Pen pictures from the garden of the world, or Santa Clara county, California, Part 12

Author: Foote, Horace S., ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 844

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PEN PICTURES FROM THE "GARDEN OF THE WORLD."

mud. The infantry, however, kept up a hot fire whenever they could get in range, which, owing to the extreme caution of the enemy, was not often. A good deal of ground was thus traversed, until finally Sanchez made a strong demonstration around the right flank of the Americans, evidently with the intention of cutting off and stampeding a large band of horses that were in charge of the United States troops.

The reports of the artillery and the volleys of musketry had aroused the people of the mission, who ascended the house-tops to witness the battle. Cap- tain Aram, with the men under his command, was anxious to join the conflict, but as all the women and children of the country were under his protection, he did not feel at liberty to abandon them, especially as Sanchez, in his retrograde movements, was approach- ing his position. However, when the Mexicans made the demonstration on the American right, as above stated, Captain Aram, at the head of his men, marched from the mission with speed to attack Sanchez' right wing. At the same time Weber and Murphy's com- pany charged home, and drove the entire Mexican force from the field and towards the Santa Cruz Mountains, while the Americans marched in triumph to the mission. The Mexican loss was four men killed and four wounded. The Americans had two men slightly wounded.

Soon after Sanchez had been driven from the field, he sent in to the mission a flag of truce, offering a conditional surrender. The reply was that the sur- render must be unconditional. Sanchez answered that he would die before he would surrender except on the conditions proposed by him. Finally, a cessa- tion of hostilities was agreed upon until such a time as his proposition could be submitted to the com- mander of the district, at San Francisco.

During this armistice, and the day after the battle, January 3, Captain Aram went to the Mexican cor- ral to look for some horses that had been stolen from the Americans. While in the Mexican camp word was brought in that another American force was advancing from the direction of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and Sanchez, who seemed to be in great fear of an attack, requested Captain Aram to go out and meet them and inform them of the armistice. As no re-inforcements were expected from that direction, Aram could not imagine what this force could be; but he rode out to meet them, accompanied by a few men,and the acting British Consul, J. Alex. Forbes. It seems that the hope that England would take a hand

in the affairs of California was not entirely abandoned, for, as Lieutenant Murphy states, Forbes carried with him a small English flag, concealed under the skirts of his saddle, presumably for the purpose of invoking the aid of the strangers should they prove to be En- glish. Several of the men in the escort saw the flag, and said afterwards that had an attempt been made to induce British interference its bearer would not have survived to enjoy the fruits of his negotiations. As it happened, however, the new party proved to be a force of fifty-nine men under command of Cap- tain Maddox, of the United States navy. They were disappointed to hear of the armistice, but re- spected its conditions. Three days after this event a courier arrived from San Francisco with orders informing Captain Marston that Sanchez' surrender must be unconditional.

On the next day, the seventh, Lieutenant Grayson arrived at the mission with another re-inforcement of fifteen men, and on the eighth Sanchez unconditionally surrendered his entire force. His men were allowed to return to their homes, which most of them did, and afterward became good citizens of the United States. Sanchez was taken to San Francisco, and for a time was held as a prisoner of war on board the Savannah.

The battle of Santa Clara was the last of hostilities in this county. The theater of war was transferred to the South, and no hostile gun was afterwards fired in the beautiful valley of Santa Clara. But few months elapsed after this engagement before the soldiers on both sides were mingled together in the friendliest kind of business and social relations. This will not seem remarkable when it is remembered that the inhabitants of California had, for a number of years, been dissatisfied with their relations to the Mexican Government. They had contemplated a revolution, and had, in a manner, accomplished it when they drove Micheltorena from the country. They did not intend to set up a government for them- selves, but were seeking the protection of some foreign power. It is true they had no love for the United States, but that government having taken possession of the country, they accepted the situation as being much better than their former condition, although not what they had hoped to achieve. The equal justice which was administered by the new adminis- tration of affairs soon reconciled them to their lot, and in a very few years they congratulated them- selves that things were as they were, and not as they had sought to make them.

Hostilities between the United States and Mexico

PEN PICTURES FROM THE "GARDEN OF THE WORLD."

ceased early in 1848, and February 2 of that year the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, by which California was ceded to the conquerors. This treaty was ratified by the President of the United States March 16, was exchanged at Queretaro May 30, and was proclaimed by the President July 4.

California was now the property of the United States, but had neither Territorial nor State organiza- tion. In fact, it had no Territorial existence until 1849. During this time its affairs were administered by the senior military officers stationed in California. These military governors were as follows: Commo- dore John D. Sloat, from July 7, 1846; Commodore Robert F. Stockton, August 17, 1846; Colonel John C. Fremont, January, 1847; General Stephen W. Kearney, March I, 1847; Colonel Richard B. Ma- son, May 31, 1847; General Bennett Riley, April 13, 1849.

DISCOVERY OF GOLD.

In January, 1848, came the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill. The excitement caused by this event has been described both in prose and verse. It spread like a conflagration throughout the coast, and, over- leaping the Sierras, swept over the continent, and thence across the Atlantic to the Old World. It came to the Santa Clara Valley after the annual grain crops had been planted. All business was suspended and everybody rushed to the mines. Many succeeded in securing a good supply of the precious metal, but many more did not. The grain in the fields grew and ripened, but waited in vain for the reaper, and was finally wasted or devoured by the grazing herds. Each report of a rich find intensified the excitement, while the numerous stories of disappointment seemed not to allay the fever. The town and country were deserted. There being no crops, for lack of harvest- ers, all food supplies went up to fabulous prices. The flour used was brought chiefly from Chili and sold for $20 per barrel. Everything else in the way of food, excepting meat, was proportionately high. La- bor, when it could be procured, was from $10 to $18 per day. Lumber cost $100 per thousand feet for the hauling alone. For two years the onions raised on about six acres of ground near where the Southern Pacific Railroad depot now stands yielded a net profit of $20,000 per year.

It has gone into history that the first discovery of gold was made in January, 1848, by Marshall, in the race at Sutter's Mill. Mrs. Virginia Murphy, daugh- ter of James F. Reed, and one of the Donner party,

says that gold was discovered at Donner Lake in the winter of 1846-47. She says: "We were seated around the fire when John Denton, a gunsmith by trade, while knocking off chips from the rocks on which the wood was placed, saw something shining. He examined it and pronounced it to be gold. He then knocked off more chips from the rock, and hunted in the ashes for more of the shining particles until he had gathered a tablespoonful. He wrapped the gold in a piece of buckskin and put it in his pocket. When the first relief party came in he went out with it, but died on the way, and the gold was buried with him. When I saw my father, Mr. Reed, I told him of the circumstance, and he said: 'If John Denton says that that is gold it is gold, for he knows.' My father intended to go back to Donner Lake to search for the precious metal, but before he started, gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill; hence, he did not return to the lake. I have been told that the rocks used for the fire-place had been washed down from a mountain where gold was, but this mountain was probably many miles away."

In the latter part of 1848 some of the citizens of San Jose who had gone to the mines returned. Some had made fortunes, others a few hundred or a few thousands of dollars, and others had made nothing, and, having become disgusted with their luck, came home to engage in other pursuits. Up to this time the immigration to California had been made up of those who were seeking homes for agricultural and other business purposes, but its character was entirely changed by the discovery of gold, and for severa years all classes of people poured into the State. They came by land and by water in search of the glittering metal. They were from all countries and were of all classes of society, from the highest to the lowest, and met here on a common level. Some of the most talented, educated, and refined men of the nation worked with pick and pan with nothing in their outward appearance to indicate the sphere in which they had been reared. There was the usual proportion of thieves, gamblers, and "knights of indus- try," and crime became rampant. Judge Lynch pre- sided at many of the extemporized courts, and "miners' law " was the law of the land. A very large number came with the intention of quickly acquiring a fortune and returning home. But few of these anticipations were realized. Many of the successful ones, charmed with the climate and fertile soil of California, became permanent residents. Many of those who were unsuccessful in the mines became

PEN PICTURES FROM THE "GARDEN OF THE WORLD."

successful in other pursuits, and made their homes here. Of both of these classes San Jose received a large portion, and agriculture and other industries began to be developed. Better buildings were con- structed, business enterprises inaugurated, the Mexi- can inhabitants with their grazing herds were gradu- ally pushed aside by the rustling American from across the mountains, and the vast pastures trans- formed into fields of grain. The fertile soil of the valley, when excited by the industry and improved implements of the immigrant, developed a mine of wealth no less valuable than the rich placers of the mountains.

THE FIRST CAPITAL.

The large increase in population, and the number of different business enterprises that were inaugu- rated, created a demand for a government different from that administered by the military department, and for a code of laws other than the traditions of Mexican jurisprudence. The matter was represented to General Riley, then military governor, who called the people to meet in convention and frame a consti- tution preliminary to asking Congress for admission as a State of the Union. This, the first Constitu- tional Convention, met at Monterey on the first day of September, 1849. The delegates sent from San Jose were Joseph Aram, Kimble H. Dimick, J. D. Hoppe, Antonio M. Pico, Elam Brown, Julian Hanks, and Pedro Sansevain.

The people of San Jose, even at this early day, did not lack the spirit of enterprise which has since distinguished them. At a public meeting held for that purpose, a committee consisting of Charles White and James F. Reed was appointed for the purpose of attending the convention and urging upon that body the advisability of selecting San Jose as the future capital of the new State. This committee was met by representatives from other localities, each on the same errand. San Jose, however, carried off the prize, but in order to accomplish this, they were compelled to enter into an agreement that suitable buildings for the accommodation of the State government should be furnished in time for the meeting of the Legisla- ture, which was the fifteenth of the ensuing Decem- ber. As there were no such buildings in the town, this was a rather bold undertaking on the part of the committee. During the year, a large adobe house had been built by Messrs. Rochon and Sansevain, on the east side of Market Plaza, about opposite where the new City Hall now stands. This was the only

building in the town that anyways approached the requirements of the State. The Ayuntamiento, or Town Council, resolved to rent this house for the ac- commodation of the Legislature. But the rent asked was $4,000 per month, and after further consideration, it was concluded to purchase the property for $34,000, that sum being less than would have to be paid for a year's rent.

It was easy enough to resolve to purchase; but to provide the means was a matter of considerable difficulty. There was no money, and the owners of the building would not take the pueblo for security. At this juncture, a number of public-spirited citizens came forward and executed a promissory note for $34,000, with interest at eight per cent per month, and thus solved the difficulty. The names appended to the note were: R. M. May, James F. Reed, Peter Davidson, William Mccutcheon, Joseph Aram, David Dickey, Charles White, F. Lightston, R. C. Keyes, Peter Quivey, J. D. Hoppe, J. C. Cobb, K. H. Dim- ick, Benjamin Cory, W. H. Eddy, Grove Cook, Isaac Branham, J. Belden, and P. Sansevain. The deed was taken in the names of Aram, Belden, and Reed, as trustees for the purchasers, with a condition that the property should be conveyed to the pueblo when it should pay for the same. The State issued bonds to the amount of $50,000, to pay for the property. These bonds were sold for forty cents on the dollar, leaving the original purchasers considera- bly out of pocket on the investment. To recover the balance, suits were instituted against the city, and the litigation continued for a number of years in differ- ent forms. A history of this dispute will be found in the chapter on " Land Titles," further on in this work. From Mr. Hall's history of San Jose, we take the following description of this building: "It was sixty feet long, forty feet wide, and adorned with a piazza in front. The upper story contained but one room, with a stairway leading thereto. This room was occupied by the Assembly. The lower story was divided into four rooms. The largest one was forty by twenty feet, and was the Senate chamber. The other rooms were used by the secretary and various committees. In front of it stood a liberty pole, the top splice of which was the same that stood before the juzgado, bearing the ample folds of the first United States colors which wafted in this valley. This same top splice forms the upper part of the pole now in front of the engine house on Lightston Alley. The gilt ball at the top contains a written history of the facts pertaining thereto." This splice,

PEN PICTURES FROM THE "GARDEN OF THE WORLD."

with its gilt ball, was afterwards removed and placed on the top of the old City Hall, on Market Street.

The election to ratify the Constitution was held November 13, 1849, the San Jose District casting five hundred and sixty-seven votes, all for its adoption. Peter H. Burnett was at the same time elected Gov- ernor, his opponent being W. S. Sherwood.

The condition of affairs in San Jose at that time was very crude, both socially and commercially. It is well illustrated by "Grandma Bascom's Story," from the graceful pen of Mrs. M. H. Field, of San Jose, and which was published in the Overland Monthly, for May, 1887, and from which we quote :-

"We reached Sacramento on the last day of Octo- ber. Then we took a boat for San Francisco. Our fare was $132, and we were eight days in getting to San Francisco. It rained and rained. I remember at Benicia we paid $1.50 for a candle. At San Fran- cisco we had hoped to find a house all ready to be put together, which Doctor had bought in New York and ordered sent round the Horn. He had also sent in the same cargo a great lot of furniture and a year's supply of provisions, but they never came till the next April, and then everything was spoiled but the house. We had also bought in San Francisco two lots at $1,700 each. The best we could do was to camp on them. The first night in San Francisco Mr. Bryant came to take supper with us, and the Doctor, to cele- brate, bought $5.00 worth of potatoes. We ate them all for supper, and didn't eat so very many either!

"We had intended from the first to come to the Santa Clara Valley, for Doctor said that wherever the Catholic Fathers had picked out a site must be a good location. The children and I stayed in the city while Doctor came on horseback to San Jose and bought a house for us. Then he came back, and we started for San Jose with Professor Jack, while Doctor stayed in the city to buy and ship furniture and provisions to us. We came to Alviso in the boat and paid another $150 in fare, just for me and the children. From Alviso we came to San Jose by the Pioneer stage, through fearful mud and pouring rain, paying an 'ounce' each for fare. On the boat I got acquainted with two nice gentlemen, both ministers, whose names were Blakeslee and Brierly. They two were coming to San Jose; also a Mr. Knox.

"We haven't any place to lay our heads when we get there,' one of them said.

" 'Well, I've got a house,' said I, ' just as if I was in Kentucky, and if you can put up with what I'll have to, you can come with me and welcome.' So we were

all driven straight to my house, on the corner of Second and San Fernando Streets. It was just dark, and the tenth of December.

" The house had been bought of a Mrs. Matthews, and she was still in the house. Doctor had paid $7,000 for the house and two fifty-vara lots. I ex- pected to see at least a decent shelter; but, oh, my ! it was just as one of the children said, 'Most as good as our old Kentucky corn-crib.' It had two rooms and a loft, which was climbed into by a kind of ladder. The roof was of shakes and let the rain right through, and the floor was of planks, laid down with the smooth side up, and great cracks between that let the water run out. I was thankful for that! There was a chimney in the house, and fire-place, but hardly a bit of fire, nor any wood. It was rather a forlorn place to come to and bring visitors to, now, wasn't it ? Yet we had been through so much that the poorest shelter looked good to me, and besides it was our new home. We must make the best of it. Mrs. Matthews had a good supper for us on a table spread with a white cloth, and the children were overjoyed to see a real table-cloth once more.

" 'Will you tell me where I can get some wood?' I said to Mrs. Matthews, thinking that a fire would be the best possible thing for us all.

"'You can buy a burro load in the morning,' she answered. 'I've used the last bit to get supper with.' Well, the end of it was we took our supper and went to bed-not on our nice Kentucky feather-beds, but on buffalo skins spread on the floor, and without any pillows. Mr. Knox and Mr. Blakeslee and Mr. Brierly climbed up into the loft, and turned in as best they could. Mr. Knox was sick, too, but I could not even give him a cup of hot tea. I said to Mrs. Matthews that I wished I could heat a stone to put to his feet.

"'Stone!' said she; 'there are no stones in this country.'

"We slept as if we were on downy beds, we were all so tired. The next morning I bought a 'burro' load of wood for an 'ounce.' Everything cost an 'ounce.' I soon got used to it. Wheat was 75 cents a pound, butter $1.00 a pound, eggs $3.00 a dozen. A chicken cost $3.00, milk $1.00 a quart. But their prices matched all around. Doctors charged $5.00 for draw- ing a tooth, and other things in proportion. I don't know as it made any difference. I divided my man- sion into four rooms, with curtains. Doctor came and brought us furniture and all the comforts money would buy. He paid $500 to get shingles on our roof. Mr. Blakeslee and Mr. Brierly stayed with us.

PEN PICTURES FROM THE "GARDEN OF THE WORLD."

We all seemed to get on well together. It was not till spring that doctor found a black man who could cook. He paid $800 for him. Folks said he wouldn't stay-for, of course, he was free in California-but he did. He lived with us for four years.

"People began to ask if they couldn't stay with us just for a few days till they found some other home; and then, somehow, they stayed on. Everybody had to be hospitable. The Legislature was in session and the town was more than full. The first thing I knew I had thirteen boarders-senators and representatives, and ministers, and teachers. Nobody who came would go away. I could always manage to make people feel at home, and they would all say that they would put up with anything, and help in all sorts of ways, if I would only let them stay. It was as good as a play to see them help me. Mr. Leek (he was the enrolling clerk in the Legislature) was a wonderful hand to make batter-cakes. We got up a reputation on batter-cakes, and our house was dubbed 'Slapjack Hall,' by my boy Al. It stuck to us. Mr. Bradford, from Indiana, could brown coffee to perfection.

"Mr. Orr and Mr. McMullen always brought all the water. They were senators. I used to think they liked the job because there was a pretty girl in the house where they got the water. And that reminds me, several families got water from the same well. It was just a hole in the ground, about eight or ten feet deep, and no curb around it. Once a baby was creep- ing round on the ground and fell into it. The mother saw it and ran and jumped in after it. Then she screamed, and I ran out. There she was in the well, holding the baby upside down to get the water out of its lungs! 'Throw me a rope !' she screamed, and I ran for a rope. Then she tied it around the baby, and I drew it up. Meanwhile, our cries brought men to the rescue, and they drew up the poor woman. We tried to keep the well covered after that.

" It seemed impossible to get a cook. We even had a woman come down from San Francisco, but she didn't stay when she found we really expected her to cook. She said she was a niece of Amos Kendall's, and wasn't going to cook for anybody. Professor Jack helped me steadily, and, as I said, everybody lent a hand. We had a very gay time over our meals, and everybody was willing to wash dishes and tend baby. I used to go up to the Legislature and enjoy the fun there as much as they enjoyed my house- keeping. The March of that winter was something to remember. People used to get swamped on the

corner of First and Santa Clara Streets. A little boy was drowned there. It was a regular trap for children.

"Oh, did I tell you I built the first church and the first school-house in San Jose ? I did. I built it all alone, with my own hands, and the only tool I had was a good stout needle. It was the famous ' Blue Tent' you have heard of. Mr. Blakeslee asked me if I could make it, and I told him of course I could. He bought the cloth and cut it out. It was of blue jean, and cost seventy-five cents a yard. The Presby- terian Church was organized in it, and Mr. Blakeslee had a school in it all winter.

" We had a good deal of party going, and gave en- tertainments, just as if we had elegant houses and all the conveniences. The Spanish people were, some of them, extremely stylish. The ladies had dresses as rich as silk and embroidery could make them, and in their long, low adobe houses there were rich carpets and silk curtains trimmed with gold lace. I went to the first wedding in one of these houses. Miss Pico married a Mr. Campbell. It was very grand, but the odd dresses and the odd dishes upset my dignity more than once. Governor and Mrs. McDougall lived in an adobe house on Market Street, and they had a grand party there. I had a party, too, one day, and asked all the ladies of my acquaintance. Mrs. Bran- ham had given me six eggs, and I made an elegant cake, which I was going to pass around in fine style. I began by passing it to one of the Spanish ladies, and she took the whole cake at one swoop, wrapped it up in the skirt of her gorgeous silk dress, and said,

' Mucha gracias.' I was never so surprised in my life, but there was nothing I could do. The rest of us had to go without cake that time.

" Cattle and horses ran about the streets, and there were no sidewalks. We had to just pick our way round as best we could.

· " In the spring my piano came. It was sent by way of the Isthmus. It was the first piano in San Jose. It made a great sensation. Everybody came to see it and hear my little girl play. Indians and Spanish used to crowd round the doors and windows to hear the wonderful music, and many a white man, too, lin- gered and listened because it reminded him of home.

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Pen pictures from the garden of the world, or Santa Clara county, California, Part 12

Author: Foote, Horace S., ed Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 844

Author: Foote, Horace S., ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 844