USA > California > San Luis Obispo County > History of San Luis Obispo County, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 30
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At four o'clock in the afternoon of the day succeeding their arrival, the party were ready to set out on their return. The two horses rode by the Colonel from San Luis Obispo were a present to him from Don Jesus, who now desired him to make an experiment with the abil- ities of one of them. They were brothers, one a year younger than the other, both the same color-cinnamon -- and hence called el canelo, or los canelos. The elder was taken for the trial, and led off gallantly as the party struck the plain which stretches toward the Sali-
nas. A more graceful horse, or one more deftly mounted, I have never seen. The eyes of the gathered crowd followed them till they disappeared in the shadows of the distant hills. Forty miles on the hand-gallop, and they camped for the night. Another day and the elder canelo was again under the saddle of Colonel Fremont, and for ninety miles carried him withont change and without apparent fatigue. It was still thirty miles to San Luis, where they were to pass the night, and Don Jesus insisted that canelo could easily perform it, and so said the horse in his spirited look and action. But the Colonel would not put him to the trial; and shifting the saddle to the younger brother, the elder was turned loose to run the remaining thirty miles without a rider. He immediately took the lead, and kept it the whole dis- tance, entering San Luis on a sweeping gallop, and neighing with exultation on his return to his native pastures. His younger brother, with equal spirit, kept the lead of the horses under the saddle, bearing on his bit, and requiring the constant check of his rider. The whole eight horses made their 120 miles each in this day's ride, after having performed forty the evening be- fore.
After a detention of half a day in San Luis Obispo by a rain-storm, the party resumed the horses they had left there, and which took them back to Los Angeles in the same time they had brought them up. In this whole journey from Los Angeles to Monterey and back-mak- ing 840 miles -- the party had actually but one relay of fresh horses. The time on the road was about seventy- six hours.
ENDURANCE OF CALIFORNIA HORSES.
This celebrated ride has formed the basis of many speeches and tales enlogistic of the riders and the endur- ing powers of the native California horses, commonly derided as the mustang. The ancient blood of the Cal- ifornia horse was of the noblest Barbary, but through inattention to breeding had been permitted to degener- ate until it had run down to an inferior stock. There were, however, many horses like los canelos, but the great numbers of poor and vicious animals which the abundance put on the market at mere nominal rates, prejudiced the incoming Americans against them, and the breed was incontinently and unjustly condemned. Without doubt, by careful breeding, the bread could and should have been saved and the noble blood restored.
FREMONT'S DIFFICULTY WITH KEARNV.
After his return Fremont submitted to the orders of his superior officer, but his difficulties were by no means ended. He had commenced the war in California, had taken a more active part than any other person, and he appeared to regard himself as the conqueror. His treaty at Cahuenga, whereby those breaking their parole, partic- ularly Don Andreas Pico, was an act unforgivable by Kearny. Pico had bitterly humiliated Kearny at San Pasqual, and Fremont's forgiving him had made the General his unrelenting enemy, and Fremont's disrespect towards Kearny, who was the beau ideal soldier of the army, incensed all the graduated officers against him with telling effect. He had been ordered to turn over the howitzer captured by the Californians at San Pasqual, and surrendered to him at Cahuenga, to Lieutenant-Col-
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onel Cooke of the Mormon battalion, and this he had declined to do, claiming his men would revolt if he should obey. For disobedience of these orders he was after- wards put under arrest, tried by court martial at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, and dismissed the service. The President, however, after approving the decision, in regard for his past services, restored Fremont to his rank and
ordered him to duty. This Fremont declined, and retired from the service. The general verdict of the people has been that Fremont was badly treated; that the quarrel had been between Stockton and Kearny, and that in obeying the one in power he was made to suffer. That he was arrogant and assuming cannot be denied, and as an officer of the army, disobeying his superior, he was properly subjected to punishment. His strategy, as exemplified in his celebrated march, as well as that of Mervine and Stockton in the re-capture of Los Angeles, has long been a subject of ridicule.
KEARNY AS GOVERNOR.
The proclamation of General Kearny, says Mr. Bryant, gave great satisfaction to the native as well as the emi- grant population of the country. Several of the Alcaldes, as well as private individuals, expressed orally and by letter their approbation in the warmest terms. They said that they were heartily willing to become Americans upon these terms, and hoped that there would be the least possible delay in admitting them to the rights of American citizenship. There was a general expectation, among natives as well as foreigners, that a representative form of Territorial Government would be immediately established by General Kearny.
LETTER OF GENERAL SCOTT.
The reason why this was not done is explained by a letter from General Scott, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, to General Kearny, dated November 3, 1846, of which Col. R. B. Mason was the bearer, he having left the United States November 7, and arrived, via Panama, in San Francisco on the 13th of February,. 1847. In this letter General Scott says :-
As a guide to the civil Governer of Upper California, in our hands, see the letter of June 3d (last), addressed to you by the Secretary of War. You will not, however, formally declare the province to be annexed. Per- manent incorporation of the territory must depend on the Government of the United States.
After occupying with our forces all necessary points in Upper California, and establishing a temporary civil Gov- ernment therein, as well as assuring yourself of the internal tranquillity, and the absence of any danger of re-conquest on the part of Mexico, you will charge Col- onel Mason, United States First Dragoons, the bearer of this open letter, or Land Officer next in rank to your own, with your several duties, and return yourself, with a suf- ficient escort of troops, to St. Louis, Missouri, but the body of United States Dragoons that accompanied you to California, will remain there until further orders.
A COMMUNAL GOVERNMENT.
The Government continued, rather as a communal Government, under the Spanish laws and customs where the Spanish people predominated, but with the innovation of
juries and some American laws where the American element prevailed. Great authority was reposed in the Alcaldes, and in small communities their power was almost supreme, elected by the people and making laws for the neigh- borhood. They made decrees, adjudicated cases, and executed processes. They were presumed to know how affairs in their juzgado, or jurisdiction, should be admin- istered, and were but little interfered with by the Govern- ors, who, for the time, constituted the only other power. In the larger towns, or pueblos, ayuntamientos, or town councils, were established, but generally the Alcaldes and Regidores were the officers. A few documents and official correspondence may still be found, dim and ragged, in the archives of San Luis Obispo County, a sample of which is the following :-
LETTER FROM GENREAL KEARNY.
MONTEREY, California, April 30, 1847.
SIR: Your communication of the 15th of April has been received. I desire that you continue to discharge the duties of Alcalde, and it is hoped that a sufficient number of good citizens will be found, who, in the ab- sence of the military, will be ready to assist you in carry- ing into effect your decrees.
I have not abolished the duty "established for the sale of aguardiente," and your informant had no author- ity for saying that I have done so. I have made no decree on the subject.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, S. W. KEARNY, Brigadier-General and Governor of California. Don J. Mariano Bonilla, Alcalde, etc., San Luis Obispo.
The attention of Kearny was chiefly directed to the vicinity of the capital, at Monterey, and to the growing town of San Francisco, whose grand harbor attracted the attention of the Americans, and the obscure region of San Luis Obispo was left to its Spanish people and Spanish, or California, customs. There were Don J. Mariano Bonilla, well versed in Mexican law, a lawyer by profession; Don Juan Miguel Price, Alcalde, and having the confidence of the people; Don Miguel Avila, an educated man, and at times Alcalde; Don José de Jesus Pico, friend of Fremont, and active in making peace between the Americans and Californians; Don Juan Wil- son, Don Guillermo G. Dana, Don Francisco Z. Branch, and other wealthy and influential citizens of the old regimé to assist in carrying out the decrees and main- taining order. Some were of native birth, some of Scotch, English, and American, long residents in the country, naturalized citizens of the Republic of Mexico, and had adopted its religion, language, and titles. Com- ing with the recent invaders were a few Americans of re- spectability and energy of character, and with these a good government was maintained in the sparsely settled community of San Luis Obispo without the aid of the military.
RICHARD B. MASON, GOVERNOR.
In obedience to instructions from General Scott, Colonel Mason was appointed Governor on the 31st of May, 1847, with Lieut. H. W. Halleck as Secretary, and early in June General Kearny left California for the East via the over-
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land route by the Truckee and the South Pass. During the early part of Governor Mason's administration, the affairs of San Luis Obispo continued in their even way, the greater progress being in the northern part of the ter- ritory. Some of his official correspondence with Alcalde Price has already been given. Among the documents in the San Luis Obispo archives is the following circular, issued in manuscript in Spanish and English :---
CIRCULAR.
HEADQUARTERS IOTH MILITARY DEPARTMENT, -
MONTEREY, California, December, 21, 1847.
You will use every effort in your power to carry into full effect the proclamation of the 29th November ult., prohibiting the sale of spirituous liquors or wine to the Indians.
R. B. MASON,
Colonel First Dragoons and Governor of California. To the Alcaldes of California.
The manuscript of Colonel Mason is not at all clerkly, and did one not know who was meant from other sources it would be difficult to discover the name by the signa- ture. Many pleasant anecdotes are related of the gallant and stately old veteran, of his skill in horsemanship, with the sabre, and with the fowling piece, notwithstanding he had lost a hand in battle with Indians of Florida. He returned East in 1849, and died the same year of cholera.
TREATY WITH MEXICO.
The war with Mexico had resulted in the complete triumph of the American arms and the whole country was conquered. Nicholas P. Trist was sent by the United States to make a treaty of peace, which was concluded and signed at the hacienda of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, February 2, 1848, ratified by the President March 16, 1848, ex- changed at Querêtaro, May 30, 1848, and proclaimed by the President July 4, 1848. By its terms Upper Cali- fornia and New Mexico were ceded to the United States, the Gila River being the southern line, California em- bracing all the country west of the Rocky Mountains. In compensation the United States paid Mexico $15,000,000, assumed the indebtedness due American citizens $3,000,- ooo, ratified the proclamations of the military Governors, guaranteed the private ownership of lands as held at the raising of the flag at Monterey, and admitted all the in- habitants to citizenship.
While the negotiations were in progress, and two weeks before they were concluded, a discovery was made in California, the knowledge of which still slumbered in the fastnesses of her mountains. So valuable was this to the United States, so important to the world, that the mind is awed into the belief that the secret was held by Divine Providence until such a time as the land should be se- curely possessed by an enlightened and progressive peo- ple, under the freest government of the earth, who would develop the treasure to the greatest good of mankind.
DISCOVERY OF GOLD.
During the administration of Governor Mason, on the 19th of January, 1848, the discovery of gold was made by James W. Marshall in the race of Captain Sutter's saw-mill,
at Coloma. So remarkable have been the results of that discovery that its date may be regarded as marking a new era in California, in fact a new era in the commerce of the world. The news of this discovery at first spread slowly, like the pretty wavelets from a pebble dropping in a glassy pond, but soon increasing with the avalanche of the golden product, sending waves of overwhelming conviction around the entire globe.
FIRST REPORT TAKEN EAST.
When the first reports were coming to San Francisco and to Monterey, Lieut. E. F. Beale, who had been ex- ecutive officer of Commodore Stockton on the frigate Congress, and prominent in the conquest, was sent to Washington with dispatches. Beale believed in the gold discoveries, and carried letters mentioning it, but nothing official. His route was via Mazatlan and across Mexico, arriving in Washington in June. He made his report to President Polk, who, when receiving the enthusiastic young officer, was engaged in playing a game of chess with the Secretary of the Navy, Hon. George Bancroft. The story of the gold was received with a smile of in- credulity, and the messenger was bantered by the august officials with the remarks that the officers were probably speculating in city lots, and wanted to induce an immi- gration; or were unduly excited over an unimportant dis- covery, and he was sent back with dispatches to Governor Mason. In the meantime he had visited New York and conferred with Wm. H. Aspinwall, the head of the new steamship company to California, told him of the discov- ery, and gave him advice to prepare his steamers, then building, for carrying passengers, which advice was fortu- nately followed. Aspinwall appeared to be the only one who credited the report of Lieutenant Beale.
The story was told, however, in the newspapers, but so little attention was paid to it that no excitement was then created. Beale returned to California, arriving in August, and then found the country wild over the results from the mines.
GREAT EXCITEMENT IN NEW YORK.
Governor Mason had visited, in the meantime, the place of discovery, and was prepared to announce the facts in an indisputable official report. Beale had also procured from a young volunteer of the Stevenson Regi- ment, a lump of pure gold of the size of a large potato, and was again ordered to the East with these dispatches and bright and weighty proof of the story. The messen- ger arrived on his second journey in September, made his report and exhibited his lump of gold.
Governor Mason, Captain Folsom, and Lieutenant, now General, Sherman had visited the mines, and sent reports. These, with the gold, were proofs that could not be ridiculed. The report was first published in the Balti- more Sun of September 20, 1848. Lieutenant Beale took his lump of gold to New York, and sought his old friend Aspinwall. With him he went to Wall Street, and from the steps of the Stock Exchange the gold was exhibited to the populace. The crowd became a jam, the news spread from mouth to mouth, and soon the street was im-
DAIRY RANCH.AND RESIDENCE OF J. Q. BUFFINGTON, NEAR CAYUCOS, SAN LUIS OBISPO CO. CAL.
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passably blocked for a long distance, by the intensely ex- cited people. This was the first excitement on the At- lantic Coast regarding the gold discovery in California. The excitement was contagious and was communicated through letters and newspapers to all people susceptible of enthusiasm throughout the country.
The precious lump of gold was afterwards taken to Barnum's Museum, a steel band put around it, and sus- pended by a chain, where it became the attraction for thousands of visitors. Subsequently it was sold to the mercantile firm of Cross, Hobson & Co., by whom it was sent to Great Britain, and there again exhibited as tangi- ble evidence of the wealth of California.
The great discovery was by this made known to all the great centers of population and commerce of the world, and all looked and wondered .*
PROGRESS OF THE EXCITEMENT.
Mr. Jonas Spect, still living, and a prominent citizen of California, made record of some of the early reports of the gold discovery which are of interest in the history of the progress of the excitement in California.
He had left Yerba Buena-San Francisco-on the 6th of April, with two companions, expecting to meet others at Johnson's ranch, to make the journey overland to Missouri. Little could have been known of the mines at that time, or an emigration party would not have been thought of. The fact, however, was known that gold was mined at Sutter's Mill, because the Star, of San Francisco, on the 25th of March, had stated that gold dust had be- come an article of traffic at New Helvetia-Sutter's Fort,
or, now, Sacramento. Early in April, Mr. E. C. Kemble, the editor of that journal, made a visit to the mines, and returning, declared them a "sham." - He had scarcely printed his paper containing the condemnation, before half a pound of the dust was offered for sale. More came, and before the end of April so many had left San Fran- cisco for Coloma that the population was perceptibly re- duced. On the 30th of April, Mr. Spect says there was no excitement, and that he paid very little attention to the gold mines, still there evidently was excitement among some classes before that, as, he relates, some rich strikes had been made, and the Spaniards reported fabulously rich diggings. This gentleman had kept a diary, from which his account is written.
Such records, together with the reports, correspondence, opinions, and advertisements in the papers, of which there were two, the Star and the Californian, furnish in- disputable facts of the spread of the news of the gold dis- covery, and of the rise of the excitement in California. In January the discovery was made and communicated to Captain Sutter at New Helvetia. Marshall appears to be the only man excited, or much interested about it.
In March it was first told in San Francisco; in April gold dust becomes an article of traffic, and in the latter part of this month and in May the rush begins and the excitement is intense. In June, Lieut. E. F. Beale reports the discovery in the East, but it is regarded as nothing extraordinary and little attention is paid to it;
but in September he comes again with the confirmation of his first report, and bearing the gold as a proof, and from that date the news was known to the world.
A VIVID PICTURE.
On the 29th of May Rev. Mr. Colton, Alcalde of Monterey, writes :-
Our town was startled out of its quiet dreams to-day by the announcement that gold had been discovered on the American Fork. The men wondered and talked, and the women too; but neither believed. The sibyls were less skeptical; they said the moon had, for several nights, appeared not more than a cable's length from the earth; that a white raven had been seen playing with an infant, and that an owl had rung the church bells.
On the 5th of June another report of the discovery came, and on the following day the Alcalde dispatched a messenger to the scene of operations for more positive information. On the 12th he again writes :-
A straggler came in to-day from the American Fork, bringing a piece of yellow ore, weighing an ounce. The young dashed the dirt from their eyes, and the old from their spectacles. One brought a spy-glass, another an iron ladle; some wanted to smelt it, others to hammer it, and a few were satisfied with smelling it. All were full of tests; and many, who could not be gratified in making their experiments, declared it a humbug. One lady sent me a huge gold ring, in the hope of reaching the truth by comparison; while a gentleman placed the specimen on the top of his gold-headed cane and held it up, chal- lenging the sharpest eye to detect a difference. But doubts still hovered in the minds of the great mass. They could not conceive that such a treasure could have lain so long undiscovered. The idea seemed to convict them of stupidity.
On the 20th of June he says :-
My messenger sent to the mines has returned with specimens of the gold; he dismounted in a sea of up- turned faces. As he drew forth the yellow lumps from his pockets, and passed them around among the eager crowd, the doubts, which had lingered till now, fled. All admitted they were gold, except one old man, who still persisted they were some Yankee invention, got up to reconcile the people to the change of flag. The excite- ment produced was intense, and many were soon busy in their hasty preparations for a departure to the mines. The family who had kept house for me caught the mov- ing infection. Husband and wife are both packing up; the blacksmith dropped his hammer, the carpenter his plane, the mason his trowel, the farmer his sickle, the baker his loaf, and the tapster his bottle. All were off for the mines, some on horses, some on carts, some on crutches, and one went in a litter. An American woman, who had recentlyestablished a boarding-house here, pulled up stakes and was off before her lodgers had even time to pay their bills. Debtors ran, of course. I have only a community of women left, and a gang of prisoners, with here and there a soldier, who will give his Captain the slip at the first chance. I don't blame the fellows a whit; seven dollars a month, while others are making two or three hundred a day! that is too much for human nature to stand.
Saturday, July 15th. The gold fever has reached every servant in Monterey; none are to be trusted in their en- gagement beyond a week, and, as for compulsion, it is like attempting to drive fish into a net with the ocean before them. General Mason, Lieutenant Lanman, and myself, form a mess; we have a house and all the table furniture
* From an interview with General Beale in 1881.
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and culinary apparatus requisite, but our servants have run, one after another, till we are almost in despair; even Sambo, who we thought would stick by from laziness, if no other cause, ran last night, and this morning, for the fortieth time, we had to take to the kitchen and cook our own breakfast. A General of the United States Army, the commander of a man-of-war, and the Alcalde of Mon- terey, in a smoking kitchen, grinding coffee, toasting a herring, and peeling onions! These gold mines are going to upset all the domestic arrangements of society, turn- ing the head to the tail, and the tail to the head. Well, it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good; the nabobs have had their time, and now comes the "niggers." We shall all live just as long and be quite as fit to die.
Shortly thereafter the worthy Alcalde sought consola- tion in the gold mines, digging for himself the precious metal.
EFFECTS OF THE DISCOVERY.
Father Colton, as he was reverently called in those days, was quite a philosopher, and has left us a lively description of the times, with wise reflections upon the result of the gold discovery. The scenes he depicted were re-enacted in every town throughout the land, and even before the doubts were dispelled the great movement to the mines and to California began. The great, open, free country; the lofty and extended range of mountains, watered by sparkling streams, indented by deep cañons and gentle ravines, sown with pure and glittering gold, and over- spread with the most genial and healthful climate, gave emancipation to labor. "The nabobs have had their time, and now comes the 'niggers,'" meant more than Father Colton dreamed. The ruts of old society were broken, and men whose only hope in life had been to toil at the bidding and for the profit of another were given the op- portunity to work for themselves, and the startling spec- tacle was seen of a General, a Lieutenant, and an Alcalde, doing their own cooking. "The bottom rail had got on top." All were placed on an equality of position, and the laborer and the lord had an equal chance in the struggle for wealth and the place in the social scale that wealth assures. The result has proven that with equal chances the laborer wins the prize, and the hard-earned gold dust of the Sierra has been the foundation of many families of high standing from the most unpretending projenitors.
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