History of Humboldt County, California : with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, farms, residences, public buildings, factories, hotels, business houses, schools, churches, etc., from original drawings, including biographical sketches, Part 11

Author: W.W. Elliott & Co
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: San Francisco : W.W. Elliott
Number of Pages: 344


USA > California > Humboldt County > History of Humboldt County, California : with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, farms, residences, public buildings, factories, hotels, business houses, schools, churches, etc., from original drawings, including biographical sketches > Part 11


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We have now given the names of some of the leading arri- vals previons to the discovery of gold, and leading incidents in their active lives.


Bear Flag War.


DURING the year 1846, the American settlers, many of whom had married Spanish ladies, learned that it was the intention of General Castro, then Governor of California, to take measures for the expulsion of the foreign element, and more especially of the Americans. Lieut. John C. Fremont of the United States Topographical engineers, was then camped at the north end of the Buttes, being on his way to Oregon. The settlers sent a deputation to him, asking him to remain and give them the protection of his presence. He was afraid of a court- martial ; but they argued with him that if he would take baek to Wash- ington his broken Lientenant's commission in one hand and California in the other, he would be the greatest man in the nation. The bait was a tempting one. Fremont hesitated; but they kept alluring him nearer to the seene of action. On the 9th of June, 1846, there were some thirteen settlers in his camp at the mouth of the Feather River, when William Knight, who had arrived in the country from Missouri in 1841, and had mar- ried a Spanish lady, came and informed them that Lieutenant Arei had passed his place-now Knight's Landing-that morn- ing, going south, with a band of horses, to be used against the Americans in California.


THE SETTLERS ORGANIZE.


The settlers organized a company with Ezekiel Merritt, the oldest man among them, as captain, and gave chase to Arei. They overtook him on the Cosumne River, and captured him and his horses. The Rubicon was now passed, and there was nothing to do but to go ahead. When they got back to Fre- mont's eamp they found other settlers there, and on consulta- tion it was determined to capture Sonoma, the headquarters of General M. G. Vallejo, the military commander of Northern California. They gathered strength as they marched along, and when they got to John Grigsby's place in Napa Valley, they numbered thirty-three men. Here the company was reor- ganized and addressed by Dr. Robert Semple, afterwards Presi- cent of the Constitutional Convention. We give the account of the capture in General Vallejo's own words, at the Centen- nial exercises held at Santa Rosa, July 4, 1876.


" I have now to say something of the epoch which inaugn- rated a new era for this country. A little before dawn on June 14, 1846, a party of hunters and trappers, with some foreign settlers, under command of Captain Merritt, Doetor Semple, and William B. Ide, surrounded my residenee at Sonoma, and with- out firing a shot, made prisoners of myself, then commander of the northern frontier, of Lientenant-Colonel Victor Prudon, Captain Salvador Vallejo, and Jacob P. Leese. I should here state that down to October, 1845, I had maintained at my own expense a respectable garrison at Sonoma, which ofteu, in union with the settlers, did good service in campaigns against the Indians; but at last, tired of spending money which the.


54


BEAR FLAG WAR INAUGURATED.


Mexican Goverment never refunded, I disbanded the force. and most of the soldiers who had constituted it left Sonoma, "Thins in June, 1846, the plaza was entirely unprotected, although there were ten pieces of artillery, with other arnis und munitions of war. The parties who unfurled the Bear Flag were well aware that Sonoma was without defense, and lost no time in taking advantage of this fact, and carrying out their plans.


" Years before, I had urgently representerl to the Government of Mexico the necessity of stationing a sufficient force on the frontier, else Sonoma would be lost, which would be equivalent to leaving the rest of the country au casy prey to the invader. What think you, my friends, were the instructions sent me in reply to my repeated demands for means to fortify the country? These instructions were that I should at onee force the emi- grants to recross the Sierra Nevada, aud depart from the territory of the Republie. To say nothing of the inhumanity of these orders, their exceution was physically impossible- first, because the inunigrants came in autumn, when snow covered the Sierras so quickly as to make a returu imupracti- cable.


" Under the circumstances, not only I, but Command- antr General Castro, resolved to provide the immigrants with letters of security, that they might remain temporarily in the country. We always made a show of anthority, but well con- vineed all the time that we had no power to resist the invasion which was coming upon us. With the frankness of a soldier I can assure you that the American immigrants never had cause to eumplain of the treatment they received at the hands of either authorities or eitizeus. They carried us as prisoners to Sacramento, and kept us in a ealaboose for sixty days or more, until the authority of the United States made itself respected, and the honorable and humane Commodore Stockton returned us to our hearthis."


FIRST MOVEMENT FOR INDEPENDENCE.


On the seizure of their prisoners the revolutionists at onee took steps to appoint a Captain, who was found in the person of John Grigsby, for Ezekiel Merritt wished not to retain the permanent command. A meeting was then ealled at the bar- raeks, situated at the northeast corner of the plaza, under the presideney of William B. Ide, Dr. Robert Semple being Seere- tary.


At this conference Semple urged the independence of the country, stating that having once commenced they must proceed, for to turn back was certain death. Before the disso- lution of the convention, however, rumors were rife that secret emissaries were being dispatched to the Mexican rancheros, to inform them of the recent oceurrences, therefore to prevent any attempt at a rescue, it was deemed best to transfer their prisoners to Sutter's Fort, where the danger of such would be less.


RESOLVED TO ESTABLISH A GOVERNMENT.


Before transferring their prisoners, however, a treaty, or agreement was entered into between the eaptives and captors, which will appear in the annexed document kindly furnished : to us hy General Vallejo, and which have never before been given to the publie.


" We, the nndersigned, having resolved to establish a govern- ment upon Republican principles in connection with others of our fellow-citizens, and having taken up arms to support it, we have taken three Mexiean officers as prisouers; Gen. M. G. Vallejo, Lient. Col. Victor Prudon, aud Capt. D. Salvador Vallejo; having formed and published to the world no regular plan of government, we feel it our duty to say that it is not our intention to take or injure any person who is not found in opposition to the cause, nor will we take or destroy the prop- erty of private individuals further than is necessary for our immediate support.


" EZEKIEL MERRITT, WILLIAM FALLON, SAMUEL KELSEY."


" R. SEMPLE,


GEN. VALLEJO A PRISONER IN SUTTER'S FORT.


But to proceed with our narrative of the removal of the General, his brother and Prudon to Sutter's Fort. A guard consisting of William B. Ide, as Captain, Captain Grigsby, Captain Merritt, Kit Carson, William Hargrave, and five others left Sonoma for Sutter's Fort, with their prisoners upon horses actually supplied by General Vallejo himself. We are told that on the first night after leaving Sonoma with their pris- oners, the revolutionists, with singular inconsisteney, encamped and went to sleep without setting sentinel or guard ; that during the night they were surrounded by a party under the command of Juan de Padilla, who erept up stealthily and awoke one of the prisoners, telling him that there was with him elose at hand a strong and well-armed force of rancheros, who, if need be, eould surprise and slay the Americans before there was time for them to fly to arms, but that he, Padilla, before giving sueli instructions waited the orders of General Vallejo, whose rank entitled him to the command of any such demonstration.


The General was eantiously aroused and the seheme divulged to him, but with a self-sacrifice which cannot be too highly commended, answered that he should go voluntarily with his guards, that he anticipated a speedy and satisfactory settlement of the whole matter, advised Padilla to return to his raneho and disperse his band, and positively refused to permit any violenee to the ynard, as he was convinced that sueh would lead to disastrous consequences, and probably involve the raneheros and their families in ruin, without accomplishing any good result.


Having traveled about two-thirds of the way from Sutter's : Fort, Captain Merritt and Kit Carson rode on ahead with the news of the capture of Sonoma, desiring that arrangements be


55


PROGRESS OF THE BEAR FLAG WAR.


made for the reception of the prisonery. They entered the fort marly in the morning of June 16th.


MAKING OF THE BEAR FLAG.


On the seizure of the citadel of Sonoina, the Independents found floating from the flag-staff-head the Hag of Mexico, a fact which had escaped notice during the bustle of the morning. It was at once lowered, and they set to work to devise a hammer which they should claim as their own. They were as one on the subject of there being a star on the groundwork, but they taxed their ingenuity to have some other device, for the " lone star" had already been appropriated by Texas.


So many accounts of the manufacture of this insignia have been published that we give the reader those quoted by the writer in The Pioneer :-


" A piece of cotton cloth," says Mr. Lancy, " was obtained, and a man by the name of Todd procceded to paint from a pot of red paint a star in the corner. Before it was finished, Henry L. Ford, one of the party, proposed to paint on the center, facing the star, a grizzly bear. This was unanimously agreed to, and the grizzly bear was painted necordingly. When it was done the Hay was taken to the flag-staff, and hoisted amid the hurrahs of the little party, who swore to defend it with their lives."


Of this matter Lieutenant Revere says: " A flag was also hoisted bearing a grizzly bear rampant, with one stripe below, and the words, ' Republic of California,' above the bear, and a single star in the union." This is the evidence of the officer who banled down the Bear flag aud replaced it with the Stars and Stripes on July 9, 1846.


Tho Western Shore Gacetteer has the following version: "On the 14th of June, 1846, this little handful of inen proclaimed California a free and independent Republic. and on that day hoisted their flag, known as the 'Bear flag;' this consisted of a strip of worn-out cotton domestic, furnished by Mrs. Kelley, bordered with red flannel, furnished by Mrs. John Sears, who had fled from some distant part to Sonoma for safety upon hearing that war had been thus commenced. In the center of the flag was a representation of a bear, en passant, painted with Venetian red, and in one corner was painted a star of the same color. Under the bear were inscribed the words, ' Repub- lie of California,' put on with common writing ink. This flag is preserved by the California Pioneer Association, and may be scen at their rooms in San Francisen. It was designed and executed by W. L. Todd."


The Sonoma Democrat under the caption, " A True History of the Bear Flag," tells its story: "The rest of the revolution- ary party remained in possession of the town. Among them were three young meu, -Todd, Benjamin Duell, and Thomas Cowie. A few days after the capture, in a casual conversation between these young men, the matter of a flag came up. They had no anthority to raise the American ting, and they deter- mined to make one. Their general iden was to imitate, without


following too closely their national ensign. Mrs. W. B. Elliott had been brought to the town of Sonorua by her husband from huis ranch on Mark West Creek for safety. The old Elliott cabin may be seen to this day on Mark West Creek, about a mile above the Springs. From Mrs. Elliott, Benjamin Duell got a piece of new red flannel, some white domestic, needles, and thread. A piece of blue drilling was also obtained.


So from this material, without consultation with any one else, these three young men made the Bear flag. Cowio had been a saddler. Dnell had also served a short time at the same trade. To form the flag, Duell and Cowie sewed together alternate strips of red, white and blue. Todd drew in the np- per corner a star, and painted on the lower a rude picture of a grizzly bear, which was not standing as has been sometimes represented, but was drawn with head down. The beat was afterwards adopted as the design of the great seal of the State of California On the original flag it was so rudely executed that two of those who saw it raised have told us that it looked inore like a hog than a bear. Be that as it may, its meaning was plain-that the revolutionary party would, if necessary. fight their way through at all hazards. In the language of our informant, it meant that there was no back-out; they iu- tended to fight it out. There were no halyards on the flag- staff, which stood in front of the barracks. It was again reared, and the flag, which was soon to be replaced by that of the Republic, for the first time floated on the breeze."


William Winter, Secretary of the Association of Territorial Pioneers of California, and Mr. Lancey, questioned the correct- ness of these dates, and entered into correspondence with all the men known to be alive, who were of that party, and others who were likely to throw any light on the subject. Among many answers received, we quote the following portion of a letter from James G. Bleak :-


" ST. GEORGE, Utah, 16th of April, 1878.


"To William Winter, Esq., Secretary of Association ' Territo- rial Pioneers of California'-


"DEAR SIR: Your communication of the 3d instant is placed in my hands by the widow of a departed friend-James M. Ide, son of William B .- as I have at present in my charge some of his papers. In reply to your question asking for ' the corrcet date' of raising the ' Bear flag' at Sonoma, in 1846 I will quote from the writing of William B. Ide, deceased :-


"The said Bear flag (was) made of plane (plain) cotton cloth, and ornamented with the red flannel of a sbirt from the back of one of the men, and christened by the ' California Republic,' in red paint letters on both sides; (it) was raised upon the standard where had floated on the breezes the Mexican flag aforetime; it was the 14th of June, '46. Our whole number was twenty -four, all told. The mechanism of the flag was performed by William L. Todd of Illinois. The grizzly bear was chosen as an em- blem of strength and unyielding resistance.'


" JAMES G. BI.EAK."


56


THE SETTLERS ORGANIZE THEIR FORCES.


W. B. IDE'S REMARKABLE SPEECH.


The garrison being now in possession, it was necessary to elect officers; therefore, Henry L. Ford was elected First Lieu- tenant; Granville P'. Swift, First Sergeant; and Samuel Gibson, Second Sergeant. Sentries were posted and a system of mili- tary routine inauguratedl. In the forenoon, while on parade, Lieutenant Ford addressed the company in these words :-


" My countrymeu: We have taken upon ourselves a very responsible duty. We have entered into a war with the Mexi- can nation. We are bound to defend cach other or be shot! There's no half-way place about it. Each of you has had a voice in choosing your officers. Now they are chosen they must be obeyed :"


To which the entire band responded that the authority of the officers should be supported. For point and brevity this is alnost equal to the speech put in the mouths of some of his military heroes by Tacitus, the great Roman historian.


CAPTAIN IDE ORGANIZES THE FORCES.


The wordsof William B. Ide throw further light upon the ma- chiuery of the civil-military force: "The men were divided into two companies of ten men cach. The First Artillery were busily engaged iu putting the cannons in order, which were doubly charged with grape and canister. The First Rifle Company were busicd in cleaning, repairing and loading the sınall arms. The commander, after setting a guard and post- ing a sentinel ou one of the highest buildings to watch the approach of any persons who might feel a curiosity to inspect our operations, directed his leisure to the establishment of some system oľ finauce, whereby all the defenders' families might be brought within the lines of our garrison and supported. Ten thousand pounds of flour were purchased on the credit of the Government, and deposited with the garrison. And an account was opened, on terms agreed upon, for a supply of beef and a few barrels of salt which constituted our main supplies. Whisky was contrabanded altogether. After the first round of duties was performed, as many as could be spared off guard, were called together and our situation fully explained to the men hy the commanders of the garrison.


Will S. Green says: "We have seen it stated by some writ- ers, that Capt. John Grigshy was chosen to the command after the capture of Sonoma, and also that Ide was so chosen but both of them went with the prisoners to Sutter's Fort. We have talked with both Ide and Semple about the Bear Flag War, and we are certain that Ide was not the military com- mander, but that it was in a civil capacity that he issued the proclamation above given. Ford, although nominally a Lieutenant, was the real military leader of the Bear Flag Party. He had served four years as Sergeant in the U. S. Dragoons, and understood the drill and discipline better than those more able to direct the policy to be pursued. Ide and Semple were the leaders in that."


A messenger was dispatched to San Francisco to inform Captain Montgomery, of the United States ship Portsmouth, of the action taken by them, he further stating that it was the intention of the insurgents never to lay down their arms until the independence of their adopted country had been established.


A TRAGIC AND FEARFUL DEATH.


Lieutenant Ford finding that the magazine was short of powder, sent two men, named Cowie and Fowler, to the Soto- yome Rancho, at Healdsburg, owned by H. D. Fitch, for a bag of rifle powder. Two miles from Santa Rosa, they were attacked and slaughtered by a party of Californians. Two others were dispatched on special duty; they, too, were cap- tured, but were treated hetter. Receiving no intelligence from either of the parties, foul play was suspected; therefore on the morning of the 20th of Juue, Sergeant Gibson was ordered, with four men, to proceed to the Sotoyome Rancho, learn if possible, the whereabouts of the missing men, and procure the powder. They went as directed, secured the ammunition, but got no news of the missing men. As they were passing Santa Rosa, on their return, they were attacked at daylight hy a few Californians, and turning upon their assailants, captured two of them, Blas Angelina and Barnadino Garcia, alias Three- fingered Jack, and took them to Sonoma. They told of the taking and slaying of Cowie and Fowler.


The story of their death is a sad one. After Cowie and Fowler had been seized hy the Californians, they encamped for the night, and the following morning determined in council what should be the fate of their captives. A. swarthy New Mexican named Mesa Juan Pedilla, and Three-fingered Jack, the Californian, were loudest in their denunciation of the pris- oners as deserving of death; and, unhappily, their counsels prevailed. The unfortunate young men were then led out, stripped naked, hound to a tree with a lariat, while for a time, the inhuman monsters practiced knife-throwing at their naked bodies, the victims, the while, praying to be shot. They then commenced throwing stones at them, one of which broke the jaw of Fowler. The fiend, Three-fingered Jack, then advanc- ing, thrust the end of his riata (a rawhide rope) through the mouth, cut an incision in the throat, and then made a tie, hy which the jaw was dragged out. They next proceeded to kill them slowly with their knives. Cowie, who had fainted, had the flesh stripped from his arms and shoulders, and pieces of flesh were cut from their bodies and crammed into their mouths they finally being disemboweled. Their mutilated remains were afterwards found and buried where they fell, upon the farm now owned by George Moore, two miles north of Santa Rosa.


No stone marks the grave of these pioneers, one of whom took so conspicuous a part in the event which gave to the Union the great State of California.


Three-fingered Jack was killed by Captain Harry Love's Rangers, July 27, 1853, at Pinola Pass, near the Merced River,


RESIDENCE OF J.P.HAYNES, COR.5T& J STS.EUREKA, CAL.


RESIDENCE OF JNO.A.WATSON, COR.5." & C.S .: EUREKA, CAL.


84


HOME OF C.F. ROBERTS. COR.5TH. & B.STS. EUREKA, CAL.


RES. OF DR. JONATHAN CLARK. CLARK ST. & BROADWAY, EUREKA, CAL.


57


PROCLAMATION FOR REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT.


with the bandit Joaquin Murietta; while Ramion Carrillo net his death at the hands of the Vigilantes, between Los Angeles and San Diego, May 21, 3864.


W. B. IDE'S PROCLAMATON.


At Sonoma Capt. William B. Ide, with the consent of the garrison, issued the following :-


"A Proclamation to all persons and citizens of the District of Sononu, requesting them to remain at peace, and follow their rightful occupations without fear of molestation.


"The commander-in-chief of the troops assembled at the fortress of Sonoma, gives his inviolable pledge to all persons in California, nol, found under arms, that they shall not be dis- turbed in their persons, their property, or social relations, one with another, by men under his command.


" He also solemnly declares his object to be: first, to defend himself and companions in arms, who were invited to this coun- try by a promise of lands on which to settle themselves and families; who were also promised a republican goverement; when, having arrived in California, they were denied the priv- ilege of buying or renting lands of their friends; who instead of being allowed to participate iu, or being protected by a republiean government, were oppressed by a military despot- ismn; who were even threatened by proclamation, by the chief officers of the aforesaid despotism, with extermination, if they should not depart out of the country, leaving all their prop- erty, arnis, and beasts of burden ; and thus deprived of their means of flight or defense, were to be driven through deserts inhabited by hostile Indians, to certain destruction.


" To overthrow n government which has seized upon the prop- erty of the muissions for its individual aggrandizement; which has ruined and shamefully oppressed the laboring people of California, by enormous exactions on goods imported into the country, is the determined purpose of the brave men who are associated under my commnand.


"I also solemnly declare my object, in the second place, to be to invite all peaceable and good citizens of California, who are friendly to the maintenance of good order and equal rights, and I do hereby invite them to repair to my camp at Sonoma., without delay, to assist us in establishing and perpetuating a republican government, which shall secure to all civil and religions liberty; which shall encourage virtue and literature; which shall leave unshackled by fetters agrienlture, commerce, and mannfactures.


" I further declare that I rely upon the rectitude of ourinten- tions, the favor of heaven, and the bravery of those who are bound and associated with me by the principles of self-preserva- tion, by the love of truth and the hatred of tyranny, for my hopes of success.


"I furthermore declare that I believe that a governinent to be prosperons and happy must originate with the people who


are friendly to its existence; that the citizens are its guardians. the officers its servants, its glory its reward. " WILLIAM B. IDE.


" Headquarters, Sonoma, June 18, 1846."


JUDGE W. B. IDE'S HISTORY.


Capt. William B. Ide was born in Ohio; came overland, reaching Sutter's Fort in October, 1845. June 7, 1847, Gov- ernor Mason appointed him land surveyor for the northern district of California, and the same month he was appointed Justice of the Peace at Cache Creek. At an early day he got a grant of land which was called the Rancho Barranca Colo- rado, just below Red Creek, in Colusa County, as it was then organized. In 1851 he was elected County Treasurer, with an assessment roll of $373,206. Movel with the county seat to Monroeville, at the mouth of Stony Creek, September 3, 1851; was elected County Judge of Colusa County, and practiced law, having a license. Judge Ide died of small-pox at Mon- roeville, Colusa County, on Saturday, December 18, 1852, aged fifty years.


ANECDOTE OF JUDGE IDE .*


Idle was the presiding Judge and Deputy Clerk, and Huls was Associate Justice and Deputy Sheriff. The prisoner was brought into court by Huls, and the indictment read to him by Idc as Clerk. He was on trial for horse-stealing; the penalty at that time was death. The Judge mounted the bench and informed the prisoner of his rights, including that of having conusel assigned him for his defense. This the prisoner asked. Here was a dilemma. There was no licensed attorney, nearer than Butte County, to be had. 'The Court (Ide and two Asso- eiate Judges) held a consultation on the situation. Ide, how- ever, was always equal to any emergency, and he suggested that he himself had been over at Hamilton a few days before attcuding Judge Sherwood's Court, and had been admitted asa practicing attorney, and he did not see why he should not lefend the prisoner.




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