USA > California > Lassen County > Illustrated history of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra counties, with California from 1513 to 1850 > Part 8
USA > California > Plumas County > Illustrated history of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra counties, with California from 1513 to 1850 > Part 8
USA > California > Sierra County > Illustrated history of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra counties, with California from 1513 to 1850 > Part 8
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One part of the general plan was to seize the northern portion of the territory, in case the whole of Alta California, because of unfriendliness of the natives, could not be segregated from Mexico. The division line, north of which was to become a "lone star state," was to be the. San Joaquin river, the San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun bays. The reason for selecting this as the line of division was because it gave a water boundary, and, on the east side of the Sacramento, an Indian line of frontier defense, in the person of José Jesus, the chief whose tribe lived on the up-country side of the San Joa- quin river. This latter was an important consideration, as he was a chief who had gained, in his forays and combats with the native Californian and Spaniard, a name that carried terror alike to the hearts of both. A knowledge of these facts was the principal inducement that caused Captain Weber to locate his grant north of the San Joaquin, that, should it become eventually necessary for a separation upon this line, his land would lie within the boundaries of the new state.
A serious departure from the policy that had induced Weber to remain in the country was forced upon him in the manner previously stated in this work, at the time he prevented Micheltorena from
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entering San José ; and this was followed by a more serious breach a few weeks later, when Sutter joined Micheltorena and McKinley took up arms against him at San Fernando.
This had demonstrated the necessity of a definite understanding of what the plan should be for the future, and a system of communication that would enable the foreign population, in the various parts of the territory, to know what was being, or to be, done in all other localities, and thus prevent a few from jeopardizing the lives and property of the many by premature or ill-advised acts of hostility, and, as soon as it could be safely done, to unitedly strike for a segregation on the line as given. To inaugurate the movements by which such a result could be achieved, Dr. Marsh and Captain Weber, at San José, on the twenty-seventh of March, 1845, about three weeks after the battle of San Fernando, drew up an instrument which, had its true purpose been known, would probably have cost them their lives, certainly their liberty. A photograph of the document was presented to us by the latter in 1879, in whose pos- session the original had been preserved through all those years. The following, except the heading, is the document, with the Captain's certificate as to its true meaning attached :-
AN APPARENTLY HARMLESS DOCUMENT, BEHIND WHICH LURKED CONSPIRACY AND TREASON.
The undersigned, in common with all other foreigners with whom they have been able to communi- cate personally, being very desirous to promote the union, harmony and best interests of all the foreigners resident in California, have thought that this desirable object can be best attained by the meeting of some individuals from each of the different districts of the northern part of the country. We therefore hereby invite the persons of foreign birth, whether naturalized or not, to send two or more of their num- ber to represent them in a meeting, to be held in the Pueblo de S. José, on the fourth day of July next. It is considered to be very desirable that Monterey, Sta. Cruz, Yerba Buena, Sonoma and the districts of the Sacramento should be fully represented. In the meantime, we think it will be obvious to every man of sense or reflection, that the foreigners ought carefully to refrain from taking any part, either in word or deed, in any movement of a political nature that may take place in the country (amongst native Mexicans).
PUEBLO OF ST. JOSEPH, March 27, 1845.
WM. GULNACK,
DANELL, MILNER,
WM. KNIGHT, "
PETER DAVESON,
PETER SLEGARTY,
DANIEL FISHER,
JOHN BURTON,
GEORGE A. FERGUSON,
JOHN MARSII,
GEO. W. BELLAMY,
JAMES ROCK,
CHARLES M. WEBER,
JAMES W. WEEKES,
THOMAS JONES,
GEORGE FRAEZHER,
JOHN DAUBENBISS, /
WILLARD BUZZILL,
THOMAS COLE,
THOMAS G. BAIRN,
H. M. PIERCE, /
GUILLERME G. CHARD.
BENJ. WELBURN,
JOHN HAINES,
CAPTAIN C. M. WEBER'S CERTIFICATE.
This photograph is from an original manuscript in my possession, that had, in addition to the ob- jects therein expressed, the purpose of preventing the recurrence of the event that had violently placed the foreign population in arms against each other, in the expulsion of Micheltorena from the country, by perfecting a more systematic organization, the ultimate effects of which should, when they became sufficiently strong, result in wresting from Mexican rule that portion of California lying north and cast of the San Joaquin river, and north and west of the bays of San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun, and making it like Texas, an independent state.
STOCKTON, Feb. 1, 1879.
CHARLES M. WEBER.
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When the time came for the meeting it was found that, for various reasons, the gathering was not as formidable as had been desired. It included but few besides those living in the immediate vicinity of San José, consequently no general plan for combined movement was adopted ; had there been, it would have produced no result different from what afterwards was achieved in the occupation of the country by the American army and navy. But the means would have been different, and history would now contain no account of the "Bear-Flag war," a movement that might be classed as a spontaneous combus- tion caused by a large dose of Americanism tinctured with apprehensions, which only attained a local predominence before it was, fortunately for itself, swallowed up and absorbed by the greater force that was, and still is, moving to the march of destiny under the stars and stripes.
On the twelfth of April, José Castro, because of assistance rendered in defeating Micheltorena near San José, and the consequent arrest by Sutter, at New Helvetia, signed C. M. Weber's appointment as captain, giving him command of the northern frontier. He did not perform the duties that were unex- pectedly assigned to him, but we give the document that the reader may understand the feeling assumed to be entertained by General Castro towards those of the Americans that had, so recently, been in hostility to him.
TRANSLATION BY J. ALEX. FORBES, FROM AN ORIGINAL IN THE POSSESSION OF CAPTAIN C. M. WEBER.
OFFICE OF GENERAL COMMANDING IN UPPER CALIFORNIA.
As chief of this office, and duly appreciating the important services you have rendered this depart- ment, as also the zeal and good-will you have constantly manifested for the security and progress thereof, I now have the pleasure of inclosing herewith a commission appointing you provisionally captain of auxiliary infantry, as a slight recompense for your sufferings ; and in my report of this appointment to the superior government, I have recommended your merits favorably, and strongly urged the confirma- tion of your commission. The first important matter that invokes the care and attention of this office is the security of the country, for which purpose I shall require the services of persons who will co-operate for carrying into full effect all orders emanating from this office ; and having all confidence in you, I do not hesitate in selecting you as the immediate agent for this object, hereby authorizing you, on your return to the northern frontier, which is now unprotected, to take such measures as you shall deem necessary for the defence thereof. For this object you will require to be informed particularly what number of the foreigners actually residing there were legally admitted to this department, what are their present views, and whatever else you may deem conducive to the establishment of the security and progress of the country. If any of the foreigners who participated in the movement of Mr. Sutter (in favor of General .Micheltorena) should desire to settle permanently in California, and feel doubtful of the protection of the government, you can freely offer to all those whom you may find useful and industrious all the guarantees they may desire for establishing themselves in this department, and for living securely in the exercise of their respective occupations. You will also inform them that the friendly feeling of this office towards them is already secured to them by the stipulation of the agreement celebrated on the field of San Fernando ; and you may assure all those referred to in that document, as well as other foreigners residing on the frontier, that they shall receive all the protection within the scope of my authority.
If, after making the above-mentioned scrupulous investigation, you should deem it necessary to enlist a military force to take arms promptly in any urgent case, for efficient defense of the country against foreign aggression, or from internal incursions of Indians against the lives and property of the inhabitants of this department, I hereby empower you to enlist such force, to be composed of men of
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your confidence and whom you may believe proper for this service, to whom you will state the object of this enlistment and the obligations of each of them for the fulfillment of the duties adherent thereto. You may also appoint, provisionally, the necessary officers for said military force, and on my arrival at the frontier (within a short time) I will ratify the measures you may have taken in this matter, as I believe they will be effected in conformity with our institutions and my wishes.
I have only to repeat to you that I confide implicitly in your prompt and efficient action in this important commission, with the requisite prudence and in conformity with the interest you have so often manifested for the good of the country, whose integrity, as also the honor of my official position, are therein deeply interested.
I have the pleasure of transmitting you this note and to offer you my distinguished respect.
God and Liberty. (Signed) JOSE CASTRO.
Monterey, April 12, 1845.
To CHAS. WEBER, Esq., Captain of Auxiliary Infantry.
January 15, 1843, J. Alex. Forbes was appointed vice-consul for England, and from that time forth the interests of Great Britain became an active element in the affairs of California. In October, 1845, governmental dispatches were written at Washington for the instruction of Thomas O. Larkin, the American consul at Monterey, and one to Fremont, who was then on his way with sixty-two well-armed men, going overland to the Pacific coast, where he arrived, at Sutter's Fort, December 10. In the early part of November, Lieut. A. H. Gillespie, by order of the president, became the bearer of those dis- patches, and he committed to memory the one directed to Thomas O. Larkin, and then destroyed the document before reaching Vera Cruz, for fear its contents would compromise his government if, by any mischance, it should fall into Mexican hands. At that time, war had not been declared, yet the diplo- matic horizon was thunder-charged. Fremont had divided his party before reaching California, sending a portion under Lieut. T. Talbot by a route farther south, and they were to rendezvouz near Walker's pass, on the eastern side of the Sierra. On the seventh of January, 1846, Fremont left Sutter's Fort and moved down the San Joaquin Valley in accordance with the original plan. He failed to find Talbot and returned to the fort, and from there he went by water to Yerba Buena, thence to San José, where he heard of Talbot and sent Kit Carson to pilot him in. Not waiting for the return of Carson, he again visited Yerba Buena, and then went overland to Monterey, where, on the twenty-seventh of January, he was presented by Mr. Larkin to General Castro, of whom he asked the privilege of remaining in the San Joaquin valley for sufficient time to recruit his company. The permission was granted, but Castro refused to put it in writing, intimating that the word of a Mexican officer was sufficient. From that point Fremont joined his command at San José, and, instead of going to the San Joaquin valley, moved with his force back towards Monterey. This was a singular act on his part, and is explained by a statement that he found, on his arrival at San José, that supplies necessary for the force could not be purchased there, which necessitated a return to Monterey, where such stores as were desired could be obtained. This is a questionable explanation. Fremont was in San José six days before he met Castro, and probably knew whether there were such supplies at that place as he wanted or not; and his asking permit to move his force to the San Joaquin, and then, without any explanation, going in an opposite direction, marching towards the most important military fort in the territory with an armed body of men known to be recklessly brave, was, considering the strength and feeling of the foreign population, an act that justified General Castro in ordering him out of the territory.
When en route for Monterey, Fremont had halted for a time at a ranch owned by Captain Fisher, about ninety miles out, and while stopping there a Mexican rode into camp and claimed as stolen some
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of the horses belonging to the command. The charge was known to be false, and the party making the claim was summarily ordered to leave. He immediately instituted legal proceedings before a civil tri- bunal to test the ownership of the disputed property, and Dolores Pacheco, the alcalde of San José, summoned Fremont to appear before him at once and answer to the charge of holding in his possession property claimed by a citizen of California. The charge was evidently a case gotten up for the emer- gency, the object of it being to stop the Americans from their march to the sea-coast, and failing in this to force them to so act in hostility to the law of the country as to warrant the calling out of a military force to expel them from it. The reply to the summons, dated February 21, was couched in language characteristic of Fremont, and closed as follows :-
You will readily understand that my duties will not permit me to appear before the magistrates in your towns on the complaint of every straggling vagabond who may chance to visit my camp. You inform me that unless satisfaction be immediately made, by the delivery of the animals in question, the complaint will be forwarded to the governor. I will beg you at the same time to enclose to his excel- lency a copy of this note. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
To Sr. DON DOLORES PACHECO, Alcalde of San José.
J. C. FREMONT, U. S. Army.
After this unceremonious disposal of the attempt to arrest his march by the civil authorities, he continued his route towards Monterey until the fifth of March, when he received the following communi- cation from the hand of an officer, backed by about eighty lancers :-
MONTEREY, March 5, 1846.
I have learned, with much dissatisfaction, that, in contempt of the laws and authorities of the Mex- ican Republic, you have entered the towns of the district under my charge with an armed force, which the government of your nation must have placed under your command for the purpose of examining its own territory ; that this prefecture orders you, immediately on the receipt of this communication, to return with your party beyond the limits of this department, with the understanding that if you do not comply, this prefecture will take the necessary measures to compel you to respect this determination.
God and liberty, MANUEL CASTRO.
SENOR CAPTAIN DON J. C. FREMONT.
Instead of leaving the territory as ordered, the next morning found him bidding defiance to the California powers from his fortified camp in the adjacent mountains on the summit of Pico del Gabelen (Hawk's peak), 2,200 feet above the level of the sea, with the American flag fastened to a limbless tree and floating out upon the morning air, forty feet above the heads of sixty-two as brave defenders as ever marshaled under its folds. On the sixth, General José Castro moved out from Monterey with about two hundred men and a six-pounder, to see if Fremont was leaving the territory, and finding him entrenched, Castro occupied his time until the tenth in making demonstrations against the Americans, falling short always of reaching a point within rifle-range of their entrenchments. Before starting Castro had written the following letter to the war minister of Mexico :-
In my communication of the 5th instant I announced to you the arrival of a captain at the head of fifty men, who came, as he said, by order of the government of the United States, to survey the limits of Oregon. This person presented himself at my headquarters some days ago, accompanied by two individuals (Thos. O. Larkin, consul, and Captain Wm. A. Leidesdorff, vice-consul), with the object of asking permission to procure provisions for his men that he had left in the mountains ; whichi was given to him. But two days ago, March 4, I was much surprised at being informed that this person
Peter Lassen.
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was only two days' journey from this place (Monterey). In consequence, I immediately sent him a communication ordering him, on the instant of its receipt, to put himself on the march and leave the department ; but I have not received an answer, and in order to make him obey in case of resistance, I sent out a force to observe their operations, and to-day, the sixth, I march in person to join it and to see that the object is attained. The hurry with which I undertake my march does not permit me to be more diffuse, and I beg that you will inform his excellency, the president, assuring him that not only shall the national integrity of this party be defended with the enthusiasm of good Mexicans, but those who attempt to violate it will find an impregnable barrier in the valor and patriotism of every one of the Californians. Receive the assurance of my respect, etc. God and liberty.
TO THE MINISTER OF WAR AND MARINE.
MONTEREY, March 6, 1846.
JOSE CASTRO.
The American consul at Monterey became seriously alarmed for the safety of Fremont's command and Americans generally, on account of his operations, and forwarded letters to our consul at Mazatlan, asking, if any United States war-vessels were there, for one to be sent immediately to their assistance. Commodore Sloat received the dispatch, and at once ordered Captain Montgomery to sail for Monterey with the Portsmouth. The consul maintained communication with Fremont, arranged for a sailing vessel to hover along the coast to receive his party if they were driven there, and then anxiously awaited the result. On the tenth, Alexander Cody delivered to him the following communication :-
MARCH 10, 1846.
MY DEAR SIR : I this moment received your letters, and, without waiting to read them, acknowl- edge the receipt, which the courier requires immediately. I am making myself as strong as possible, with the intention, if we are unjustly attacked, to fight to extremity, and will refuse quarter, trusting to our country to avenge our deaths. No one has reached our camp, and from the heights we are able to see the troops mustering at St. John's and preparing cannon. I thank you for your kindness and good wishes, and would write more at length as to my intentions, did I not fear that my letters would be intercepted.
Very truly yours, J. C. FREMONT.
To THOS. O. LARKIN, Esq., Consul for United States, Monterey.
A fear that the letter would be intercepted undoubtedly prevented the writer from saying, "I will abandon my camp to-night, and bivouac in the valley of the San Joaquin without unnecessary delay;" for John Gilroy, visiting it on the night of the tenth, found only the smouldering fires, abandoned pack- saddles and unessential camp equipage of Fremont's command. On the eleventh they were in the San Joaquin valley, en route for Oregon, having been joined by Talbot's detachment. They arrived at the trading fort of Peter Lassen, on Deer creek, near the north line of California, on the thirtieth of March, 1846, remaining there and in the vicinity until the fourteenth of April. During his sojourn at Lassen's, a report was circulated that a number of Indians had congregated at a point, since known as Reading's Ranch, with intent to open hostilities against the few settlers scattered through the northern country. The surveying party, joined by five volunteers from the trading post, marched against them, and a slaughter took place of the natives in their rancheria, of not only the braves, but their squaws and little ones, a few only escaping by swimming the river. Let us believe, that we may not blush for our race, that only the Indians accompanying Fremont participated in the slaughter of women and children, and we may rest assured that it was not authorized by the officer in command.
Two companies of emigrants, on their way from California to Oregon, had been at Lassen's ranch
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with Fremont and his party, from which point they made the final start of their journey. They went up the Sacramento river and followed the old Hudson Bay Company trail through Shasta valley. Fremont had about fifty men, having given discharges to a number in the Livermore valley. He turned off the regular trail and proceeded up Pit river, or, as it was then called, the east fork of the Sacramento. He proceeded by way of Goose, Clear and Tule lakes to the west shore of Klamath lake, where he camped for a few days. On the ninth of May, Samuel Neal and M. Sigler rode into camp with the information that a United States officer was on their trail with official dispatches, and would fall a victim to the savages if not rescued, the two messengers having only escaped by the fleetness of their animals. Immediately the Pathfinder, at the head of four Indians, five trappers and the two messengers, eleven as brave men as ever faced an enemy, was galloping away along the west borders of the lake to the south, and before night had placed sixty miles between him and his camp, in his eagerness to reach and rescue from danger the messenger of the government. He crossed the line into California, and camped for the night on the bank of Hot creek, a little stream emptying into Klamath lake from the south. Just at sundown Lieutenant Gillespie, accompanied by Peter Lassen, who had undertaken to guide him to Fremont, rode into camp, and the messenger that had been for six months and six days traveling with the secret orders of his government, at last stood face to face with him to whom the orders were sent. How little those men knew, as they held each other's hands in greeting, how much of the future history of two great nations was to be changed, because they two had met that night. How little they compre- hended, as the gloom of night closed down upon the waters of Lake Klamath, what would have been the forthcoming results ere the morning, to them, and in the years beyond to their country, had not the shades of that particular night found them sitting by the same camp-fire. Long into the night those officers consulted and planned for the future. The secret dispatches were no longer a secret to Fremont, but have remained such till this day to the country, their contents being only known from the results produced. At length the camp was hushed and all of those seventeen men were sleeping, not even a sentinel to watch for danger, when Kit Carson, who always in his slumbers rested on the verge of wake- fulness, heard a dull, heavy thud, and in an instant was on his feet calling to Basil Lajeunesse, who was lying on the other side of the camp-fires a little out in the gloom, to know what was the matter there. Getting no response, the next instant his startling cry of "To arms ! the Indians ! the Indians !" brought every living man in the camp to his feet. There were no orders given ; there was no time for orders. Instinctively the trappers, Kit Carson, Lucien Maxwell, Richard Owens, Alex. Godey and Steppenfeldt sprang together. The Modocs, at the alarm, had instantly charged upon the friendly Indians ; Denne, the Iroquois, and the brave Lajeunesse were dead, the heroic Crain, a Delaware, was sinking, filled with arrows, three of them in his heart, as the five mountain men rushed to their assistance and killed the Modoc chief, when his followers fled, and the midnight affray was over.
The morning revealed the trail of the assailants, showing their numbers to have been about twenty. The dead chief was recognized by Lieutenant Gillespie as the Indian who, the previous morning, had made him a present of a salmon, with which he had broken a fast of forty hours. This act, with others, had led him to believe the donor friendly, and had caused him to go on his way unsuspicious of danger from that source. But the body of the chief lying there showed that had Gillespie failed to reach Fremont's camp that night, he would have met with death at the hands of the savages, who had been following during the day, intent upon his murder ere the morning. Had Gillespie fallen a victim before delivering the message that recalled Fremont to California, that officer would have continued his way into Oregon, and the settlers would not have ventured upon a declaration of war; Commodore Sloat would not have believed that he had a cause sufficient to justify him in seizing the country, and Sir George Seymour would have taken possession of California for the British crown when he sailed into
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