History of Pasadena, comprising an account of the native Indian, the early Spanish, the Mexican, the American, the colony, and the incorporated city, occupancies of the Rancho San Pasqual, and its adjacent mountains, canyons, waterfalls and other objects of interest: being a complete and comprehensive histo-cyclopedia of all matters pertaining to this region, Part 14

Author: Reid, Hiram Alvin, 1834-; McClatchie, Alfred James, comp
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Pasadena, Cal., Pasadena History Co.
Number of Pages: 714

USA > California > Los Angeles County > Pasadena > History of Pasadena, comprising an account of the native Indian, the early Spanish, the Mexican, the American, the colony, and the incorporated city, occupancies of the Rancho San Pasqual, and its adjacent mountains, canyons, waterfalls and other objects of interest: being a complete and comprehensive histo-cyclopedia of all matters pertaining to this region > Part 14

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* * Upon order of his quartermaster and commissary, goods amounting to about $6,000 were land- ed for them from my vessel the next day."-Wm. Heath Davis, " Sixty Years in California," pp. 415-16. " The passage was made with great difficulty. Both men and horses suffered exceedingly. Be- twee11 150 and 200 horses were lost. The men were obliged to pull the cannon over the roughest places by hand."-Hittell's Hist. Cal., Vol. 2, p. 603. Our B. F. E. Kellogg was one of these men. This was the same severe winter in which the terrible Donner Lake disaster occurred.

+While Fremont was encamped in the willows just across the creek west of Ventura, after march- ing down the beach road from Carpenteria which is only passable at low tide, he was met by a messen- ger with despatches from Stockton: and this messenger, who had reached Fremont's camp through hardship and peril was Dan Sexton. [See Article " Dan Sexton's Old Adobe Mill," in Chap. 3.]

DIVISION ONE -- PRE-PASADENIAN.

pointed by Col. Fremont. All these stirring, historic events occurred with- in a few hours, in the Mexican camp within the borders of South Pasadena, on the South slope of Raymond hill ; and now Gen. Pico moved his camp about six miles over on the Verdugo [San Rafael] ranch* along the old Monterey road toward San Fernando Mission, which place was then his own propertyt but occupied by Fremont's troops. In Fremont's Memoirs, page 601, he says: "The next morning, [13th] accompanied only by Don Jesus, I rode over to the camp of the Californians, and in a conference with Don Andres the important features of a treaty of capitulation were agreed · upon."

The same day both armies marched to the old Cahuenga ranch house, on the most direct road to Los Angeles .¿ There the terms of surrender were completed in form, and signed by the commissioners and commanders on both sides. The Mexicans agreed to turn over all arms, equipments and war materials in their possession, and to assist in restoring peace and order among the people of California, under United States authority ; and on com- plying with this, they were "guaranteed protection of life and property, whether on parole or otherwise." Here was the vital point; for Stockton had doomed Flores, Carrillo, Pico, Garfias, and others to be shot, who had violated their parole after Gillespie had, as they thought, violated the terms on which they had given such parole, but which they had scrupulously ob- served up to that time. Fremont's idea and mission had not been to "con- quer " and subdue the Californians ; but to secure the territory to the United States before England could take it under her protectorate control in accord- ance with Rev. M'Namara's great Irish Catholic colonizing scheme-a pro- ject which came within a few days of being consummated. The plan had been favored by President Santa Ana and his council in Mexico ; and on July 7, 1846, the Departmental Assembly of California at Los Angeles, under Gov. Pio Pico, had formally granted to M'Namara one square league apiece for 8,000 Irish Catholic immigrant families, to be colonized in California§- that measure of land being equal to 13,500,000 acres. [Fremont's Memoirs, p. 553.] M'Namara was then at Santa Barbara, fresh from Mexico; and on the 16th

*The Mexicans had a sinall force encamped here before to watch Fremont's movements. And be- cause of these two camps, ard because Gen. Pico was visited by Gen. Fremont here, much confusion has arisen, and many erroneous statements have been published in regard to the whole matter of Fremont's negotiations. Hence I have taken extra pains to identify localities and to trace the rapidly occurring incidents in their chronological order. That sub-camp was near the old Verdugo ranch house, about where the village of Glendale now stands.

¡In December, 1845, Andres Pico and Juan Manso had leased San Fernando old Mission and ranch for $1, 120 per year.

įGen. Pico's camp at Providencia [near Glendale] was only five or six miles from Cahuenga ; but Fremont's troops had to march sixteen or seventeen miles, as the road then ran by way of rancho El En- cino to a ford and thence down the west bank of the Los Angeles river to Cahuenga pass.

¿Gov Pico and the Spanish consul both urged the assembly to make the grant. On July 6 it was referred to Bandini and his brother-in-law Arguello as a committee, They put in "stipulations " which in practical working spoiled it alike for an ecclesiastical scheme, a speculation scheme, or a Brit- ish government scheme, and then recommended its passage. And it was passed without noticing that Bandini had sawed off its teeth so it couldn't feed itself or anybody else. However, if the British had succeeded in getting a protectorate foothold under that grant, they would have found a way to make it stick.

100

HISTORY OF PASADENA.

of that month the British Admiral, Geo. F. Seymour sailed into Monterey Bay for the purpose of hoisting the British flag and proclaiming a British protectorate .* But the Americans had got ahead of him and had hoisted their flag and taken possession on the 7th of the month. (For official docu- ments, debates in congress, etc., on this matter, see Fremont's Memoirs, Vol. 1, pages 547 to 549, and on to 559). The initial and preparatory steps which resulted in the country being thus taken before the British got hold of it were distinctly those of Fremont. And here from Pasadena com- menced the negotiations with him which secured to the Spaniards an honor- orable treaty of peace instead of a galling submission to mere brute force, when he thus wisely pacified the country by the terms given in the only formal surrender of California that was ever made by any California officials to any United States officer. It was the white hand of Destiny enforcing the law of poetic justice, by awarding to Fremont this indefeasible seal to

" Land of Sunshine " Photo, 1895

HOUSE TAKEN BY COMMODORE STOCKTON FOR HIS HEADQUARTERS, JAN. 10, 1847.

himself as the one central figure of the California conquest, but which in later years narrow-minded, envious men most persistently sought to pluck from his plume of honors all heroically and worthily won .; When other men stood halting and haggling about precedents, he made a precedent by going ahead and doing the thing which needed to be done, right now. Fre- mont recognized that these Spanish soldiers had fought bravely, with patri- otic devotion to their own flag, and should not be treated as outlaw mis-

*Rodman Price, afterward governor of New Jersey, was purser of Commodore Sloat's squadron at this time, and he wrote: "The English admiral arrived a few days afterward, and the first thing he said on meeting the commodore was, 'Sloat, if your flag was not flying on shore, I should have hoisted mine there.' "

#Lieut. Walpole of the English flag ship Collingwood, who saw Fremont's troops at Monterey, wrote about them, and among other things said : " They are allowed no liquor ; tea and sugar only. This no doubt has much to do with their good conduct."-See "Early Days and Men of California," p. 131.

IOI

DIVISION ONE -- PRE-PASADENIAN.

creants. They appreciated this chivalric sentiment and courtesy on his part, and became true and loyal citizens of the United States, many of them afterward holding important offices under the new order of government.

In his report to the Navy Department at Washington, Commodore Stockton wrote: "By the capitulation we have recovered the gun taken by the insurgents at the sad defeat of Gen. Kearny at San Pasqual." The other historic cannon called the "Woman's gun," was also delivered up to Fremont at this time, and afterward used in three other battles of the United States against Mexico to-wit : Mazatlan, Urios Palos Prietos, and San Jose in Lower California. A document produced in evidence at the trial of Fre- mont in Washington, in November, December, January, 1847-48, spoke of Fremont arriving at Los Angeles January 13, 1847, "with 400 mounted riflemen, and six pieces of artillery, including among the latter two pieces lately in possession of the Californians." These were the only cannon the Californians had for use in any of the battles, while Stockton had six and Fremont four to use against them. These two cannon were with the Mexi- cans in their camp at South Pasadena ; and in the ensuing month of March Fremont's battalion was on duty at San Gabriel, occupied the old Mission court as barracks, and had their six cannon, including these two, there. [See Bigelow's Life of Fremont, pp. 311-12-13].

While Fremont served as Governor of California under Commodore Stockton's appointment, lie occupied Gov. Pio Pico's residence fronting the plaza ; and in regard to this I have a letter from Mrs. Fremont dated Los Angeles, November 14, 1894, in which she says :

" Don Abel Stearns had his lien on that Pico mansion used by Gen. Fremont as headquarters. I wish you could identify and fix the place ; for other houses in a then unbuilt part of the town, southwest, have been pho- tographed and sold to tourists as the old 'headquarters'-especially one on Main street, a one-story adobe with a fine pepper tree, a kind of tree un- known here forty years ago .* Gen. Fremont himself had trouble identify- ing the old Pico house when he showed it to me in 1888. But it was then converted into a great granary and its upper floor built out over what had been a surrounding gallery. It was almost in line with the old church at the plaza ; in line with his fort on the hill ;" etc.

As Mrs. Fremont requested, I have learned positively from old Spanish people who were here at the time, and also from Americans who have lived here ever since 1847, just where Gov. Pico's residence was. It stood on the south side of the Plaza, fronting north, and extended from Los Angeles street west to Sanchez street, at rear of the old Pico hotel, now called "Na- tional." The fire engine house there occupies part of the ground, the old Pico adobe having been torn away. All that still remains of the old walls occupied by Pico as the last Mexican governor, and by Col. Fremont as the

*The house referred to was away out at Thirteenth street, nearly two miles " out of town " at that time-a house that Fremont probably never saw at all. I have seen those pictures myself, with their false label, and denounced it as a fraud.

102

HISTORY OF PASADENA.

first American governor, is a few feet of adobe frontage occupied by ą Chinese store ; and adjoining this on the west is a board shanty occupied as Chinese lodgings. [See plate.]

The " Fort," which was a mere earthwork, and after 1847 was gen- erally called "Fremont's redout,"* was commenced by Gov. Micheltorena in 1844 ; was occupied and improved a little by Lieut. Gillespie in September, 1846 ; was occupied and further improved by Col. Fremont's troops in January 1847 ; was enlarged and further strengthened by Col. Stevenson in 1847-48, after Fremont had been taken east for court martial under Gen. Kearny's infamous conspiracy .; Among the soldiers in Fremont's battalion in 1847

"Land of Sunshine " Photo, 1895.

SITE OF COL. FREMONT'S HEADQUARTERS AS MILITARY GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA, IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, 1847.

was B. F. E. Kellogg, father of Mrs. Byron O. Clark of Pasadena. Mr. Kellogg and a brother had the contract and built the United States fort at Fort Laramie, Nebraska, in 1844. Then in 1846 he came across the moun- tains with ox teams to California, arriving in Napa county in November. Fremont was then recruiting his battalion at Monterey for the march to Los Angeles, and Mr. Kellogg immediately joined it. He was with them on the march, and at San Fernando, and the capitulation of Cahuenga, and in Los Angeles, and at San Gabriel where they waited some weeks to be final- ly discharged. Mr. Kellogg died at Anaheim December 16, 1890, but was buried at Mountain View cemetery, Pasadena ; and his grave is one of those that are annually decorated there on Memorial day.

*In December, 1883, I several times visited this old fort or redout, examining its barbettes, its salient angles, rampart walls, sally ports, etc., some parts of which were then still traceable; but it has all since been obliterated by street grading and other improvements.

""One of the howitzers which Owens was ordered to give up had been captured from Kearney at San Pasqual and given up to Fremont at Cahuenga."-Hist. Cal., Vol. 5, p. 446.

This order occurred at San Gabriel, while our B. F. Kellogg was there with Fremont's battalion under Capt. Owens. Kearny had always chafed under what had happened with his howitzer, and hated Fremont accordingly ; aud this was one step in his plot to insult and aggravate Fremout into some tech- nical insubordination. He refused to let Capt. Owens obey the sinister order, and that refusal was one of the trumped-up charges against him for court martial.

1021/2

DIVISION ONE - PRE-PASADENIAN.

CORRECTION MAP .*- Historic points in January, 1847.

FRANKLIN ST.

TEMPLE

FORT HILL

BELLEVUE AVE.

ORD

BUENA

VISTA

COVI

UPPER MAIN ST

12.

ST.

MAIN ST

MAIN

6 14

!13

COMMERCIAL

ARCADIA ST.

SANCHEZ. ST.

PLAZA

OLVERA ST.

- -

ST.

LOS ANGELES

ST.

LA. ST

ALISO ST.

ALLEY

1 .- Commodore Stockton's headquarters, January 10 to 14, 1847. [See page 100.]

2 .- Stockton's troops encamped on the plaza.

3 .- Col. Fremont's headquarters while Governor of California, in a two-story adobe house owned by Alexander Bell, uncle to Maj. Horace Bell, editor of the Los Angeles " Porcunine."

4 .- An old one-story adobe house owned by Pio Pico, whose son-in-law, Jose Moreno, lived there. House still standing. Pico himself had lodgings and an office there in later years, and hence many supposed that that was where he lived when he was governor. He had bought this place from the heirs of Don Juan Marine, who died in 1839. [See page 71.]

5 .- Residence of Pio Pico while he was Governor. Mrs. Pico still held and occupied this mansion in 1846-47, while her husband was absent in Mexico. Stephen Foster tried to rent her house for the government, for use as army hospital, but she would not consent, fearing if she did it would be held as "surren- dered," and so taken from her; then he secured the building on Upper Main near Ord street, marked 9.

6 .- Headquarters and barracks of Lieut. Gillespie, where the " battle of Los Angeles " was fought. September 23, 1846. [See p. 83.] The same buildings were occupied by Col. Fremont's troops, Jan'y and Feb'y, 1847.

7 .- Adobe buildings occupied by Col. Stevenson's troops, 1847. Thus structure was afterward used as county and city jail.

8 .- Adobe building occupied hy Quartermaster's department, 1847.

9 .- Adobe building used as military hospital-now all torn away. [The figure 9 should be nearer to Ord st.] 10 .- Residence of Jose Antonio Carrillo.

11 .- Residence of Jose Sepulveda. The present Pico hotel stands on these two lots.

12 .- Residence of Manuel Garfias, a Mexican Lieut. Col. in the battles of January 8, 9, 1847, and owner of Rancho San Pascual. [See page 73, footnote.]

13 .- B. D. Wilson's store ; the two old iron cannon were planted there in 1849, and are there yet. [See p.84; 335.] 14 .- Abel Stearns's corners, where were planted in 1849 the two old iron cannon which now lie at west front of court house.

15 .- Old church at the plaza, for which the original roof-timbers were gotten out by the Yankee " pirate prisoner," Joe Chapman in 1818-19. from Miliard's and Grand canyon, within a mile down from the Alpine Tavern on Alpine section of the Mt. Lowe Railway. [Sce pages 43 to 52, and page 385.)

16 .- The " Fort," which was commenced by Gov. Micheltorena in 1844 ; used by Lieut. Gillespie in September, 1846 ; built in proper military form by Col. Fremont in January, 1847 : further improved by Col. Steven- son the same year. Now entirely obliterated.

I prepared the above diagram from information furnished me at different times by the following old-time Californians, who are still living : Hon. Stephen C. Foster, aged 74; Francisco Garcia, 114 on May 1, 1895 ; G. W. Robinson, 86 ; Elijah Moulton, 74 ; Thedore Rimpau, 69 ; Jose Perez, 63 : Pio Zabaleta, 62 ; Judge B. S. Eaton, 72 ; Dr. John S. Griffin, 79 ; besides printed records, and my own examination of "Fremont's Redout" in December, 1883.

For six weeks before this chapter IV was printed I had been trying to find Hon. Stephen C. Foster, to obtain his verdict on some matters which I had written here, upon information received from four old Spanish and two old American residents. Mr. Foster had served as government interpreter at Los Angeles in 1847, and all its business with Spanish people was done through him ; then in 1848-49 he was the "alcalde" or mayor and civil judge of Los Angeles ; and on these old historic matters he is the best posted man living. My letters to him at Downey failed ; and many inquiries for him at the court house, and at the City Clerk's office, and at the City Library failed, until after the matter as then written had to go to press. But three days afterward I found him, and learned that my previous informants were in error on several points ; and I

* The cut on page 102 was made for the "Land of Sunshine," but was first printed in my pages. Then I discovered its error before they were ready to print it, and hence prepared and furnished them This Correction Map instead. See "Land of Sunshine" for October, 1895; page 222.

NEW HIGH ST.

SPRING

> MARCHESSAULT

ESQUECE AN

NIGGER ALLEY

1021/2

HISTORY OF PASADENA.

stop the reader right here, to make correction. I have since also seen old Senor Fran- cisco Garcia, who was with Gov. Micheltorena in the battle of Cahennga in 1845, and Elijah Moulton who was with Col. Fremont on his wintry march down the coast, and into Los Angeles, January 13, 1847. And from the new and authentic information thus obtained I have prepared the above correction map of the chief historic points in Los Angeles in 1847:

The popular story that Fremont as first American governor occupied the same house that Pico lived in, as the last Mexican governor, is entirely a fiction. Neither Fremont nor his troops occupied any house owned by Don Pio Pico, although Mrs. Fremont herself thought he did. [See her letter on page 101.] Hence, old Francesca's story about " delivering the keys of Pico's house to Col. Fremont," as I have it on pages 96 and 103, is a fiction. Neither Foster, Garcia or Moulton had ever heard of it. They say she then lived at San Gabriel, not at Los Angeles. [She may have passed the keys of some house at San Gabriel to some officer of Fremont's battallion while they were stationed at the Mission, and the incident been misreported and magnified ; for I talked with old people there who thought it was true. And "one of Fremont's officers" could easily grow into "Fremont himself."] The building on which Abel Stearns had a mortgage, as mentioned by Mrs. Fremont [page 101], was the one called the "gov- ernment building" occupied as barracks by Lieutenant Gillespie in 1846, and by Fre- mont's battallion in January, 1847 ; but it never belonged to Pico.

My statement of pages 93, 101, and footnote to 335, that the Mexicans had only two cannon, is an error. Mr. Foster showed me Maj. Emory's official report, with a military map or diagram of the two days battlefields, made at the time, giving relative positions and movements of the opposing armies at different stages of the contest; and it seems that the Mexicans had two " common, short, heavy cast iron guns," as B. D. Wilson says, besides the two brass ones. Foster says that after the battle of Dominguez they managed in some way to get twoiron cannon, but he could never find out just how or where. They were the very old style of guns called carronades, one or more of which were almost always carried on merchant ships. When Gen. Andres Pico marched from Rancho San Pasqual to Providencia, after deciding on surrender to Fremont, the iron guns were too heavy to haul along, so he hid them in the Arroyo Seco, somewhere near the Garvanza ford at the old Monterey road crossing. These were the guns which Gen. Pico told Commodore Stockton about, as mentioned by B. D. Wilson [page 335]; and Wilson evidently, when he wrote, had them in his mind as the same ones which he got from the surf at San Pedro and planted at his store on Commercial street. This mistake of Wilson's misled me as to the Mexicans having any others but the two brass guns. Foster says these Arroyo Seco guns were brought into Los Angeles, and fired on holidays year after year until Fourth-of-July, 1860, when one of them burst into three pieces while being fired by a man named Moore (nobody hurt). The other one he had lost track of, but thinks it was burst also.

Jose Perez died in 1840, and Stephen Foster married his widow in August, 1848. [See pages 71-72.] She is still living, September, 1895, at their home place near Downey : aged 79.

My footnote on page 83 is wrong. Foster says it was Diego Sepulveda, a nephew of Enrique, who was with Del Carmen Lugo at the battle of Chino. Enrique Sepulveda died at Monterey in 1844.

" Land of Sunshine," Oct . 1894.

ONE OF THE HISTORIC OLD CANNON, AT WEST FRONT OF THE COURT HOUSE.

103

DIVISION ONE -PRE-PASADENIAN.

And now, to recapitulate : Pasadena has the following living links of direct connection with persons who took part in the struggle within easy cannon sound of our streets, which resulted in making California an Eng- lish-speaking American state, instead of a Spanish-speaking Mexican pro- vince :

ARTURO BANDINI : His father and mother, his maternal grandfather and two uncles all bore some goodly part on the American side, as fully narrated in preceding pages.

HON. B. D. WILSON : See article, "Battle of Chino." Mrs. Wilson and her daughters, Mrs. Ruth W. Patton and Miss Annie Wilson, and Mr. Wilson's older daughter, Mrs. J. De Barth Shorb, are still with us-1895.

DON MANUEL GARFIAS : The first U. S. patentee owner of Pasadena soil was a Mexican Lieut .- Col. of cavalry, and took part in the battles of San Gabriel Ford and Laguna ranch January 8-9, 1847. From these de- feats he went to Mexico, and was among the prisoners taken by Gen. Scott when his army finally captured the City of Mexico.

DR. JOHN S. GRIFFIN : From whom the Orange Grove Colony bought their land and started the Pasadena settlement. He was chief medical offi- cer of the American troops in the battles of San Pasqual [San Diego coun- ty, December 6, 1846], San Gabriel ford, and Laguna ranch. He was brother-in-law to our Judge Eaton, and brother to Mrs. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston. [See page 76, foot note].

KIT CARSON : Col. Fremont's famous Rocky Mountain guide and scout was with Fremont's troops in their march from San Diego to Los Angeles in July-August, 1846 ; was sent as special envoy with despatches to Washing- ton from Stockton and Fremont ; was stripped of his despatches and forced to turn back by Gen. Kearny on the road from Santa Fe ; he was thus in the battle of San Pasqual, and also in the battles of January 8 and 9, 1847. His brother Apollos Carson was in Fremont's battalion also ; and his son Sam afterward lived a while in Pasadena. John V. Carson and his son Eu- gene, well known building contractors of Pasadena, are cousins of Kit Car- son ; and J. C. Studebaker is a nephew-son of Kit's sister Sarah.

OLD FRANCESCA LUGO: Don Felipe Lugo owned the great La- guna ranch, then called "La Mesa," at the time the battle of January 9, 1847, was fought there in plain sight of the whitewashed adobe walls of Los Angeles ; and she herself acted as supply agent and commissary for the Mexican troops during the two days' battles. Then when Col. Fremont marched into the city and became the first American governor of California, she delivered to him the keys of Gov. Pio Pico's house. She has resided in Pasadena with her son Jose Lugo, on the Arroyo flat under the Linda Vista bluff, for nine or ten years past, and claimed to be 100 years old about De- cember 1, 1894.

IO4

HISTORY OF PASADENA.

B. F. E. KELLOGG : Member of Fremont's California battalion, father- in-law to Byron O. Clark, one of our best known citizens for ten or twelve years past.

JESUS RUBIO, the original owner of Rubio Canyon, brought his uncle, Francisco Rubio, to San Gabriel from the Laguna ranch battle field where he was fatally wounded and died next day. His uncle, Manuel Rubio, was slightly wounded while lassoing Gen. Kearny's artillery horses in the battle of San Pasqual. [Jesus Rubio now lives at Duarte-1895.]

JOSE D. OLIVAS : grandson of Domingo Olivas, who was one of the three peace commissioners who met Commodore Stockton on his second march against Los Angeles. Olivas represented the Spanishı people.

Other citizens of Pasadena who took part in the Mexican war were : J. A. Buchanan, 4th Regt. Indiana Volunteers ; Charles Everett, teamster ; Parley S. Tubbs, 6th U. S. Inf .; A. Wakely, Co. D 7th U. S. Inf. In the war of the rebellion, 1861-65, Wakely was a captain in the 98th N. Y. Inf. Mr. Everett was a member of F troop in Brig .- Gen. Kit Carson's Ist. Regt. New Mexico mounted infantry. Buchanan was purchasing agent in quar- termaster department.

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Author: Reid, Hiram Alvin, 1834-; McClatchie, Alfred James, comp Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Pasadena, Cal., Pasadena History Co. Number of Pages: 714

Author: Reid, Hiram Alvin, 1834-; McClatchie, Alfred James, comp
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Pasadena, Cal., Pasadena History Co.
Number of Pages: 714