USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > The beginnings of San Francisco : from the expedition of Anza, 1774, to the city charter of April 15, 1850 : with biographical and other notes, Vol. II > Part 7
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Throughout the disturbances incident to the state of war then existing, most of the rancheros of the better class remained quietly on their farms and submitted to the requisitions of Frémont and the other officers of the California battalion for horses, cattle, and other property for the use of the army, which they were obliged to exchange for Frémont's
* Lancey in the Cruise of the Dale, 131-2, says that the procession consisted of Captain J. B. Montgomery and suite, Lieutenant Bartlett, magistrate of the district, the orator of the day, foreign consuls, Captain John Paty, senior captain Hawaiian navy, Lieut .- commander Rudacoff, Russian navy, Lieut .- commander Bonnett, French navy, General Vallejo and others, who had held office under the late government; the captains of the ships, and a long line of citizens. He says that Stockton, in response to a toast at the collation, made an eloquent address an hour long in which he alluded to the revolt in the south and said that if one hair of the heads of the brave men he had left to garrison San Diego, Los Angeles, or Santa Barbara should be harmed, "he would wade knee deep in his own blood to avenge it." "As Commodore Stockton was small of stature," says Lancey, "this was considered as a very great sacrificial offer."
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
receipts. With these requisitions, which were per- haps regular, came other and more exasperating demands from irresponsible Americans who carried on the work of plunder under the pretense of military necessity. This at last became unendurable and the Californians determined to make an effort to protect their property .* On the 8th of December Alcalde Bartlett with five men started down the peninsula to obtain some cattle. Francisco Sanchez at the rancho of San Pablo, who had suffered severely from such demands and had lost not only his own horses but those of Mellus and Howard under his care, assembled a small party and captured Bartlett and his men and carried them prisoners to the hills. Other rancheros joined him until he had about one hundred men under his command. After some delay Commander Hull of the United States sloop-of-war Warren, who had succeeded Montgomery in command at San Francisco, sent one hundred men, under command of Captain Ward Marston of the marines, to put down this rebellion. The force consisted of marines and seamen from the ships and mounted volunteers from San José and from Yerba Buena. The rival forces met on the plains of Santa Clara on the 2d of January 1847. After a sharp engagement of several hours during
* Walter Colton says: "The principal sufferers are men who have remained quietly on their farms and whom we are bound in honor as well as sound policy to protect. To permit such men to be plundered under the filched author- ity of our flag, is a national reproach." Three Years in California, p. 155.
549
BATTLE OF SANTA CLARA
which two Americans were slightly wounded and the Californians were unhurt, Sanchez withdrew his men into the hills and sent in a flag of truce stating his grievances and offering to submit if the United States would guarantee protection of prop- erty .* An armistice was agreed upon until the commandant at San Francisco could be heard from. Two days later a reply was received from the commander stating that the surrender must be unconditional but giving unofficial assurances that property should no longer be seized without the proper formalities and receipts.f The terms were accepted; San Francisco's alcalde was returned to his anxious friends and the Californians returned to their ranchos. This was the famous campaign and battle of Santa Clara about which so much absurd stuff has been written.
About the first of December 1846 the Warren's launch was sent up the Sacramento river with twelve men, including two sons of Captain Montgomery: William H., acting master of the Warren and John E., his father's secretary, with Midshipman Daniel C. Hugenin. She carried, it is supposed, money to pay the garrison at Sutter's fort. They
* Col. Mason reports to Adjutant-general June 18, 1847, that very many claimants had their property taken and no receipt or certificate given for it. Ex. Doc. 17, Ho. of Rep. 31st Cong. Ist Ses.
t Bancroft: Hist. Cal., v, pp. 378-383; Colton: Three Years in Cal. p. 152-3;
Hall: Hist. San José, 157 et seq .;
Davis: Sixty Years in California.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
never arrived at Sutter's and after several weeks Robert Ridley was sent in another launch up the Sacramento and San Joaquin, but found no trace of boat or crew. Ridley's opinion was that the boat was lost in a gale shortly after setting out, though there were those who thought that the officers had been murdered by the crew .*
On the 30th of January 1847, a notice appeared in the California Star signed by Washington A. Bartlett, ordering the name of San Francisco to be used on all public documents or records appertaining to the town. The order stated that the name of Yerba Buena was but local, originating from the name of the cove on which the town was built, and "therefore, to prevent confusion and mistakes in public documents, and that the town may have the advantage of the name given on the public maps, it is hereby ordered that the name of San Francisco shall be hereafter used in all official communications and public documents or records appertaining to the town."
On the 22d of February 1847, Lieutenant Bartlett was ordered to his ship by the commanding officer of the squadron, and Edwin Bryant was appointed alcalde by General Kearny. Bryant was a native of Massachusetts who came overland in 1846 and served in the California battalion as lieutenant of company H. It was during his administration that the tide land grant was made by General Kearny to
* Bancroft: Hist. Cal., v. p. 384.
55I
GEORGE HYDE
the town of San Francisco and the survey of Jasper O'Farrell was extended to include the beach and water property. Bryant resigned May 28th and returned to the East with General Kearny, leaving the valley of the Sacramento June 19th and reaching Fort Leavenworth August 22d, making the journey in sixty-four days. He published his book, What I Saw in California, in 1849; the same year he came across the plains to California and for several years was a citizen of San Francisco. He died in Louis- ville, Ky., in 1869 at the age of sixty-four.
George Hyde, who succeeded Edwin Bryant, was appointed by Kearny first alcalde May 28th. He was a native of Pennsylvania and came on the United States frigate Congress in 1846 as secretary to Com- modore Stockton. He served as second alcalde under Lieutenant Bartlett while that officer was a prisoner in the Montara hills, and was first alcalde from June 1847 to April 1848. Hyde had many controversies with the citizens and charges were preferred against him by Ward, Brannan, and Ross; these charges Colonel Mason instructed the counsel to investigate. Hyde seems to have had the faculty of creating violent opposition, but was, I think, fully vindicated from all charges of official miscon- duct. In June 1848-9 Hyde lived on Clay street near Dupont, occupying the house afterwards known as the "Sazerac." Later he lived on Broadway whence he removed to a grassy lot of considerable size quite out of town, near the junction of Post,
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
Market, and Montgomery streets, where he built a large square house surrounded by a garden and lawn. The Mechanics' Library building now occu- pies a portion of this lot and the rest of it still belongs to the Hyde estate.
Early in March 1847 the ship Thomas H. Perkins arrived from New York bringing Colonel Stevenson and the first detachment of his regiment, the Seventh New York volunteers, who were enlisted for the war and were to be disbanded in California to become settlers. Jonathan Drake Stevenson was born in the city of New York January 1, 1800. He was private secretary to Governor Thompkins of New York and colonel of a New York militia regiment. In January 1846 he was a member of the New York legislature and in June of that year President Polk offered him the command of a volunteer regiment for service in California, if he could raise one. Stevenson accepted the commission and opened the rolls in New York, July 7th; by the end of July the lists were filled and on August Ist the regiment was mustered into service at Governor's island. On September 26th the expedition sailed on three trans- ports, the Thomas H. Perkins, the Loo Choo, and the Susan Drew, under convoy of the United States man-of-war Preble. The regiment was mustered in as the Seventh but afterwards changed to the First New York volunteers. Several officers of the regular army were assigned to the regiment while the rank and file were mostly young men and the
553
STEVENSON'S REGIMENT
rough element was largely represented. Though their record in California was not altogether enviable, and some of their number ended their careers on the gallows, the muster roll of the regiment contains the names of a large number of men of standing who attained positions of wealth and influence. I can give here but few of the best known names. Colonel Stevenson was a familiar figure in San Francisco where he lived much respected until his death, February 14th, 1894, at the venerable age of ninety-four. The lieutenant-colonel, Henry S. Burton, and the major, James A. Hardie, both regular army officers, became general officers in the war of secession. Joseph L. Folsom, captain and assistant quartermaster, also a regular army officer, is frequently mentioned in this story. He died at Mission San José in 1855, a very wealthy man. Henry M. Naglee, captain of company D, was a graduate of West Point and a lieutenant of the regular army. He saw some active service in Lower California where he received the severe censure of his commander for causing two prisoners to be shot. For this Colonel Mason ordered Naglee's arrest and reported the matter to the adjutant-general to be laid before the president for his action, but the end of the war and the mustering out of the regiment prevented further prosecution of the matter. Cap- tain Naglee established the first bank in San Francisco January 9, 1849, under the firm name of Naglee and Sinton. His partner was Richard H. Sinton who
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
came on the line-of-battle ship Ohio in 1848, with Commodore Jones, as acting paymaster. The "Ex- change and Deposit Office" of Naglee and Sinton was in the Parker house on Kearny street, fronting the plaza, now the site of the Hall of Justice. Sin- ton soon withdrew and after the destruction of the Parker house by fire, the business was continued on the corner of Montgomery and Merchant streets, under the name of H. M. Naglee & Company, until closed by a run on the 7th of September 1850. Naglee served in the war of secession as lieutenant- colonel of the regular army and was made a brigadier- general of volunteers.
He returned to California, became a man of great wealth, settled in San José, and was a well-known viticulturist and manufacturer of brandy. He died March 5, 1885. Francis J. Lippitt, captain of company F, was prominent in city affairs, speaker of the "Legislative Assembly" of San Francisco, member of constitutional con- vention, colonel of First California infantry in the war of secession. John B. Frisbie, captain of
company H, became a railroad director, bank president, etc. Edward Gilbert, lieutenant of com- pany H, first editor of the Alta California, member of constitutional convention, first member of congress for California, was killed by General J. W. Denver in a duel in 1852. William E. Shannon, captain of company I, was a member of the constitutional convention and author of the section of the bill of rights that forbade slavery in California. Shan-
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RECORD OF OFFICERS
non was born in Ireland and came to the United States at the age of seven, his father settling in Steu- ben county, New York. He studied law but joined the regiment for California in 1846. He was for a while a trader at Coloma and later a lawyer at Sacramento, where he died of cholera in 1850. Nel- son Taylor, captain of company E, was a member of the first legislature, became a prominent citizen of Stockton, went to New York in 1856, served in the war of secession where he became a brigadier- general, and in 1865 was member of congress. Ed- wards C. Williams, first lieutenant of the company, was a prominent lumber manufacturer in San Fran- cisco and for many years president of the Mendocino Lumber Company. He is one of the few survivors of the regiment, and, rich in that which should accompany old age, lives honored and respected in his Oakland home. There, in January 1911, he gave me many interesting details of the officers and men of this regiment that was mustered out of service more than sixty-three years ago. Thomas L. Vermeule, second lieutenant of company E, was a member of the constitutional convention, a well- known lawyer and politician. Edward H. Harrison, quartermaster's clerk, was afterwards a prominent merchant of San Francisco, of the firm of De Witt and Harrison. Thaddeus M. Leavenworth, chaplain of the regiment, was second alcalde of San Francisco under Hyde and Townsend, and first alcalde, 1848-9. James L. C. Wadsworth was sutler's clerk, and a
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
well-known resident of San Francisco. Sherman O. Houghton was sergeant of company A, a promi- nent lawyer, mayor of San José, and member of congress, 1871-5. He is living in Los Angeles .* He married Mary M. Donner, and after her death, Eliza P. Donner, her cousin, both survivors of the Donner party. The Russ family, well known in San Francisco, came, twelve in number, on the Loo Choo, the father and three sons having enlisted as privates in the regiment in consequence of losing by burglary the entire stock of their jewelery store in New York. Of them more later.
The Perkins carried the colonel, the surgeon, the quartermaster, and companies B, F, and G; the Loo Choo, companies A, C, and K, Major Hardie, Assistant-surgeon Parker, and Chaplain Leaven- worth; while the Susan Drew had companies D, E, I, and H, with Lieutenant-colonel Burton, Commis- sary Marcy, and Assistant-surgeon Murray.
The Perkins came in on March 5th, the Susan Drew on the nineteenth, and the Loo Choo on the twenty-fifth, while some men who had been left behind in New York came on the ship Brutus, April 18th.
The war in California was over and the regiment was assigned to garrison duty. Companies H and K were stationed at the presidio under Major Hardie;
* The survivors of the Stevenson regiment living in California in January 1911 are: Edwards C. Williams, Oakland; Sherman O. Houghton, Los Angeles; Thomas E. Ketcham, Stockton; Joseph Sims, Franklin; and Charles F. Smith, Soldier's Home.
557
MUTINY AT LA PAZ
A, B, and F, were sent to Santa Barbara under Lieu- tenant-colonel Burton; E and G to Los Angeles under Colonel Stevenson as commandant of the post and of the southern military district; company I to Monterey and later to San Diego; company C was sta- tioned at Sonoma, and company D after a detail in pur- suit of Indian horse thieves was sent to La Paz, Lower California, where also were sent companies A and B, with Lieutenant-colonel Burton in command. These three companies, A, B, and D, were the only ones that saw any active service. On the ratification of the treaty of peace, the regiment, enlisted for the war, was mustered out of service in August, Septem- ber, and October, 1848. There were many com- plaints of insubordination and disorder while in the service and it was stated that the company officers had little control over the men. Colonel Mason reports the serious mutiny, at La Paz, of the men of company A, affecting the entire command, and necessitating the sending of the Independence from Mazatlan to restore order. He also complains of the bad conduct of certain soldiers of the three com- panies since their return from Lower California to be mustered out, and states that they had committed gross acts of pillage upon public and private property. Several murders were credited to the discharged soldiers of the regiment, and there is little doubt that they formed a considerable portion of the organized band of desperadoes known as Hounds or Regulators.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
On the 15th of July 1847, Governor Mason ordered Alcalde Hyde to call an election for a town council of six members, but the letter was not sent until August 13th, and in the meanwhile Hyde had ap- pointed a council on July 28th. The election was held September 13th, and William Glover, W. D. M. Howard, W. A. Leidesdorff, E. P. Jones, Robert A. Parker, and William S. Clark were elected to hold their office until the end of 1848. The council was authorized to make all municipal laws and regu- lations and to appoint the necessary town officers and determine their pay. This was the first legis- lative body of the town since losing its ayuntamiento in 1838 .*
On the 7th of August 1848, Colonel Mason issued a proclamation announcing the ratification of a treaty of peace between the United States and the republic of Mexico by which California was ceded to the United States.
One result of the conquest I can only look upon with regret. Some of the American officers seemed to regard the change of flag as necessitating a change or translation of Spanish names. To have a formal official dispatch transform the Ciudad de los Angeles into the City of the Angels is as absurd as it would be to address Don Pablo de la Guerra as Mr. Paul of the War. The practice of translating the Spanish names makes the dispatches of that date most con-
* Ex. Doc. 17, 31st Cong. Ist Ses. pp. 310-358, 537-8, 649-653. Bancroft: History of Cal. v, pp. 502-517.
559
TRANSLATION OF SPANISH NAMES
fusing. Though the St. John, St. Joseph, Hawk's Peak, Bird Island, of the conquerors have vanished, and San Juan, San José, Picacho del Gavilan, and Alcatraz are returned to their own, the Rio de los Americanos has become the American river, Rio de los Plumas, the Feather river, Isla de los Angeles, Angel island, and Isla de los Yeguas, Mare island. The work of transformation, begun by the officers of the army and navy, was carried on by uncouth mountaineer trappers and hunters and rude bor- derers of Missouri, to whom everything Spanish was poison; so, many a Spanish name, significant and musical was supplanted by an outlandish, harsh, or common-place designation.
CHAPTER XVII. SAN FRANCISCO 1847-1850
T HE serenity of the little town on the bay of San Francisco was undisturbed either by wars or by rumors of wars. The American occupation was taken as a matter of course and was apparently accepted with equanimity by Californians as well as by Americans and other foreigners. Noth- ing more serious occurred during the conquest than the capture of Alcalde Bartlett and the subsequent battle of Santa Clara, from which the twelve mounted volunteers of Yerba Buena, under Captain William M. (Jim Crow) Smith, returned with all their mem- bers intact, to receive, in company with the other corps of the army, the commendation and thanks of the commanding officer (Mervine) for their efficiency in compelling the surrender of the "unrivaled cavalry of California"; to which the gallant captain replied : "Our watchword is inscribed upon our banner, and we trust you will find us, as it represents, and as we ever wish to be, semper paratus."*
Early in February 1847 information reached San Francisco concerning the terrible plight of the Donner party in the Sierra Nevada, and steps were at once taken for their relief. A meeting of citizens was called at Brown's hotel and General Vallejo, Captain Mervine, Leidesdorff, Howard, Brannan, and others exerted themselves and raised some fifteen hundred dollars. Passed-midshipman Selim Woodworth vol-
* Californian, Feb. 6. 1847.
563
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
unteered to lead a party to the rescue of the survivors and under his command the party did good service in bringing out the sufferers.38
The 4th of July 1847, was celebrated in San Fran- cisco with appropriate ceremonies. The frigate Congress fired at midday a national salute and the big Spanish gun of the blockhouse took up the refrain and proclaimed the nation's birthday. At one o'clock a large collection of ladies and gentlemen at Brown's hotel listened to the reading of the Declaration of Independence by Mr. J. Thompson, and to an ora- tion by Robert Semple. In the afternoon Elbert P. Jones gave an excellent dinner at the Portsmouth house to a number of gentlemen including the naval officers in the harbor and the officers of the volun- teers. Toasts were drunk, speeches made, and songs sung. The next evening a grand ball was given at Brown's hotel, "where California's dark- eyed daughters mingled in the dance with the fair- haired belles of our own native land."
In September the people of San Francisco gave a ball in honor of Governor Mason and his aid, Lieu- tenant William Tecumseh Sherman, Third artillery. Mason, declining private accommodations, put up at Brown's hotel.
The population of the town had increased over one hundred per cent. during the twelve months following the American occupation, and the opinion was expressed that San Francisco was destined to be the New York of the Pacific. The California Star
565
GRANTING OF TOWN LOTS
estimated the population in June 1847, at four hun- dred and fifty-nine exclusive of the New York volunteers, and the number of buildings was one hundred and fifty-seven, half of which had been erected during the past four months. Before the gold excitement had begun to depopulate the town, in May and June 1848, the number of inhabitants had increased to about eight hundred and fifty, and that of buildings to two hundred.
Under the rule of Mexico lots were granted in Yerba Buena to settlers without other cost than a tax of twelve and a half dollars for a fifty vara and twenty-five dollars for a hundred vara lot. Only one lot was granted to a person and he was required to fence it in and build upon it. With the American occupation the alcaldes granted lots according to the practice of the late government. W. S. Clark, of Clark's Point, who arrived late in 1846, found that the rule prevented him from obtaining more than one lot. According to his own statement he employed a number of persons to apply for lots in their own names and then deed them to him. In this way he obtained possession of a large number. The alcalde, Bartlett, found this out and meeting Clark took him to task for his doings and asked him what he meant by such conduct. Clark informed him that he had spent six months in crossing the plains, that his outfit had cost him a good deal of money, that he had spent six months more in estab- lishing himself in San Francisco, and that he intended
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THE BEGINNINGS OF SAN FRANCISCO
to be paid for all the time he had spent and the ex- pense to which he had been put. This declaration of rights settled the alcalde-according to Clark's story. Clark sold twelve of the lots so obtained for five thousand dollars apiece. On September 27, 1847, the council decided that lots should not be forfeited for failure to build and fence, and in October the alcalde's act in granting more than one lot to one person was approved. Some time thereafter thirty-six lots were granted to W. S. Clark and William C. Parker. So well did this enterprising American (Clark) use his opportunity that, in 1886, he was thought to be worth several million dollars. The case of Clark is but an example; he was one of many. A spirit of lawless speculation in lands developed almost immediately upon the raising of the American flag in California, and was the origin of all the confusion over titles to lands in San Fran- cisco. The wise precautions of Spain and Mexico were set aside. The theory that but one lot could be granted to one person, and that if he failed to take actual possession of it and improve it, it would be taken from him and given to another, did not suit the American speculator. All the lots granted within the limits of the present city prior to July 7, 1846, were less than one hundred and twelve. Dur- ing November and December 1846, the American alcalde granted thirty-four; in 1847, five hundred and forty-two; in 1848, three hundred and ninety- two, and in 1849, nine hundred and forty-nine.
567
PETER SMITH'S CONTRACT
After the election of the ayuntamiento, the slow pro- cess of granting lots by petition was dispensed with, and they were put up at auction and knocked down to the highest bidder. In this manner, by the 5th of January 1850, three thousand one hundred and fifty-three fifty vara lots, equal to twelve hundred acres of land, exclusive of streets, in and around the heart of the city had been disposed of .* Alcalde and council laid aside conscience as a useless encum- brance, and plunged headlong into jobbing and specu- lation.
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