USA > California > History of the State of California and biographical record of Coast Counties, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 17
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of fate decreed that not an acre of its soil should be tilled by slave labor.
The causes that led to the acquisition of Cali- fornia antedated the annexation of Texas and the invasion of Mexico. After the adoption of liberal colonization laws by the Mexican gov- ernment in 1824, there set in a steady drift of Americans to California. At first they came by sea, but after the opening of the overland route in 1841 they came in great numbers by land. It was a settled conviction in the minds of these adventurous nomads that the manifest destiny of California was to become a part of the United States, and they were only too willing to aid destiny when an opportunity offered. The opportunity came and it found them ready for it.
Capt. John C. Fremont, an engineer and ex- plorer in the services of the United States, ap- peared at Monterey in January, 1846, and ap- plied to General Castro, the military comandante, for permission to buy supplies for his party of sixty-two men who were encamped in the San Joaquin valley, in what is now Kern county. Permission was given him. There seems to have been a tacit agreement between Castro and Fremont that the exploring party should not enter the settlements, but early in March the whole force was encamped in the Salinas val- ley. Castro regarded the marching of a body of armed men through the country as an act of
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hostility, and ordered them out of the country. Instead of leaving, Fremont intrenched himself on an eminence known as Gabilian Peak (about thirty miles from Monterey), raised the stars and stripes over his barricade, and defied Castro. Castro maneuvered his troops on the plain below, but did not attack Fremont. After two days' waiting Fremont abandoned his position and began his march northward. On May 9, when near the Oregon line, he was overtaken by Lieutenant Gillespie, of the United States navy, with a dispatch from the president. Gil- lespie had left the United States in November, 1845, and, disguised, had crossed Mexico from Vera Cruz to Mazatlan, and from there had reached Monterey. The exact nature of the dispatches to Fremont is not known, but pre- sumably they related to the impending war be- tween Mexico and the United States, and the necessity for a prompt seizure of the country to prevent it from falling into the hands of Eng- land. Fremont returned to the Sacramento, where he encamped.
On the 14th of June, 1846, a body of Amer- ican settlers from the Napa and Sacramento valleys, thirty-three in number, of which Ide, Semple, Grigsby and Merritt seem to have been the leaders, after a night's march, took posses- sion of the old castillo or fort at Sonoma, with its rusty muskets and unused cannon, and made Gen. M. G. Vallejo, Lieut .- Col. Prudon, Capt. Salvador Vallejo and Jacob P. Leese, a brother- in-law of the Vallejos, prisoners. There seems to have been no privates at the castillo, all offi- cers. Exactly what was the object of the Amer- ican settlers in taking General Vallejo prisoner is not evident. General Vallejo was one of the few eminent Californians who favored the an- nexation of California to the United States. He is said to have made a speech favoring such a movement in the junta at Monterey a few months before. Castro regarded him with sus- picion. The prisoners were sent under an armed escort to Fremont's camp. William B. Ide was elected captain of the revolutionists who remained at Sonoma, to "hold the fort." He issued a pronunciamiento in which he de- clared California a free and independent gov- ernment, under the name of the California Re-
public. A nation must have a flag of its own, so one was improvised. It was made of a piece of cotton cloth, or manta, a yard wide and five feet long. Strips of red flannel torn from the shirt of one of the men were stitched on the bottom of the flag for stripes. With a blacking brush, or, as another authority says, the end of a chewed stick for a brush, and red paint, William L. Todd painted the figure of a grizzly bear passant on the field of the flag. The na- tives called Todd's bear "cochino," a pig; it resembled that animal more than a bear. A five-pointed star in the left upper corner, painted with the same coloring matter, and the words "California republic" printed on it in ink, completed the famous bear flag.
The California republic was ushered into ex- istence June 14, 1846, attained the acme of its power July 4, when Ide and his fellow patriots burnt a quantity of powder in salutes, and fired off oratorical pyrotechnics in honor of the new republic. It utterly collapsed on the 9th of July, after an existence of twenty-five days, when news reached Sonoma that Commodore Sloat had raised the stars and stripes at Monterey and taken possession of California in the name of the United States. Lieutenant Revere arrived at Sonoma on the 9th and he it was who low- ered the bear flag from the Mexican flagstaff, where it had floated through the brief existence of the California republic, and raised in its place the banner of the United States.
Commodore Sloat, who had anchored in Monterey Bay July 2, 1846, was for a time un- decided whether to take possession of the coun- try. He had no official information that war had been declared between the United States and Mexico; but, acting on the supposition that Captain Fremont had received definite in- structions, on the 7th of July he raised the flag and took possession of the custom-house and government buildings at Monterey. Captain Montgomery, on the 9th, raised it at San Fran- cisco, and on the same day the bear flag gave place to the stars and stripes at Sonoma.
General Castro was holding Santa Clara and San José when he received Commodore Sloat's proclamation informing him that the commo- dore had taken possession of Monterey. Cas-
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tro, after reading the proclamation, which was written in Spanish, formed his men in line, and addressing them, said: "Monterey is taken by the Americans. What can I do with a handful of men against the United States? I am going to Mexico. All of you who wish to follow me, 'About face!' All that wish to remain can go to their homes."* A very small part of his force followed him.
Commodore Sloat was superseded by Com- modore Stockton, who set about organizing an expedition to subjugate the part of the territory which still remained loyal to Mexico. Fre- mont's exploring party, recruited to a battalion of one hundred and twenty men, had marched to Monterey, and from there was sent by vessel to San Diego to procure horses and prepare to act as cavalry.
While these stirring events were transpiring in the north, what was the condition in the south where the capital, Los Angeles, and the bulk of the population of the territory were located? Pio Pico had entered upon the duties of the governorship with a desire to bring peace and harmony to the distracted country. He ap- pointed Juan Bandini, one of the ablest states- men of the south, his secretary. After Bandini resigned he chose J. M. Covarrubias, and later José M. Moreno filled the office.
The principal offices of the territory had been divided equally between the politicians of the north and the south. While Los Angeles be- came the capital, and the departmental assembly met there, the military headquarters, the ar- chives and the treasury remained at Monterey. But, notwithstanding this division of the spoils of office, the old feud between the arribeños and the abajeños would not down, and soon the old-time quarrel was on with all its bitterness. Castro, as military comandante, ignored the governor, and Alvarado was regarded by the sureños as an emissary of Castro's. The de- partmental assembly met at Los Angeles, in March, 1846. Pico presided, and in his opening message set forth the unfortunate condition of affairs in the department. Education was neg- lected; justice was not administered; the mis-
sions were so burdened by debt that but few of them could be rented; the army was disor- ganized and the treasury empty.
Not even the danger of war with the Amer- icans could make the warring factions forget their fratricidal strife. Castro's proclamation against Fremont was construed by the sureños into a scheme to inveigle the governor to the north so that the comandante-general could de- pose him and seize the office for himself. Cas- tro's preparations to resist by force the en- croachments of the Americans were believed by Pico and the Angelenians to be fitting out of an army to attack Los Angeles and over- throw the government.
On the 16th of June, Pico left Los Angeles for Monterey with a military force of a hundred men. The object of the expedition was to op- pose, and, if possible, to depose Castro. He left the capital under the care of the ayunta- miento. On the 20th of June Alcalde Gallardo reported to the ayuntamiento that he had posi- tive information "that Don Castro had left Monterey and would arrive here in three days with a military force for the purpose of captur- ing this city." (Castro had left Monterey with a force of seventy men, but he had gone north to San José.) The sub-prefect, Don Abel Stearns, was authorized to enlist troops to pre- serve order. On the 23d of June three compa- nies were organized, an artillery company under Miguel Pryor, a company of riflemen under Benito Wilson, and a cavalry company under Gorge Palomares. Pico called for reinforce- ments, but just as he was preparing to march against Monterey the news reached him ot the capture of Sonoma by the Americans, and next day, June 24th, the news reached Los Angeles just as the council had decided on a plan of defense against Castro, who was five hundred miles away. Pico, on the impulse of the mo- ment, issued a proclamation, in which lie arraigned the United States for perfidy and treachery, and the gang of "North American adventurers," who captured Sonoma "with the blackest treason the spirit of evil can invent." His arraignment of the "North American na- tion" was so severe that some of his American friends in Los Angeles took umbrage to his
*Hall's History of San José.
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pronunciamento. He afterwards tried to recall it, but it was too late; it had been published.
Castro, finding the "foreign adventurers" too numerous and too aggressive in the northern part of the territory, determined, with what men he could induce to go with him, to retreat to the south; but before so doing he sent a medi- ator to Pico to negotiate a treaty of peace and amity between the factions. On the 12th of July the two armies met at Santa Margarita, near San Luis Obispo. Castro brought the news that Commodore Sloat had hoisted the United States flag at Monterey and taken pos- session of the country for his government. The meeting of the governor and the comandante- general was not very cordial, but in the presence of the impending danger to the territory they concealed their mutual dislike and decided to do their best to defend the country they both loved.
Sorrowfully they began their retreat to the capital; but even threatened disaster to their common country could not wholly unite the north and the south. The respective armies, Castro's numbering about one hundred and fifty men, and Pico's one hundred and twenty, kept about a day's march apart. They reached Los Angeles, and preparations were begun to resist the invasion of the Americans. Pico issued a proclamation ordering all able-bodied men be- tween fifteen and sixty years of age, native and naturalized, to take up arms to defend the coun- try; any able-bodied Mexican refusing was to be treated as a traitor. There was no enthusi- asm for the cause. The old factional jealousy and distrust was as potent as ever. The militia of the south would obey none but their own officers; Castro's troops, who considered them- sclves regulars, ridiculed the raw recruits of the sureños, while the naturalized foreigners of American extraction secretly sympathized with their own people.
Pico, to counteract the malign influence of his Santa Barbara proclamation and enlist the sym- pathy and more ready adhesion of the foreign element of Los Angeles, issued the following circular: (This circular or proclamation has never before found its way into print. I find no allusion to it in Bancroft's or Hittell's His-
tories. A copy, probably the only one in exist- ence, was donated some years since to the Historical Society of Southern California.)
SEAL OF
Gobierno del Dep. de Californias.
"CIRCULAR .- As owing to the unfortunate condition of things that now prevails in this department in consequence of the war into which the United States has provoked the Mex- ican nation, some ill feeling might spring up between the citizens of the two countries, out of which unfortunate occurrences might grow, and as this government desires to remove every cause of friction, it has seen fit, in the use of its power, to issue the present circular.
"The Government of the department of Cali- fornia declares in the most solemn manner that all the citizens of the United States that have come lawfully into its territory, relying upon the honest administration of the laws and the observance of the prevailing treaties, shall not be molested in the least, and their lives and property shall renrain in perfect safety under the protection of the Mexican laws and authorities legally constituted.
"Therefore, in the name of the supreme gov- ernment of the nation, and by virtue of the authority vested upon me, I enjoin upon all the inhabitants of California to observe towards the citizens of the United States that have lawfully come among us, the kindest and most cordial conduct, and to abstain from all acts of violence against their persons or property; provided they remain neutral, as heretofore, and take no part in the invasion effected by the armies of their nation.
"The authorities of the various municipalities and corporations will be held strictly responsi- ble for the faithful fulfillment of this order, and shall, as soon as possible, take the necessary measures to bring it to the knowledge of the people. God and Liberty.
"Pio PIco.
"JOSE MATIAS MARENO, Secretary pro tem." Angeles, July 27, 1846.
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When we consider the conditions existing in California at the time this circular was issued, its sentiments reflect great credit on Pico for his humanity and forbearance. A little over a month before, a party of Americans seized General Vallejo and several other prominent Californians in their homes and incarcerated theni in prison at Sutter's Fort. Nor was this outrage mitigated when the stars and stripes were raised. The perpetrators of the outrage were not punished. These native Californians were kept in prison nearly two months without any charge against them. Besides, Governor Pico and the leading Californians very well knew that the Americans whose lives and prop- erty this proclamation was designed to protect would not remain neutral when their country- men invaded the territory. Pio Pico deserved better treatment from the Americans than he received. He was robbed of his landed posses- sions by unscrupulous land sharks, and his char- acter defamed by irresponsible historical scrib- blers.
Pico made strenuous efforts to raise men and means to resist the threatened invasion. He had mortgaged the government house to de Celis for $2,000, the mortgage to be paid "as soon as order shall be established in the department." This loan was really negotiated to fit out the expedition against Castro, but a part of it was expended after his return to Los Angeles in procuring supplies while preparing to meet the American army. The government had but little credit. The moneyed men of the pueblo were averse to putting money into what was almost sure to prove a lost cause. The bickerings and jealousies between the factions neutralized to a considerable degree the efforts of Pico and Cas- tro to mobilize the army.
Castro established his camp on the mesa east of the river. Here he and Andres Pico under- took to drill the somewhat incongruous collec- tion of hombres in military maneuvering. Their entire force at no time exceeded three hundred men. These were poorly armed and lacking in discipline.
We left Stockton at Monterey preparing an expedition against Castro at Los Angeles. On taking command of the Pacific squadron, July
29, he issued a proclamation. It was as bom- bastic as the pronunciamiento of a Mexican governor. Bancroft says: "The paper was made up of falsehood, of irrelevent issues and bombastic ranting in about equal parts, the tone being offensive and impolitic even in those inconsiderable portions which were true and legitimate." His only object in taking posses- sion of the country was "to save from destruc- tion the lives and property of the foreign resi- dents and citizens of the territory who had in- voked his protection." In view of Pico's humane circular and the uniform kind treatment that the Californians accorded the American residents, there was very little need of Stockton's interfer- ence on that score. Commodore Sloat did not approve of Stockton's proclamation or of his policy.
On the 6th of August, Stockton reached San Pedro and landed three hundred and sixty sailors and marines. These were drilled in mili- tary movements on land and prepared for the march to Los Angeles.
Castro sent two commissioners, Pablo de La Guerra and José MI. Flores, to Stockton, asking for a conference and a cessation of hostilities while negotiations were pending. They asked that the United States forces remain at San Pedro while the terms of the treaty were under discussion. These requests Commodore Stock- ton peremptorily refused, and the commissioners returned to Los Angeles without stating the terms on which they proposed to treat.
In several so-called histories, I find a very dramatic account of this interview. On the ar- rival of the commissioners they were marched up to the mouth of an immense mortar, shrouded in skins save its huge aperture. Their terror and discomfiture were plainly discernible. Stockton received them with a stern and forbid- ding countenance, harshly demanding their mis- sion, which they disclosed in great confusion. They bore a letter from Castro proposing a truce, each party to hold its own possessions until a general pacification should be had. This proposal Stockton rejected with contempt, and dismissed the commissioners with the assurance that only an immediate disbandment of his forces and an unconditional surrender would
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shield Castro from the vengeance of an incensed foe. The messengers remounted their horses in dismay and fled back to Castro." The mortar story, it is needless to say, is pure fabrication, yet it runs through a number of so-called his- tories of California. Castro, on the 9th of Au- gust, held a council of war with his officers at the Campo en La Mesa. He announced his in- tention of leaving the country for the purpose of reporting to the supreme government, and of returning at some future day to punish the usurpers. He wrote to Pico: "I can count only one hundred men, badly armed, worse supplied and discontented by reason of the miseries they suffer; so that I have reason to fear that not even these men will fight when the necessity arises." And this is the force that some imag- inative historians estimate at eight hundred to one thousand men.
Pico and Castro left Los Angeles on the night of August 10, for Mexico; Castro going by the Colorado River route to Sonora, and Pico, after being concealed for a time by his brother-in-law, Juan Foster, at the Santa Mar- garita and narrowly escaping capture by Fre- mont's men, finally reached Lower California and later on crossed the Gulf to Sonora.
Stockton began his march on Los Angeles August II. He took with him a battery of four guns. The guns were mounted on carretas, and each gun drawn by four oxen. He had with him a good brass band.
Major Fremont, who had been sent to San Diego with his battalion of one hundred and seventy men, had, after considerable skirmish- ing among the ranchos, secured enough horses to move, and on the 8th of August had begun his march to join Stockton. He took with him one hundred and twenty men, leaving about fifty to garrison San Diego.
Stockton consumed three days on the march. Fremont's troops joined him just south of the city, and at 4 p. m. of the 13th the combined force, numbering nearly five hundred men, en- tered the town without opposition, "our entry," says Major Fremont, "having more the effect of a parade of home guards than of an enemy taking possession of a conquered town." Stock- ton reported finding at Castro's abandoned camp
ten pieces of artillery, four of them spiked. Fre- mont says he (Castro) "had buried part of his guns." Castro's troops that he had brought down with him took their departure for their northern homes soon after their general left, breaking up into small squads as they advanced. The southern troops that Pico had recruited dis- persed to their homes before the arrival of the Americans. Squads of Fremont's battalion were sent out to scour the country and bring in any of the Californian officers or leading men whom they could find. These, when found, were paroled.
Another of those historical myths, like the mortar story previously mentioned, which is palmed off on credulous readers as genuine his- tory, runs as follows: "Stockton, while en route from San Pedro to Los Angeles, was informed by a courier from Castro 'that if he marched upon the town he would find it the grave of him- self and men.' 'Then,' answered the commodore, 'tell the general to have the bells ready to toll at eight o'clock, as I shall be there by that time.'" As Castro left Los Angeles the day before Stockton began his march from San Pedro, and when the commodore entered the city the Mexican general was probably two hundred miles away, the bell tolling myth goes to join its kindred myths in the category of his- tory as it should not be written.
On the 17th of August, Stockton issued a sec- ond proclamation, in which he signs himself commander-in-chief and governor of the terri- tory of California. It was milder in tone and more dignified than the first. He informed the people that their country now belonged to the United States. For the present it would be governed by martial law. They were invited to elect their local officers if those now in office refused to serve.
Four days after the capture of Los Angeles, The Warren, Captain Hull, commander, an- chored at San Pedro. She brought official 110- tice of the declaration of war between the United States and Mexico. Then for the first time Stockton learned that there had been an official declaration of war between the two countries. United States officers had waged war and had taken possession of California upon
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the strength of a rumor that hostilities existed between the countries.
The conquest, if conquest it can be called, was accomplished without the loss of a life, if we except the two Americans, Fowler and Cowie, of the Bear Flag party, who were brutally mur- dered by a band of Californians under Padillo, and the equally brutal shooting of Beryessa and the two de Haro boys by the Americans at San Rafael. These three men were shot as spies, but there was no proof that they were such, and they were not tried. These murders occurred before Commodore Sloat raised the stars and stripes at Monterey.
On the 15th of August, 1846, just thirty-seven days after the raising of the stars and stripes at Monterey, the first newspaper ever published in California made its appearance. It was pub- lished at Monterey by Semple and Colton and named The Californian. Rev. Walter Colton was a chaplain in the United States navy and came to California on the Congress with Com- modore Stockton. He was made alcalde of Monterey and built, by the labor of the chain
gang and from contributions and fines, the first schoolhouse in California, named for him Colton Hall. Colton thus describes the other member of the firm, Dr. Robert Semple: "My partner is an emigrant from Kentucky, who stands six feet eight in his stockings. He is in a buckskin dress, a foxskin cap; is true with his rifle, ready with his pen and quick at the type case." Semple came to California in 1845, with the Hastings party, and was one of the leaders in the Bear Flag revolution. The type and press used were brought to California by Aut- gustin V. Zamorano in 1834, and by him sold to the territorial government, and had been used for printing bandos and pronunciamentos. The only paper the publishers of The Californian could procure was that used in the manufacture of cigarettes, which came in sheets a little larger than foolscap. The font of type was short of w's, so two v's were substituted for that letter, and when these ran out two u's were used. The paper was moved to San Francisco in 1848 and later on consolidated with the Cali- fornia Star.
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