USA > California > Misrepresentations of early California history corrected > Part 2
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Fourth. - Because of the following facts which speak for themselves. In his "History of Oregon," volume 2, (first edition) page 97, in relating the story of the trial of certain Cayuse Indians for murder before Judge O. C. Pratt, a former member of this Society, now deceased, he says: The solemnity and quiet of religious services characterized the trial, at which between two or three hundred persons were present. At its close, when the jury had returned a verdict of guilty, there was no unseemly approval, only a long drawn sigh of relief that the dreadful business was drawing to a close. Attending the episode were the usual hypocrisies of society. It was pre- determined by the people that these Indians should die. For myself, I think they were guilty and ought to have died. But, I would not, on that account, as a narrator of facts, indulge in divers little fictions to make the affair more pathetic. Nor
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was it at all necessary for the spectator to pat the judge on the back for being 'so firm and fearless.' There was not the slightest danger that Pratt would go against the people in this matter. But he ruled as he did, not so much from any just and noble sentiments, as, first, because there was present no induce- ment for him to do otherwise, the fifty horses not going to the judge; and secondly he well knew the country would be too hot to hold him should he do otherwise."
In the second edition of the same volume of the " History of Oregon," at the same page, all this is stricken out, and in its place appears the following: " The solemnity of religious ser- vices characterized the entire trial, at which between four and five hundred persons were present, who watched the proceed- ings with intense anxiety. Counsel appointed by the judge made vigorous effort to clear their clients. No one unfamiliar with the condition of affairs in the territory of Oregon at the time of which I am writing, can realize the interest displayed by the people of the entire country in this important and never to be forgotten trial. The bare thought that the five wretches, that had assassinated Dr. Whitman, Mrs. Whitman, Mr. Saunders, and a large number of immigrants, might by any technicality of the law, be allowed to go unpunished, was sufficient to distract every man, woman and child throughout the length and breadth of the territorial limits.
" The judge appreciated in all its seriousness the responsi- bility of his position. He seemed to realize that upon his decision hung the lives of thousands of the whites inhabiting the Willamette Valley. He proved, however, equal to the emergency. His knowledge of the law was not only thorough, but during his early life, and before having been called to the bench in Oregon, he had become familiar with all the ques- · tions involving territorial boundaries and treaty stipulations. His position was dignified, firm and fearless. His charge was full, logical and concise. His judicial'action in this and many
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other trials of a criminal and civil nature in the territory during his judgeship, made it manifest to the great body of the early settlers that he was not only thoroughly versed in all the needed learning required in his position, but in addition to the unswerving determination that the law should be upheld and enforced, created general confidence and reliance that he would be equal to his position in all emergencies."
Clearly, one or the other of these statements is false. Clearly, Mr. Bancroft must of a necessity be well aware of the fact. Clearly, no true and impartial historian could have written both and published them to the world. Clearly, any one calling himself an historian, who would be guilty of doing so, and who occupies the position of an "'Honorary Member " of this Society, should, by reason of this fact alone, separate and apart from any other consideration, be dropped from its roll.
It remains to be added, that since the first edition of this volume was issued, it has been surreptitiously withdrawn from the library of this Society and from other public libraries, and the new edition substituted therefor. But the crime remains unpunished.
Fifth .- Because, in the second volume of his History of Oregon, in a foot note originally prepared and printed for that volume, at page 246, appeared the following malignant and cruel attack upon the name of one, whose name and memory any true American reveres: "Among these soldiers was U. S. Grant, a man of mediocre abilities and somewhat loose habits, subsequently elevated by accident to the head of the Army, and twice to the Presidency of the United States. Not satisfied to rest upon the world's highest honors, he turned and took a downward course; asked again to be President, was refused; begged from poor Mexico important concessions and was refused, and finally engaged in a business, which was disreputably managed and resulted in ignominious failure. So the end of the man was as bad as the beginning."
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It was only by the earnest intercession of those who had become acquainted with the fact that this monstrous wrong was about to be perpetrated, that Mr. Bancroft was finally induced to have this cruel slander stricken out and a new page printed in its place. For this mean, cowardly and unpatriotic attack also, the name of Hubert Howe Bancroft deserves to be stricken from the roll of Honorary Membership of this Society. But still, in matters of this kind, the utter want of patriotism on the part of this "historian " would in some similar way find expression. And of that other great hero of the Civil War, " Farragut," he would have his fling, and that still remains on record in his works. In Volume 2 of his " Popular Tribunals," at page 417, occurs the following: "Farragut's mind seems to have undergone a change. Evidently, he had made up his mind, as some years later was the case, with regard to fighting for or against his countrymen, that in case of a conflict, right or wrong, he must be found on the side of the strongest, which unquestionably would be that of the Federal authorities."
Sixth .- Because, throughout this never-ending series of books known as "Bancroft's Histories," there runs such a monstrous perversion of facts, such glaring contradictions, such a spirit of prejudice and seemingly malignant dislikes and hatreds of the men of whom he has written, and such a willful distortion of events concerning which they claim to be a faithful record, that it would be a public wrong, if not a public crime for this Society to give countenance to them, by permitting further association with Mr. Bancroft in the relation of "Honorary Membership." In illustration and proof of this assertion, sweeping as it may be, instance the following summary :
. In his Pioneer Register and Index, Volume 4, (first edition) page 730, he says of Dr. John Marsh : "He received the first immigration party, Bartelson's, at his rancho, and afforded them much assistance, though he made the new comers pay
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well for his services, and grievously offended many of them by his meanness." And again, he says, in the same volume, pages 730-731: " Dr. Marsh was a peculiar and generally dis- agreeable man, whose notorious parsimony kept him con- stantly in trouble with most that came in contact with him."
In the second edition of the same volume, these passages were modified as follows, viz .: "He received the first immigra- tion party, Bartelson's, at his rancho, and offered them much assistance. Dr. Marsh was a man of great intelligence, varied accomplishments, and of singular experience of life."
In his " History of California, " (Volume 6, pages 10 and 11, first edition,) he says: Dr. John Marsh, the said doctor being a kind of crank from Harvard College, who settled here in . 1837, in an adobe hut, and achieved distinction as a misan- thrope and miner, sympathetic with the spirit at whose moun- tain's feet (Mt. Diablo) he crouched."
The second edition, same volume, same pages, reads as follows: "Dr. John Marsh, the said doctor being a graduate of Harvard College, who settled here in 1837, building a sub- stantial stone house, where he lived in the retirement he so loved. He was a highly individualized and intellectual man, whose letters to Secretary Marcy and other officials contain valuable information about California."
In his California Inter Pocula, first edition, page 342, he says : " Augustin Haraszthy, melter and refiner of the San Francisco branch mint, on the 19th of September, was indicted by the United States grand jury upon the charge of embezzling gold to the amount of $151,550. He was arrested and released on $20,000 bail. Afterwards, he was tried and sentenced to six years in the State prison and to pay a fine of $2000."
In the second edition of the same volume, appears the following in place of the foregoing statement. "During the administration of President Pierce, Augustin Haraszthy was appointed assayer, and later melter and refiner of the San
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Francisco branch mint, resigning these positions in 1857. He afterwards built the metallurgical works, which have been of much service to the community, and are still in operation, receiving also patents for improved processes in the refining of gold."
In his " Popular Tribunals," (first edition) Volume 2, page 388, in treating of the stabbing of Hopkins by Judge Terry, during the Vigilance Committee excitement of 1856, the following passage occurs: "That villainous stab of the Supreme Court Justice struck the death-blow of his party. Now let Johnson proclaim until he is hoarse; let Howard rage until he bursts! The city in ashes, forsooth! Its gutters run- ning red with the blood of its citizens! Better down on your · knees most learned and puissant assassin, and pray your God, if you have one, that your victim may live; for if Hopkins dies, you hang !"
In the second edition of the same volume, on the same page, this passage is stricken out and the following substituted in its place: "The open and violent collision with the Vigilant forces was the deathblow to the opposing party, and there is no question now that, in the event of Hopkin's death, a Justice of the Supreme Court will be executed by the Vigilance Com- mittee. This presents nothing new in the popular tribunal principle, but if it happens it adds greatly to the cause of the Committee. " 0
Again, on pages 420, 421 and 423, in the first issue, occur the following passages in regard to Terry. "A Texan border man with Texan border principles, he recognized fully pistol persuasion, bowie-knife justice and duello chivalry. He was a man of remarkable ability in certain directions, with a proud, impetuous nature, and an indomitable will, as ready to die for a friend, or make others die for him, as to hunt an enemy to death. * * * It is a character glaring with inconsisten- cies and contradictions, a character which must needs gratify
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all its own unjust, immoral, law-breaking propensities, but denies under the statute any such right to others. * * * * His instincts seem to have been atrocious. In Texas he is said to have hunted the natives with remorseless cruelty, killing them as Nero killed flies, for the fun of it. * * * Blood and chivalry! Criminality and cowardice! How many attempts to kill unarmed men make a murderer? But the catalogue of his crimes, black enough to consign him to eternal infamy, is not half told."
In the corrected later issue, these and many other like denunciations of Terry are stricken out and words of pallia- tion and praise are substituted in their place.
Again, at page 483 of the same volume, in the first issue, he said of Terry: "Though this unrighteous and blood-thirsty judge richly deserved hanging, it was beyond the line of duty and policy marked out for themselves by the committee to so punish him. For had they hanged all who really deserved it, their hands would indeed have been full."
In the corrected later issue, the following passage took the place of the foregoing: "If the tribunal erred it was always on the side of leniency, in this matter following the example and the law, as may well be imagined, with a thousand un- punished murderers in the country. Had they hanged all who really deserved it, their hands would indeed have been full."
Again, at page 437 of the same volume, he says, in the first issue of that volume, in alluding to Terry: "And now that the writer of this history has placed the great prime minister of disorderly law back upon his bench, there once more to deal fist, pistol and bowie-knife justice, as in days past, etc."
In the new issue of the same volume, at the same page, this passage is modified to read as follows: "And now that the writer of this history has placed the great prime minister of disorderly law back upon his bench, there once more to deal high and holy justice, as in days past, etc."
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But the ease with which Mr. Bancroft can shuffle out of responsibility, as an historian, is best illustrated in another passage from Vol. 2, page 368, where, in the first issue, in alluding to Volney E. Howard and Terry, he said: " What was Howard's patriotism ? Self-glorification; pompous dis- play; blood-and-thunder greatness. . What was Terry's patri- otism? Partisan jealousy; malignant passion; blood-thirsty revenge."
In the new issue, of the same volume, this passage was modified by simply substituting other names for those of Howard and Terry, so that it reads as follows now: " What was McGowan's patriotism ? Self-glorification; pompous dis- play; blood-and-thunder greatness. What was Casey's patri- otism? Partisan jealousy; malignant passion; blood-thirsty revenge."
As these changes were made during the lifetime of Terry and in an apparent disinclination to face the consequences of his first utterances, the sharp comments of a San Francisco journal, which recently published these extracts, would seem to be fully justified. It said, " Bancroft appreciates the difference in danger of criticising the living, and defaming the dead."
Seventh .- Throughout the innumerable books known as " Bancroft's Histories," there were constant and sweeping assertions that all men who ever wrote upon California, in an historical and other way, who have reached conclusions that are contrary to those which Mr. Bancroft maintains, are " liars," as the briefest way of disposing of their narratives. And this, too, usually without the support of evidence to sus- . tain his arrogant and ill-bred dictum, taking it for granted that such dictum will be held by the general public as an imperial edict, not to be gainsaid or disputed coming from so high an anthority as himself, as the historian of historians of the age we live in. One fact stands out with singular promi-
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nence throughout these cowardly assertions, and that is, that every one of the men whom he thus denounces as "liars," have long since passed over to the great majority, and can make no answer to these cruel attacks upon their memories. It is the duty of the Society of California Pioneers to vindi- cate their names and their memories from these wanton slanders, in so far as it may be in their power to do so.
Beginning with Chaplain Fletcher, who accompanied Sir Francis Drake on his famous voyage in 1578-79, and who visited California in July of the latter year, Bancroft says (volume 1, " History of California, " pages 85-91): "It should be noted that no regular diary or log of this voyage is extant or is known to have been extant. Of the three narratives which I have cited one was perhaps written from memory by a companion of Drake. The others are compilations from notes of the chaplain, Fletcher, written under circumstances of which we know but little, by a man not noted for his veracity, and from the reminiscences probably of others." Again, on page 91, he says: "Few have been sufficiently impressed with the fundamental truth that Chaplain Fletcher was a liar."
In view of the fact that at the present writing a memorial cross and monument are being erected in our own " Golden Gate Park," in commemoration of the first Christian religious services ever held on California soil, and that such services were performed by this same " Chaplain Fletcher-Bancroft's colossal liar-there would seem to be a clear cut issue thus presented for a public verdict, and that is that such com- memorative tribute to Christian advancement of more than three centuries ago, and to the humble minister of God, who was the instrument of its performance, is either as grotesque homage to a man utterly unworthy of being thus immortalized, or Bancroft and his books are worthy only of the contempt of his felllow men.
It would be more than wearisome to follow Mr. Bancroft. in his endless denunciations of other writers upon California,
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whom he stigmatizes in a similar manner when their views and their writings fail to be in unison with his own desires and purposes. Some few examples will suffice.
L. W. Hastings, who came to California in 1843, he says, (See Vol. 3, page 778) " went back in '44 by sea, and across Mexico, to publish a worthless book called an ' Emigrant's Guide," and to attract settlers and prospective revolutionists." He was " not overburdened with conscientious scruples, but never getting caught in anything disreputable."
And this of a man who was a member of the Constitu- tional Convention of 1849, and against whom there is noth- ing of public record that would in any degree justify this cruel innuendo.
At page 257 of Volume 5, of his "History of California," alluding to the proclamation of Commodore Stockton, issued on taking command in California, as the successor of Com- modore Sloat, he says: "The paper was made up of false- hood, of irrelevant issues, and bombastic ranting in about equal parts," and again, at page 258, he says: "The third paragraph, describing Castro's outrageous treatment of Fremont, is false from beginning to end."
At page 280, of the same volume, speaking of language attri- buted to Commodore Stockton in reply to an embassy, which had been sent to warn him against entering Los Angeles with his forces, " Have the bells ready to toll at eight o'clock, as I shall be there at that time." He says, that this and other preceding statements " may very safely be designated as falsehoods, pure and simple." In a foot note on the same page, alluding to the last quoted statement of Stockton, he says, " This last lie was taken by this writer, as it has been by others, from Colton's three years in California, '56," thus adding the name of Colton to his list of " liars."
So in a foot note at page 316 of the same volume, he quotes from the account of the retreat from Santa Barbara of Talbot and his little command, who had been left in charge
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there, as given by Captain Phelps in his narrative of events of that time, entitled " Fore and Aft," as follows: "Finding they (the Californians) would not fight, Talbot marched off in a hollow square, followed by the ' caballeros,' who, reviled the brave squad, but dare not attack them." "All this," says Bancroft, "is purely imaginary." And, while he admits that Phelps' statement was confirmed by Talbot's men on their arrival at Monterey, yet he does not hesitate to pillory them all in his catalogue of falsifiers, by saying, that evidently Talbot's men "indulged in the trapper's propensity for story telling."
At page 16 of volume 6, he groups as falsifiers a quartette of American writers-Revere, Phelps, Tuthill and Lancey-who, in their historical writings have dared to denounce Castro, for endeavoring to drive Fremont out of the country in March, 1846, and sets up his own unsupported dictum to the contrary, as sufficient answer to them all.
At page 61 of Volume 6, of his "History of California," after giving an account of the junta held at the house of Thos. O. Larkin, at Monterey in March, 1846, as related by General M. G. Vallejo, in which Vallejo spoke in favor of annexation to the United States, according to his own written statement of the facts-Bancroft cooly gives him the lie in this wise: "No such meeting was ever held, and no such speeches were ever made," and he adds, "but in thus recording a formal meeting, with deliberate discussions of propositions to deliver their country to a foreign power, I am very sure that General Vallejo's memory has been greatly aided by his imagination."
Again, at page 151 of same volume, in treating of the Ide's proclamation at the time of the Bear Flag episode, he says: " This proclamation consisted, first, of a statement of the in- ducements under which the revolutionists had settled in California-false from beginning to end; second, charges of deception and oppression by the authorities-equally false," etc. * "As a whole, in truthfulness and consistency,
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as in orthography and literary merit, it was below the plane of Castro's and Pico's proclamations."
Lancey, author of a manuscript record preserved, as Ban- croft says in his library, entitled "Lancey's cruise of the Dale," is let down without being stigmatized as a falsifier, but still, according to Mr. Bancroft, (see page 704, Vol. 4, of his " History of California,") "in my opinion, excessively Ameri- can in his views," the same idea being prevalent throughout Mr. Bancroft's works, that to write from an American stand- point is an unpardonable offence.
Even the name of Thomas O. Larkin-from whose documents, obtained from his family and now in Mr. Bancroft's library, he has drawn so largely for material for his historical writing- does not escape from being written down as a falsifier, by innuendo sufficiently direct to lead to no other conclusion on the part of any intelligent reader.
Alluding to a letter from Mr. Buchanan, then Secretary of State, to Mr. Larkin, at page 597 of Volume 4, of his " History of California," and quoting from such letter as follows: " Whilst I repeat that this government does not, under exist- ing circumstances, intend to interfere between Mexico and California," Bancroft says, "there was, as my reader knows no present controversy between the two, though it had suited Larkin's purposes to represent the contrary."
At page 706, of the same volume, he has another fling at this well remembered and much respected deceased member of this Society, where he says he had " the proverbial Yankee shrewdness in trade, with no inconvenient veneration for the revenue laws."
These are but a few of the examples of reckless, random writing, which characterize the remarkable works known as '' Bancroft's Histories."
They need not be referred to in extenso-further, as they are sufficient testimony in themselves to convince every intelligent and fair-minded man, that he who can thus wantonly reflect
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upon the names and memories of the dead, against whom no word of detraction has ever before been uttered, convicts him- self as a falsifier, and is therefore unworthy of belief as an historical writer, and, among California Pioneers, is unworthy of association in the quality of an "Honorary Membership." (Signed) W. B. FARWELL,
(For the Society of California Pioneers.)
Your Committee caused a copy of these charges to be pre- pared for service upon Mr. Bancroft, together with a written notification from them, of which the following is a copy, viz .:
HALL OF THE SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA. PIONEERS, San Francisco, December 5, 1893.
HUBERT H. BANCROFT, EsQ.,
Dear Sir: The undersigned, a committee of the Society of California Pioneers, appointed to investigate and report upon certain charges of misconduct against you as an Honorary Member of this Society, hereby notify you that Tuesday evening, December 12, 1893, at 7:30 P. M., at the Committee room of Pioneer Hall, has been fixed as the time and place for the hearing of said charges; and that the type-written document of pages one to twenty-four, both inclusive of this date, signed by Willard B. Farwell, Esq., as the prosecutor on behalf of the Society, is a true copy of the charges against you for investigation; and that you are respectfully invited to attend at said time and place (with counsel if you please) for the purpose of said investigation.
(Signed)
WM. SIMPSON,
R. THOMPSON,
A. S. HALT,
S. W. HOLLADAY.
This notification, together with a copy of the charges, was, at the request of the Committee, placed in the hands of the
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Marshal of the Society, by the Secretary, for service upon Mr. Bancroft, who made the following return upon the same.
SAN FRANCISCO, December 6th, 1893.
I hereby certify that this is a true copy of a paper which was enclosed in a sealed envelope, directed to Mr. Hubert H. Bancroft.
JOHN F. PINKHAM, Marshal Society of California Pioneers.
In accordance with this notification, your Committee met on the 12th day of December, 1893, for the purpose therein stated. Mr. Bancroft not appearing before them, either in person or by representative, your committee requested Mr. Holladay to ascertain Bancroft's post office address and to forward to him by registered letter another copy of the charges, together with a further notification, fixing the 26th day of December upon which the Committee would again meet, and give him another opportunity to be heard, if he desired to do so. Your Com- mittee met again, on the date and at the hour mentioned in said last named notification, but Mr. Bancroft not appearing, and no response having been received from him, adjourned until the 9th day of January, 1894. Mr. Bancroft not then appearing and no response having been received from him, your Committee adjourned until the 16th of January, 1894, at which time Mr. Bancroft still having failed to appear, and making no response, your Committee deemed it unnecessary to delay the investigation further and, therefore, proceeded to hear and consider the charges, which had been formulated by Mr. Farwell and so served upon Mr. Bancroft.
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