USA > California > Amador County > History of Amador County, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 58
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Graham in particular was closely watched. A bold, open-handed man, never concealing for an instant either his love or hatred, but with the frank- ness and generosity of those great souls, rough hewn, but majestically honest, who belong to the valley States, he told the Governor his sins from time to time, and demanded, in the authoritative tone of an
affectionate elder brother, that he redeem his pledges. * * * He asked for justice, and received what we shall presently see.
Graham loved a horse. He had taken a fine gelding with him when he emigrated to the country, and trained him for the turf. Every year he had challenged the whole country to the course, and as often won everything wagered against his noble steed. Jose Castro *
and his Excel-
* lentissimo were among Graham's heaviest debtors. Behold the reasons of their enmity.
Another cause of the general feelings against the Americans and Britons in California was the fact that the señoritas, the dear ladies, in the plenitude of their taste and sympathy for foreigners, preferred them as husbands. Hence José Castro was heard to declare a little before the arrest of the Americans and Britons, that such indignities could not be borne by Castilian blood; "for a Californian cavaliero can- not woo a senorita if opposed in his suit by an Amer- ican sailor, and these heretics must be cleared from the land." Such were the causes operating to arousc the wrath and ripen the patriotism of the Californians. The vengeance of baffled gallantry bit at the car of Captain Jose Castro; the fear of being brought to justice by Graham tugged at the liver of Alvarado; and love, the keenest, and hate, the bitterest, in a soul the smallest that was ever entitled to the breath of life, burnished the little black eyes and inflamed the thin nose of one Corporal Pinto. These were the worthies who projected the onslaught on the foreign- ers. Their plan of operations was the shrewdest one ever concocted in California.
Since the "revolution" of 1836 the California Spaniards had been convinced that the Americans and Britons were vastly their superiors in courage and skill in war. From the beginning, therefore, it was apparent that if they were to get one or two hundred of these men into their power it must be done by strategem. Accordingly Graham's annual challenge for the Spring races, in 1840, was conven- iently construed into a disguised attempt to gather his friends for the purpose of overthrowing Alvara- do's government. This suggestion was made to the minor leading interests, civil and military, and a junta was formed for the safety of the State; or in plain truth, for the gratification of the several per- sonal enmities and jealousies of half a dozen scoun- drels who, disregarding the most sacred pledges to their friends, would rob them of their property and sacrifice their lives.
This junta, marshalling their forces at Monterey, adopted the following plan for accomplishing their fiendish designs: The soldiers were detailed into corps of two, three, and four in number, to which ·were attached several civilized Indians. These bands were secretly sent to the abodes of the foreigners, with instructions to convey them with dispatch to the Alcaldes of the neighboring missions. This they accomplished. The victims, on receiving information that the Alcaldes wished to see them, repaired to their presence willingly, and without suspicions of evil in- tentions against them. As soon, however, as they arrived they were loaded with irons and cast into the loathesome cells of these establishments, in which the padres formerly confined their disobedient con- verts.
Thus, one by one, they succeeded in arresting one hundred and sixty odd Americans and Britons-brave old trappers, mechanics, merchants, whalemen and tars-men who, if embodied under Graham, with rifles in their hands, could have marched from San
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FARNHAM'S HISTORY OF ALVARADO.
Francisco to St. Lucas, conquered nine hundred miles of coast, and held the government in spite of the dastards who were opposing them. But they were caught in a net, skillfully thrown over them, and were helpless. After each man was bolted safely in his dungeon, the harpies proceeded to his house, vio- lated his family, plundered his premises, and drove away his live-stock as private booty-the reward of the brave!
Having in this manner collected these unhappy men in the prisons of the several missions, Alvarado and Castro marched their whole disposable force to one mission after another, and brought them in, a few at a time, to the Government dungeons at Monterey. The names of these men, with their places of resi- dence, are given below.
Here follows a list of one hundred and sixty names, which will be omitted, as the object is more to show something of the character of Alvarado than to give a detailed account of the transaction.
Farnham afterwards got a full account of the method of arrest of forty-one of these prisoners. The statement of Isaac Graham will serve to sample the lot and show the atrocious character of Alvarado. It will be remembered that Graham was the one who assisted Alvarado to his position, so that in treating Graham as he did, he proved himself -- well, no term sufficiently expressive occurs at this moment.
I, Isaac Graham, a citizen of the United States of America, came across the continent to California, with a passport from the Mexican authorities of Chi- huahua, and obtained from the general commanding in Upper California a license to run a distillery in that country for the term of eight years; this busi- ness I have followed since that time.
On the 6th of April last (1840) there appeared to be mischief brewing. But what it would prove to be none of us could tell. The California Spaniards usually travel much about the country, and converse with foreigners rather shyly. They had threatened to drive us out of California several times, and we tried to guess whether, at last, they were preparing to accomplish it; but from what we saw, it was impossible to form a correct conclusion.
On the same day, however, Jose Castro, Bicenta Contrina, Ankel Castro, and a runaway Botany bay English convict by the name of Garner, a vile fellow, and an enemy of mine, because the foreigners would not elect him their captain, passed and re-passed my house several times, and conversed together in low tones of voice. I stopped Jose Castro and asked him what was the matter. He replied that he was going to march against the commandante general, Viego, at San Francisco, to depose him from the command of the forces. His two companions made the same assertion. I knew that Alvarado was afraid of Viego, and that Jose Castro was ambitious for the place; and for these reasons I partly con- cluded that they spoke the truth.
A little later in the day, however, the vagabond Garner called at my house, and, having drunk freely of whisky, became rather boisterous, and said sig- nificantly, that the time of some people would be short; that Jose Castro had received orders from the Governor to drive the foreigners out of Califor- nia, or to dispose of them in some other way. He boasted that he himself would have a pleasant par- ticipation in the business. I could not persuade him to tell me in what manner, or when this business
was to take place. I had heard the same threats made a number of times within the past year, but it resulted in nothing. Believing, therefore, that Gar- ner's threats proceeded from the whisky he had drunk, rather than the truth, I left him in the yard, and in company with my partner, Mr. Niel, went to bed. Messrs. Morris and Barton, as usual, took to their couches in the still-house.
We slept quietly until about three o'clock in the morning, when I was awakened by the discharge of a pistol ncar my head, the ball of which passed through the handkerchief around my neck. J sprang to my feet and jumped in the direction of the villains, when they discharged six other pistols, so near that my shirt took fire in several places. Fortunately, the darkness and the trepidation of the cowards prevented their taking good aim, for only one of the shots took effect, and that one in my left arm.
After firing, they fell back a few paces and com- menced reloading their pieces. I perceived by the light of their pistols that they were too numerous for a single man to contend with, and determined to escape. But I had scarcely got six paces from the door when I was overtaken and assailed with heavy blows from their swords. These I succeeded in parrying off to such an extent, that I was not much injured by them. Being incensed by my successful resistance, they grappled with me, and threw me down, when an ensign by the name of Joaquin Terres drew his dirk, and, saying with an oath that he would let out my life, made a thrust at my heart. God saved me again. The weapon, passing between my body and my left arm, sunk deep in the ground, and before he had an opportunity of repeating his blow, they dragged me up the hill in the rear of my house, where Jose Castro was standing. They called to him-" Here he is! here he is!" whereupon Castro rode up and struck me with the back of his sword so severely as to bring me to the ground, and then ordered four balls to be put through me. But this was prevented by a faithful Indian in my serv- ice, who threw himself upon me, declaring that he would receive the balls in his own heart.
Unwilling to be thwarted, however, in their designs to destroy me, they next fastened a rope to one of my arms, and passed it to a man on horseback, who wound it firmly around the horn of his saddle. Then the rest of them, taking hold of the other arm, endeavored to haul my shoulders out of joint; but the rope broke. Thinking the scoundrels bent on killing me in some way, I begged for liberty to com- mend my soul to God. To this they replied: "You shall never pray till you kneel over your grave." They then conducted me to my house, and permitted me to put on my pantaloons. While there, they asked where Mr. Morris was. I told them I did not know. They then put lances to my breast, and told me to call him or die. I answered that he had made his escape. While I was saying this, Mr. Niel came to the house, pale from the loss of blood, and vomit- ing terribly. He had a lance thrust through his thigh, and a wound in his leg, nearly separating the cord of the hcel.
They next put Mr. Niel and myself in double irons, carrying us a half a mile into the plain, left me under guard, and returned to plunder the house. After having been absent a short time, they came and conducted me back to our rifled home. As soon as we arrived there, a man by the name of Manuel Larias approached me with a drawn sword, and commanded me to inform him where my money was
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HISTORY OF AMADOR COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
buried. I told him l had none. He cursed me, and turned away. I had some buried in the ground, but I determined they should never enjoy it. After having robbed me of my books and papers, which were all the evidence I had that these very scoun- drels, and others, were largely indebted to me, and having taken whatever was valuable on my premises, and distributed it among themselves, they proceeded to take an inventory of what was left, as if it were the whole of my property, and then put me on horse- back, and sent me to this prison. You know the rest. I am chained like a dog, and suffer like one.
The testimony of the other prisoners shows that the same cowardly, cruel spirit prevailed cvery- where in making the arrests. It was at this period in the revolution that the bark Don Quixote came into the harbor of Monterey, from Honolulu. Though usually there were plenty of white men at Monterey, none were to be seen now. Thomas O. Larkin, afterwards the American Consul, was the only man to be seen, and a Spanish hombre was detailed to listen to every word that should be said to or by him, even sitting down to tea with them. It was with the utmost difficulty that the strangers werc informed that the country was in a state of revolu- tion, that it was probable that all the foreigners arrested would be shot in the cells where they were confined. The question naturally arose, whether anything could be done for them? Can they be saved? though the numbers on the bark were few. It was resolved to make the attempt, though they might all be shot in an hour.
The first duty on setting foot in California is to report ones self to the Governor, and obtain from him a written permission to remain in the country. This I proceeded to do. Mr. Larkin was obliging enough to accompany me to the Governor's residence. We found before it a small number of men who were usually complimented with the cognomen of " guard." They consisted of five half-breed Indians, and what passed for a white corporal, lounging about the door in the manner of grog-shop savans. Their outer man is worth a description. They wore raw, bull's bide sandals on their feet, leathern breeches, blankets about their shoulders, and anything and everything about their heads. Of arms they had nothing which deserved the name. One made pretensions with an old musket without a lock; and his four comrades were equally heroic with kindred pieces so deeply rusted that the absence of locks would have been an unimportant item in estimating their value.
We passed this formidable body, ascended a flight of stairs, and entered the presence of the Governor, Juan Baptiste Alvarado, a well-formed, full-blooded Californian Spaniard, five feet eleven inches in height, with coal-black curly hair, deep black eyes, fiercely black eyebrows, high cheek bones, an aquilinc nose, fine white teeth, brown complexion, and the clearly- marked mien of a pompous coward, clad in the broad- cloth and whiskers of a gentleman.
When we entered he was sitting behind a kind of writing-desk in the farther corner of the room. He rose as we entered and received us with the charac- teristic urbanity of a Spanish body without a soul; waved us to chairs, when he would have seen us tumbling from the balcony; smiled graciously at us one corner of his mouth, while he curscd us
with the other; seated himself, laid his bands and arms on the upper shelf of his abdomen, and asked if the ship had anchored.
It seems that he had urgent reasons for asking this. The coming of a merchant vessel had, when be was a Custom House clerk, and since he was Governor, been the means of filling his exhausted exchequer and paying his debts. When he was informed that the vessel was not laden with mer- chandisc, and did not propose to make any long stay, his disappointment was evident. He threw some red-tape formalities in the way of giving Farnham a permit to reside on shorc. Farnham was a six- footer, looked like a man of nerve and power. In the present delicate situation of affairs he did not court the presence of such men; neither did he dare to refuse him. The vessel was standing in and out of the harbor; might be one of a flect outside. Farnham was referred to the Alcalde, whom he found after passing the guard, which was a big dog, asleep on a rawhide in the corner of an adobe shanty. A full hour was consumed in writing the permit, an instru- ment of four lines, which had to be countersigned by the Governor. When this was accomplished be took up his residence with Mr. Larkin, the Consul, whose house was not far from some of the prisons where the prisoners were confined.
The shouts of the prisoners for water, food and air were distinctly audible.
" Breathe fast, for God's sake. I must come to the grate soon, or I shall suffocate!"
" Give me water, you merciless devils! Give me water!"
" You infernal sons of the Inquisition, give me water or fire on me!"
" Give us something to eat! O God! we shall die here! We can't breathe! Half of us can't speak!" And so on the night through.
Four hundred troops, such as they were, consti- tuted the army. Old Graham, with fifty of his rifle- men, would have sent them flying like a herd of sheep, but the old fellow was double chained. Through the influence of Larkin, who stretched the facts about the vessel several points to make Alvarado believe it was a government explorer connected with a fleet, Farnham was permitted to interview the prisoners, when he took the statements before referred to. It was noticed that the vessel went out of the harbor every night and returned in the morning, as if com- municating with a fleet; that Farnham was making signals of some kind when the vessel was in the har- bor, though, in fact, the signals were a sham, as neither party understood the other. Mr. Larkin professed to be in ignorance with regard to the vis- itors, said they certainly appeared to be persons high in authority. By thus working on the fears of Al- varado, Larkin was permitted to feed the prisoners. Sixty were found confined in. a pen twenty feet square, where there was not room to lie down, the floor being knee deep in mud and filth. During the
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THE ABORIGINES.
time it was learned that the authorities were consid- ering the proposition of shooting all the prisoners in the pens. Farnham wore a sword with the Ameri- can eagle on the hilt, and, assuming some airs of im- portance, resented any restraint on his movements, even refusing to give audience to Alvarado when sent for. Farnham had managed to communicate some courage to the prisoners, who defiantly sung some of the patriotic songs of their land. Pinto, before referred to, was commander of the guard, and became alarmed when the shouts of defiance reached his ears. He was told from the jail that the government of California had better commit suicide than to bring the British Lion and the American Eagle to war with them. Alvarado was finally moved to give them a trial, or at least a form of one.
On the morning of the 22d of April, 1840, twenty- one of the prisoners were brought before the Gov- ernor, and, one after another, questioned about the supposed conspiracy. Among the others was Gra- ham, who also denied any knowledge of the conspir- acy. A miserable tool of the Governor, who under- stood so little English as to fail to make himself understood by the prisoners, was the interpreter. By his aid a case was made against them. Garner, a Botany Bay eouvict, instrumental in the arrest of Graham, testified as to the existence of a conspiracy which was to exterminate the whole Spanish people of the province! Under this kind of testimony and trial forty-six were found guilty of conspiracy and were sent to Tepie for the Mexican government to deal with. Graham and Morris were so heavily ironed that four Indians were required to carry their emaciated bodies aboard the vessel which was char- tered to take them away. Many of these persons had native wives who clung to the departing prison- crs with cries of despair. They followed the prisoners from the jails as far as they could, helping to bear up the chains. They were driven away with blows. They had no homes to return to, as the soldiers had plundered their houses when the arrests were made, and stood wailing on the shore as the ship left the harbor.
A general thanksgiving was ordered and mass was sung in the churches for the great deliverance! It is said that Alvarado was much disappointed that he did not shoot Graham, and thus eaneel twenty-two hundred and thirty-five dollars owing to him in mer- eantile transactions. This, and other events con- nected therewith, occupied Alvarado the rest of the month. On the 8th of the following month he made the famous Arroyo Seco Grant.
Much that is bitter denunciation has been left out of this narrative. It must be remembered that when Farnham arrived one hundred and sixty persons were lying in jail for an imaginary offense; that these were the persons who had helped Alvarado to power; that they had been arrested without warrant, confined in filthy pens, their families maltreated, and their homes destroyed, and we can excuse some of
the writer's indignation. That Alvarado was mak- ing land grants in the mountains at this time, where no Mexican dared set his foot, is improbable. That he was capable of fixing up the records, in eonnec- tion with others, so as to show a grant at that time, may be possible.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE ABORIGINES.
Origin-Probable Antiquity-Indian Relics-Personal Character of California Indians-Division of Tribes-Indian Huts- Food-Indian Mills-Indian Cooking-Meal Time-Cloth- ing-Legal Tender-Grizzlies-Arms-Principles of Gov- ernment-Family Relations-Marriage-Small Hands and Feet-Religion- Funerals -- Military Reviews -- Numbers Assembled-Military Evolutions-Games -- Sweat House -- Fandango at Yeomet 1851-Diseases and Treatment -- Scourge of 1832-33-Anecdotes of the Indians.
MANY attempts have been made to identify the Aborigines with the people of the eastern hemisphere, or at least to prove their descent therefrom. A Jap- anese junk sunk on our coast is taken as evidence of a Mongolian immigration. The figure of a cross on one of the temples of Central America is taken as proof of a former Christian worship, though the tem- ples themselves antedate Christianity by centuries. Learned linguists find a resemblance in some words of the Welsh and a tribe of Indians in New Mexico, and forthwith a treatise or volume appears to prove that in the year 731, Ap Gllyyss and a hundred other Welshmen, driven out by the tyranny of a despotic prince, sailed away and were never heard of more until they were found, one thousand years afterward, settled on the head-waters of the Colorado in New Mexico, living in stone houses such as are found in Wales. It would seem that common sense in regard to such matters might be ealled in without detri- ment to the results. .
PROBABLE ANTIQUITY.
The facts are, the populations of the New World show as much divergence of character as those of the Old World, and can lay about as good claim to antiquity. Portions of the American continent are older in geological formation than Asia, and may have been peopled as early. From the north to the south, from the east to the west, on both Americas, are the indisputable traces of aneient empire. The thousands of mounds in the valley of the Mississippi, the ruins of temples in Central America, which ap- pear to be as ancient as the pyramids of Egypt, the ruins of buildings in Arizona, all prehistorie, speak of the rise and growth of nations; of the struggles of infancy, of the dominion of maturity; of nations exterminated and others taking their place. The colossal character of these ruins, and the extent of ground covered by them, are evidences of thousands of years of growth, which may have been cotem- porary, previous or subsequent to the Asiatic or European civilization. Even in California, though no granite temples record the ancient power and cul- . tivation of the tribes, there is evidence of their
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HISTORY OF AMADOR COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
possession of the country for ages. The shell mounds along the sea shore ure the accumulation of centuries. Indian implements are found buried beneath mounds of earth and debris of rivers, which prove their an- tiquity beyond all doubt.
INDIAN RELICS,
In 1853, while mining out a portion of Humbug gulch, near Volcano, in Amador county, the writer of this history found an Indian mortar similarto thosein use, buried under ten or twelve feet of soil, on which timber of considerable size was growing. The place seemed to have been used as a spring, burnt sticks and other trash indicating a camp near by. The spot was quite rich, having a hundred dollars or more in a little spot a yard square. If the squaws who used this spring had ever cleaned it out, they could hardly help finding some of the gold which was mixed with the trash. Others have had a similar experience. Indian relics, consisting of mortars, pestles, etc., were taken out of the ground at a depth of eighteen feet, by J. F. M. Johnston, showing a great antiquity.
PERSONAL CHARACTER.
The Indians of California are rather shorter in stature and stouter built than the Indians cast of the Rocky Mountains, though occasionally one might be found who was tall and slender, like some of the Sioux or Pawnees. The Indians of the Pacific coast were also of a more dusky huc, but the same long, straight, coarse, black hair, beardless faces, and dark, dreamy eyes, characterized all the North American races. The divergence from the general type was not greater than can be seen in any race of men, in fact, it appears to be true that the less the cultiva- tion the more uniformity of character.
DIVISION OF TRIBES.
The Indians of the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys were divided into several tribes, though there seemed to be a blending by intermarriage so that the lines were not rigidly drawn. It is probable that individuals could change their allegiance with- out much trouble. The Indians living in the vicin- ity of the upper Cosumnes, including the Dry Creek Indians, called themselves Neshenams. The Poo- soones lived about the mouth of the American river; the Quotoas, around Placerville, the Colomas, around Sutter's old mill, the Wapumnes, near Latrobe. The Mokelkos occupied that portion of San Joaquin county, lying east and north of Stock- ton. From Staples' Ferry to Athearn's, they called themselves the La-las. The Indians of the Ione valley called themselves Lucklum-las. The --- Machacos occupied the Mokelumne river to Campo Seco. The La-las were absorbed by the Mokel- kos, who were the most powerful of all the tribes, and had nearly a score of towns, with a total popu- lation of three or four thousand. They were con- tinually at war, sometimes against the Machacos, sometimes against the Cosos (Cosumne Indians) and the Jackson Valley Indians combined. The Mokel-
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