Three years in California

Front matter

^ 7

6.0<

THREE YEARS

Preface

Many events of moment occurred in California during my residence of three years in that country, and which were sketched in a journal kept by me at the time. They are interspersed with anecdotes and incidents of a less general concern, but which may not be without some interest with the reader, as affording a clue to the leading features of society, and traits of individual character. The circle of engaging objects in a community^ just emerging into the refinements of civilization, is never broad; but every phase in the great change going on possesses an intense individuality, and leaves its ineffaceable impression, like a ship sweeping a solitary sea, or a bird scaling a sunset cloud. California will be no more what she has been : the events of a few years have carried her through the progressive changes of a century. She has sprung at once from the shackles of colonial servitude to all the advantages and dignities of a sovereign state.

Her emigrants are rushing from every continent and isle ; they crest every mountain, they cover every sea ; they sweep in like a cloud from the Pacific, they roll down like a torrent from the slopes of the Sierra Nevada. They crowd to her bosom to gather gold ; their hammers and drills, their mattocks and spades divert the deep stream, and are echoed from a thousand caverned Mils ; the level plain, the soaring cliff and wombed mountain, give up theii- glowing treasures. But the gifts of nature here are not confined to her sparkling sands and veined rocks, they extend to the productive forces of her soil ; they lie along her water-courses, through her verdant valleys, and wave in her golden grain ; they reel in her vintage, they blush in her fruits, while her soft zephyrs, as they float the landscape, scatter perfume from their odorous wings.

But with all these gifts disease is here with its pale victims, and sorrow with its willow-wove shrine. There is no land less

1*

6 PREFACE.

relieved by the smiles and soothing cares of woman. If Eden with its ambrosial fruits and guiltless joys was still sad till the voice of woman mingled with its melodies, California, with all her treasured hills and streams, must be cheerless till she feels the presence of the same enchantress. It is woman alone that can make a home for the human heart, and evoke from the recesses of nature the bright and beautiful : where her footsteps light, the freshest flowers spring ; where her voice swells, the softest echoes wake : her smiles garland the domestic hearth ; her sympathy melts through the deepest folds of grief; her love clothes the earth with light. When night invests the heaven, when the soft pleiads in their storm-rocked cradle sleep, and the sentinel stars on their watch-towers wane dim, her vigil flame still pours its faithful beam, still struggles with the encroaching darkness till the day-spring and the shadows flee away. Of all these sources of solace and hope multitudes in California are now bereft ; but the ties of kindred, the quick- winged ship, and the steed of flame, on his iron-paved track, vdll soon secure them these priceless gifts. The miner, returning from his toil, will yet half forget the labors of the day in the greetings of his home :

" At length his lonely cot appears in view,

To meet their dad, wi' flichterin noise an' glee. His wee bit ingle, blinkin' bonnily.

His clean heai-th-stane, his thriftie wifie's smile. The lisping infant prattling on his knee,

Does a' his weary carking cares beguile, An' makes him quite forget his labor an' his toil."

Philadelphia, July, 1850. W. C.

Contents

Page CHAPTER I.— The flag.— Meeting of citizens.— Disposition of forces— Col. Fremont's band. — Alcalde of Monterey. — Indian mother. — Military leaders. — A California fai'm 13

CHAPTER II.— Fecundity of the Califomians.— First intelligence of the war.— Wild Indians on board ship.— The chief.— First newspaper published in California.— Raising the materials.— The rival suitors.— Flight of Gen. Castro.— A Californian on horseback 27

CHAPTER III. — A thief obeying orders. — Game. — No penitentiary system. — The California cart on a gala-day.— The runaway daughter.— Faith of the Indians. — Return from the war. — First trial by jury. — Indian and his squaw on the hunt. — Whales in the bay. — The two gamblere. — Ladies on horseback. — Merriment in death. — The Englishman and his mistress 39

Chapter I

THE FLAG. — MEETING OF CITIZENS. — DISPOSITION OF FORCES. — COL. FRE-

MONT's band. ALCALDE OF MONTEREY. INDIAN MOTHER. MILITARY

LEADERS. A CALIFORNIA FARM.

A FEW words will place within the clear comprehension of the reader, the posture of public affairs in California at the time my journal opens. The U. S. flag was raised at Monterey and San Francisco on the 10th of July, 1846. This event was wholly unexpected by the Californians, and struck the public heart with the deepest surprise ; other causes of alarm and apprehension faded into shadow in the presence of this decisive measure ; they were the admonitory vibrations, but here was the earthquake itself. The people were more astounded than indignant, and quite as intent over problems of preservation as measures of resistance.

At a public meeting held at Monterey, in which the patriotism, talents, and sagacity of the country were largely represented, the question of throwing the territory under the protection of England, through

X4 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.

the naval forces commanded by Admiral Seymour, who was on the coast at the time, was excitingly discussed. But this proposition received its quietus under the successful railery of Don Raphael, of Monterey. " Our object," said this witty counsellor, " is to preserve our country ; but she is gone, — California is lost to us : and this proposal to invoke the protection of England, is only to seek another owner. The redress is worthy of the market-woman : a dog had robbed her hamper of a leg of mutton, and she sent another dog more powerful after him to get it away ; when asked what good that would do her, she replied, it would be some satisfaction to see the first dog deprived of the stolen leg. And so it is with us ; the mutton is gone, and a choice of the dog only remains : others may prefer the bull-dog, but I prefer the regular hound ; he has outstripped the other in the chase, and so let him have the game." The convention broke up without adopting any decisive measures ; leaving each one to act as his impulses or convictions of duty suggested.

The military forces of the country were at this time under the command of Gen. Jose Castro, an officer of high pretensions, but utterly deficient in strength and steadiness of purpose, and that capacity which can work out important results with slender and inapposite means. His followers had gathered to him with as little discipline, sobriety, and order, as would characterize a bear-hunt. Their prime impulse lay in the excitement which the camp presented. It was the same thing to them whether their weapon was a rifle or a guitar, — whether they were going to a skirmish or a fandango. With six or eight hundred of these waltzing warriors Gen. Castro was now on his march into the southern department, with the evident purpose of taking up his position near the Pueblo de los Angeles.

Such was the posture of aflfairs when Com. Stockton resolved to rest in no half-way measures. The wave had been set in motion and must roll on, or its returning force might sweep him and his temporary garrisons into the Pacific. And yet aggressive measures in the present condition of the squadron seemed to border on rashness. The Portsmouth, under Commander Montgomery, must be left at San Francisco to garrison the posts occupied by the flag ; the Savannah, commanded by Capt. Mervin, must remain here to hold Monterey ; the Warren, under Commander Hull, was at Mazatlan ; only the Congress, Lieut. Livingston commanding, and the Cyane, under Commander Du Pont, remained. With the crews of these, and a hundred and sixty men under Col. Fremont, California -Avas to be conquered - and held, and this too in the presence or defeat of a military force that had the entire resources of the country at their command. But a gallant purpose will often achieve what a questioning prudence would relinquish. The mountain torrent, with its impetuosity, sweeps away the barrier which efiectually obstructs the level stream.

Monday, July 27. The bustle of preparation is active in the squadron. Commander Du Pont received orders last evening to have the Cyane ready for sea in twenty-four hours. She has tripped this afternoon, and is off for San Diego, though it has been given out on shore that she is bound elsewhere, but this is a war stratagem. She has on board Col. Fremont and a hundred and fifty of his riflemen. The wind is fresh, and they are by this time cleverly sea-sick, and lying about the deck in a spirit of resignation that would satisfy the non-resistant principles of a Quaker. Two or three resolute old women might tumble the whole of them into the sea. But they will rally before they reach their port, and see that their rifles spring true to their trust.

The colonel is a man of small stature, of slender but wiry formation, and with a countenance indicative of decision and firmness. This is the fifth time he has crossed the continent in connection with his scientific purposes. His enterprises are full of hardship, peril, and the wildest romance. To sleep under the open heaven, and depend on one's rifle for food, is coming about as near the primitive state of the hunter as a civilized man can well get ; and yet this life, in his case, is adorned with the triumphs of science. The colonel and his band are to land at San Diego, secure horses, and advance upon the position of Gen. Castro, at los Angeles.

" War's great events lie so in Fortune's scale, That oft a feather's weight may kick the beam."

Tuesday, July 28. Com. Stockton informed me to-day that I had been appointed Alcalde of Monterey and its jurisdiction. I had dreamed in the com'se of. my life, as most people have, of the thousand things I might become, but it never entered my visions that I should succeed to the dignity of a Spanish alcalde. I much preferred my berth on board the Congress, and that the judicial functions in question should continue to be discharged by the two intelligent gentlemen, Purser R. M. Price and Dr. Edward Gilchrist, upon whom they had been devolved. But the services of these officers were deemed indispensable to the efficiency of the ships to which they were attached. This left me no alternative ; my trunks were packed, my books boxed, and - in an hour I was on shore, a guest in the house of our consul, T. O. Larkin, Esq., whose munificent hospitalities reach every officer of the squadron, and every functionary in the interest of the flag. This is the more appreciated from the fact that there is not a public table or hotel in all California. High and low, rich and poor, are thrown together on the private liberality of the citizens. Though a quasi war exists, all the amenities and courtesies of life are preserved ; your person, life, and liberty, are as sacred at the hearth of the Californian as they would be at your own fireside. He will never betray you ; the rights of hospitality, in his generous judgment, require him to peril his own life in defence. of yours. He may fight you on the field, but in his family, you

2* may dance with his daughters, and he will himself wake the waltzing string.

Wednesday, July 29. The sloop-of-war Levant, under .Commander Page, sailed to-day, with Com. Sloat on board, for the United States. We gave the commodore a parting salute. He has rendered the squadron under his command efficient, and preserved harmony among the officers. The expediency of his measures in California will be canvassed elsewhere. He acted on the light and intelligence within his reach. If war has been declared, the laurel awaits him.

The Levant takes home in her my friend, Lieut.

T : he has resigned his commission in the navy,

and takes orders in the church. He is a pretty good classical scholar, and has made himself familiar with the principles of biblical exegesis. All this has been accomplished during those few leisure hours which the duties of a watch-officer leave one at sea. It is seemingly reversing the order of things for the navy to supply the church with spiritual teachers. But few, however, have left the deck for the pulpit ; a much larger number have reached it from the diagrams and drills of West Point. Among them are ^eome of our most eloquent and impressive preachers. Of this class is the present Bishop of Ohio.

We have all been busy in writing letters home, and shall make up a pretty large mail, filled with tender recollections, and overflowing with the California news. How the intelligence of our proceedings here will strike our friends and the country at large, is mere matter of conjecture. We are acting, however, not only in view of the alleged collision between the American and Mexican forces on the Rio Grande, but in reference to the anarchy and confusion into which this country has been thrown by a revolution which did not originate with us.

Thursday, July 30. To-day I entered on the duties of my office as alcalde of Monterey : my jurisdiction extends over an immense extent of territory, and over a most heterogeneous population. Almost every nation has, in some emigrant, a representative here — a representative of its peculiar habits, virtues, and vices. Here is the reckless Californian, the half-wild Indian, the roving trapper of the West, the lawless Mexican, the licentious Spaniard, the scolding Englishman, thef absconding Frenchman, the luckless Irishman, the plodding German, the adventurous Russian, and the discontented Mormon. All have come here with the expectation of finding but little work and less law. Through this discordant mass I am to maintain order, punish crime, and redress injuries.

Friday, July 31. Nearly all the houses in Monterey are of one story, with a corridor. The walls are built of adobes, or sun-baked brick, with tiled roofs. The centre is occupied by a large hall, to which the dining-room and sleeping apartments seem mere appurtenances. Every thing is in subordination to the hall, and this is designed and used for dancing. It has a wood floor, and springs nightly to the step of those who are often greeted in the whirl of their amusements, by the risen sun. The dance and a dashing horse are the two objects which overpower all others in interest with the Californians. The fiddle has been silent since our flag went up, from the fact that many of the gentlemen have left to join Gen. Castro. But if they return, though covered with disaster, the fiddle will be called upon to resume its fantastic functions. You might as well attempt to extinguish a love of air in a life-preserver as the dancing propensity in this people.

Saturday, Aug. 1. The Congress has sailed to-day, with all her marines and full complement ol men, for San Pedro. Com. Stockton intends to land there with a force of some three hundred, march to the Pueblo de los Angeles, capture that important place, and fall upon Gen. Castro, who, it is now understood, has posted himself, with some eight hundred soldiers, in a pass a few miles below. The general will find his southern retreat cut off* by Col. Fremont's riflemen and the sailors of the Cyane, his western route obstructed by the Colorado, while the forces of the Congress will bear down upon him from the north. He has seemingly no escape, and must fight or capitulate. But his sagacity, his thorough knowledge of the country, and his fleet horses, may extricate him. We shall know in a few days ; the interest felt here in the result is most intense. Many mothers have sons and many wives husbands involved in the issue.

Sunday, Aug. 2. I officiated to-day on board the Savannah. It is much to the credit of the officers of this ship that though without a chaplain, they have had, during a three years' cruise, their religious services regularly on the Sabbath. Four of their number, two lieutenants, the surgeon, and master, are professors of religion, and exert a deep influence through their consistent piety. Their Sabbath exercise has consisted in reading prayers, selections from the Scriptures, and a brief, pertinent sermon. They have had, also, their Sabbath-school. Such facts as these will win for the navy a larger share of public confidence than the capture of forty barbaric fortresses. The American people love valor, but they love religion also. They will confer their highest honors only on him who combines them both.

Monday, Aug. 3. An Indian woman of good appearance came to our office to-day, stating that she had been for two years past a domestic in a Mexican family near Monterey ; that she had, during this time, lost her husband, and now wished to marry again ; but wished, before she did this, to recover her child, which was forcibly detained in the family in which she had served. It appeared that the father of this family had baptized her child, and claimed, according to custom here, a sort of guardianship over it, as well as a right to a portion of its services.

I asked her if her child would be kindly treated where it now was : she said she thought so ; but added, she was a mother, and wanted it with hei We told her as she was going to marry again, she had better perhaps leave the child for the present ; and if she found her husband to be a good, industrious man, and disposed to furnish iier with a comfortable home, she might call again^ our office, and we would get her child. She went avray with that mild look of contentment which is as near a smile as any expression which Hghts an Indian's face.

Tuesday, Aug. 4. The -iiiilitary chieftains, who have successively usurped th/government of California, have arbitrarily imposed such duties on foreign imports as their avarice or exigency suggested. A few examples will be sufficient to show the spirit and character of these imposts. Unbleached cottons, which cost in the United States six cents the yard, cost here fifty, and shirtings cost seventy-five. Plain knives and forks cost ten dollars the dozen ; coarse cowhide shoes three dollars the pair ; the cheapest tea three dollars the pound ; and a pair of common truck-wheels seventy-five dollars. The duty alone on the coarsest hat, even if made of straw, is three dollars.

The revenues derived from these enormous imposts have passed into the pockets of a few individuals, who have placed themselves, by violence or fraud, at the head of the government, and have never reached the public in any beneficial form. These exactions, enforced by an irresponsible tyranny, have kept California poor, have crushed all enterprise, and have rolled back the tide of emigration from her soil as the resisting rock the rushing stream. But the barriers are now broken, and broken forever. California is free, — free of Mexican rule and all domestic usurpers.

Wednesday, Aug. 5. We have in one apartment of our prison two Californians, confined for having robbed a United States courier, on his way from Monterey to San Francisco, with public dispatches. They have not yet been tried. Yesterday they ap- •pHed to me for permission to have their guitars. They stated that their situation was very lonely, and they wanted something to cheer it. Their request was complied with ; and last evening, when the streets were still, and the soft moonlight melted through the grates of their prison, their music streamed out upon the quiet air with wonderful sweetness and power. Their voices were in rich harmony with their instruments, and their melodies had a wild and melancholy tone. They were singing, for aught they knew, their own requiem.

Thursday, Aug. 6. It sounds strange to an American, and much more so to an Englishman, to hear Cahfornians talk of farms. They never speak of acres, or even miles ; they deal only in leagues. A farm of four or five leagues is considered quite small. It is not so large, in the conception of this people, as was the one^acre farm of Horace in the estimation of the Romans. Capt. Sutter's farm, in the valley of the Sacramento, is sixty miles long. The Californians speak in the same way of the stock on their farms. Two thousand horses, fifteen thousand head of cattle, and twenty thousand sheep, are only what a thrifty farmer should have before he thinks of killing or selling. They are to be his productive stock, on which he should not encroach, except in an emergency. Only fancy a farm covering sixty miles in length ! Why, a man would want a railroad through it for his own private use. Get out of the way, ye landlords of England and patroons of Amsterdam, with your boroughs and dykes, and give place to the Cahfornian with his sixty mile sweep !

Friday, Aug. 7. The Mormon ship Brooklyn, which we left at Honolulu, has arrived at San Francisco, and her passengers have debarked on the shores of that magnificent bay. They have not yet selected their lands. The natives hold them in great horror. They seem to think cannibahsm among the least of their enormities. They consider the term Mormon the most branding epithet that can be appHed to a man. A mother complained to me, a few days since, that a gentleman in Monterey had struck her son and called him a Mormon. She dwelt with great earnestness on the opprobrious character of the epithet, and appeared to consider its application to her son a higher crime than that of his fist. I told her what sort of people these Mormons were ; but it was to her as if I had represented Satan as an angel of light. I lectured the wrong-doer.

Saturday, Aug. 8. Capt. Fauntleroy, of the Savannah, and Maj. Snyder, with fifty mounted men under their command, occupy San Juan, which lies inland about thirty miles from Monterey. A report reached them a few days since, that a hundred Avild Indians had descended upon the town of San Jose and driven off over two hundred horses. They started immediately with twenty men, well mounted, got upon their trail, and came up with them at a distance of sixty miles. The Indians finding themselves hotly pressed, left their horses and took to the bush, throwing back upon their pursuers the most wild and frantic imprecations. Three or four of their number only were killed. The denseness of the forest and the approach of night rendered further pursuit impracticable.

The horses were all recaptured and brought back to their owners, who received them with acclamations of surprise and gratitude. This was the first time, they said, that their property had been rescued from savages by the government, and they run up the

American flag. This prompt interference of Capt. Fauntleroy and Maj. Snyder will do more to win the confidence of the Californians than forty orations delivered in the most hquid Spanish that ever rolled from a Castilian tongue. There is something in action which the most simple can appreciate, and which the most crafty cannot gainsay.

Sunday, Aug. 9. I officiated to-day on board the Savannah. The weather was pleasant, and several gentlemen from the shore attended. There was no service in the Roman Catholic Church, owing to the absence of one of the priests and the infirmities of the other. But when there is service, only a few of the people attend. It is sometimes, however, forced upon them in the shape of penance. When a friend of mine here was married, it was necessary that he should confess. The penance imposed on him for his previous negligences and transgressions was, that he should attend church seven Sabbaths.

Chapter II

FECUNDITY OF THE CALIFORXIAXS. FIRST INTELLIGENCE OF THE WAR.

WILD INDIANS ON BOARD SHIP. THE CHIEF. FIRST NEWSPAPER PUB- LISHED IN CALIFORNIA. RAISING THE MATERIALS. THE RIVAL SUITORS.

— FLIGHT OF GEN. CASTRO. A CALIFORNIAN ON HORSEBACK.

Monday, Aug. 10. The fecundity of the Cahforiiians is remarkable, and must be attributed in no small degree to the effects of the climate. It is no uncommon sight to find from fourteen to eighteen children at the same table, with their mother at their head. There is a lady of some note in Monterey, who is the mother of twenty-tw^iving children. The youngest is at the breast, an(«iust soon, it is said, relinquish his place to a new-U^'^^er, who will, in all probability, be allowed only the same brevity of bliss. '^

There is a lady in the department below who has twenty-eight children, all living, in fine health, and who may share the "envied kiss" with others yet to come. What a family — what a wife — what a mother! I have more respect for the shadow of that woman than for the living presence of the mincing being who raises a whole village if she has one child, and then puts it to death with sugar-plums. A woman with one child is like a hen with one chicken ; there is an eternal scratch about nothing.

Tuesday, Aug. 11. A deserter from Gen. Castro's camp presented himself at my office to-day and gave himself up to the American authorities. He represents the general as in rather a forlorn condition. His troops, it appears, are daily deserting him. His present force is estimated at less than six hundred. He is anxious to fly into Mexico, but is unable to raise a sufficient number of volunteers. The expectation here is, that he will surrender to Com. Stockton.

The British brig-of-war Spy anchored in the harbor of Monterey this evening. She is from San Bias, with dispatches for Admiral Seymour. Her officers are perfectly silent as to news from the United States and Mexico. St^ leaves in a few hours for the Collingwood at th« Sandwich Islands. She has, undoubtedly, news, of moment, but will not reveal it.

Wednesday, Aug. 12. The U. S. ship Warren, under Commander Hull, arrived this afternoon in thirty days from Mazatlan, bringing the eventful intelligence that war had been declared between the United States and Mexico. The mysterious silence of the officers of the Spy is now explained. But their secrecy has availed them for only twenty-four hours.

The war news produced a profound sensation here. The whole population were instantly thrown into groups in the corridors and at the corners of the streets. The hum of voices continued late into the night. It was an extinguisher on the hopes of those who had looked to Mexico for aid, or who had clung to the expectation that the American government would repudiate our possession of California,, and order the squadron withdrawn. They now relinquish all idea of a return to their old political connection, and appear resigned to their fate, which seems inevitable. These disappointed families compose but a part of the population ; another portion has become thoroughly wearied with revolutions, and are prepared to countenance almost any government that promises stability.

Thursday, Aug. 13. The Warren sailed this morning for San Pedro, to convey the war intelligence to Com. Stockton. It will throw a new aspect upon his operations in California. Expediency gives place to moral necessity. We have now a double motive for exertion — national honor, which looks at home, and an enlarged philanthropy, which looks here. It is of but little moment what the ultimate action of our government may be in reference to California. It cannot change her destiny. She is severed forever from Mexico. Should our government attempt to throw her back on that country, she will not stay thrown back. The rebound will carry her further off than ever. She is on a wave which will not ebb till this generation have mouldered in their graves.

Friday, Aug. 14. Sixty of a tribe of wild Indians, who live in the mountains, about two hundred miles

3* distant, made a descent a few days since upon a farm within thirty miles of Monterey, and carried off a hmidred horses. Twenty of the tribe, with the chief, remained behind to secm'e fm^ther booty. Intelligence of this having reached Capt. Mervin, he dispatched a mounted force, apprehended them in their ambush, and brought them to Monterey, and delivered them over to our court for trial.

They were as wild a looking set of fellows as ever entered a civil tribunal. The chief was over seven feet high, with an enormous blanket wrapped round him and thrown over the shoulder like a Spanish cloak, which set forth his towering form to the best advantage. His long black hair streamed in darkness down to his waist. H^s features strikingly resembled those of Gen. Jackson. His forehead was high, his eye full of fire, and his mouth betrayed great decision. His step was firm ; his age must have been about fifty. He entered the court with a civil but undaunted air. When asked why he permitted the men of his tribe to steal horses, he replied that the men who took the horses were not properly members of his tribe, that they had recently attached themselves to him, and now, that he had found them horse-thieves, he should cut them. I could get at no satisfactory evidence that he, or the twenty with him, had actively assisted those who took off the horses. I delivered them over to Capt. Mervin, who commanded the military occupation of the town.