USA > California > San Mateo County > History of San Mateo County, California, including its geography, topography, geology, climatography, and description, together with an historical sketch of California; a record of the Mexican grants; the early history and settlement, compiled from the most authentic sources; some of the names of Spanish and American pioneers; legislative history; a record of its cities and towns; biographical sketches of representative men; etc., etc > Part 7
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ostensibly for the port of Monterey; but when two days out, his squadron hove to. a council of the Captains of the Flag-ship, "Cyane" an l " Dale" was held, when the decision was come to that possession should be taken of Cali- fornia at all hazards, and abide by the consequences, whatever they might be. The accompanying letter from an officer of the "Dale," dated Panama, September 23, 1842. tells it own story: "We sailed from Callao on the 7th of September in company with the " United States" and "Cyane" sloop, but on the 10th day out, the 17th, separated, and bore up for this port. Just previous to our departure, two British ships-of-war. the razce "Dublin," fifty guns, and the sloop-of-war "Champion," eighteen guns, sailed thence on secret service. This mysterious movement of Admiral Thomas elicited a hundred comments and conjectures as to his destination, the most probable of which seemed to be that he was bound for the northwest coast of Mexico, where it is surmised that a British settlement (station) is to be located in accordance with a secret convention between the Mexican and English Gov- ernments, and it is among the on dits in the squadron that the frigate " Unite l States," "Cyane" and "Dale" are to rendezvous as soon as possible at Monterey, to keep an eye on John Bull's movements in that quarter." These rumors were all strengthened by the fact that eight hun Ired troops had been embarked at Mazatlan in February, 1842, by General Micheltorena, to assist the English, it was apprehended, to carry out the secret treaty whereby California was to be handed over to Great Britain. Of these troops, who were mostly convicts, Micheltorena lost a great number by deser- tion: and after much delay and vexation, marched out of Mazatlan on July 25, 1842, with only four hundred and fifty men, arriving at San Diego on August 25th. Between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, with his army reduced to but three hundred from desertion, at 11 o'clock on the night of October 24th, he received the astounding intelligence that Commodore Jones had entered the port of Monterey, with the frigate "United States" and corvette "Cyane," landed an armed force, hauled down the Mexican flag, hoisted the American in its place, and issued a proclamation declaring Cali- fornia to be henceforth belonging to the United States. These startling occurrences took place on October 19, 1842. On the 28th, the Commodore reflected on his latest achievement, and becoming convinced that an error had been committed, he lowered the American ensign, replaced it with that of Mexico, and on the following day saluted it, sailed for Mazatlan, and reported his proceedings to Washington.
On hearing of the capture of Monterey, the Mexican General withdrew to the Mission of San Fernando, and there remained for some time, when he finally, on the horizon being cleared, transferred his staff to Los Angeles, and there entertained Commodore Jones on January 19, 1843.
The recall of Jones was demanded by the Mexican Minister at Washing- ton, which was complied with, and Captain Alexander J. Dallas instructed
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to relieve him of the command of the Pacific squadron. Dallas at once pro- ceed to Callao, via Panama, to assume his new functions, and on arrival took the "Erie," an old store-ship, and proceeded in search of the Commodore, who had in the meantime received intelligence of the turn affairs had taken, and kept steering from port to port, and finally touching at Valparaiso, Chili, he sailed for home around Cape Horn. The reign of Captain Dallas was short; he died on board the frigate "Savannah," at Callao, June 3, 1844, and was succeeded by Commodore John Drake Sloat.
Between the years 1844 and 1846, the American and British fleets keenly watched each other, and anxiously awaited the declaration of war between Mexico and the United States. During this time the revolution which drove General Micheltorena and his army from California, had broken out and been quelled; while the Oregon boundary and the annexation of Texas were ques- tions which kept the naval authorities at fever heat.
Let us now leave these American and British sailors with their mighty ships jealously watching the movements of each other, to consider the doings of one who before long was to take a prominent part in the affairs of Cali- fornia.
In the month of March, 1845, Brevet Captain John Charles Fremont departed from Washington for the purpose of organizing a third expedition for the topographical survey of Oregon and California, which having done, he left Bent's fort, on or about the 16th of April, his command consisting of sixty-two men, six of whom were Delaware Indians. It is not our wish here, nor indeed have we the space, to tell of the hardships endured, and the perilous journeys made by Fremont, Kit Carson, Theodore Talbot, and others of that band, whose wanderings have formed the theme of many a ravishing tale; our duty will only permit of defining the part taken by them in regard to our especial subject.
About June 1, 1846, General José Castro, with Lieutenant Francisco de Arci, his Secretary, left the Santa Clara Mission, where they had ensconced themselves after pursuing Fremont from that district, and passing through Yerba Buena (San Francisco) crossed the bay to the Mission of San Rafael, and there collected a number of horses which he directed Arci to take to Sonoma, with as many more as he could capture on the way, and from there proceed with all haste to the Santa Clara Mission by way of Knight's Land- ing and Sutter's Fort. These horses were intended to be used against Fre- mont and Governor Pio Pico by Castro, both of whom had defied his authority. On June 5th, Castro moved from Santa Clara to Monterey, and on the 12th, while on his return, was met by a courier bearing the intelli- gence that Lieutenant Arci had been surprised and taken prisoner on the 10th by a band of adventurers, who had also -seized a large number of the horses which he had in charge for the headquarters at Santa Clara. Here was a dilemma. Castro's education in writing had been sadly neglected-
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it is said he could only paint his signature -- and being without his ama : .. ensis, he at once turned back to Monterey, and on June 12th dictated a letter, through ex-Governor Don Juan B. Alvarado, to the Prefect Manuel Castro, saying that the time had come when their differences should be laid aside, and conjoint action taken for the defence and protection of their common country, at the same time asking that he should collect all the men and horses possible and send them to Santa Clara. He then returned to his head- quarters, and on the 17th promulgated a soul-stirring proclaination to the settlers.
When Lieutenant Arci left Sonoma with the caballada of horses and mares, crossing the dividing ridge, he passed up the Sacramento valley to Knight's Landing, on the left bank of the Sacramento river, about fifteen miles north of the present city of Sacramento. [This ferry was kept by William Knight, who had left Missouri May 6, 1841, arrived in California November 10, 1841, received a grant of land and settled at Knight's Land- ing, Yolo county of to-day. He died at the mines on the Stanislaus river, in November 1849.] When Lieutenant Arci reached the ferry or crossing, he met Mrs. Knight, to whom, on account of her being a New Mexican by birth, and therefore thought to be trustworthy, he confided the secret of the expedi- tion. Such knowledge was too much for any ordinary feminine bosom to con- tain. She told her husband, who, in assisting the officer to cross his horses, gave him fair words so that suspicion might be lulled, and then bestriding his fleetest horse, he made direct for Captain Fremont's camp at the confluence of the Feather and Yuba rivers, where he arrived early in the morning of June 9th. Here Knight, who found some twenty settlers that had arrived earlier than he, discussing matters, communicated to Captain Fremont and the settlers that Lieutenant Arci had, the evening before, the 8th, crossed at his landing, bound to Santa Clara via the Cosumne river; that Arci had told Mrs. Knight, in confidence, that the animals were intended to be used by Castro in expelling the American settlers from the country, and that it was also the intention to fortify the Bear river pass above the rancho of William Johnson, thereby putting a stop to all immigration; a move of Castro's which was strengthened by the return to Sutter's Fort, on June 7th, of a force that had gone out to chastise the Mokelumne Indians, who had threatened to burn the settlers' crops, incited thereto, presumably, by Castro.
Fremont, while encamped at the Buttes, was visited by nearly all the settlers, and from them gleaned vast stores of fresh information hitherto unknown to him. Among these were, that the greater proportion of foreign- ers in the country had become Mexican citizens, and married ladies of the country, for the sake of procuring land, and through them had become pos- sessed of deep secrets supposed to be known only to the prominent Califor- nians. Another was that a convention had been held at the San Juan Mis-
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sion to decide which one of the two nations, America or Great Britain, should guarantee protection to California against all others for certain priveleges and considerations. .
Lieutenant Revere says: "I have been favorel by an intelligent member of the Junta with the following authentic report of the substance of Pico's speech to that-illustrious body of statesmen :-
" Excellent Sirs: To what a deplorable condition is our country reduced ! Mexico, professing to be our mother and our protectress, has given us neither arms nor money, nor the material of war for our defense. She is not likely to do anything in our behalf, although she is quite willing to afflict us with her extortionate minions, who come hither in the guise of soldiers and civil officers, to harass and oppress our people. We possess a glorious country, capable of attaining a physical and moral greatness corresponding with the grandeur and beauty which an Almighty hand has stamped on the face of our beloved California. But although nature has been prodigal, it cannot be denied that we are not in a position to avail ourselves of her bounty. Our population is not large, and it is sparsely scattered over valley and moun- tain, covering an immense area of virgin soil, destitute of roads and trave :sed with difficulty ; hence it is hardly possible to collect an army of any consider- able force. Our people are poor, as well as few, and cannot well govern themselves and maintain a decent show of sovereign power. Although we live in the midst of plenty, we lay up nothing; but, tilling the earth in an imperfect manner, all our time is required to provide subsistence for ourselves and our families. Thus circumstanced, we find ourselves suddenly threatened by hordes of Yankee emigrants, who have already begun to flock into our country, and whose progress we cannot arrest. Already have the wagons of that perfidious people sealed the almost inaccessible summits of the Sierra Nevada, crossed the entire continent, and penetrated the fruitful valley of the Sacramento. What that astonishing people will next undertake I cannot say; but in whatever enterprise they embark they will be sure to prove successful. Already are these adventurous land-voyagers spreading them- selves far and wide over a country which seems suited to their tastes. They are cultivating farms, establishing vineyards, erecting mills, sawing up lum- ber, building workshops, and doing a thousand other things which seem natural to them, but which Californians neglect or despise. What then are we to do? Shall we remain supine while these daring strangers are over- running our fertile plains and gradually outnumbering and displacing us? Shall these incursions go on unchecked, until we shall become strangers in our own land? We cannot successfully oppose them by our own unaided power: and the swelling tide of immigration renders the odds against us more formidable every day. We cannot stand alone against them, nor can we creditably maintain our independence even against Mexico; but there is something we can do which will elevate our country, strengthen her at all
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points, and yet enable us to preserve our identity and remain masters of our own soil. Perhaps what I am about to suggest may seem to some, faint- hearted and dishonorable. But to me it does not seem so. It is the last hope of a feeble people, struggling against a tyrannical government which claims their submission at home, and threatened by bands of avaricious strangers from without, voluntarily to connect themselves with a power able and willing to defend and preserve them. It is the right and the duty of the weak to demand support from the strong, provided the demand be made upon terms just to both parties, I see no dishonor in this last refuge of the oppressed and powerless, and I boldly avow that such is the step that I would have California take. There are two great powers in Europe, which seem destined to divide between them the unappropriated countries of the world. They have large fleets and armies not unpractised in the art of war. Is it not better to connect ourselves with one of those powerful nations, than to struggle on without hope, as we are doing now? Is it not better that one of them should be invited to send a fleet and an army, to defend and pro- teet California, rather than we should fall an easy prey to the lawless advent- trers who are overrunning our beautiful country? I pronounce for annexa- tion to France or England, and the people of California will never regret having taken my advice. They will no longer be subjected to the trouble and grievous expense of governing themselves; and their beef and their grain, which they produce in such abundance, would find a ready market among the new comers. But I hear some one say: 'No monarchy!' But is not monarchy better than anarchy? Is not existence in some shape, better than annihilation? No monarch! and what is there so terrible in a monarchy? Have not we all lived under a monarchy far more despotic than that of France or England, and were not our people happy under it? Have not the leading men among our agriculturists been bred beneath the royal rule of Spain, and have they been happier since the mock republic of Mexico has supplied its place? Nay, does not every man abhor the miserable abortion christened the republic of Mexico, and look back with regret to the golden days of the Spanish monarchy? Let us restore that glorious era. Then may our people go quietly to their ranchos, and live there as of yore, leading a thoughtless and merry life, untroubled by polities or cares of State, sure of what is their own, and safe from the incursions of the Yankees, who would soon be forced to retreat into their own country."
It was a happy thing for California, and, as the sequel proved, for the views of the government of the United States, a man was found at this juncture whose ideas were more enlightened and consonant with the times than those of the rulers of his country, both civil and military. Patriotism was halt his soul; he therefore could not silently witness the land of his birth sold to any monarchy, however old; and he rightly judged that although foreign pro- tection might postpone, it could not avert that assumption of power which
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was beginning to make itself felt. Possessed at the time of no political power, and having had few early advantages, still his position was so exalted, and his character so highly respected by both the foreign and native population, that he had been invited to participate in the deliberations of the Junta. This man was Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. Born in California, he com- menced his career in the army as an alferes, or ensign, and in this humble grade, he volunteered, at the suggestion of the Mexican government, with a command of fifty soldiers, to establish a colony on the north side of the bay of San Francisco, for the protection of the frontier. He effectually subdued the hostile Indians inhabiting that then remote region, and laid the founda- tion of a reputation for integrity, judgment, and ability, unequaled by any of his countrymen. Although quite a young man, he had already filled the highest offices in the province, and had at this time retired to private life near his estates in the vicinity of the town of Sonoma. He did not hesitate to oppose with all his strength the views advanced by Pico and Castro. He spoke nearly as follows :-
"I cannot, gentlemen, coincide in opinion with the military and civil functionaries who have advocated the cession of our country to France or England. It is most true, that to rely any longer upon Mexico to govern and defend us, would be idle and absurd. To this extent I fully agree with my distinguished colleagues. It is also true that we possess a noble country, every way calculated from position and resources to become great and powerful. For that very reason I would not have her a mere dependency upon a foreign monarchy, naturally alien, or at least indifferent, to our interests and our welfare. It is not to be denied that feeble nations have in former times thrown themselves upon the protection of their powerful neigh- bors. The Britons invoked the aid of the warlike Saxons, and fell an easy prey to their protectors, who seized their lands, and treated them like slaves. Long before that time, feeble and distracted provinces had appealed for aid to the all-conquering arms of imperial Rome; and they were at the same time protected and subjugated by their grasping ally. Even could we tolerate the idea of dependence, ought we to go to distant Europe for a master? What possible sympathy could exist between us and a nation separated from us by two vast oceans? But waiving this insuperable objection, how could we endure to come under the dominion of a monarchy? For, although others speak lightly of a form of Government, as a freeman. I cannot do so. We are republicans -- badly governed and badly situated as we are-still we are all, in sentiment, republicans. So far as we are governed at all, we at least profess to be self-governed .- Who, then, that possesses true patriotism will consent to subject himself and his children to the caprices of a foreign King and his official minions? But it is asked, if we do not throw ourselves upon the protection of France or England, what shall we do? I do not come here to support the existing order of things, but I come prepared to propose
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instant and effective action to extricate our country from her present forlorn condition. My opinion is made up that we must persevere in throwing off the galling yoke of Mexico, and proclaim our independence of her forever. We have endured her official coromants and her villainons soldiery until we can endure no longer. All will probably agree with me that we ought at once to rid ourselves of what may remain of Mexican domination. But some profess to doubt our ability to maintain our position. To my mind there comes no doubt. Look at Texas, and see how long she withstood the power of united Mexico. The resources of Texas were not to be compared with ours, and she was much nearer to her enemy than we are. Our position is so remote, either by land or sea, that we are in no danger from Mexican inva- sion. Why, then, should we hesitate still to assert our independence? We have indeed taken the first step, by electing our own Governor, but another remains to be taken. I will mention it plainly and distinctly-it is annex- ation to the United States. In contemplating this consummation of our destiny, I feel nothing but pleasure, and I ask you to share it. Discard old prejudices, disregard old customs, and prepare for the glorious change which awaits our country. Why should we shrink from incorporating ourselves with the happiest and freest nation in the world, destined soon to be the most wealthy and powerful? Why should we go abroad for protection when this great nation is our adjoining neighbor? When we join our fortunes to hers, we shall not become subjects, but fellow-citizens, possessing all the rights of the people of the United States, and choosing our own federal and local rulers. We shall have a stable government and just laws. California will grow strong and flourish, and her people will be prosperous, happy and free. Look not, therefore, with jealousy upon the hardy pioneers, who scale our mountains and cultivate our unoccupied plains; but rather welcome them as brothers, who come to share with us a common destiny."
Such was the substance of General Vallejo's observations; those who listened to him, however, were far behind in general knowledge and intelli- gence. His arguments failed to carry conviction to the greater number of his auditors, but the bold position taken by him was the cause of an imme- diate adjournment of the Junta, no result having been arrived at concerning the weighty affairs on which they had met to deliberate. On his retiring from the Junta he embodied the views he had expressed in a letter to Don Pio Pico, and reiterated his refusal to participate in any action having for its end the adoption of any protection other than that of the United States. In this communication he also declared that he would never serve under any Gov- ernment which was prepared to surrender California to an European power; he then returned to his estates, there to await the issue of events.
We left William Knight at Fremont's camp, where he had arrived on the morning of June 9, 1846, imparting his information to that officer and the twenty settlers who had there assembled. At 10 A. M., of that day, a party
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of eleven men, under the oldest member, Ezekiel Merritt, started in pursuit of Lieutenant Arci and his horses. On arrival at Hock farm they were joined by two more, and having crossed the American River at Sinclair's, reached the rancho of Allen Montgomery, sixty miles from Fremont's camp at the Buttes, towards evening, and there supped. Here they received the intelligence that Lieutenant Arci had reached Sutter's Fort on the 8th, an l had that morning resumed his march, inten ling to camp that night at the rancho of Martin Murphy, twenty miles south, on the Cosumne river. Supper finished and a short rest indulged in, the party were once more in the saddle, being strengthened by the addition of Montgomery and another man, making the total force fifteen. They proceeded to within about five miles of Murphy's, and there lay concealed till daylight, when they were again on the move, and proceeded to within half a mile of the camp. Unperceived, they cautiously advanced to within a short distance, and then suddenly charging, secured the Lieutenant and his party, as well as the horses. Lieutenant Arci was permitted to retain his sword, each of his party was given a horse wherewith to reach Santa Clara, and a person traveling with him was permitted to take six of the animals which he claimed as private property; the Lieutenant was then instructed to depart, and say to his chief, General Castro, that the remainder of the horses were at his disposal when- ever he should wish to come and take them. The Americans at once returned to Montgomery's, with the horses, and there breakfasted; that night, the 10th, they camped twenty-seven miles above Sutter's, on the rancho of Nicolas Allgier, a German, not far from the mouth of Bear river, and, in the morning. ascertaining that Fremont had moved his camp thither from the Buttes, they joined him on the 11th, at 10 A. M., having traveled about one hundred and fifty miles in forty-eight hours.
On arriving at Fremont's camp it was found that the garrison had been considerably augmented by the arrival of more settlers who were all ardently discussing the events of the past two days, and its probable results. After a full hearing it was determined by them that, having gone so far, their only chance of safety was in a rapid march to the town of Sonoma, to effect its capture. and to accomplish this before the news of the stoppage of Lieutenant Arei and his horses could have time to reach that garrison. It was felt that should this design prove successful all further obstacles to the eventual capture of the country would have vanished. The daring band then reorganized, still retaining in his position of Captain, Ezekiel Merritt. At 3 P. M., June 12th, under their leader they left Fremont's camp for Sonoma, one hundred and twenty miles distant, and traveling all that night, passed the rancho of William Gordon, about ten miles from the present town of Woodland, Yolo county, whom they desired to inform all Americans that could be trusted, of their intention. At 9 A. M., on the 13th, they reached Captain John Grigsby's, at the head of Napa valley, and were joined by
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