The day's festivities ended with a fan- dango. The fandango was a universal leveler. Mormon and Mexican, native Californians and spruce shoulder-strapped Regulars met and mingled in the dance. The day ended without a casualty and at its close even the most recalci- trant paisano was constrained to shout Viva Los Estados Unidos ! (Long live the United States.)

One of the historical fictions that appears in most of the "write ups" of this old fort is the statement that it was built by Fremont. There is absolutely no foundation for such a statement.

Emory's fort was begun before Fremont's bat- talion reached Los Angeles, and work ceased on it when Stockton's sailors and marines left the city. Davidson's fort was begun while the battalion was at San Gabriel, a short time before it was mustered out. Fremont left for Monterey shortly after the Mormon battalion began work on the redoubt ; and when it was completed, or rather when work stopped on it, he had left California and was somewhere in the neigh- borhood of the Rocky mountains. Neither is there any foundation for the story that the forti- fication was begun by Micheltorena when Com- modore Jones captured Monterey, October 19, 1842. It was not known in early times as Fre- mont's redoubt.

Another silly fiction that occasionally makes its appearance in newspapers and literary jour- nals is the story that an old adobe building on Main near Fourteenth street was Fremont's headquarters when he was "military com- mander" of the territory. As I write there lies before me a copy of an illustrated eastern journal of extensive circulation, in which appears a cut of this ex-saloon and present Chinese wash house labeled "Fremont's Headquarters." Not long since a literary journal of our own city, in an editorial, urged upon the Historical Society and the Landmarks Club the necessity of pre- serving this valuable historical relic of Fremont's occupancy of Los Angeles in the war. The idiocy of a commanding officer establishing his head- quarters on a naked plain two miles away from the fort where his troops were stationed and within what would then have been the enemy's lines seems never to have occurred to the au- thors and promulgators of these fictions. This old adobe house was built six or eight years after the conquest of California. In 1856 it was used for a saloon; Fremont was then a candidate for the presidency. The proprietor named it Fremont's Headquarters.

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

CHAPTER XXI.

TREATY OF CAHUENGA-TRANSITION.

A S STATED in a former chapter, Fre- mont's battalion began its march down the coast on the 29th of November, 1846. The winter rains set in with great severity. The volunteers were scantily provided with clothing and the horses were in poor condition. Many of the horses died of starvation and hard usage. The battalion encountered no opposition from the enemy on its march and did no fighting.

On the 11th of January, a few miles above San Fernando, Col. Fremont received a message from Gen. Kearny informing him of the defeat of the enemy and the capture of Los Angeles. That night the battalion encamped in the mission buildings at San Fernando. From the mission that evening Jestis Pico, a cousin of Gen. An- drés Pico, set out to find the Californian army and open negotiations with its leaders. Jesuis Pico, better known as Tortoi, had been arrested at his home near San Luis Obispo, tried by court-martial and sentenced to be shot for break- ing his parole. Fremont, moved by the plead- ings of Pico's wife and children, pardoned him. He became a warm admirer and devoted friend of Fremont.

He found the advance guard of the Califor- nians encamped at Verdugos. He was detained here, and the leading officers of the army were summoned to a council. Pico informed them of Fremont's arrival and the number of his men. With the combined forces of Fremont and Stock- ton against them their cause was hopeless. He urged them to surrender to Fremont, as they could obtain better terms from him than from Stockton.

Gen. Flores, who held a commission in the Mexican army, and who had been appointed by the territorial assembly governor and coman- clante-general by virtue of his rank, appointed Andrés Pico general and gave him command of the army. The same night he took his de- parture for Mexico, by way of San Gorgonio Pass, accompanied by Col. Garfias, Diego Se- pulveda, Mantiel Castro, Segura. and about thirty privates. Gen. . Pico, on assuming com- mand, appointed Francisco Rico and Francisco de La Guerra to go with Jesus Pico to confer with Col. Fremont. Fremont appointed as com- missioners to negotiate a treaty : Major P. B. Reading. Major William H. Russell and Capt.

Louis McLane. On the return of Guerra and Rico to the Californian camp, Gen. Andrés Pico appointed as commissioners : José Antonio Car- rillo, commander of the cavalry squadron, and Augustin Olvera, diputado of the assembly, and moved his army near the river at Cahuenga. On the 13th Fremont moved his camp to the Cahtenga. The commissioners met in the de- serted ranch-hottse, and the treaty was drawn up and signed.

The principal conditions of the treaty or capit- ulation of "Cahuenga," as it was termed, were that the Californians, on delivering up their ar- tillery and public arms, and promising not again to take up arms during the war, and conforming to the laws and regulations of the United States. shall be allowed peaceably to return to their homes. They were to be allowed the same rights and privileges as are allowed to citizens of the United States, and were not to be com- pelled to take an oath of allegiance until a treaty of peace was signed between the United States and Mexico, and were given the privilege of leaving the country if they wished to. An addi- tional section was added to the treaty on the 16th at Los Angeles releasing the officers from their paroles. Two cannon were surrendered, the howitzer captured from Gen. Kearny at San Pasqual, and the woman's gun that won the bat- tle of Dominguez. On the 14th, Fremont's bat- talion marched through the Cahuenga Pass to Los Angeles in a pouring rainstorm, and entered it four days after its surrender to Stockton. The conquest of California was completed. Stock- ton approved the treaty, although it was not alto- gether satisfactory to him. On the 16th he ap- pointed Col. Fremont governor of the terri- tory, and William H. Russell, of the battalion, secretary of state.

This precipitated a quarrel between Stockton and Kearny, which had been brewing for some time. Gen. Kearny claimed that under his in- structions from the government he should be recognized as governor. As he had directly tin- der his command but the one company of dra- goons that he brought across the plain with him lic was unable to enforce his authority. He left on the 18th for San Diego, taking with him his officers and dragoons. On the 20th Commo- dore Stockton, with his sailors and marincs,

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marched to San Pedro, where they all embarked on a man-of-war for San Diego to rejoin their ships. Stockton was shortly afterwards super- seded in the command of the Pacific squadron by Commodore Shubrick.

Fremont was left in command at Los Angeles. He established his headquarters in the upper ( second) floor of the Bell block, corner of Los Angeles and Aliso streets, the best building in the city then. One company of the battalion was retained in the city ; the others, under command of Capt. Owens, were quartered at the Mission San Gabriel. From San Diego, Gen. Kearny sailed to San Francisco, and from there he went to Monterey. Under additional instructions from the general government brought to the coast by Col. Mason, he established his governorship at Monterey. With a governor in the north and one in the south antagonistic to each other, California had fallen back to its normal condition under Mexican rule. Col. Cooke, commander of the Mormon battalion, writing about this time, says : "Gen. Kearny is supreme somewhere up the coast ; Gen. Fremont is supreme at Pu- eblo de Los Angeles; Commodore Stockton is commander-in-chief at San Diego; Commodore Shubrick the same at Monterey; and I at San Luis Rey; and we are all supremely poor, the government having no money and no credit, and we hold the territory because Mexico is poorest of all !"

Col. R. B. Mason was appointed inspector of the troops, and made an official visit to Los An- geles. In some disagreement he used insulting language to Col. Fremont. Fremont promptly challenged him to fight a duel. The challenge was accepted, and double-barreled shotguns were chosen as the weapons and the Rancho Rosa del Castillo chosen as the place of meeting. Mason was summoned north, and the duel was postponed until his return. Kearny, hearing of it, put a stop to it.

Col. P. St. George Cooke, commander of the Mormon battalion, but an officer of the regular army, was made commander of the military dis- trict of the south, with headquarters at Los An- geles. Fremont's battalion was mustered out of the service and Fremont himself ordered to re- port to Gen. Kearny at Monterey and turn over the papers and accounts of his governorship. He did so, and passed out of office. He was nomin- ally governor of the territory about two months. His jurisdiction did not really extend beyond Los Angeles. He accompanied Gen. Kearny cast, leaving Los Angeles May 12, and Mon- terey May 31. At Fort Leavenworth Gen. Kearny placed him under arrest and preferred charges against him for disobedience of orders. He was tried by court-martial at Washington

and was ably defended by his father-in-law, Col. Benton, and his brother-in-law, William Carey Jones. The court found him guilty and fixed the penalty-dismissal from the service. President Polk remitted the penalty, and ordered Col. Fre- mont to resume his sword and report for duty. He resigned his commission in the army.

Col. Richard B. Mason succeeded General Kearny as commander-in-chief of the troops and military governor of California. Col. Philip St. George Cooke resigned command of the mil- itary district of the south in May and went east with Gen. Kearny. Col. J. D. Stevenson, of the New York Volunteers, succeeded Cooke. His regiment, the First New York, had been recruited in eastern New York in the summer of 1846 for the double purpose of conquest and colonization. It came to the coast well pro- vided with provisions and implements of hus- bandry. It reached California via Cape Horn. The first transport, the Perkins, reached Yerba Buena, March 6, 1847; the second, the Drew, March 19; and the third, the Loo Choo, March 26. Hostilities had ceased in California before their arrival. Two companies, A and B, under command of Lieut .- Col. Burton, were sent to Lower California, where they saw hard service and took part in several engagements. The other companies of the regiment were sent to different towns in Upper California to do gar- rison duty. Companies E and G were stationed at Los Angeles, Company F at Santa Barbara and Company I at San Diego.

Col. Stevenson had under his command a force of about 600 men, consisting of four com- panies of the Mormon battalion, two companies of United States Dragoons and the two companies of his own regiment. The Mormon battalion was mustered out in July, 1847; the New York vol- unteers remained in service until August, 1848. Most of these volunteers remained in California and several became residents of Southern Cali- fornia.

Another military organization that reached California after the conquest was Company F, Third United States Artillery. It landed at Mon- terey, January 28, 1847, under command of Capt. C. Q. Thompkins. With it came Lieuts. E. O. C. Ord, William T. Sherman and H. W. Halleck, all of whom were prominent afterward in California and attained national reputation during the Civil war. Lieut. Ord made what is known as Ord's survey of Los Angeles. After the treaty of peace was made, in 1848, four con- panies of U. S. Dragoons, under command of Major L. P. Graham, marched from Chihuahua, by way of Tucson, to California. Major Gra- ham was the last military commander of the south.

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Under Col. Stevenson's administration the reconstruction, or rather it might be more ap- propriately called the transformation, period re- ally began. The orders from the general gov- ernment were to conciliate the people and to make no radical changes in the form of govern- ment. The Mexican laws were continued in force. In February an ayuntamiento was elected at Los Angeles. The members were: First al- calde, José Salazar; second alcalde, Enrique Avila; regidores, Miguel N. Pryor, Julian Cha- vez, Rafael Gallardo and José A. Yorba ; sindico, José Vicinte Guerrero; secretary, Ignacio Cor- onel.

This council proceeded to grant house lots and perform its various municipal functions as formerly. Occasionally there was friction be- tween the military and civil powers, and there were rumors of insurrections and invasions. There were, no doubt, some who hoped that the prophecy of the doggerel verses that were de- risively sung by the women occasionally might come true :

"Poco tiempo Viene Castro Con mucho gente Vamos Americanos."

But Castro came not with his many gentle- men, nor did the Americans show any disposi- tion to vamos; so with that easy good nature so characteristic of the Californians they made the best of the situation. "A thousand things," says Judge Hays, "combined to smooth the as- perities of war. Fremont had been courteous and gay ; Mason was just and firm. The nattt- ral good temper of the population favored a speedy and perfect conciliation. The American officers at once found themselves happy in every circle. In suppers, balls, visiting in town and country, the hours glided away with pleasant reflections."

There were, however, a few individuals who were not happy unless they could stir up dis- sensions and cause trouble. One of the chief of these was Serbulo Varela-agitator and revo- lutionist. Varela, for some offense not specified in the records, had been committed to prison by the second alcalde, or judge of the second instance. Col. Stevenson turned him out of jail and Varela gave the judge a tongue lashing in refuse Castilian. The judge's official dignity was hurt. He sent a communication to the ayun- tamiento saying: "Owing to personal abuse which I received at the hands of a private indi- vidual and from the present military commander, I tender my resignation."

The council sent a communication to Col.

Stevenson, asking why he had turned Varela out of jail and why he had insulted the judge.

The colonel curtly replied that the military would not act as jailers over persons guilty of trifling offenses while the city had plenty of per- sons to do guard duty at the jail. As to abuse of the judge, he was not aware that any abuse had been given, and would take no further notice of him unless he stated the nature of the insult offered him.

The council decided to notify the governor of the outrage perpetrated by the military com- mander, and the second alcalde said, since he could get no satisfaction for insults to his author- ity from the military despot he would resign; but the council would not accept his resignation, so he refused to act, and the city had to worry along with one judge.

When the time came around for the election of a new ayuntamiento there was more trouble. Stephen C. Foster, the colonel's interpreter, submitted a paper to the council stating that the government had authorized him to get up a register of voters. And the ayuntamiento voted to return the paper just as it was received. Then the colonel made a demand of the council to assist Esteban Foster in compiling a register of voters. Regidor Chavez took the floor and said such a register should not be gotten up under the auspices of the military, but since the government had so disposed, thereby outraging this honorable body, no attention should be paid to said communication. But the council de- cided that the matter did not amount to much. so they granted the request, much to the disgust of Chavez. The election was held and a new council elected. At the last meeting of the old council, December 29, 1847, Col. Stevenson ad- dressed a note to it, requesting that Stephen C. Foster be recognized as first alcalde and judge of the first instance. The council decided to turn the whole business over to its successor, to deal with as it sees fit.

Col. Stevenson's request was made in accord- ance with the wish of Governor Mason, that a part of the civil offices be filled by Americans. The new ayuntamiento resented this interfer- ence.

How the matter terminated is best told in Stephen C. Foster's own words: "Col. Steven- son was determined to have our inauguration done in style. So on the day appointed (Jan- mary 1, 1848) he, together with myself and col- league, escorted by a guard of soldiers, pro- ceeded from the colonel's quarters (which were in the house now occupied as a stable by Fer- guson & Rose) to the alcalde's office, which was where the City of Paris store now stands on Main street. There we found the retiring ayun-

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tamiento and the new one awaiting our arrival. The oath of office was to be administered by the retiring first alcalde. We knelt to take the oath, when we found they had changed their minds, and the alcalde told us that if two of their number were to be kicked out they would all go. So they all marched out and left us in pos- session. Here was a dilemma ; but Col. Steven- son was equal to the emergency. He said he could give us a swear as well as the alcalde. So we stood up and he administered to us an oath to support the constitution of the United States and administer justice in accordance with Mex- ican law. I then knew as much about Mexican law as I did about Chinese, and my colleague knew as much as I did. Guerrero gathered up the books that pertained to his office and took them to his house, where he established his office, and I took the archives and records across the street to a house I had rented, where Perry & Riley's building now stands, and there I was duly installed for the next seventeen months, the first American alcalde and carpet-bagger in Los Angeles."

"The late Abel Stearns was afterwards ap- pointed syndic. We had instructions front Gov- ernor Mason to make no grants of land, but to attend only to criminal and civil business and current municipal affairs. Criminal offenders had formerly been punished by being confined in irons in the calaboose, which then stood on the north side of the plaza, but I induced the Colonel to lend me balls and chains and I had a chain gang organized for labor on the public works, under charge of a gigantic old Mexican soldier, armed with a carbine and cutlass, who soon had his gang under good discipline and who boasted that he could get twice as much work out of his men as could be got out of the soldiers in the chain gang of the garrison."

The rumors of plots and impending insurrec- tions was the indirect cause of a serious catas- trophe. On the afternoon of December 7, 1847, an old lady called upon Col. Stevenson and in- formed him that a large body of Californians had secretly organized and fixed upon that night for a general uprising, to capture the city and massacre the garrison. The information was supposed to be reliable. Precautions were taken against a surprise. The guard was doubled and a strong reserve stationed at the guardhouse, which stood on the hillside about where Beau- dry's stone wall on the new High street is now. A piece of artillery was kept at the guardhouse. About midnight one of the outpost pickets saw, or thought he saw, a horseman approaching him. He challenged, but receiving no reply, fired. The guard at the cuartél formed to repel an attack. Investigation proved the picket's horse-

man to be a cow. The guard was ordered to break ranks. One of the cannoneers had lighted a port fire (a sort of fuse formerly used for firing cannon). He was ordered to extinguish it and return it to the arm chest. He attempted to ex- tinguish it by stamping on it, and supposing he had stamped the fire out, threw it into the chest filled with ammunition. The fire rekindled and a terrific explosion followed that shook the city like an earthquake. The guardhouse was blown to pieces and the roof timbers thrown into Main street.

The wildest confusion reigned. The long roll sounded and the troops flew to arms. Four men were killed by the explosion and ten or twelve wounded, several quite seriously. The guard- house was rebuilt and was used by the city for a jail up to 1853.

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Historical and biographical record of southern California; containing a history of southern California from its earliest settlement to the opening year of the twentieth century, Part 19

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918 Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co. Number of Pages: 1366

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1366