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 8
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William L. Todd, William Scott and others. Here the company, which now mustered thirty-three men, was reorganize I, and addresseil by Doctor Robert Semple. Not desiring, however, to reach Sonoma till daylight, they halted here till midnight, when they once more resumed their march, and before it was yet the dawn of June 14, 1846, surprised and captured the garrison of Sonoma, consisting of six soldiers, nine pieces of artillery, and some small arms, etc., "all private property being religiously respected; and in generations yet to come their children's children may look back with pride and pleasure upon the commencement of a revolution which was carried on by their fathers' fathers upon principles as high and holy as the laws of eternal justice."
Their distinguished prisoners were General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Prudon, Captain Don Salvador Mundo Vallejo, brother to the general, and Mr. Jacob Primer Leese, brother-in-law to the General.
We would now lay before the reader the account of this episode, as described by General Vallejo, at the Centennial exercises, held at Santa Rosa, July 4, 1876 :-
"I have now to say something of the epoch which inaugurated 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 Doctor Semple, and William B. Ide, surrounded my residence at Sonoma, and without firing a shot, made prisoners of myself, then Commander of the northern frontier; of Lieutenant-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 often, in union with the settlers, did good service in campaigns against the Indians; but at last, tired of spending money which the Mexican Govern- ment never refunded, I disbanded the force, and most of the soldiers who had constituted it left Sonoma. Thus in June, 1846, the Plaza was entirely unprotected, although there were ten pieces of artillery, with other arms and munitions of war. The parties who unfurled the Bear Flag were well aware that Sonoma was without defense, an l lost no time in taking advan- tage of this fact, and carrying out their plans. Years before, I had urgently represented 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 an easy 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 once force the emigrants to recross the Sierra Nevada, and depart from the territory of the Republic. To say nothing of the inhuman- ity of these orders, their execution was physically impossible-first, because the immigrants came in Autumn, when snow covered the Sierras so quickly
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as to make a return impracticable. Under the circumstances, not only I, but Commandante 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 authority, but well convinced all the time that we had no power to resist the invasion which was coming upon us. With the frankness of a sollier I can assure you that the American immigrants never ha lexuse to complain of the treatment they received at the hands of either authorities or citizens. They carried us as prisoner ; to Sacramento, and kept us in a calaboose 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 hearths."
On the seizure of their prisoners the revolutionists at once 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 called at the barracks, situated at the north-east corner of the Plaza, under the presidency of William B. Ide, Doctor Robert Semple being secretary. 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 dissolution of the convention, however, rumors were rife that secret emissaries were being dispatched to the Mexican rancheros, to inform them of the recent occurrences, 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.
Before transferring their prisoners, however, a treaty, or agreement was entered into between the captives and captors, which will appear th annexed documents kindly furnished to us by General Vallejo, and which have never before been given to the public. The first is in English, signed by the principal actors in the revolution and reads :-
"We. the undersigned, having resolved to establish a government upon Republican principals in connection with others of our fellow-citizens, and having taken up arms to support it, we have taken three Mexican officers as prisoners; General M. G. Vallejo, Lieut. Col. Victor Prudon, and Captain D. Salvador Vallejo, having formed and published to the world no regular plan of government, feel it our duty to say that it is not our intention to take or injure any person who is not found in oppsition to the cause, nor will we take or destroy the property of private individuals further than is necessary for our immediate support.
EZEKIEL MERRITT, R. SEMPLE,
WILLIAM FALLON, SAMUEL KELSEY."
The second is in the Spanish language and reads as follows :-
" Conste pr. la preste. qe. habiendo sido sorprendido pr. una numeros a fuerza armada qe. me tomó prisionero y á los gefes y officiales que. estaban de
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guarnicion en esta plaza de la qe. se apoderó la espresada fuerza, habiendola encontrado absolutamte. indefensa, tanto yo, como los S. S. Officiales qe. suscribero comprometemos nue stra palabra de honor, de qe. estando bajo las garantias de prisionero da guerra, no tomaremos las armas ni a favor ni contra repetida fuerza armada de quien hemos recibiro la intimacion del momto. y un escrito fuinado qe. garantiza nuestras vidas, familias dé intereses, y los de toto el vecindario de esta jurisdn. mientras no hagamos oposicion. Sonoma, Junio, 14 de 1846,
VCR. PRUDON.
M. G. VALLEJO. SALVADOR VALLEJO."
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 prisoners, the revolutionists, with sin- gular inconsistency, 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 crept up stealthily and awoke one of the prisoners, telling him that there was with him close at hand a strong and well-armed force of rancheros, who, if need be, could surprise and slay the Americans before there was time for them to fly to arms, but that he. Padilla, before giving such instructions awaited the orders of General Vallejo, whose rank entitled him to the command of any such demonstration. The general was cautiously aroused and the scheme divulged to him, but with a self-sac- rifice which cannot be too highly commended, answered that he should go voluntarily with his guardians, that he anticipated a speedy and satisfactory settlement of the whole matter, advised Padilla to return to his rancho and disperse his band, and positively refused to permit any violence to the guard, as he was convinced that such would lead to disastrous consequences, and probably involve the rancheros and their families in ruin, without accom- plishing any good result. Lieutenant Revere says of this episode :-
" This was not told to me by Vallejo, but by a person who was present, and it tallies well with the account given by the revolutionists themselves, several of whom informed me that no guard was kept by them that night, and that the prisoners might have easily escaped had they felt so inclined. The same person also told me that when Vallejo was called out of bed and made a prisoner in his own house, he requested to be informed as to the plans and objects of the revolutionists, signifying his readiness to collect and take command of a force of his countrymen in the cause of independence."
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 made for the reception of the pris- oners. They entered the fort early in the morning of June 16th. That'
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evening the rest of the party, with their prisoners came and were handed over to the safe-keeping of Captain Sutter, who, it is said, was severely cen- sured by Captain Fremont for his indulgence to them.
Mr. Thomas C. Lancey, the author of several interesting letters on this subject, which appeared in The Pioneer during the year 1878, remarks :--
"There have been so many questions raised during this year (1878) in rela- tion to the date of the hoisting of the 'Bear Flag,' who made it and what material it was manufactured from, as well as the date of the capture of Sonoma, and the number of men who marched that morning, that I shall give the statements of several who are entitled to a hearing, as they were actors in that drama.
" The writer of this (Mr. Lancey) was here in 1846, and served during the war, and has never left the country since, but was not one of the 'Bear Flag party,' but claims from his acquaintance with those who were, to be able to form a correct opinion as to the correctness of these dates. Dr. Robert Semple, who was one of that party from the first, says, in his diary, that they entered Sonoma at early dawn on the 14th of June, 1846, thirty-three men, rank and file. William B. Ide, who was chosen their commander, says in his diary the same. Captain Henry L. Ford, another of this number, says, or rather his historian, S. H. W., of Santa Cruz, who I take to be the Rev. S. H. Willey, makes him say they captured Sonoma on the 12th of June, with thirty-three men. Lieutenant Wm. Baldridge, one of the party, makes the date the 14th of June, and number of men twenty-three. Lieutenant Joseph Warren Revere, of the United States Ship 'Portsmouth,' who hauled down the 'Bear Flag' and hoisted the American flag, on the 9th of July, and at a later date commanded the garrison, says, the place was captured on the 14th of June." To this list is now added the documentary evidence produced above, fixing the date of the capture of General Vallejo and his officers, and therefore the taking of Sonoma, as June 14, 1846.
On the seizure of the citadel of Sonoma, the Independents found floating from the flagstaff-head the flag 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 banner 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 been already 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. Lancey, "was obtained, and a man by the name of Todd proceeded to paint from a pot of red paint a star in the corner. Before he was finished Henry L. Ford, one of the party, proposes to paint on the center, facing the star, a grizzly bear. This was unanimously agreed to, and the grizzly bear was painted accordingly. When it was done,
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the flag was taken to the flag-staff, and hoisted among 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 evi- dence of the officer who hauled down the Bear flag and replaced it with the Stars and Stripes on July 9, 1846.
The Western Shore Gacetteer has the following version: "On the 14th of June, 1846, this little handful of men proclaimed California a free and inde- pendent 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 inseribed the words 'Republic of California,' put on with common writing ink. This flag is preserved by the California Pioneer Association, and may be seen at their rooms in San Francisco. 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 revolutionary party remained in pos- session of the town. Among them were three young men, Todd, Benjamin Duell and Thomas Cowie. A few days after the capture, in a casual conver- sation between these young men, the matter of a flag came up. They had no authority to raise the American flag, and they determined to make one. Their general idea was to imitate without following too closely their national ensign. Mrs. W. B. Elliott had been brought to the town of Sonoma by her husband from his 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, Ben Duell got a piece of new red flannel, some white domestic, needles and thread. A piece of blue drilling was obtained elsewhere. From this material, without consultation with any one else, these three young men made the Bear Flag. Cowie had been a saddler. Duell 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 upper 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 bear 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 more 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
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there was no back out; they intended 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."
Besides the above quoted authorities, John S. Hittell, historian of the Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco, and H. H. Bancroft, the Pacific Coast historian, fixed the dates of the raising of the Bear flag as June 12th and June 15th, respectively. 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, UTANI, 16th of April, 1878.
" To William Winter, Esq., Secretary of Association Territorial Pioneers of California'-
"DEAR SIR :- Your communication of 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 ask- ing for ' the correct date' of raising the 'Bear Flag' at Sonoma, in 1816, I will quote from the writing of William B. Ide, de cased: 'The said Bear flag (was) mudle of plane (plain) cotton cloth, and ornamented with the red flan- nel of a shirt from the back of one of the men, and christened by the Cali- fornia 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 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 emblem of strength and unyiel ling resistance.'"
The following testimony conveyed to the Los Angeles Express from the artist of the flag, we now produce as possibly the best that can be found :-
" LOS ANGELES, January 11, 1878.
" Your letter of the 9th inst. came duly to hand, and in answer I have to say in regard to the making of the original Bear flag of California, at Sonoma, in 1846, that when the Americans, who had taken up arms against the Span- ish regime, had determined what kind of a flag should be adopted, the follow- ing persons performed the work: Granville P. Swift, Peter Storm, Henry L. Ford and myself; we procured in the house where we made our headquarters, a piece of new unbleached cotton domestic, not quite a yard wide, with strips of red flannel about four inches wide, furnished by Mrs. John Sears, on the lower side of the canvas. On the upper left hand corner was a star, and in the center was the image made to represent a grizzly bear passant, so common in this country at the time. The bear and star were painted with paint made
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of linseed oil and Venetian red or Spanish brown. Underneath the bear were the words 'California Republic.' The other persons engaged with ine got the materials together, while I acted as artist. The forms of the bear and star and the letters were first lined out with pen and ink by myself, and the two forms were filled in with the red paint, but the letters with ink. The flag mentioned by Mr. Hittell with the bear rampant, was made, as I always understood, at Santa Barbara, and was painted black. Allow me to say, that at that time there was not a wheelwright shop in California. The flag I painted, I saw in the rooms of the California Pioneers in San Francisco, in 1870, and the secretary will show it to any person who will call on him, at any time. If it is the one that I painted, it will be known by a mistake in tinting out the words 'California Republic.' The letters were first lined out with a pen, and I left out the letter 'I,' and lined out the letter 'C' in its place. But afterwards I lined out the letter 'I' over the 'C,' so that the last syllable of 'Republic' looks as if the two last letters were blended.
" Yours respectfully, WM. L. TODD."
The San Francisco Evening Post of April 20, 1874, has the following: "General Sherman has just forwarded to the Society of California Pioneers the guidon which the Bear Company bore at the time of the conquest of California. The relic is of white silk, with a two-inch wide red stripe at the bottom, and a bear in the center, over which is the inscription: 'Republic of California.' It is accompanied by the following letter from the donor :--
" Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco, California-GENTLEMEN: At the suggestion of General Sherman I beg leave to send to your Society herewith a guidon formerly belonging to the Sonoma troop of the California Battalion of 1846 for preservation. This guidon I found among the effects of that troop when I hauled down the Bear Flag and substituted the flag of the United States at Sonoma, on the 9th of July, 1846, and have preserved it ever since. Very respectfully, etc.
"'Jos. W. REVERE, Brigadier-General. " Morristown, N. J., February 20, 1874.'"
The garrison being now in possession, it was necessary to elect officers, therefore, Henry L. Ford was elected First Lieutenant; Granville P. Swift, First Sergeant; and Samuel Gibson, Second Sergeant. Sentries were posted, and a system of military routine inaugurated. In the forenoon, while on parade, Lieutenant Ford addressed the company in these words: "My coun- trymen ! We have taken upon ourselves a very responsible duty. We have entered into a war with the Mexican nation. We are bound to defend each other or be shot! There's no half-way place about it. To defend ourselves, we n. ust have discipline. Each of you has had a voice in choosing your offi- cers. Now they are chosen they must be obeyed!" To which the entire band responded that the authority of the officers should be supported. The words
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of William B. Ide, in continuation of the letter quoted above, throw further light upon the machinery of the civil-military force: "The men were divided into two companies of ten men each. The First Artillery were busily engaged in putting the cannons in order, which were charged doubly with grape and canister. The First Rifle Company were busied in cleaning, repairing and loading the small arms. The Commander, after setting a guard and posting a sentinel on one of the highest buildings to watch the approach of any per- sons who might feel a curiosity to inspect our operations, directed his leisure to the establishment of some system of finance, 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, constituted our main supplies. . Whisky was contrabanded all together. 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 by the commanders of the garrison.
"It was fully represented that our success-nay, our very life depended on the magnanimity and justice of our course of conduct, coupled with sleepless vigilance and care. (But ere this we had gathered as many of the surround- ing citizens as was possible, and placed them out of harm's way, between four strong walls. They were more than twice our number.) The commander chose from these strangers the most intelligent, and by the use of an interpre- ter went on to explain the cause of our coming together. Our determination to offer equal protection and equal justice to all good and virtuous citizens; that we had not called them there to rob them of any portion of their prop- erty, or to disturb them in their social relations one with another; nor yet to desecrate their religion."
As will be learned from the foregoing the number of those who were under the protection of the Bear flag within Sonoma, had been considerably increased. A messenger had been dispatched to San Francisco to inform Captain Mont- gomery, 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. Another message was dispatched about this time but in a differ- ent direction. Lieutenant Ford, finding that the magazine was short of powder, sent two men named Cowie and Fowler, to the Sotoyome rancho, owned by H. D. Fitch, for a bag of rifle powder. The former messenger returned, the latter, never. Before starting, they were cautioned against proceeding by traveled ways; good advice, which, however, they only followed for the first ten miles of their journey, when they struck into the main thoroughfare to Santa Rosa. At about two miles from that place they were attacked and slaughtered by a party of Californians. Two others were dispatched on special duty, they,
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tro, were captured, but were treated better. Receiving no intelligence from either of the parties, foul play was suspected, therefore, on the morning of the 20th of June, Sergeant Gibson was ordered with four men, to proceed to the So' yome rancho, learn, if possible, the whereabouts of the missing men, and procure the powder. They went as directed, secured the ammunition, but get no news of the missing men. As they were passing Santa Rosa, on their return, they were attacked at daylight by a few Californians, and turning upon their assailants, captured two of them, Blas Angelina, and Bernadino Garcia, alias Three-fingered Jack, and took them to Sonoma. They told of the taking and slaying of Cowie and Fowler, and that their captors were Ramon Mesa Domingo, Mesa Juan Padilla, Ramon Carrillo, Barnardino Garcia. Blas Angelina, Francisco Tibran, Ygnacio Balensuella, Juan Peralta, Juan Soleto, Inaguan Carrello, Marieno Merando, Francisco Garcia, Ygnacio Stig- ger. The story of their death is a sad one. After Cowie and Fowler had been seized by the Californians, they encamped for the night, and the follow- ing morning determined in council what should be the fate of their captives. A swarthy New Mexican, named Mesa Juan Padilla, and Three-fingered Jack, the Californian. were loudest in their denunciation of the prisoners as deserving of death, and unhappily their counsels prevailed. The unfortunate young men were then led out, stripped naked, bound to a tree with a lariat, while, for a time, the inhuman monsters practised knife-throwing at their naked bodies, the victims the, while praying to be shot. They then com- menced throwing stones at them, one of which broke the jaw of Fowler. The fiend, Three-fingered Jack, then advancing, thrust the end of his lariat (a rawhide rope) through the mouth, cut an incision in the throat, and then made a tie, by 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 being finally 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 con- spicuous a part in the events which gave to the Union the great State of Cali- fornia.
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