The early sentiment for the annexation of California

Front matter

PKKSICNTKI) iri-

THE EARLY SENTIMENT FOR THE ANNEXATION

OF CALIFORNIA: AN ACCOUNT OF THE

Foreword

For a decade prior to the Mexican War, a well-defined movement for the annexation of California was developing in the United States. Varioiis writers have given some attention to isolated incidents properly belonging to this movement, but hitherto no one has traced its growth in any systematic or connected way. To do this is the aim of the following discussion. In it, after roughly outlining the various ways in which California was first brought to the attention of the American people, I have devoted considerable space to tlie efforts made by Jackson, T}'ler, and Polk to purchase the province from Mexico; to popular interest throughout the United States in its acquisition; and to the growth of emigration from the western states. I have considered it worth while, also, to show the effect of current rumors that one or more European nations were seeking to secure a foothold in the province; and to add a chapter on the influence of slavery upon the American program. To local affairs in California, I have given only so much attention as seemed necessary for a clear understanding of their relation to the movement for annexation.

Inevitably, in the treatment of a subject involving so many details, mistakes have arisen and faults can readily be pointed out. Yet I believe the account to be accurate in the main, and trust that it will shed some new light on a most interesting and important phase of westward expansion. Wherever possible I have gotten my material from manuscript sources, finding the official documents on file in the State Department; the Polk, Jackson, and Yan Buren correspondence in the Library of Congress; and the Larkin correspondence in the Bancroft Collection of the University of California especially rich in this regard.

Frequent use has also been made of contemporary writings of the time, whether in book, magazine, or newspaper form. These have been indicated by references throughout the text, as have also the considerable number of secondary authorities and government publications upon which I have been privileged to draw.

It would be but a poor return on my part if I made no mention of the assistance I have received in the preparation of this work. To the Chief Clerk of the State Department; to Mr. Gaillard Hunt, Chief of the Manuscripts Division of the Library of Congress; and to the authorities of the State University of California for permission to use the material of the Bancroft Collection, I am especially grateful. Two men, however, more than any others deserve my warmest thanks. These are Professor Herbert E. Bolton of the University of California, upon whose kindly interest and help I have never counted in vain; and Professor Robert M. McElroy, under whose direction this study was undertaken and whose friendship has been a constant source of inspiration.

Earhj Sentiment for Annexation of California

Chapter I THE BEGINNING OF INTERCOURSE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES

AND CALIFORNIA^ AND THE FIRST NEGOTIATIONS FOR

THE PURCHASE OF THE PROVINCE

The fur trade. — The interest of the United States in California began toward the close of the eighteenth century. It was at first due almost entirely to economic causes; and, like many commercial activities of the day, centered chiefly in New England. In 1787, shortly after the opening of the Chinese-American trade by William Shaw, Eobert Gray and John Kendrick, commanding the Lady Washington and the Columbia, sailed for the northwest coast of the Pacific, partly on a voyage of exploration and partly for the discovery of new fields for commercial enterprises.^

This venture though of primary interest in the history of the region around the Columbia, was also of great importance from the standpoint of California. In the first place it so aroused the jealousy of the Spanish government that the authorities of Mexico instructed those of California to seize "a ship named Columbia which they say belongs to General Washington of the American States," should it arrive at San Francisco.^ In the second place, it was by this voyage that Gray, having found a ready market at Canton^ for a few hundred sea otter skins procured from the Indians, opened up a profitable fur trade with China* in which ISTew England merchants were eager to participate.

The arrival of one of these American fur-trading vessels at Monterey on October 29, 1795, marks the beginning of a commercial intercourse between New England and California, that, assuming various forms, continued for half a century and did

^Robert Greenhow, History of Oregon and California (Boston. Little and Brown. 1844), 179-181.

^'Pedro Fages to Josef Arguello, May 13, 1789, in Hubert Howe Bancroft, Works (San Francisco. A. L. Bancroft & Co. 1882-90), XVIII, 445. See also Greenhow, 184-185.

"China was then the world's greatest fur market. For the relation of the Cantonese fur trade to the settlement of Astoria, see the letter of Astor to Adams, Jan. 4, 1823, in Greenhow, 439.

^Gray valued 100 skins at $4,875, exclusive of freight. Gray and Ingraham to Don Juan Francisco, Aug. 3, 1792, in Greenhow, 417.

much in an indirect way to bring about the acquisition of the latter province by the United States.

In accordance with Spain's general colonial policy, the inhabitants of California were forbidden to trade or have any dealings with foreigners. But Spain lay many leagues away, and while some offcials conscientiously tried to enforce the royal commands, they found the prevention of the illicit trade, for which both Americans and Californians were eager, quite impossible.^ On the contrary, within a few years it had grown to a very considerable size, especially as from 1796 to 1814 the direct trade with China from the North Pacific Coast lay almost wholly in American hands.*

Much of this early fur trade, it is true, was carried on north of the California line, but the most valuable furs — those of the sea otter — were found in greatest abundance along the California coast from San Diego northward. These were sometimes obtained, as already indicated, by illicit purchase or barter from the Californians, of whom the mission authorities were the most dependable sources of supply. More often, however, they *were poached along the great stretches of unfrequented shore, or from the neighboring channel islands, and at times, indeed, from the waters of the principal harbors, to the great, but helpless indignation of the Spanish authorities, who had neither skiff nor scow in which to pursue the intruders.'^ The skins thus obtained were carried to Canton and there exchanged for tea, lacquered ware, silks, and the various other commodities of the Chinese markets. These in turn were brought back either to the Eussian settlements of Alaska or to California, where they found ready disposal; or quite as frequently they were transported direct to Europe or the United States.^

'An American navigator, writing in 1808, said that for several years trading vessels of the United States had left as much as $25,000 in specie annually among the Californians and that the government was powerless to prevent this intercourse (Robert Shaler, in American Register, III, 147 et seq. ) . Money, it should be remarked, was never plentiful among the Californians, and such a sum as Shaler mentioned was of material benefit to the financial interests of the country.

^Greenhow, 266, quoting from London Quarterly Review, October, 1816.

^Bancroft, XIX, 63-64.

*For a general discussion of the Boston-California-China trade, see William Heath Davis, Sixty Years in California (San Francisco. A. J. Leary. 1889), 295-6. Davis came to California in 1816.

In 1803 Tliomas O'Cain made a contract with the Russian Baranof to

The whale fisheries. — In speaking of these early commercial enterprises, it is also necessary to mention iSTew England's interest in the whale industry, which, like the northwest trade, gave her also a first hand knowledge of California. Edmund Burke's tribute to the men of Nantucket and New Bedford was not misplaced f and while the Revolutionary War put a temporary stop to their voyages, no sooner was peace declared than they were again '^vexing strange seas" with their fisheries.

Shortly after 1800, these vessels, oily, ill-smelling, and often sadly in need of repairs, began to touch at the California ports for fresh supplies before beginning the long homeward voyage around the Horn. As the ISTorth Pacific came to furnish a more and more valuable hunting ground,^" these visits increased in frequency and soon a regular trade was established with the inhabitants of Monterey and San Erancisco. This was largely a system of barter, by which, in exchange for some four or five hundred dollars worth of New England manufactured goods, carried for the purpose, a returning whaler could secure sufficient fresh provisions for its Journey home.

Hide and tallow trade. — A third form of commercial intercourse between California and the United States, more direct than the other two, was begun in 1822, after Mexico had achieved her independence.^^ In that year, owing chiefly to the representations of William A. Gale, a former fur trader on the northwest coast, the Boston firm of Bryant and Sturgis, with several business companions, were induced to fit out a vessel to open up a new line of trade with the Pacific, exchanging New England's abundant

hunt otter in California on shares. The Russians were to supply the Indian hunters, and the Americans agreed to transport the skins and furnish the Alaskan settlements with supplies. The venture was so profitable that other contracts of a similar nature were entered into, the agreements lasting vmtil 1815. The Winships were prominent in these dealings. Bancroft, XIX. 63 et seq. For an effort of the Russian Government to secure the official sanction of the United States to this arrangement, see Grreenhow, 275.

'The Works of Edmund Burhe (Boston. Little and Bro^\Ti. 1839), II, 30.

"From 1816 to 1822 the industry brought in more than $6,000,000 to Nantucket and New Bedford alone, and employed 129 vessels. Many urged the occupancy of Oregon to supply these American vessels with a port for refitting and provisioning. Annals of Congress, XL, 414 et seq.

"Bancroft, XIX, 475.

stock of manufactures for the hides and tallow of the California cattle. From this time on, the "Boston ships," as they were called, plied regularly up and down the California coast, disposing of their cargoes in all harbors from San Diego to San Francisco, and receiving hides and tallow in return. ^^

The Russian advance. — By the end of the first quarter of the century a loose connection had thus been established with California through these various mediums of trade. In addition to this, the progress of the Eussians down the coast from their settlements in Alaska had begun to attract the attention of the United States, even in an official way. As early as 1808, a warning was issued against this advance by an article in the American Register}^ The author. Captain Eobert Shaler, having »

been engaged in the Chinese trade some years before, had acquired an intimate' knowledge of the conditions in California and of the undeveloped possibilities of the country. After describing these, he went on to point out the feebleness of the government and the ease with which it would become a prey to the attack of any hostile force, dwelling especially upon the unfortified state of the harbors. San Francisco, whose advantages were strikingly portrayed, was guarded by a battery which made only a "show of defence." At Monterey conditions were no better. Santa Barbara "would fall an easy conquest to the smallest ship of war." San Diego, with all its natural facilities, had only a "sorry" defence; while the harbors of Lower California were in an equally forlorn condition. But not only had the Spaniards failed to provide against the encroachments of their northern neighbors; they had rather, according to Shaler, made such encroachment easier by their very attempts at defensive measures, having taken "every obstacle out of the way of an invading enemy," by stocking the province with cattle and colonizing it with a discontented lot

'"It should be noted that this commercial intercourse brought a number of Americans to the province as permanent residents. Many of these took out naturalization papers, became large land holders, and married wives from prominent California families. Some were of a less desirable character — deserters and broken-down sailors from the whaling and trading ships. Bancroft, XIX-XX, Appendix, Pioneer Register and Index.

^^American Register, III, 136-175. The article is entitled "Journal of a voyage between China and the northwestern coast of America made in ^

180^." The part dealing with California is on pages 147-161. See also \

Bancroft, XIX, 23-24, note. ^ who would welcome the security and kindly treatment of a foreign government.^*

Exactly how far Shaler aimed to excite an apprehension of Russia's dealings in the Pacific, and how far he desired to emphasize the desirability of California as an object for American annexation, does not appear. Probably, however, when he wrote, *'The conquest of this country would be absolutely nothing; it would fall without an effort to the most inconsiderable force," he had both purposes in mind, and thus made himself the pioneer of a not inconsiderable body of later writers who advocated annexation to forestall foreign interference.

However this may be, Shaler's warning against the Eussians was well founded." The hunters of the Eussian- American company had long been coming to California in search of furs; and in 1812 Baranof, the "Little Czar," succeeded in establishing a colony, to which he gave the name of Eoss, not far from Bodega Bay, and some thirty miles north of San Francisco. The object of this settlement, in its commercial aspect, was not merely to secure a larger interest in the California fur trade, but to supply the parent colony of Eussians at ISTew Archangel, or Sitka, with grain and other food-stuffs which could not be produced in the bleaker north. In addition, Baranof had the more important purpose of ultimately extending the Czar's control over a large part of Upper California by means of this colony, and especially of seizing the Bay of San Francisco.^^

Against this encroachment the Spanish olftcials protested from time to time at the bidding of their superiors, but probably with no great desire of seeing their protests effective, as the trade conducted by the Eussians proved of material benefit to the province. And even had it been otherwise, there was no force in California sufficient to expel them.^'^ Before many years, how-

^*American Register, III, 160-161.

^"California was colonized largely to protect the coast against the Russian advance. This was as early as 1769. Bancroft, XIX, 58.

"Letter of Rezdnof, Feb. 15, 1806, in Bancroft, XIX, 80, note.

"For the Russian settlements in California, see Bancroft, XTX, 58-82, 294-320; Thomas C. Lancey, Cruise of the Dale (Published in San Josg Pioneer, 1879 (?), and preserved in bound form in the Bancroft Collection), 31 et seq.; Agnes C. Laut, Vikings of the Pacific (New York. Macmillan. 1905), 292, 338; Franklin H. Tuthill, History of California (San Francisco, H. H. Bancroft & Co. 1866), 118-20; Irving B. Richever, the presence of the Eussians in California began to excite comment in the United States and to receive a certain amount of official attention. On November 11, 1818, J. B. Prevost, a special commissioner of the United States government to the Pacific Coast, wrote from "Monte Eey, New California," that the Spanish authority was threatened by the Eussian Czar whose colony had already been planted close to San Francisco, a harbor that, ranking among "the most convenient, extensive and safe" ports of the world, was nevertheless "wholly without defense and in the neighborhood of a feeble, diffused and disaffected population."^'^

In the following year a rumor spread that Spain had ceded to Eussia a strip of territory on the Pacific Coast 800 miles long, in return for assistance furnished in the expeditions against the revolutionists of Lima and Buenos Ayres.^® In the St. Louis Enquirer an unknown writer (perhaps Senator Benton) issued a warning against the "Progress of the Russian Eminre." well calculated to arouse the apprehension of those to whom Eussia, as a member of the Holy Alliance and a rival in the northwest trade, was already an object of sufficient distrust.

"Looking to the east for everything," said the article, "Americans have failed to notice the advance of the Eussians on the Pacific Coast until they have succeeded in pushing their settlements as far south as Bodega. Their policy is merely the extension of the policy of Peter the Great and Catherine. Alexander is occupied with a scheme worthy of his vast ambition. . . . The acquisition of the gulf and peninsula of California and the Spanish claim to North America. . . . We learn this not from diplomatic correspondence, but from American fur traders who learn it from the Eussian traders now protected by the Emperor in carrying off our furs !"^° How strong an influence these public

man, California under Spain and Mewico (Boston and New York. Houghton, Mifflin Company. 1911), 191-201, passim.

^'Prevost to Adams, in Documents transmitted to the House of Representatives, Jan. 24, 1823. American State Papers, Miscellaneous, II, 1008-9; Annals of Congress, XL, 1209-10.

"News brought to Canton bv a Russian frigate. Cruise of the Dale, 31 ; reported also in Niles' Register, XVI, 237, May 29, 1819 ; XVII, 232, Dec. 11, 1819.

^''Reprinted in Niles' Register, XVI. 361, July 24, 1819.

rumors and Prevost's official report exerted upon the enunciation of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 has not yet been accurately determined, but it is certain that the Russian colony at Eoss lent color to the fear of a much farther advance to the south; and served also as a strong argument for the establishment of American settlements in Oregon.-^

Beginning of overland immigration. — Thus by degrees the far off Spanish province on the Pacific was brought to the attention of the American people not- merely through the agency of commerce, but, in an equally effective way, through the danger to which it was exposed of passing into the hands of a powerful European nation. A third agency, beginning somewhat later than either of those just named, but operating in a similar manner, was the overland communication with California established by hunters and trappers, and the subsequent immigi-ation that naturally followed from the Western states.

Jedediah Smith. — Two of these early journeys deserve special attention. In August, 1826, Jedediah S. Smith, a native of Connecticut,^^ who had been for some years associated with Ashley in the fur trade and was at tliis time a partner in the Eocky Mountain Fur Company, left the company's post near the Great Salt Lake and after four months' travel reached San Diego with his band of fifteen men. Here Smith was arrested by the California authorities, who demanded passports, in accordance with the Mexican law, from all strangers. His imprisonment did not last long, however, as he soon found a sponsor for his good behavior in an American sea captain by the name of Cunningham, whose ship, the Courier, chanced to be in the harbor.

Upon his release. Smith, in spite of the commands of the San Diego authorities that he leave the province, seems to have wandered pretty much as he pleased through the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, being prevented from crossing the Sierra

^^Report of the Committee on the Occupation of the Columbia River, Jan. 25, 1821. Annals of Congress, XXXVIT, 955-6. The report mentioned the military defences of Ross, the dominating position of Russia in Europe and Asia ; and called attention to the fact that Spain's territory in Xorth America lay wholly open to the access of Russia and was exposed to her "fearful weight of power."

"Hiram Martin Chittenden, The American Fur Trade of the Far West (New York. Harper. 1902), I, 252.

Nevadas by heavy snows and the loss of his animals. Late in May, 1827, however, leaving all but two of his companions, he made the diflfieult passage of the mountains and reached the Great Salt Lake in a destitute condition.-^ In the fall of that year, Smith was again in California, bringing with him a second company of eighteen men, to the rather indignant surprise of the Californians, who, however, while insisting that he leave the country, did pot seriously molest him. After l-emaining for some time, the American intruders continued their journey northward to Oregon where they were attacked by Indians. Many of the company were killed and all the furs lost, but Smith and those of his companions who escaped, made their way to Vancouver, where they obtained assistance from the agents of the Hudson's Bay Company. Two years later this pioneer of California explorers was killed in New Mexico.-*

The Pattie expedition. — Two years after Smith's arrest in San Diego, a second party of Americans, eight in number, with Sylvester and James Ohio Pattie as leaders, having been found in Lower California without passports, were brought before the Mexican governor, Echeandia, and thrown into prison on the charge of being spies of old Spain. The two Patties, father and son, were Kentuckians who had gradually pushed farther and farther west until they reached New Mexico and Arizona where for some years they were alternately miners and trappers. In was on one of their trapping expeditions down the Colorado that they attempted to cross the desert to the Spanish settlements on the coast, succeeding only after the most distressing and unprintable hardships.

Their reception by the Californians has been noted; nor were they so fortunate as Smith had been in securing a swift release. On the contrary, their prison experience was bitter in the extreme,

-^Letter of Smith to General Clark published in the Missouri RepuUic, October 11, 1827. Communication from Cunningham announcing Smith's arrival at San Diego. Ibid., Oct. 25, 1827.

-■'N'o two authorities agree in the account of Smith's adventures. The following, however, are probably the most reliable: Chittenden, Fur Trade, I, 282-7; J. M. Guinn, Captain Jedediah Smith (Historical Society of Southern California Publications, III, 1896, 45-,53). Bancroft (XX, 152-160) bases his account on fragmentary records in the California archives and on a French translation there of the letter from Smith to General Clark cited above.

if we may judge from the younger Pattie's account. Sylvester Pattie died in his cell unattended by his son, who was forbidden to visit his father, and all the prisoners were treated with great severity. Eventually, however, they were released on condition that Pattie should vaccinate the mission Indians, who were dying in great numbers from an epidemic of smallpox. In fulfillment of this agreement Pattie journeyed as far north as San Francisco, and later reached the Eussian settlement of Eoss. Finally, quitting California, he returned home by way of Mexico, where he vainly hoped to secure an indemnity,^^ and reached Kentucky, a broken and ruined man. The experiences which he underwent, as well as some which he probably did not undergo, were shortly afterwards published under the supervision of Timothy Flint of Cincinnati.^^

The bitter and oftentimes extravagant criticism of the Californians by the writer was well calculated to arouse a prejudice against them, but for the country itself he had only praise. "Those who traverse it," he wrote, "if they have any capability of perceiving and admiring the beautiful and sublime in scenery, must be constantly excited to wonder and praise. It is no less remarkable for uniting the advantage of healthfulness, a good soil, temperate climate and yet one of exceeding mildness, a happy mixture of level and elevated ground and vicinity to the sea."-^

Results of the Smith and Pattie expeditions. — The arrival of Smith and the two Patties in California marked a new chapter in the relations of that countr\' and the United States. Follow-

^^The American charge d'affaires at Mexico was directed to investigate the arrest of the Pattie Company. He reported that all the prisoners had been freed except Sylvester Pattie, who died in prison; that several of the Americans had remained in California to go into business ; and that the younger Pattie was then on his way to the United States. Van Buren to Butler, Jan. 22, 1830; Butler to Van Buren, June 29, 1830. MSS., State Department.

^'The title of the hook is in itself a comprehensive history of Pattie'a entire wanderings. We may be forgiven for writing it simply, James Ohio Pattie, Personal Narrative (Edited by Timothy Flint. Cincinnati. 1833). A reprint appears in Reuben G. Thwaites, Early Westey-n Travels (Cleveland. Arthur H. Clark Company. 1905), XVIII. A plagiarized edition under the title "The long hunters of Kentucky," by P. Bilson, was published in New York in 1847.

"Thwaites, Early Western Travels, XVIII, 306.

ing them in a surprisingly short time"^ came other bands of trappers under such leaders as Young, Jackson, Wolfskill, Walker, and many others whose names are not known and who left no record of their journeys.^'' Not infrequently members of these early parties gave up their wanderings and became influential and peaceful citizens, while others were a constant menace to the California authorities. As for the rest, coming and going with the seasons, rough, earless of life, contemptuous of law, they wandered up and down the great inland valleys and rivers of California; or by frequent crossing of the Sierras prepared the way for the subsequent flow of immigration.

"One sees in his pages," says Thwaites in referring to Pattie's narrative,

the beginnings of the drama to be fought out in the Mexican war — the rich and beautiful country which excited the cupidity of the American pioneer; the indolence and effeminacy of the inhabitants which inspired the backwoodsman's contempt; and the vanguard of the American advance, already touching the Rockies and ready to push on to the Pacific. ... As a part of the vanguard of the American host that was to crowd the Mexican from the fair province of his domain, Pattie's wanderings are typical and suggestive of more than mere adventure.^"

Butler's negotiations. — In these three ways, therefore, first, by commercial intercourse, then through fear of the Eussian advance, and lastly by the opening up of the overland routes of communication, California gradually became more than a passing name to the people of the United States. ^^ It was not, however, until 1835 that this government, influenced largely by the representa-

^^Many of the parties were organized in 1830 and 1831. Bancroft, XX, 384-9.

'"The reason for this is obvious — the trade was against the Mexican law; and in addition those engaged in it were not often given to recording their own adventures.

'"Preface to Pattie's Narrative, 19.

^'The first of tliese centered, as has been sliown, in New England : tlie second concerned the whole country; the third was of primary interest to the west. This division held good until the outbreak of the Mexican War. A fourth cause of increased interest in California during this early period was the agitation of the Oregon question by Benton, Linn, and a small, but persistent, coterie of western senators and representatives. Anything attracting attention to any part of the Pacific coast served indirectly to attract attention to California.

tions of commercial interests, made its first attempt to secure the harbor of San Francisco.^-

This early negotiation for the purchase of California was closely interwoven with the contemporaneous negotiation for the acquisition of Texas, forming indeed, simply a minor part of the larger project. Anthony Butler, a man eminently unqualified for any position of trust, was sent to Mexico in 1829 to carry out a scheme for the purchase of Texas which he himself had probably suggested,^^ succeeding Joel E. Poinsett, the American minister who was recalled at the request of the Mexican government. For six years Butler was left free to work his will, so far as he was able, with the Mexican officials, and to discredit both himself and his government.

From the first, Butler^s communications to the State Department began to hint at bribery as the best means of accomplishing his purpose, and soon were openly advocating it.^* Early in June,

^-The statement is not infrequently made that the purchase of California was attempted by Clay when Secretary of State under Adams. See, for example, Niles' Register, LXVIII, 211; speech of Charles J. IngersoU, Jan. 19, 1847. Appendix to Congressional Glohe, 29 Cong., 2 sess., 128; Bancroft, XIII, 322-323. Wlioever may have written this volume of Bancroft could scarcely have known the contents of volume XX, 399-400, of the same series, or of H. Ex. Docs., 25 Cong., 1 sess., No. 42, which he cites as authority. The boundaries for which Poinsett was instructed to negotiate included no territory west of the Colorado south of the 42d parallel. Clay to Poinsett, March 25, 1825. H. Ex. Docs., 25 Cong., 1 sess., No. 42, p. 6; same to same, March 15, 1827, Ibid., 9. See also Memoirs of John Quincy Adams with portions of his diary from 1195 to 1848, edited by C. F. Adams (Philadelphia. Lippincott. 1877), XI, 349.

=^The plan, da-ted August 12, 1829, is in the Van Buren MSS., Library of Congress; see also Jackson to Van Buren, Aug. 12 (Ibid.), and Jackson's draft of Aug. 13. According to Reeves, the official instructions, dated Aug. 25, were carried by Butler to Poinsett. Jesse S. Reeves, American Diplomacy under Tyler and Polk (Baltimore. The Johns Hopkins Press. 1907), 65-67. For a complete estimate of Butler and his career in Mexico, the reader is referred to George Lockhart Rives, the United States and Mexico, 1821-1848 (New York. Charles Scribner's Sons. 1913), I, 235-261. It is perhaps well to add that the present article was in manuscript before Rives's exhaustive work was issued from the press. I have not been able, therefore, to avail myself of its contents as freely as I could have wished.