USA > California > Santa Barbara County > History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 10
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Carrillo sent a messenger to Monterey ordering Alvarado to lay down his arms under penalty of bringing down upon himself the wrath of the great Republic of Mexico .* Alvarado accompanied by Castro and the grand army, which included a hundred men, Graham's riflemen being of the party, set out at once. Carrillo's forces dwindled away on the ap- proach of Alvarado, and he was taken prisoner, and placed in his own house at Santa Barbara, and a guard set over him. His advisers and officers were sent off as prisoners to Sonoma, and placed under the charge of the General Commandante Vallejo. Alva- rado sent an explanation of all these matters to Mexico, relating the circumstances in such a way as to induce them to confirm him as Governor; he at the
same time recognizing the supreme authority of Mexico. Carrillo was pacified with having the island of Santa Rosa added to his land holdings and so peace was restored.
A recent writer on Santa Barbara speaks of its once having been the capital and place of meeting of the Departmental Assembly; also of the elegance of the hall in which the assembly met with its sculptured stone columns. As a pretty thorough exploration of Santa Barbara has failed to reveal any building of that character, or in any way answering to that de- scription, except the one on State Street, near Cannon Perdido, and as a thorough search in the chronicles of California, fail to show any period, even for an hour, when the Government had its seat at Santa Barbara, the beautiful legend must be relegated to the land of fiction. A building was fitted up as a government building for Governor Carrillo in Los Angeles, and from this the pleasant fiction may have been derived.
CHAPTER IX.
SHEPHERD KINGS.
The Graham Insurrection-Character of the Affair-Description of Graham-Arrest of the Foreigners-List of Names- Treatment of the Prisoners-Description of the Court at Monterey-Appearance of the Governor-Visit to the Al- calde-Appearance of the "Don Quixote" in the Harbor -- Trial of the Prisoners -- Removal of the Prisoners to Santa Bar- bara-Their Ill-Treatment-Relief by the Padres-A Glimpse of Social Life-Public Rejoicing-Return of the Prisoners.
IT is very doubtful whether anything like an insur- rection was contemplated; that none was attempted is quite certain, but as the affair was generally known as the Graham insurrection, it may as well be described under that name. The reader will recollect that when Alvarado was threatened with arrest, he fled to the cabin of Isaac Graham, and with him planned the affair which terminated in making Alvarado the recognized Governor of Cali- fornia. Graham was one of those characters that could have been raised nowhere except on a frontier. He was a native of Tennessee, and at a very early age left the civilized part of the United States and struck into the vast wilderness which formed the western half of the American Continent. He was of immense physical strength, with endurance and per- sistence that knew no failure. Whether making his way across lofty mountains, trackless deserts, or fighting a horde of Indians, he was always the same self-reliant and persistent character, destitute of fear. Thrown in early life into scenes where his own prow- ess was his reliance for the protection of his life and property, he had come to regard his own notions of right and wrong as his guide, and the law as a mere cobweb to be brushed aside as of little account; hence Alvarado had little difficulty in inducing him to engage in a revolution. When that revolution was accomplished, and Alvarado was Governor, Gra-
*Farnbam, who wrote a work on California about the time of these matters, gives a somewhat different account from the above. He states that the grand army accompanying him from Monterey only consisted of six men; that Santa Barbara surrendered on his approach; that Carrillo was encamped on a hill two miles from Santa Barbara and on the approach of Alvarado re- treated to San Buenaventura; that Alvarado arrested Pedro Carrillo, one of Don Carlos' sons; that he then made a forced march in the night and took up a position on the hill west of San Buenaventura and demanded the surrender of the town which was refused; that cannon and musket shot succeeded for two days, with the loss of one man on one side, and one wounded on the other, when Carrillo capitulated, and that the fraternizing was such that the people of the town could not tell, and never did know who surrendered; that Alvarado proceeded to Los Angeles and subjected the whole country to his sway. ] may be remarked that Alvarado's army was increased by recruits from Santa Barbara until it outnumbered Carrillo's.
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مصرى
பாசேஹ்
SAMUEL BEVIER BRINKERHOFF
WAS born, September 24, 1823, on the shores of Owasco Lake, Cayuga County, New York. The pa- ternal ancestors were of the Dutch extraction, the progenitor landing in New York in 1638. He had three sons, one settling in Brooklyn, one on the Hackensack near Bergen. They were all God-fear- ing men, of respectable standing in the community. The subject of this sketch came of the branch that lived on the Hackensack River. On the mother's side the family was connected with the Huguenot stock. The first of the family to immigrate to this country was Louis Bevier, who settled in Ulster County, on the Hudson River, in 1650. After the revocation of the edict of Nantes, which permitted the Protestants to remain in France and enjoy life and property, the fugitives found refuge in Ilolland, from which place many came to the United States, among them Bevier. Thus came about the mixture of French and Holland blood. the name of Bevier being retained as an additional name. The blood of the DeMarests, now spelled D-e-m-a-r-e-s-t, also flows in the Brinkerhoff family, this alliance taking place after the Bevier connection; so that, though the name was Dutch, the Brinkerhoff's were more French than otherwise, a fact illustrated in the mercurial and lively nature of Dr. Binkerhoff. Bevier was one of the twelve persons to whom was granted a seignory, or tract of land called New Paltz.
The tract of country where Dr. Brinkerhoff was born, and spent his childhood, is perhaps one of the most romantic in New York. The lovely lake of pure water reposing among the gentle hills, which were crowned with the evergreen spruce and hem- lock; the peaceful homes of the well-tilled farms, which in summer were mirrored in the bosom of the placid sheet of water, and in winter became frozen over with a thick, strong ice which made a skaters' paradise-were elements which became, in the sus- ceptible mind of the young Brinkerhoff, associated with all that was romantic and poetical in his nature. Here he rowed, fished, hunted, worked when the farm required it, and went to school, ripening into a well-rounded man, a lover of the woods and lakes and all things beautiful. After having acquired all that was to be taught in a district school, and having
read all the books which he could find in his neigh- borhood, he went to the famous classical school at Homer, where new faces, new scenes, and new aspi- rations woke him into a different life. He now, for the first time, got a glimpse of the wide, wide world, which to every young man seems so glorious and also so easy to conquer. Here he resolved on a pro- fession, and fell into the current of study leading to medicine. From the Homer School he drifted to At- tica, a village some thirty miles cast of Buffalo, where he studied medicine with his cousin, Dr. Isaac Russell, after which he attended medical lectures at Buffalo, where he graduated.
Close attention to study had impaired his health, which had never been of the best, and he abandoned study for a while, to work out the dream of his boy- hood-a voyage to the New Foundland cod banks. This took all the poetry out of fishing, and the next voyage was made to the West Indies. After re-es- tablishing his health, he commenced the practice of his profession at Ashtabula, in Ohio, where he remained but a short time, going thence to Mansfield, in the same State, where he formed a partnership with a Dr. Paige. His health beginning to fail, he resolved upon an entire change of base, and turned his attention to California, as his only hope; he made his way by the Isthmus of Panama. llis first location, Marysville, proving unfortunate, on account of malaria, he tried another sea voyage to get relief. July 23, 1852, the steamer, Ohio, on which he was a passenger, came into the Santa Barbara Channel, and Dr. Brinkerhoff sighted the white Mission tow- ers, and then the cluster of adobe houses of which the town of Santa Barbara was composed. All the landing was done by surf-boats, and to get ashore without a wetting was a lucky matter, which was accomplished, however. At that time, Don Luis Burton had the big store, and was a rich man. Ilis confidential clerk, decorated with jewelry and im- mense-shirt studs, and mounted on a fine horse, was superintending the landing of some goods, and Dr. Brinkerhoff mentions as an association of the sub- lime and the ridiculous which he never could dissolve, that the venerable Mission, the purple mountains, and the pompous clerk were together in his mind
BIOGRAPHY OF SAMUEL BEVIER BRINKERHOFF.
ever after. The first meal of victuals was obtained in a saloon kept by an Italian.
Dr. Brinkerhoff was bere when the row with the Jaek Power gang occurred; was appointed surgeon of the party who were going out under Sheriff Twist to dispossess them, and saw the shooting on the plaza, in front of the Aguerre House, which resulted in the death of Vidal and the severe wounding of Twist. Dr. Brinkerhoff was not the first American physician here, Dr. Den having been here some years.
From this date, Dr. Brinkerhoff got into notice, and had a large share, or nearly all, of the paying practice. He became the recipient of many family secrets, and was in fact considered by his patients a friend as well as a physician.
Dr. Brinkerhoff was not one of ordinary character; he possessed a pronounced individuality, and was, in fact, eccentric. His eeeentricity, however, was of the kind which made no enemies, and endeared him more greatly to his friends, who will always remem- ber with a smile of affection his odd aets and quaint conceits. He possessed untiring energy, and led a life of great activity, while never neglecting nor slighting the ealls of bis profession. Being passion- ately fond of legitimate speculation, he inaugurated and took part in developing many business enter- prises, which resulted not always in pecuniary profit to himself. In business affairs he was strict and exact- ing, but in every other respect liberal and generous. He was the silent benefactor of the poor, and day after day secretly performed gentle acts of charity. This be considered a weakness, and seemed always annoyed if his generous deeds were discovered and spoken of.
Santa Barbara had no more public-spirited citizen than Dr. Brinkerhoff. He took the deepest interest in the improvement and development of the eity and county. He had great faith in their ultimate pros- perity and wealth, and lent his mind and energies towards hastening their growth. He was identified with, and generally the prime mover in, nearly every public enterprise beneficial to the community.
In his profession, Dr. Brinkerhoff was a successful practitioner. He constantly overstepped the strict line of professional duties, and was as well the faith- ful and tender nurse as the skilled physician. He was called by the native Californians "the poor man's doetor." No matter what the weather, what the hour, or how tired or ill himself, he never failed to answer the call of the indigent; indeed they seemed with him to take precedence.
In society he was a favorite, and his presence was welcomed and his absence regretted at every social gathering. He loved to be with the young people; childlike in nature himself, fond of all innoeent en- joyment, he was the boon companion of the youths, and originated and took part in yachting, fishing, and hunting excursions, and was the life of them all.
He loved music, poetry, and art, and found them all in nature. He was happiest in the woods. His great pastime was the beautifying of his property with trees and orchards, planting them with his own hands, and watching them as a mother her offspring.
January 10, 1877, he was united in marriage to Lucy A. Noyes, a lady of superior education, ability and refinement, possessed of a love and talent for literature and art. She was destined to share but little of his joyous life, and was his companion, ad -. viser and comforter in the dark days when eare and sorrow were upon bim, and was alone by his bedside ministering to him when the angel of death came.
At the time when he expected and was entitled to have a "youth of labor" crowned with an "age of ease," trouble eame and crushed bim. He was threatened with financial ruin at the hands of those whose benefactors he had been. He never recovered from the shock; it made of him prematurely an old man, and brought him to the grave before his allotted time.
He has left a vacant spot in the community where he lived so long. We miss the enterprising citizen, the good doctor, the genial companion, the true friend.
41
DAYS OF THE SHEPHERD KINGS.
ham had as little reverence for the man he had assisted to office, or his authority, as for any other. It is said that, forgetting the high and mighty title with which Alvarado decorated his name, Graham would slap him familiarly on his back and pass some joke, as he would to a fellow-trapper who slept under the same bear-skin in the cleft in the rocks in the Sierra Nevadas. Ile had accumulated considerable property in distilling grain and raising cattle. He had a famous race-horse which had won for him many thousands of dollars, much of which was still due him from those who had matched their horses with his. Alvarado had promised him land for the . services he had performed, which promise he had neglected to fulfill, though repeatedly reminded of it. Graham and his friends were getting persistent, impertinent, and troublesome. Alvarado conceived the plan of getting rid of the "whole tribe" at one swoop. He charged them with having formed a conspiracy to overturn the Government, and ordered the arrest of nearly all the Americans in and around Monterey, or within several hundred miles of the place. The arrest had to be done quietly or the sturdy old hunters would get alarmed and put them- selves on the defensive, and Alvarado well knew their fighting qualities. They were, by twos and threes, privately informed that Alvarado wanted to see them, and when confronted with him, were charged with conspiracy and chained up to be shot. So quietly had this been carried on that 160, nearly the whole number, were inveigled into town before the alarm was raised. They did not try to entrap Graham in this way, however. He was too wary to be caught that way, and would be likely to make a big fight when they attempted to put chains on him, even if the Governor was present. They undertook to kill him outright. Six of them went to his bed- side in the night when he was asleep, and he was awakened by the discharge of a pistol so near his head that the flash burned his face, the ball passing through the collar on his neck. As he arose to his feet, six other pistols were discharged so near him that his shirt took fire in several places. One shot only hit him, that passing through his arm. After this firing, the party fell back to reload, for old Gra- ham was on his feet, and no one cared to meet th? old man, who was now thoroughly aroused. He had concluded that discretion was the better part of valor when the assailants were six to one, and com- menced retreating, which so encouraged the arrest- ing party that they made a rush and succeeded in overthrowing him. One of them undertook to stab him, but the dirk passed into the ground between Graham's arm and his body. Before the assassin could repeat the blow, Graham was dragged away to where José Castro, who was the leader of the party, was standing, whereupon Castro struck him on the head with the flat of his sword so severely as to bring him to the ground, at the same time order- ing him be shot, which, however, was not done.
The whole party connected with Graham in farming and distilling were carried in chains to Monterey and thrown into the adobe prison on the mud floor, which, as it was during the rainy season, April, 1840, was in reality a mud floor. Here the whole number were detained several days with insufficient food and water, while the authorities debated the question of shooting all of them. At this juneture a merchant vessel came into the harbor and succeeded, by some pretensions of authority, in inducing the authorities to send the prisoners to San Blas for trial. The names of the parties arrested were, Lewis Pollock, John Vermillion, William MeGlone, Daniel Silb, George Frazer, Nathaniel Spear, Captain MeKenley, Jonathan Fuller, and Captain Beechay, of San Fran- cisco; William Blirkin, George Ferguson, Thomas Thomas, William Langleys, Jonathan Mirayno, Wil- liam Weeks, Jonathan Cappinger, William Hauts, Charles Brown, Thomas Tomlinson, Richard West- lake, James Peace, Robert McAlister, Thomas Bowen, Elisha Perry, Nathan Daily, Robert Livermore, Wil- liam Gulenac, Jonathan Marsh, Peter Storm, Job Dye, William Smith, Jonathan Warner, and two Frenchmen, of San Jose; Wm. Thompson, James Burnes, F. Eagle, Henry Knight, Jonathan Lucas, Geo. Chapel, Henry Cooper, Jonathan Herven, James Loyado, Francisco La Grace, Michael Lodye, Joseph Whitehouse, and Robert King of Santa Clara; Isaac Graham, Daniel Goff, Wm. Burton, Jonathan Smith, and Henry Niel, of Natividad (Graham's neighbor- hood); Wm. Chard, James O'Brien, Wmn. Brudà, Wm. Malthas, Thomas Cole, Thomas Lewis, Wm. Ware, James Majows, of Salinas; Leonard Carmichael, Edward Watson, Andrew Watson, Henry McVicker, HI. Hathaway, Henry Bee, Wm. Truivan, Jonathan Mayward, Wm. Henderson, James Meadows, Jona- than Higgins, Mark West, George Kenlock, Jeremiah Jones, Jonathan Chamberlain, Joseph Bowles, James Kelley, James Fairwell, Walter Adams, Mr. Horton, James Atterville, Mr. Jones, Jonathan Christian, Wm. Chay, Wm. Dickey, Charles Williams, and Al- van Willson.
It does not appear that any of Santa Barbara's residents were molested, though reference is made to some foreigners being interrupted while burying a countryman, the corpse being disinterred and left to decay above ground.
The treatment of the prisoners was most inhuman. There were neither mattresses nor blankets to rest upon, and not much provision was made for food. Thomas O. Larkin was permitted to feed the prison- ers occasionally, otherwise they would have suffered for food. Some could not stand up. and all were emaciated and pale. No conspiracy could be proved against them, except by the testimony of a worthless character, whose name does not deserve to be re- membered.
While things were in this uncertain condition. an American merchant vessel came into the harbor. At first no persons were permitted to land, and the
42
HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
vessel alternately stood out at sea and in shore for a day or two. The vessel appeared to be communica- ting with a fleet outside of the harbor, and one of the passengers, who had landed, acting as a sort of agent, induced Alvarado to suspend the sentence of the prisoners to be shot, and send them to San Blas for trial.
A description of the style of the court of these days is worth preserving.
" The first duty, on setting foot in California, is to report one's self to the Governor, and obtain from him a written permission to remain in the country. This I proceeded to do. Mr. Larkin was obliging enough to accompany me to the Governor's residence. We found before it a number of men who were nsu- ally complimented with the cognomen of 'guard.' They consisted of five half-breed Indians, and what passed for a white corporal, lounging about the door in the manner of grog-shop savans. The outer man is worth a description. They wore raw bull's-hide sandals on their feet, leathern breeches, blankets about their shoulders, and anything and everything upon their heads. Of arms, they had nothing which deserved the name. One made pretension with a musket without a lock, and his four companions were equally heroic, with kindred pieces, so deeply rusted that the absence of locks would have been an unimportant item in estimating their value."
Governor Alvarado is represented as a well-formed, full-blooded California Spaniard, " five feet, eleven inches in height, with coal black, curly hair, deep black eyes, fiercely black eyebrows, high cheek- bones, an aquiline nose, fine, white teeth, brown com- plexion, clad in broadcloth, and whiskers."
VISIT TO THE ALCALDE.
" The alcalde was at home, or rather in his adobe den, for there is neither a home nor the semblance of it in all the Spanish world. He was taking his siesta or midday nap on a bull's hide in the corner of the apartment. The dog, which had barked us into his presence, had awakened him; so that when we entered the room, he was rolling his burly form towards a chair. After being well seated, and hav- ing, with some difficulty, brought his eyes to bear upon us, he was pleased to remark that the weather was fine, and that various other things existed in a defined state; ' that his dog was very fat; the bean crop gave good promises; the Hawaiian Islands were ten miles from Monterey; the Californians were very brave,'" etc.
The following permit, to remain on shore as long as his health required, took one hour and a quarter's time to write :-
" Mr. Thomas J. Farnham, passgero en la borca Americana Don Quixote, habiendama manifesta do el pasporte de su consul y queriendo quidar en tierra a (vertarttesse) en su salud le dog el presente bolito de des den enbarco eu al puerta de Monterey, A. 18 de Abril de 1840.
ANTONIO MARIA ORIO."
The result of the whole matter was that forty-one were retained for trial at San Blas, and the rest liber- ated. The forty-one were placed on board a ship. and started south with the intention of putting in at
Santa Barbara, José Castro being in charge. The bark Quixote, the merchant vessel spoken of, followed the course of the vessel containing the prisoners. They had a most disagreeable trip, being treated much as they were in the prisons of Monterey. Farnham gives the following account of the prison- ers coming from Monterey to Santa Barbara :-
"On the first day of May, 1840, the American (Farnham) made application to see the prisoners and was refused. He had heard that they were in want of food, and proposed to supply them, but was forbidden by José Castro, the officer in charge. The prison ship had arrived at Santa Barbara on the 25th of April, and landed forty-one of the prisoners. Four others were retained on board to work. These forty-one men, during the whole passage from Mon- terey, had been chained to long bars of iron, passing transversely across the hold of the ship. They were not permitted to go on deck, nor even to stand on their feet. A bucket was occasionally passed about for particular purposes, but so seldom as to be of little nse. They were furnished with a mere morsel of food and that of the worst quality. Of water, they had scarcely enough to prevent death from thirst, and so small and close was the place in which they were chained that it was not uncommon for the more debilitated to faint and lie some time in a lifeless state. When they landed, many of them had become so weak that they could not get out of the boat without aid. Their companions in chains assisted them, though threatened with instant death if they did so. After being set ashore they were marched, in the midst of drawn swords and fixed bayonets, dragging their chains around bleeding limbs, one mile and three-quarters, to the mission of Santa Bar- bara. Here they were put into a single room of the mission prisons without floor or means of ventilation. The bottom of the cell was soft mud. In this damp dungeon, without food or water, these poor fellows remained two days and nights. They had not even straw on which to sleep. At the end of this time it came to the ears of the friar in charge of the mission that one of them was dying of hunger and thirst. He repaired to the prison and inquired of Pinto, the corporal of the guard, if such were the fact. The miniature monster answered that he did not know. The friar replied: " Are you an officer and a Catho- lic, and do not know the state of your prisoners ? You, sir, are an officer of to-day, and should not be one of to-morrow." The good man entered the cell and found one of the Englishmen speechless; admin- istered baptism and removed him to the house of a kind family, where I found him on my arrival, still speechless and incapable of motion. The friar ex- tended his kindness to the other prisoners. He ordered Castro to furnish them food and water, but, evading the direction so far as was possible, he gave them barely enough of each to tantalize them, until the arrival of the American in the Don Quixote. . . From the first of May, therefore, they had plenty of food and water.
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