History of California, Volume III, Part 47

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Publication date: 1885-1890
Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers
Number of Pages: 824

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fierce, brutal, hypocritical, insolent, centralist governor,' who had arrested Carrillo at Sta Bárbara and many of the leading men at Monterey. Vallejo went back to Sonoma and started again with a force of 22 soldiers, 10 citi- zen volunteers, and 14 Indians. At S. José Juan Alvires was told to be ready for action if needed. One day was spent at Pájaro at the rancho of J. J. Vallejo, who was ready to render aid against the centralist. At Il A. M. on May 26th, having been admitted to the presidio by the corporal of the guard, Don Guadalupe formed his men in a line before the governor's. house and knocked at the door. It was opened by an old man in a morning gown, green cap, and slippers, who said, 'I am the man you have come to see; are you not Alférez Vallejo, who commands on the Sonoma frontier?' 'Yes, and I want to see Comandante General Chico,' was the reply, whereupon he went and put on his uniform, and returned, saying, 'Señor Alférez, here is the gen- eral of California.' A long interview ensned, minutely described. Chico complained of Vallejo's delay in coming, but after a long discussion, the lat- ter, by the aid of a map drawn on the spot, succeeded in convincing Chico that the trip from Sonoma could not have been made quicker! Then Chico questioned his visitor closely about the northern frontier and his Indian pol- icy. The Indians were also called in and questioned. Finally the governor expressed great satisfaction and praised the young officer's conduet; asked him to take a glass of wine brought by Doña Cruz, whose bright eyes alnost eansed the alférez to forget the charms of his own young wife; and accom- panied him to the door, telling him to stay at Monterey as long as he liked. Vallejo then went out to meet his friends, who had gathered to defend him in case of need, and were mneh surprised to know that 'Guadalupe had tamed the bear.' It was their opinion and the narrator's that Chico had intended to arrest Vallejo, but had been frightened by his resolute acts and by his mil- itary escort. (The interview, according to Vallejo's own version, would in- dicate rather that Chico was a quiet, gentlemanly officer, who had no hostility against the alférez, and was pleased by his independence and bluff manners. ) It was then that the plan of revolution was formed, to be carried ont if Chico should continue his arbitrary conduct, and a written agreement was made, of which each of the conspirators kept a copy. Alcalde Estrada so far assented to the plan as to agree not to endure from Chico any direct infringement of the written laws.

431

THE VIGILANTES.

later they might be induced to serve the sinister aims into which more than once the avowed and secret di- rectors of this mutiny have been initiated, causing bitter days for this department." So urgent did the danger seem, that he wished to go in person to Los Angeles, but was dissuaded by friends, who told him that as the command had not yet been transferred, his authority would probably not be recognized at the pueblo. Therefore he hastened to Monterey, and soon sent Gutierrez south with a force to restore order. All this, with something of results, and the fact that the expedition had burdened the treasury with a loan of $2,000, was communicated at length to the junta and to the people in the governor's discourse of May 27th.4 It was doubtless in connection with this expedition that the order to Vallejo had been issued as already related.

On April 26th, in accordance with orders from Mon- terey, Alcalde Requena had commenced proceedings against members of the so-called mob of April 7th; but as all declared there were no leaders, and that over fifty culprits must be punished if any, the alcalde could only report to the governor enclosing a list of the names.35 It was on May 4th that Chico issued orders for Gutierrez to march south to quell the dis- orders at Los Angeles; but we know very little of the expedition, save that it cost $2,000, met no resistance, and according to Chico's discourse was successful in

31 Chico, Discurso, etc. Jacob P. Leese, as already stated, came north with Chico; and according to the statement of Hittell, Ilist. S. Francisco, 81, based presumably on Leese's own account, 'on the way Chico asked him for an account of the affair at Los Angeles, of which Noriega at Sta Bárbara had given him a very unfavorable opinion. Leese told the circumstances, and produced the copy of the record, which entirely satisfied the governor, who promised that he should not be troubled about it. A desire to learn the par- ticulars of the execution at Los Angeles was probably one of Chico's motives for requesting Lecse's company; and the conviction in his mind that the people acted properly may have had some influenco in indneing him to give a letter that assisted Leese in obtaining the order for laying ont the town of Yerba Buena.' Evidently there is a mistake about Chico's conviction, what- ever may have been his course towards Leese personally.

33 Record of May 4th. S. Diego, Arch., MS., 103. Chico also mentions in his Discurso the means adopted by the mob to shield the leaders.

432

RULE OF GUTIERREZ AND CHICO.

overawing the Angelinos to such an extent that they "pointed out their deceivers, that justice might pur- sue them." Some arrests were made and arms were seized in the city and adjoining ranchos before and after Chico's arrival.36

Why Chico went to the south at all is not clear; neither is it possible to give any connected narrative of what he did there, except to make himself very un- popular. He reached Los Angeles about the middle of June, having a few days before presided at the swearing of the bases at Santa Barbara, as he did at the city on the 19th. He granted some kind of an amnesty to those concerned in the tumult of April, excepting four men from the amnesty, by an order of June 20th; and next day he issued a bando requir- ing the delivery of all arms that were yet in private possession, under severe penalties.37 Osio says that after storming for a while, and terrifying the timid Angelinos with his threats of hanging and shooting, Chico calmed down and astonished the prisoners by dismissing them with pardon, after a mild reprimand. This writer says, however, that he subsequently lost his temper again, and caused several arrests; but the prisoners were released after he left the country. Several Californians tell us that Prudon and Araujo were banished, and that the latter never returned; but I think that no one received any greater pun- ishment than a brief arrest.

The governor, being called to Monterey by 'im- portant affairs,' left San Gabriel for the north on

36 May 4, 1836, Chico's order to Gutierrez, and to alcalde to give him aid. Dept. St. Pap., MS., iv. 108. May ISth, Prudon and Arzaga arrested. Sepul- veda and Juan Avila not yet. Guerra, Doc., MS., vi. 135. May 2Sth, arms seized from 24 persons, 13 of whom were foreigners. Los Angeles, Arch., MS., i. 98-101. June 3d, Gutierrez to Chico. Is gathering in all the arms, and will go to S. Diego, leaving Ibarra in command. Dept. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., Ixxxi. 37. June Sth-ISth, collection of arms by alcaldes at the ranchos. Id., Angeles, ii. 50-2. Nov. 20th, arms colleeted at S. Gabriel, perhaps in connee- tion with some other matter. Id., ii. 65-6.

37The 4 men not included in the amnesty were José Perez, Vicente Sanchez, José Sepúlveda, and Juan Ramirez, said to have headed a second meeting of citizens. Dept. St. Pap., Ben. Prof. y Juzy., M.S., vi. 7. They may have been the 4 'discolos maliciosos' of Chico's Discurso.

433

CHICO IN THE SOUTH.

June 28th, and reached Monterey the 8th of July. Before his departure, he gave to Gutierrez full au- thority to act in all matters pertaining to the civil or military command in the south. This officer was at San Diego, making investigations respecting the 'plan' of Bandini and others, to which I have already referred. The result was forwarded on July 13th for consideration at the capital; but its nature is not re- vealed. 38 There can be no doubt that Chico acted most unwisely in assuming the position that he did respecting the tumults in the south. There was prob- ably no political significance in them at all. Such popular uprisings for speedy justice, when supported by the best citizens, are nearly always for the best, whatever may be the theoretical majesty of the law. Chico was technically right in his adherence to law and order, but he should have seen that he could ac- complish nothing against a whole town, as he did see after going south, and have congratulated himself that the trouble did not occur in his term of office. All he effected was to make himself cordially hated by the citizens of Los Angeles and San Diego.

In yet another affair, Chico while in the south laid the foundations of a controversy that was destined to alienate from him whatever share he had in the patri- otic good-will of even the staid and conservative Sauta Bárbara. On his way southward he came to Santa Inés the 10th of June, and the padres Jimeno not only refused him animals and other aid for his jour- ney, but failed to award him the ceremonial reception due to his rank, or even the courtesies always shown to travellers at the missions. Such was Chico's own version of the affair; that of the padres, confirmed by Señora Jimeno, their sister-in-law, who was present at Santa Inés, was that as much courtesy was shown

38 July Ist, 13th, Gutierrez from S. Luis and S. Diego to Chico, who on June 25th had announced his departure for the 20th. S. Diego, Arch., MS., 116; Dept. St. Pap., Ben. Mil., MS., lxxxi. 25, 28. June 27th, Chico at San Gabriel, ready to start next day. Vallejo, Doc., MIS., iii. 216. At Monterey July Sth. Gomez, Diario, MS.

HIST, CAL., VOL. III. 28

434

RULE OF GUTIERREZ AND CHICO.

to the governor as was possible on short notice, his coming not being known in advance at the mission.39 Arriving at Santa Bárbara the same day, Chico pre- sented a complaint on the subject to Prefect Duran, who did not attempt to deny or justify the alleged discourtesy of the friars, paying very little attention to the charges,4) but offering a long argument to the effect that unsecularized missions were under no ob- ligation to furnish aid to the government. This argu- ment, and the resulting secularization of Santa Inés and San Buenaventura, will receive attention in an- other chapter. Duran also flatly refused to celebrate mass at the swearing of the bases, on the ground of his allegiance to Spain.

It does not appear that there was any controversy during Chico's presence at Santa Barbara. If there was any exhibition of ill temper in the governor's in-

39 June 23d, Chico to junta, including the substance of his letter of June 11th to P. Duran. St. Pap., Miss. and Colon., MS., ii. 368-73. C. says that his coming had been announced formally by a vaquero sent from Buenavista, that Manuel Jimeno told him at Oso Flaco that he was expected that very day, and that all the people of the mission were on the qui vive for his arrival. Therefore he was surprised when P. José Jimeno came out to meet him, with the remark that no facilities could be afforded since his coming had not been known, and moreover that he and his brother were 'mere pilgrims in that Jerusalem.' P. Victoria was courteous, but the Jimeno brothers showed such marked disrespect and contempt for his office that he was compelled to decline even to take a seat proffered him on a bench in the ante-kitchen. At the foot of the hill he was overtaken by the majordomo, who begged permission to bring animals for his service, an offer which was accepted. Sra Jimeno, Ord, Ocurrencias, MS., 87-97, says she was at Sta Inés recovering from a serious illness, and P. Antonio Jimeno had come there to celebrate her birth- day on June 11th. They were at dinner when an Indian announced the gen- eral's coming. Chico came in a carriage; the three friars went out to meet him; one opened the door of the carriage, another offered his hand, while P. José Jimeno expressed regret that ignorance of the time of his arrival pre- vented a more ceremonial reception, though the mission bells were now ring- ing. Chico was invited in to dinner, but declined, and reentering his carriage, was driven to Huejote. To that place the padres and Sra Jimeno sent a fine repast, which Chico refused, saying, 'Vuelvale Vd. esa comida a esos frailes, pues no quiero nada de ellos.'

4º June 15th, Duran to C., will not treat of the occurrences at Sta Ines, because he has already made verbal explanation, and will speak of them again. ' For, after all, those padres are my brethren, and I cannot but insist on act- ing as peacemaker until I succeed in obtaining from you a complete indulgence in favor of those poor friars, whose offence I believe could have been none other than surprise and inadvertence; and I trust that you will entertain the same opinion when you know them better.' St. Pap., Miss. and Colon., MS., ii. 374-5.

435

TROUBLE WITH THE PADRE PREFECTO.

tercourse with the padres, it has left no trace in his written communications, which are dignified in manner and matter. He reported the matter to the junta, and that body decided before his return to Monterey that the missions were under obligations to aid the government; and expressed much regret and surprise at the offensive conduct of the padres toward the chief magistrate of the territory, something that had never been witnessed in the country before, even in the case of a private traveller.41 After Chico's return it was decided by him and approved by the junta that Duran should be ordered to Monterey and expelled from California, for having refused to celebrate mass at the swearing of the bases, and for publicly main- taining that the national independence was illegal, unjust, and anti-Catholic. This action was consistent enough with the past policy of the diputacion, and, as will be remembered, had been recommended by Figueroa; yet it is not unlikely that the chief mo- tive of this support of Chico by the junta was to promote, through Duran's well known popularity at Santa Barbara, the disaffection of that conservative people, hitherto unmanageable in the interest of po- litical agitators. The order was sent to the alcalde July 25th; and all that we know of the result by contemporary records is that on August 4th, after Chico's departure, Padre Duran announced to the alcalde that he could not go to Monterey by land, but must await the Leonidas. 42 It is stated, however, by several persons who must have known the facts, that when an attempt was made to put the padre prefecto on board a vessel, the people of the town rose en masse, women in the front ranks, and prevented the

41 Report of com. on missions, June 29th-30th. St. Pap., Miss. and Colon., MS., ii. 385. July 4th, Alvarado to Vallejo. The padres Jimeno and P. Duran treated Chico with so much disrespect that he was obliged to take from them the temporal management of Sta Ines and S. Buenaventura. Fallejo, Dor., MS., iii. 218.

42 July 25, 1836, Chico to alcalde of Sta B. Aug. 4th, P. Duran to same. Dept. St. Pap., MS., iv. 115-16, 122.

436

RULE OF GUTIERREZ AND CHICO.

local authorities from executing Chico's orders.43 The popular version ascribes Chico's 'persecution' of Duran to the latter's refusal to punish the padres Jimeno, and to his denunciation of the governor's vices; but the dates and tenor of the two original documents cited will suggest to the reader very many discrepancies in all that is said by Californians about this, like every other part of Chico's rule.

The governor's popularity at the capital had not increased during his absence, and he soon became involved in the final troubles of his Californian ex- perience. These troubles are stated with great una- nimity by those who write from memory to have grown out of a scandalous liaison between José María Castañares, a clerk in the custom-house, and Doña Ildefonsa, wife of the sub-comisario, José María Herrera. This causa célebre is fully recorded in the archives, many of the original papers being in my pos- session. The record is bulky, and most of the details,

43 Valdés, Mem., MS., 24; Janssens, Vida, MS., 65; Gonzalez, Experiencias, MS., 32; Pinto, Apuntaciones, MS., 17. Mrs Ord, Ocurrencias, MS., 93-7, says that two officers came to Sta B. from the north to arrest Duran, arriv- ing in the night. Domingo Carrillo warned Capt. Guerra; and narrator with a little brother was sent to warn P. Duran, who replied: 'Tell the patriarch to have no fear; blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' The agents of Chico gave Duran some days for preparation, and then he went to the beach in a carriage. All the women of the place crowded about the carriage, and declared that the padre should not go on board the vessel. When a climax of cries and tears and general excite- ment had been reached, the men, hitherto concealed in a sauzalito near by, came up to support the women; and Duran, against his own desire, real or pre- tended, was taken home. Sta Bárbara for the first time was in open revolt against the govt. Alvarado, Ilist. Ca/., MS., iii. 79-SG, tells us that Capt. Guerra, knowing that Duran was to be exiled, and not being at liberty to divulge the se- cret, called his young son, and gave him money to go and buy all the eggs he could get for P. Duran, who was to be sent away, but it was a great secret, and must be told to nobody. Of course the youngster told everybody, as was his custom with all secrets-and also so as to get the eggs for nothing and pocket the money-and when the soldiers went to make the arrest, they found Duran surrounded by a crowd of women, who declared they would defend him with their lives. The soldiers did not dare to make the attack, and Chico was noti- fied that he must send Mexican soldiers to take the padre! Vallejo, Ilist. Cit., MS., iii. 120-4, states, as does Alvarado, that Duran's chief offence was having preached against the governor's immorality. Chico was furious, and prepared to send an armed force to make his authority respected at Sta B .; but was dissuaded, or prevented by his other troubles, from carrying out his plan.

437

AMOURS OF DOÑA ILDEFONSA.

for obvious reasons, cannot be printed; indeed, I have neither space nor plausible pretext for presenting more than the brief outline necessary for historical purposes.

The amours of Castañares and Ildefonsa, a daughter of Captain Miguel Gonzalez, were more or less notori- ous in Monterey for some time before the persons more directly interested chose to make trouble. Doña Ana, wife of Castañares and daughter of Rafael Gon- zalez, administrator of customs, began to agitate the matter in February 1836, and was prosecuted by Herrera for slander." Doña Ana wasted no senti- mentality on such a subject as her husband's faults, and for a time had exerted herself to separate the guilty pair, and thus prevent seandal. She was more than a match for all the others combined in energy and shrewdness, and had provided herself with abun- dant proofs, including the lovers' letters. She had even piloted no less a personage than Governor Gutierrez to a point where with her he overheard Ildefonsa's confession of her guilt, together with the cheering admission that when she had resisted on account of her friendship for Doña Ana, Castañares had threat- ened to remove that obstacle to their felicity by the use of poison. The case lasted from April to June, and was then dismissed by Herrera, who in May had begun another prosecution against Castañares and Ildefonsa for adultery.45 On May 28th, the guilty couple were arrested. Castañares was locked up in jail and Ildefonsa deposited, as was the custom, in the house of a respectable citizen. The 30th of July Herrera withdrew his suit and consented to the libera- tion of the prisoners, on condition that Castañares

41 Castañares, Causa seguidu contra Ana Gonzalez (Castañares) por haber hablado del adulterio de Alfonsa Gonzalez (Herrera) y de J. M. Castañares, Abril-Junio, 1836, MS. About 50 documents, of which the longest is Doña Aña's defence of April 11th, including her charges.

As Castañares, Causa Criminal contra J. M. Castañaresé Ildefonsa Gonzalez por adulterio, seguida ú pedimento del esposo de esta, José Maria Herrera, Mayo- Julio, 1836, MIS. This is a rather brief record, but many of the documents bearing on this case were also introduced in the next. See note 46.

438

RULE OF GUTIERREZ AND CHICO.

should leave the place, and not come within twelve leagues of the sub-comisaría so long as he remained in California. Meanwhile another bitter controversy had been raging between Doña Ana and Herrera, who hated each other much more heartily than they did their unfaithful spouses. Herrera had been so rash as to make in his previous slander suit some rather annoying charges against the lady's character; and now Doña Ana brought suit to obtain certain docu- ments needed for her own justification, but which, as her opponent declared, she intended to use 'extra- judicially' to his own detriment by keeping the scandal alive. I have the original records of this suit, which was made to include pretty much all that pertained to the other two in the way of testimony, charges, letters, and pasquinades, many of the pieces being more amusing than instructive. The end seems to have been a reference to the supreme court on some technicality.46

One of Herrera's alleged reasons for suspending his prosecution of Castañares at the end of June was that "the public tranquillity had been disturbed by events growing out of the matter, and harmony lost between the authorities, so that very serious consequences were to be feared unless the cause of contention were re- moved." This is all I find in records of the time to connect the Monterey scandal with Chico's troubles ; 4 but the Californians tell the story in substance as fol- lows: While Castañares was in prison, and his para- mour in enforced seclusion, a company of maromeros, or rope-dancers, gave a performance in one of the pre- sidio buildings, at which, as usual on such rare occa- sions, everybody was present. The best place was reserved of course for the governor, who on entering

46 Castañares es Herrera en Asuntos de Calumnia, 1836, Junio-Julio. The original papers in Doc. Hist. ('al., i. 257-380. Several hundred documents, bearing the autographs of nearly every prominent man in Monterey either as court officials or witnesses.

4 Alvarado, however, in his charges of July 29th, accused Chico of having meddled with the case of Castañares, which belonged to the ordinary juris- diction.

430

A PUBLIC SCANDAL.

was accompanied, not only by his mistress Doña Cruz, but by her friend Doña Ildefonsa Herrera, who had been liberated for the occasion. There was much in- dignation and excitement at the appearance of this notorious pair in the place of honor, and some ladies left the room in disgust. Then Alcalde Ramon Es- trada, who felt that his authority as a judge had been insulted by Ildefonsa's presence, was induced to re- lease Castañares from the jail and give him a promi- nent seat at the show, from which he is said to have ostentatiously saluted his paramour at the governor's side. Chico was beside himself with rage, and per- haps had hot words with Estrada on the spot. At any rate, next day he marched with a military escort to the hall of the ayuntamiento, took away from Es- trada his alcalde's vara, and subsequently placed him under arrest in his own house-some authorities speak- ing even of his being locked up in jail, of an attack on his house, and of insults to his aged father, Don Mariano.48

The exact date of the quarrel with Estrada is not known, though his arrest would seem to have been on June 27th; nor is it possible to determine the chrono- logic order of succeeding events. The popular excite- ment was great. Teodoro Gonzalez, the regidor, took the position of alcalde, and seems to have incited the citizens to resist Chico's encroachments on the rights of the municipal authorities. The military force at Monterey was small, and most of the soldiers were in sympathy with Chico's enemies. The governor feared that not only his authority but his life was in danger. The cannon at the castillo were kept loaded and manned; and Chico remained for the most part

48 Serrano, Apuntes, MS., 31-3; Gonzalez, Revoluciones, MS., 7-10; Osio, ITist. Cal., MS., 263-76; Torre, Remin., MS., 58-61; Alvarado, His !. C'al., MIS., iii. 92-5; Vallejo, Ilist. Cal., MS., iii. 128-40; Pico, Heont., MS., 30-1; Pinto, Apunt., MS., 18-19: Janssens, Vida, MS., 63-72; Vallejo (J. J.), Remin., MS., 118; Fernandez, Cosas de Cal., MIS., 97-9. To go more closely into details than I have done would be to give the different versions pretty nearly in full, for it must be confessed there is but a slight resemblance be- tween them.

440

RULE OF GUTIERREZ AND CHICO.

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History of California, Volume III, Part 47

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe Publication date: 1885-1890 Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers Number of Pages: 824

Author: Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Publication date: 1885-1890
Publisher: San Francisco, Calif. : The History Company, publishers
Number of Pages: 824