Class. Li__LLS_ — 
 Book S 
 
 COPYRIGHT DliPOSIT 
 
A SENATOR OF 
 THE FIFTIES 
 
A SENATOR OF THE 
 FIFTIES 
 
 DAVID C. BRODERICK 
 <?/ CALIFORNIA 
 
 By 
 
 Jeremiah Lynch 
 
 Author Oj 
 
 "EGYPTIAN SKETCHES" 
 
 'THREE YEARS IN THE KLONDIKE' 
 
 ETC 
 
 San Francisco 
 1911 
 

 Copyright 1910 
 
 By Jeremiah Lynch 
 
 Printed by 
 
 The Stanley-Taylor Company 
 
 Ban Francisco 
 
 (tCU27S927 
 
^ 
 
 TO 
 EDWARD ROBESON TAYLOR 
 
 THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED AS 
 A MODEST TRIBUTE TO FRIENDSHIP 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The destruction of San Francisco in 1906 occa- 
 sioned the loss of many unique and interesting 
 documents relating to the early history of Cali- 
 fornia. The shock of the fire and earthquake 
 caused the rapid extinction of several pioneers who 
 helped to make that history. Moreover, in the 
 opinion of the author, a number of existing books 
 describing events occurring in the fifties are both 
 incomplete and inaccurate. 
 
 Therefore, this work is a modest effort to supply 
 these deficiencies before it is too late. Many liv- 
 ing witnesses of incidents related have been con- 
 sulted and all available sources of original authori- 
 ties diligently investigated. The names of these 
 persons and authorities will be found at the end 
 of the volume. 
 
 Surely the deeds and memories of the men who 
 founded the State of California should be preserved 
 from oblivion. 
 
 JEREMIAH LYNCH. 
 San Francisco, December, 1910. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. Early Days 1 
 
 II. New York 29 
 
 III. 1849 41 
 
 IV. Progress 61 
 
 V. Conflict 81 
 
 VI. The Committee op Vigilance 96 
 
 VII. The Committee of Vigilance — Con- 
 tinued 117 
 
 VIII. Senator 140 
 
 IX. Washington 158 
 
 X. Dissension 181 
 
 XI. Provocation 199 
 
 XII. The Duel 213 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 David C. Broderick Title Page 
 
 Mission at Pala Page 
 
 Mission Dolores, San Francisco, 1856. . " 14 
 
 William M. Gwin " 32 
 
 San Francisco, 1849 " 48 
 
 Sacramento, 1849 " 50 
 
 Shasta City, 1855 " 62 
 
 Execution of Casey and Cora " 96 
 
 Fort Vigilance " 112 
 
 David S. Terry " 130 
 
 E.D.Baker " 142 
 
 A Letter by Broderick " 178 
 
 Los Angeles, 1857 " 190 
 
 San Francisco, 1859 " 210 
 
 House in which Broderick died '* 222 
 
 
 / 
 
A SENATOR OF 
 THE FIFTIES 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 EARLY DAYS 
 
 California, the richest district, with the most 
 salubrious climate in the New World, existed quite 
 unknown until the last few decades. 
 
 This isolation was due to its remote location by 
 the Pacific Ocean far from civilization. The co7i- 
 quistadores discovered and ravaged the western 
 coast of the southern continent, north to the tropics 
 — including Central America. 
 
 They had followers, but no successors. With 
 Cortez and Pizarro died the resolute, desperate 
 courage and enterprise that made the Spaniards 
 who conquered these territories, almost Romans. 
 Napoleon said, "It is the man, not the men, who 
 wins." 
 
 Unquestionably the sad end of the two marshals 
 of the new empire, Cortez and Pizarro — the one 
 received by his haughty sovereign with alternate 
 ignominy and distinction ; the other assassinated 
 by his comrades to whom he gave wealth, victory 
 and power — was poor recompense for adding a con- 
 tinent to the Spanish dominions. 
 
 In later years a few desultory voyages were un- 
 dertaken northerly along the coast and several 
 
 1 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 military detachments were sent to the western and 
 northern interior. 
 
 But no glowing legends of riches rivalling those 
 of Peru or of Mexico were heard and transmitted 
 by these explorers on sea and land. A vague 
 rumor of ' ' Seven golden cities ' ' that existed or had 
 existed sometime in these vast untrodden regions 
 in the dim past, floated around the cloisters of the 
 churches and in the barracks of the soldiery, and 
 both church and state united in more than one ef- 
 fort to discover these fabled treasures of an un- 
 known race. All that was found were some chaotic 
 ruins that even yet exist and even yet are largely 
 unexplored. The heat, difficulty of access, and 
 dense vegetation have thus far saved the golden 
 cities of Cibola from the time-destroying hands of 
 the archeologist and antiquarian. 
 
 The ruins existing in Lower California, distant 
 from the ocean, may yet yield valuable and accu- 
 rate data respecting the earlier centuries of human 
 life in those localities. Moreover, the tale told to 
 the soldiers of these expeditions by the few abo- 
 rigines whom they met was not hopeful for farther 
 enterprise. Here were immense distances, fearful 
 hardships, famine and thirst; and, at the end, 
 shores washed by a foggy sea and peopled with a 
 few naked savages. Hence viceroys and bishops 
 desisted, and, for many lustrums, this beautiful 
 Arcadia lay like a nymph of the forest, waiting. 
 
 2 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 Later the gentlemanly buccaneer, Drake, drifted 
 up the coast while hunting Spanish galleons, laden 
 with treasure from Peru en route to the Philip- 
 pines. He careened his ships to clean and repair 
 at a point some few miles north of the entrance 
 to the bay of San Francisco. He thus passed un- 
 knowingly the ingress to one of the two or three 
 perfect havens of the world. The waters where he 
 disembarked are even now styled Drake's Bay. He 
 found the far dwellers of this remote region dirty 
 and affable. They lived on game and fish and were 
 without raiment, although the climate with its 
 misty vapors was by no means tropical. Penetrat- 
 ing only a short distance into the interior, he de- 
 parted as soon as his vessels were repaired, seeking 
 Spanish plunder on the high seas. Doubtless the 
 published history of his voyage was soon accessible 
 to the foreign conquerors of Peru and Mexico and 
 served still more to dissuade them from uninviting 
 sacrifices. So that from Drake, 1579, to Viscaino, 
 1603, the charm and beauty of California continued 
 to remain secluded and unknown to an inquiring, 
 intelligent world. At the latter date the Spanish 
 navigator directed the course of his little flotilla 
 northerly by the coast and discovered two principal 
 ports — San Diego and Monterey. 
 
 Like Drake, he returned, bringing back a meagre 
 tale of unpopulated lands, bleak shores and dirty, 
 unenriched aborigines. Both of these intrepid and 
 
 3 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 skilful mariners, Drake and Viscaino, seemed some- 
 what apprehensive of danger, fearful of leaving 
 their vessels and traveling inland. After all, they 
 were sailors, not soldiers. Viscaino continued his 
 voyage even as far north as what is now British 
 Columbia, but everywhere encountered the same 
 lifelessness and inhospitality. 
 
 Again, ages passed on; generations lived and 
 died. The Atlantic Coast from extreme north to 
 extreme south; from Labrador to the Isthmus and 
 from the Isthmus to Patagonia, was mapped, 
 plowed, tilled, cultivated ; forests felled ; lands peo- 
 pled ; ships built ; cities constructed. Withal, this 
 fairest province of California, lying the seas across 
 from the oldest continent, where the Occident fully 
 confronts the Orient over the wide, placid waters 
 of the deep, remained still unknoA\Ti, sleeping and 
 waiting. An hundred and seventy years more 
 were marshalled with the dead lustrums that pre- 
 ceded them. Not a vessel grazed her sands. Not a 
 single sailor saw, from the swelling surge, the lofty 
 mountain range, curbing the waters and bridling 
 the storms. Not a single soldier or adventurous 
 frontiersman trod her flowered glades or lofty sum- 
 mits crested with snow. In her beauty and lovely 
 youth she remained hidden like a nymph in the 
 garden of the Hesperides, until the coming of the 
 padres. A strange wooing this, of the dainty, 
 lonely maiden springing like Aphrodite from the 
 
 4 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 sea, by the shriven, tonsured, leather-girdled, ven- 
 erable friars. 
 
 The Franciscans were the Jesuits of the New 
 World, for the latter had been expelled. Just as 
 devout, self-sacrificing and persevering, but more 
 humble and modest, and without the domineering 
 demands of the Jesuit organization, the Franciscan 
 friars were singularly adapted for converting and 
 colonizing the equally gentle and harmless in- 
 digenous population of California. The Franciscan, 
 Junipero Serra — a native of Majorca, but who had 
 lived his life in Mexico — was selected by his order 
 to lead the ecclesiastical members of the expedi- 
 tion. 
 
 The Viceroy of Mexico gave them a guard of 
 fifty soldiers. It was also provided that each priest 
 should receive four hundred dollars a year for sus- 
 tenance. The crown and the cross toiled together 
 under the flag of Spain. The single vessel, sailing 
 from San Bias, conveyed two hundred cattle. These 
 animals were the ancestors of the hundreds of 
 thousands that a few years later wandered from 
 end to end of the land ; for in California was 
 abundance of wild game — deer, elks, bears, ante- 
 lopes — but neither cattle nor horses. Siferra and his 
 company landed at San Diego in 1769. A detach- 
 ment was sent northerly to locate the port of Mon- 
 terey, the second of the two bays discovered and 
 described by Viscaino in 1603. The monks and 
 
 5 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 soldiers marched on foot, with the scant supplies 
 loaded on horses. 
 
 In some mysterious manner they passed unseeing, 
 Monterey Bay. To find water and grass the cav- 
 alcade was often compelled to march miles from the 
 coast with perhaps dry, lofty mountains inter- 
 vening, though, of course, as the ocean was the 
 guide, they feared to venture too far from its 
 shores. But Portola, the commander of the expe- 
 dition, pressed on seventy miles farther north until, 
 with his soldiers, he discovered the superb, un- 
 rivalled bay and harbor of San Francisco. On the 
 return journey, which was difficult and dangerous 
 because of the scarcity of supplies and the appear- 
 ance of scurvy among the party, he sent his report 
 from San Bias to the viceroy. 
 
 Serra, who had remained at San Diego during 
 Portola 's expedition, at once commenced the erec- 
 tion of buildings of the style and architecture im- 
 proved by the Moors in Northern Africa, taken by 
 the Arabs to Spain and later, with slight modifica- 
 tions, transferred to the New World. With red 
 roof tiles, mud, and rough, sun-dried bricks were 
 made into solid structures of one or two stories 
 — admirable dwellings for the denizens of dry, 
 hot climates. They are inexpensive, and easy 
 to repair, and if one of the mission buildings 
 be only partially destroyed it is so facile to 
 
 6 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 construct another. Water, earth and sun are the 
 only factors. 
 
 During the next decade the Franciscans built 
 several missions, distributed from San Diego to 
 Sonoma. Each mission had a moderate though ade- 
 quate guard of from four to ten soldiers. The 
 friars were architects of the earthly, as well as of 
 the heavenly paradise, for, though Serra himself, 
 with proper ceremonies, laid the foundation stone 
 of every mission, yet he resided mainly in San 
 Diego and the friars allocated each mission and 
 aided only by the converted Indians, planned and 
 constructed all the edifices. It was not all food, 
 peace and sunshine. At Paso Robles the diet for 
 one winter was acorns with green herbs for a flavor. 
 The packet boat that left San Bias annually, with 
 supplies for the immigrants missed a year or two. 
 Monterey Bay had not yet been re-located. It was 
 conjectured that sands from the sea, aided by earth- 
 quakes, which even then were frequent, unwelcome 
 and terrifying visitors, had destroyed its existence, 
 and what else might not happen! There were no 
 cattle, nor horses save the small herds transported 
 thither by the Spaniards themselves. They did 
 not know that most delicious wine could be 
 made from the wild grapes abounding in the au- 
 tumn glens — that the dry, hard soil, touched by the 
 magic of water, would rival a world's garden and 
 supply a world's granaries — that the wild and 
 
 7 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 rugged hills with their steep and picturesque cones, 
 and the mountain ranges, crevassed by deep- 
 shadowed glades, concealed in their inmost recesses 
 the golden ransom of a continent. They felt them- 
 selves exiles, more remote than Juvenal on the dis- 
 tant islet of the Nile, with no consolation but re- 
 ligion, faith and philosophy. 
 
 While Serra was temporarily absent from San 
 Diego, Indians attacked the mission, slew several 
 soldiers and churchmen and completely destroyed 
 the partially finished structures. Padre Junipero, 
 when told of the catastrophe, exclaimed : "At last 
 our ground is watered by the blood of martyrs. 
 Now we can go on and build and rebuild, for the 
 land is consecrated to God." He hastened to re- 
 turn to San Diego, but, on his arrival, was informed 
 to his chagrin, that the viceroy contemplated aban- 
 doning San Bias as a seaport for California and for- 
 ward supplies overland through Sonora and Lower 
 California, a distance of fifteen hundred miles. This 
 insured practical isolation and destruction of the 
 missions. Serra, who, while a profound churchman, 
 was also a man of energy, resolute and undaunted, 
 instantly determined that the high purpose "to 
 whose success and enduring existence he had con- 
 secrated his earthly labors," should not be igno- 
 miniously lost. He directly started on foot with 
 only one Indian companion for the palace of the 
 viceroy, where he arrived after a most fatiguing 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 and hazardous journey of four months over arid 
 deserts and through unknown passes and defiles 
 in the gaunt, barren mountains, without pausing 
 to rest a single day. Fortunately, for such endur- 
 ance and determination deserves better than fail- 
 ure, the vacillating viceroy had been succeeded by 
 another of different mould. 
 
 The intellectual friar completely captivated 
 Bucareli with his vivid and enthusiastic description 
 of the ample plains, equable climate, magnificent 
 mountains of California, and the incomparable har- 
 bor of San Francisco. The new viceroy, enchanted 
 to add so noble a domain to the realms of Spain, 
 directed that a large vessel should be properly 
 equipped and placed at the disposal of Serra, who 
 loaded it at San Bias with necessaries for the new 
 colonies. 
 
 The viceroy also despatched a platoon of fifty 
 soldiers with leather cuirasses, thus distinguished 
 from the lighter armed troops of the Spanish 
 army, overland to San Diego, whence they were 
 to be distributed to the other missions, as in- 
 structed. The old friar returned resplendent with 
 joy and success to his doubtful and despondent 
 colleagues. Such was the energy inspired by his 
 presence, both in converting and constructing, that 
 when Father Junipero Serra died at San Carlos, in 
 1784, only fifteen years after his advent to Cali- 
 
 9 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 fornia, he left sixteen missions and ten thousand 
 Indian neophytes. 
 
 These Indians had hitherto professed no really 
 definite religion. Indubitably they were as bestial 
 and degraded as the lowest of American aborigines, 
 morally, mentally and religiously^ Other tribes 
 possessed some faith; the Calif ornian Indians had 
 none. Marriage was a prostituted rite. At San 
 Francisco the monks found an Indian married to 
 three sisters and their mother. The natives fished 
 and hunted, but planted nothing ; and, even on the 
 seashore, where there are cold, foggy days, and 
 many of them, wandered without covering. 
 
 They roamed over the immense territory in sparse 
 numbers, killing with the arrow, elks, bears, deer, 
 ducks and antelopes. Their existence was entirely 
 nomadic, except on the seashore, where they built 
 huts of reeds and twigs, adjacent to excellent fish- 
 ing stations. They had no history, no memories, no 
 known antecedents. Unwarlike, unoffending, docile 
 and mentally inert, they became laborers and Chris- 
 tians, with equal readiness and alacrity. Faithful 
 to the padres, they were warmly attached to their 
 local missions and as they increased in numbers 
 became correspondingly useful and serviceable. 
 
 Intelligence was not one of their attributes nor 
 could they be appreciably educated. But as horse- 
 men, ground tillers and keepers of the great herds 
 of cattle, horses and sheep that gradually accumu- 
 
 10 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 lated in the environs of the numerous missions, they 
 were excellent and reliable. 
 
 Serra saw his work well commenced before he 
 died. He would never take medicine and even 
 with a lame leg walked hundreds of leagues. When 
 remonstrated with by a muleteer on his carelessness, 
 he said : ' ' Well then give me the same remedy that 
 you apply to the sore leg of a mule, for I am no 
 better." He preferred sleeping in the open, es- 
 pecially when traveling, and used to say that it 
 prolonged his life a dozen years to thus live. He 
 always preserved both the independence and suzer- 
 ainty of the church over the military, and consti- 
 tuted himself chief of all the inhabitants of Cal- 
 ifornia, a privilege that was sometimes claimed, 
 but never exercised by his successors. His letters 
 show courage, devotion and a prescient intelligence. 
 
 He said that ''California will be richer and 
 greater than Mexico" and evinced no desire to 
 depart and return to Spain or Mexico, but directed 
 where his remains should lie ; and at San Carlos he 
 reposes in tranquillity, undisturbed by the sea birds 
 that forever sail above and around his mauso- 
 leum — the Founder of California. 
 
 Like some dead people's fortunes which increase 
 manyfold, too late for their enjoyment, the missions, 
 after the demise of Serra, advanced amazingly in 
 power, wealth and produce. 
 
 In 1824 the numbers of cattle and other farm 
 11 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 animals attached to the twenty-three missions ex- 
 ceeded a million, the progeny of the few head taken 
 in by Serra and his company five decades before. 
 
 The native wild grape had been pruned and 
 grafted until it yielded a delicious quality of red 
 wine, stronger than European grades, but pleasant- 
 ly savored. 
 
 Many kinds of grain were grown on the ranches 
 near the missions and fruit of every description 
 abounded. Wild flowers covered the glens and 
 glades; copses of fir and birch clung to the sides 
 and summits of the towering mountains; game in 
 abundance wandered over the grassy meadows, and 
 the eternal sunshine of California — gentler and 
 more resplendent than that of either Italy or Egypt 
 — cheered and chastened the missionaries. Leaving 
 far distant Spain, to cast their lot with the savages 
 of this most remote and unknown quarter of the 
 globe, they had found an Arcadia without parallel. 
 
 But everything good and well becomes bad and 
 ill: nothing remains changeless, and this era was 
 the apogee of the friars' peace and tranquillity. 
 
 A few years previously, Mexico had become in- 
 dependent of Spain. With political came religious 
 independence, and the rulers of the new republic 
 heard with envy of the monks' prosperity in Cal- 
 ifornia. 
 
 Every friar, by the terms of the compact be- 
 tween Bucareli and Serra, should have received 
 
 12 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 from the government the annual stipend of four 
 hundred dollars; but, for years, nothing had been 
 paid. The vessel, sailing every twelve months from 
 San Bias to California, was laden with supplies 
 ordered, and liquidated on arrival by the church- 
 men. Indeed the missionaries could well do so. 
 From the sale of hides alone a fund of a quarter 
 million dollars in specie had been accumulated, 
 and their other resources have been indicated. More- 
 over, all the Franciscan friars in California were 
 of Spanish birth and the newly enfranchised Mex- 
 icans did not wish to acknowledge allegiance to 
 either the Spanish throne or church. So up from 
 the south came a Mexican governor, who constituted 
 his capital at Monterey. While in apparent accord 
 with the Franciscans, yet he granted them few 
 privileges and treated them with rigor. They in a 
 measure, claimed the whole country by right of 
 discovery and settlement; but the church in every 
 land must, like everything else, lie under the law, 
 which protects both those who believe and those 
 who doubt. Hence, the governor repudiated this 
 assumption and invited settlers from Mexico and 
 other countries, making large grants of land to the 
 most potential newcomers. This encouraged immi- 
 gration, and the immigrants enticed Indians from 
 the missions to enter their own service. 
 
 The governors, for one succeeded another with 
 almost grotesque rapidity, were only consistent in 
 
 13 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 one phase officially, and that was, hostility to the 
 friars and their habitations. In 1846, when the 
 Americans conquered California, the missions were 
 even then decaying. The contrast between 1824 
 and 1846 was pathetic, but otherwise, the Cali- 
 fornians, as those Spaniards and Mexicans who 
 dwelt permanently were called, continued to thrive 
 and prosper. They were scattered over a distance 
 of five hundred miles, all the way from San Diego 
 to Shasta, and, with the land, animals and Indians 
 filched from the poor padres, lived like veritable 
 hidalgos. 
 
 Riding like centaurs, on horses that were more 
 enduring than the purest Arab, they would sup a 
 hundred miles from where they breakfasted and 
 never leave their own demesnes. In the contest 
 with the Americans they numbered several thou- 
 sand fearless horsemen, and conflicts of greater 
 or lesser importance were fought in the same year, 
 1846. The Californians were not enamored of Mex- 
 ico and knew they were too weak to exist as an 
 entity. An inchoate prejudice against Mexico 
 smouldered at the period of the American irrup- 
 tion, and therefore, after the taking of Los Angeles 
 by the enemy, the Californians quietly disbanded 
 and returned to the enjoyment of life, certain that 
 the Americans would leave their lands and other 
 property untouched. The treaty of 1847 between 
 Mexico and the United States ceded California to 
 
 14 
 
^■f WiM 
 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 the latter and it became henceforth an integral por- 
 tion of our country. 
 
 Only a year prior to the gold discovery, while the 
 land yet nestled in the lap of oblivion, Colonel Fre- 
 mont, commander of volunteers and the Jason of 
 California, was hastily summoned from Los Angeles 
 to Monterey. Leaving the former place at early 
 dawn with two companions, he rode one hundred 
 and twenty-five miles before halting for the night. 
 They had nine horses as a caballada, driving six 
 ahead of them, running loose on the trail, and 
 changing every twenty miles. The second day they 
 made a hundred and thirty-five miles. On the 
 third they did not start until eleven o'clock, yet 
 travelled seventy miles, and on the fourth day, they 
 dashed into Monterey at three o'clock, having rid- 
 den ninety miles since morning, and four hun- 
 dred and twenty miles in four days. Fremont 
 and his party left on their return, the next day at 
 four of the afternoon, galloping forty miles that 
 afternoon, a hundred and twenty next day, and a 
 hundred and thirty on the two succeeding days, 
 arriving in Los Angeles on the ninth day from 
 their departure. 
 
 The distance going and coming is eight hundred 
 and forty miles and the trail for the entire dis- 
 tance led over steep hills, down gloomy defiles and 
 precipitous declivities, and across wild unpeopled 
 valleys, where only the sun and compass guided 
 
 15 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 them. The actual hours in the saddle numbered 
 seventy-six, about eleven miles an hour. 
 
 Fremont rode the same horse forty miles on the 
 afternoon he left Monterey and ninety miles more 
 the day following, thus making one hundred and 
 thirty miles in twenty-four hours on one steed. 
 
 This charger, then left loose without a master, led 
 the cavalcade thirty miles farther that afternoon 
 until they came to his pastures. With the excep- 
 tion of this one relay from Monterey the men rode 
 the same nine animals going and returning. The 
 horses were unshod and carried with riders the 
 heavy Mexican saddles and bridles then univer- 
 sally used. The whole adventure rivals Alex- 
 ander's pursuit of Darius in Bactria. 
 
 No Arabian steeds could surpass this feat. The 
 California horses were relatively small, but with 
 deep withers and broad flanks. Except in weight 
 and color they very much resembled the Arabian 
 stallions to be seen in the streets of Cairo. They 
 were fed very little grain, but the rich grasses of 
 the valleys near the shore were heavy and sus- 
 taining. 
 
 The legend of the lands, attractions and fertility, 
 had floated meanwhile across the continent and 
 men with and without families were traversing 
 the plains from the western border states. 
 
 In 1846 there were some three hundred volun- 
 teers in the American ranks at Monterey, most of 
 
 16 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 whom had quite recently arrived. Of course the 
 knowledge that California was under the American 
 flag served still more to accelerate the hegira and 
 during 1847 people from the "States" came in 
 moderate numbers. It was in the winter of this same 
 year that a wagon train from Missouri was caught 
 in a driving storm near a small frozen lake on the 
 summit of the high Sierras. Half of the number 
 perished and some of those who survived did so by 
 becoming cannibals. This is well established, and 
 be it remembered that the tragedy occurred before 
 the gold discovery. The sheet of water was named 
 Donner Lake for one of the dead. 
 
 A thousand volunteers had enlisted for the war 
 and leaving New York City sailed around the 
 Southern continent and landed in San Francisco 
 in March, 1847, to find the country tranquil and 
 all resistance ended. They disbanded and dispersed 
 over the interior, a number remaining in San 
 Francisco, which was rapidly superceding Mon- 
 terey, though the latter yet remained the capital. 
 Fortunately for these patriotic Americans the dis- 
 covery of gold a few months later furnished them 
 a boundless opportunity. 
 
 Gold was found by accident in January, 1848, 
 on a tributary of the Sacramento River, a few miles 
 from Sutter's Fort. It is strange that the intelli- 
 gence of this marvellous occurrence should have 
 traveled so slowly, even in California. We read 
 
 17 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 in the journal of an American navy chaplain 
 at Monterey, as late as May, that ''our town was 
 startled out of its quiet dreams today by the an- 
 nouncement that gold had been discovered on the 
 American Fork," and later, June 12th, "A strag- 
 gler came in today from the American Fork bring- 
 ing a piece of yellow ore weighing an ounce. The 
 young dashed the dirt from their eyes and the old 
 from their spectacles. One brought a spy-glass; 
 another an iron ladle; some wanted to melt it; 
 others to hammer it, and a few were satisfied to 
 smell it. 
 
 "All were full of tests and many who could not 
 be gratified in making their experiments declared 
 it a humbug. One lady sent me a huge gold ring 
 in the hope of reaching the truth by comparison; 
 while a gentleman placed the specimen on the top 
 of his gold-headed cane and held it up, challenging 
 the sharpest eyes to detect a difference. 
 
 "But doubts still hovered in the minds of the 
 great mass. They could not conceive that such a 
 treasure could have lain so long undiscovered. The 
 idea seemed to convict them of stupidity." 
 
 No wonder: it was so startling and stupendous. 
 The world yet trembles under the new system of 
 life and existence then created. 
 
 But a month later he writes differently: 
 
 "The gold fever has reached every servant in 
 Monterey: none are to be trusted in their engage- 
 18 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 ment beyond a week, and as for compulsion, it is 
 like driving fish into a net with the ocean before 
 them. General Mason, Lieutenant Lanman and my- 
 self form a mess ; we have a house and all the table 
 furniture and culinary apparatus requisite, but 
 our servants have run, one after another, till we 
 are almost in despair ; even Sambo, who we thought 
 would stick by from laziness, if no other cause, 
 ran last night, and this morning for the fortieth 
 time we had to take to the kitchen and cook our 
 own breakfast. 
 
 "A general of the United States Army, the com- 
 mander of a man-of-war and the Alcalde of Mon- 
 terey, in a smoking kitchen, grinding coffee, toast- 
 ing herring and peeling onions!" 
 
 Three days later : 
 
 "Another bag of gold from the mines and an- 
 other spasm in the community. It was brought 
 down by a sailor from Yuba River and contains 
 one hundred and thirty-six ounces. It is the most 
 beautiful gold that has appeared in the market. 
 My carpenters at work on the school house, on see- 
 ing it, threw down their saws and planes, shoul- 
 dered their picks and are off for the Yuba. Three 
 seamen ran from the Warren, forfeiting their four 
 years' pay, and a whole platoon of soldiers from the 
 fort left only their colors behind. 
 
 * ' One old woman declared she would never again 
 19 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 break an egg or kill a chicken without examining 
 yolk and gizzard. ' ' 
 
 So even in California, one of the most momen- 
 tous events in the history of mankind was at first 
 doubted, discredited and deprecated. Well it 
 might be, for in my reading I cannot recall a simi- 
 lar occurrence. Gold washing, it is true, has 
 always been practiced and the metal found in small 
 quantities. 
 
 The Egyptians excavated trenches for gold near 
 the Red Sea, the remains being yet visible, and 
 English capital is today exploiting the Pharaohonic 
 mines. But these were government properties 
 working convict laborers over a very limited area. 
 Other parts of the world had also yielded gold, 
 but never was it until now discovered in such 
 masses so free to every one and scattered over such 
 a diverse territory. We must remember that this 
 was before Australia, The Klondike and South 
 Africa. 
 
 Our minds today are habituated to these and 
 many other marvelous happenings and inventions 
 of which our forbears never knew or dreamt; but 
 the finding of gold in California in 18-18 startled 
 the world as nothing since or before has done. Per- 
 haps it was the most astounding discovery during 
 the Christian era and certainly it is only today 
 that we are really becoming concerned about the 
 recent vast increase in the precious metals. 
 20 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 Nevertheless, as the intelligence percolated 
 through channels and arteries of communication 
 to distant countries, with all the alluring possi- 
 bilities of a fortune picked from fertile earth, peo- 
 ple appeared like vultures from the clear sky. 
 They came across the Isthmus of Panama and 
 around the Southern continent and over the North- 
 ern continent. They came by land and sea, on foot 
 and horse ; by sail and steamer. 
 
 From east and west and south the lure of gold 
 enticed them as it should, for with gold we pur- 
 chase everything but happiness, and that belongs 
 to none. There were more Chinese in California in 
 1849 than Europe had welcomed in a thousand 
 years. 
 
 Flour came from Chili and with it Chilians, 
 Peruvians and throngs of Sonorians. These Latins 
 dug all day and gambled all night. Their principal 
 rivals were the Chinese, but the latter did not ac- 
 quire the same privileges. It is related that a small 
 party of Americans, traveling to the goldfields, en- 
 countered a number of returning Sonorians. 
 These had tied rags on their blistered feet and 
 looked forlorn and wretched, driving skeleton 
 mules. They were starving and begged for food. 
 A little pork and biscuit was offered by the incom- 
 ers and the Sonorians took from the back of one of 
 the mules a bag of gold and insisted on giving a 
 a couple of pounds in exchange for the meagre 
 
 21 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 supply. They had five hundred pounds of gold 
 on their perishing animals, including one mass 
 weighing twenty-three pounds, yet such was their 
 improvidence that they might have perished, with 
 only the metal for companionship. 
 
 Two men who gambled away at night the gold 
 they dug during the day, desperate, left Tuolumne. 
 Presently they descried a couple of returning min- 
 ers sleeping under a tree. Approaching stealthily 
 they shot the sleepers, looted the gold and fled 
 south, avoiding Stockton and camping in the hills. 
 
 The next day they encountered three men who 
 had just deserted from a United States vessel of 
 war at San Francisco. The five stayed for the 
 night with an English settler by whom they were 
 kindly entertained and who frankly told them of 
 his success at the mines. 
 
 After leaving in the early morning, they coun- 
 selled, resolved together, and hastily retracing 
 their steps, surprised, killed their host, and then 
 inhumanly murdered his wife, children, and 
 Indian servants, in fact, every human being on the 
 ranch, to the number of twelve. Gathering the 
 gold, they fled, but faster followed the avengers 
 when the woeful tragedy was known. 
 
 Mounted on fleet California steeds, the pursuers 
 overtook the fugitives by the sea, south of Santa Bar- 
 bara. One of the outlaws was slain and, a second, 
 22 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 finding escape hopeless, sprang into the deep waters 
 that received him in an everlasting tomb. The re- 
 maining three surrendered and were tried at once 
 by an impromptu jury of twelve citizens chosen 
 from the victors. The gold dust was easily found 
 among their slender effects. The crime was proven 
 and admitted. The jury promptly sentenced them 
 to death and before sunset the three assassins were 
 dangling at the end of a tree branch quietly wav- 
 ing over the waters of the Pacific Ocean far below. 
 This I believe was the first case of lynching after 
 the American control and it occurred in 1848. 
 
 There was no law to try assassins, no courts to 
 condemn them, no prisons in which to incarcerate 
 them. The first and best (because just) mandate 
 is to preserve society by punishing criminals. Life 
 for life is a decree that will never be forgotten, 
 and if the tribunals do not enforce it, men will. 
 The grave is the only prison that should enclose a 
 murderer. 
 
 Remote as was the goal, half of a long year from 
 New York and Europe, except via Panama, yet 
 came the world, ever thronging and thronging. The 
 caravan of wagons extended over the valleys and 
 topped the mountains from Missouri to California. 
 
 Ships sailing from New York, sweeping by the 
 misty, rocky, stormy coasts of Terra Del Fuego, 
 constituted a continuous fleet. The early establish- 
 ment of a double line of steamers with the Isthmus 
 
 23 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 as a bridge made transportation rapid and con- 
 venient. Each person, wagon, animal and vessel 
 was laden to his or its capacity. There were no 
 drones, animate or inanimate. Withal, during that 
 extraordinary year 1849, though forty-four sea- 
 going vessels lay empty in the bay of San Francisco, 
 tides swaying their silent decks with the coming 
 and going of the moon — flour in the gold fields sold 
 at two dollars, coffee four dollars per pound, and 
 eggs at one, two and three dollars each. On those 
 forty-four vessels, whose crews had deserted — los- 
 ing in many cases a year's pay — only the watch- 
 men remained, for even the captains and other 
 officers had secretly absconded. What wonder when 
 lucky miners uncovered a thousand dollars between 
 sunrise and sunset — and no one gained less than 
 twenty dollars if he diligently dug! Twenty dol- 
 lars a day to sailors whose wage was the same 
 sum monthly ! In the calm, warm summer and 
 autumn, the miners, though not entirely acclimated, 
 retained good health. There is nothing harmful 
 in sleeping under the shadowing limbs of a lofty 
 pine covered only by the starlight. 
 
 And these men were young. The average of the 
 arrivals in that sparkling year of 1849, California 's 
 birthday, did not exceed twenty-five. They resem- 
 bled the soldiers of Napoleon in his first Italian 
 campaigns. They had come far, had nothing but 
 24 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 youth and courage and therefore ventured much 
 and yet little. 
 
 The incomprehensible price of food obtained only 
 at the mines, several hundred miles from the sea- 
 board. All supplies were transported on the backs 
 of animals and men over a dry, dusty, hot, broad 
 and still broader plain, and then up sheer acclivi- 
 ties and across the soaring mountains. 
 
 The hopeful horde, laden with mining and cook- 
 ing utensils, swarmed the roads leading to their 
 paradise, singing, cheering, jesting — the happiest, 
 heartiest, merriest crusaders since Richard of 
 England. It was not hardship, sleeping under 
 a California sky. No rain in the summer 
 months made the days pleasant, though dusty. 
 Many of the successful gold hunters returned to 
 San Francisco after a fortunate season and incred- 
 ible stories are legendary of their gambling and 
 revelries. They drank like Alexander's officers, 
 banqueted like Lucullus, and dissipated like Roman 
 patricians. 
 
 The town of San Francisco embraced only two 
 or three squares, including frame dwellings and 
 tents. To complete a certain structure lumber was 
 bought at a dollar per foot. 
 
 After the edifice was occupied, a Methodist 
 clergyman was granted permission to hold service. 
 Though gambling tables, at which the games never 
 ceased, encompassed him, he was listened to with 
 
 25 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 respect and attention. A liberal collection was 
 made directly and handed the minister by an old 
 sailor, with the comforting observation: "Parson, 
 that was a damned good sermon ! ' ' While so dis- 
 tant from the world these men of '48 and '49 did 
 not repine. It was before the era of murders and 
 vigilance committees. 
 
 Gold was abundant and all were young, buoyant, 
 and hopeful. There existed neither police, society, 
 nor clubs; yet good order was maintained. The 
 alcalde had plenary powers which he exercised with 
 discretion. The newly-arrived sometimes fared 
 hardly. On one occasion a man secreted a small 
 quantity of gold dust under the sand of a street. 
 He then took a pan and began "prospecting." 
 Presently he very naturally came to his deposit 
 and after uncovering the sand and washing it in the 
 stream hard by, lo ! there was the gold. A number 
 of strangers just off a steamer at once went to the 
 nearest shop, bought pans and patiently worked 
 all day — without, of course, finding anything — only 
 to learn in the evening the whole ruse, together 
 with the fact that the shopkeeper had sold them 
 all his tin pans at about ten times the normal 
 price — "a Yankee trick." 
 
 The necessity of an orderly American administra- 
 tion was recognized. California was a territory 
 governed by a military officer appointed by the 
 President. But his authority was general and not 
 26 
 
EARLY DAYS 
 
 local. By the summer of 1849, myriads peopled 
 the country, extending from the gold fields to the 
 seacoast. Conventions were held in the several 
 localities, delegates elected and those chosen assem- 
 bled in Monterey, where, after several weeks of 
 discussion, they adopted and submitted to the pop- 
 ulace a framed constitution for the embryo State 
 of California. Eight of the forty-eight delegates 
 were native Californians of Spanish descent — no 
 inconsiderable proportion — which exhibits very 
 clearly the sincerity and cordiality with which the 
 old aristocracy fused with the new life and nation. 
 
 The constitution expressly prohibited slavery and 
 one of the forty-eight delegates was William M. 
 Gwin. A month later the people sanctioned its 
 authority by an almost unanimous vote, and on the 
 convening of the first California legislature at 
 Monterey, two United States senators, John C. Fre- 
 mont and William M. Gwin were elected. Gwin 
 came to California from Mississippi in 1849. Fre- 
 mont had led the American volunteers with courage 
 and success during the short war of 1846 between 
 the native Californians and the forces of the 
 United States. By chance allotment between the 
 two men, Fremont's term would expire in 1851 
 and Gwin's in March, 1855. 
 
 Under the constitution of the United States they 
 could not be recognized by the federal Senate until 
 after Congress had approved the constitution of the 
 
 27 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 State of California and the President had an- 
 nounced by proclamation its entrance to the sister- 
 hood of states, which latter final preliminary was 
 promulgated in September, 1850, when California 
 became the thirty-first state in the federal union. 
 One of the local Senators from San Francisco re- 
 signed shortly after the session had commenced. An 
 election was held to fill the vacancy and the suc- 
 cessful candidate was sworn in on the 24th of 
 January, 1850. His name was David Colbert 
 Broderick. 
 
 28 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 When Broderick was fourteen his father died. 
 From Washington, D. C, where Broderick was 
 born, the family had removed to New York City. 
 
 The parent was a stone artisan and at his death 
 the fatherless boy found but little saved to support 
 his mother and younger brother. He began the 
 struggle of life early, very early, and in a sombre 
 way. He apprenticed himself as a stone cutter — 
 his father's calling — and remained with his em- 
 ployer faithfully during the five years of his in- 
 denture. There were no night schools, and the boy 
 worked all day and every day plying this humble 
 vocation, with the winds and the sunshine as daily 
 companions. He grew strong and reliant. He had 
 few boyhood comrades and no adventures. In fact 
 he seems never to have been a boy. From the 
 beginning he was brooding and thoughtful. 
 
 Christopher street and the other streets near by 
 were the scenes of nightly brawls, quarrels and 
 rivalries between the younger men who lived in the 
 locality. Broderick w^as one of the rudest, rough- 
 est, most aggressive and truculent. He was ever 
 ready for a fight and whether he whipped or was 
 
 29 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 whipped (and both occurred many times) he was 
 willing and undaunted for the next fracas. 
 
 After he became United States senator a few 
 of his early conquerors foregathered near the favor- 
 ite resorts and told again and again "how they 
 had licked Dave." 
 
 The fire engines of New York were handled 
 by volunteer firemen whose principal function was 
 not alone to fight fires, but everything else, espe- 
 cially other firemen. To the chief headship of one 
 of these engine companies Broderick fought his 
 way, as, in somewhat different circumstances, did 
 Spartacus of old. He became foreman of No. 34 
 when he was only twenty. 
 
 With this position as a lever he entered into ward 
 politics and soon became distinctive as one who 
 could fight ; gain and keep friends and promises. 
 
 Directly he was of age he was appointed to a 
 position in the federal service, and, as has been 
 done frequently since by others, perhaps his most 
 onerous duty was to draw the salary. He cer- 
 tainly found leisure to keep his engine and com- 
 pany the most complete in its equipment and dis- 
 cipline in the city; to attend every ward meeting 
 of his party, where frequently there were blows 
 as well as words, and to own a saloon. 
 
 Alter all, no one's career is as one could wish. 
 We have all done, perforce, things we would not 
 have done willingly. It is only a question of men- 
 30 
 
NEW YORK 
 
 tal or moral vision whether one trade is better or 
 worse than another. Keeping a grog shop may be I 
 a misfortune, but it cannot be a crime. Broderick 
 kept one and then possessed a second, finer and 
 larger than the first. Yet he never drank a drop of 
 spirits from birth to death. His customers were 
 principally firemen and local politicians. 
 
 His mother died and a little later his younger 
 brother was accidentally killed. Broderick was left 
 entirely alone. Years afterward in the Senate he 
 said that ''he did not know a single human being 
 in whom flowed a drop of his blood. ' ' His ances- 
 try was Irish and people of that race are usually 
 prolific, but the man seemed doomed to be alone — 
 lonely through life. 
 
 Gradually his thorough application to whatever 
 he essayed won him friends, adherents and stand- 
 ing. He became the representative for Tammany 
 from his ward; was given consideration by his 
 political superiors; and, when only twenty-six 
 years old, one year above the constitutional 
 requirement, was made the regular nominee of his 
 party — the Democratic — for Congress. But Brod- 
 erick had the faculty of making more bitter, 
 rancorous and vindictive enemies than most men 
 that one reads of in modern political life. He 
 was stubborn, positive, unrelenting, and unfor- 
 giving. While not quick with his brain and 
 tongue, he spoke indeed rather distinctly and de- 
 
 31 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 liberately, yet his manner was repellant to those 
 he did not like and it was difficult for him to be 
 diplomatic. 
 
 These personal characteristics so well recognized 
 in his later California career were part of his 
 gloomy being and, even in New York at this early 
 stage, made him friends who would die for him and 
 enemies who would make him die if possible. 
 
 Broderick was the regular nominee of the Dem- 
 ocratic party, which was largely superior in num- 
 bers to the Whigs in the district; but an aristo- 
 cratic Democrat ran as a third candidate, thus 
 dividing the Democratic vote and electing the Whig. 
 
 At that era a revolt from the party organization 
 was rare ; people were not so reliant and free from 
 party servility as today; the fetich of a name was 
 worshipped and so the gravity of this defection 
 from Broderick was pronounced. Perhaps an anec- 
 dote will index his character and why he pos- 
 sessed such ruthless adversaries. President Tyler 
 had received and accepted an invitation to visit 
 New York City. A committee of city officials, ac- 
 companied by eminent foreign guests, embarked on 
 a steamer to meet the President on the New Jersey 
 shore. Although elected a Whig, Tyler was co- 
 quetting with the Democrats, and so, Tammany 
 Hall also selected a committee, or rather two com- 
 mittees, to tender homage to the President. 
 32 
 
^#^,^..^-^^ 
 
 Ccyt-^-^^ 
 
NEW YORK 
 
 One committee represented the ultra aristocratic 
 element — for Tammany was then respectable — 
 and the other was also a Tammany selection, 
 being made up of young men as distinct from the 
 old men — in other words, the classes against the 
 masses. Broderick was of this second committee, 
 which was expected to gaze, be humble and silent. 
 However, the forty sachems — twenty and twenty — 
 after disembarking from their steamer, walked to 
 the President's residence and, while the mighty 
 rich were awaiting on the lawn the President's 
 appearance, Broderick strode to the door alone, 
 opened, entered and presently returned with the 
 President of the United States on his arm. Con- 
 ducting Tyler to the astounded group he saluted the 
 President and then said in the same loud, clear tones 
 as when directing his fire laddies at a conflagration : 
 "Now men form a round circle and the President 
 will talk to you. ' ' For a moment no one moved, so 
 completely aghast were they, until one of the im- 
 maculates said, like a philosopher : * ' Come, gentle- 
 men, give attention to the President," and Tyler 
 delivered a short address. But even then Broderick 
 was not done. After the President ceased he very 
 naturally turned to Broderick as the leader, and 
 the latter, quietly taking the President's arm with 
 an injunction to all Knickerbockers and firemen to 
 ' ' form the line of march, ' ' led the way to the land- 
 ing, whence the tardy boat containing the real city 
 
 33 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 committee, with its music and platoons of uniforms, 
 had just arrived. 
 
 Broderick was hardly persuaded to surrender 
 his prisoner to the other committee, as he hoped to 
 take him in the Tammany boat to New York. He 
 had, however, the grim satisfaction of balking his 
 aristocratic enemies. Not bad for a young man of 
 twenty-five ! But it cost him a seat in Congress. 
 
 Writing of these days, Gen. Daniel E. Sickles 
 says: "Though I was a member of the opposite 
 party, I was so impressed with Broderick 's strong 
 personality and with his prospect of splendid use- 
 fulness should he be sent to Congress, that I worked 
 and voted for him. It was not until after the 
 election was over that he knew of my efforts in his 
 behalf. "When he did find it out he came to me and 
 thanked me for my support and pledged me his aid 
 if I should ever need his services. He renewed 
 this pledge just before his departure for California. 
 I remember that in his gallant way he said to me : 
 ' If you ever need me I Avill be your slave. ' In bid- 
 ding me good-bye he told me that if he ever re- 
 turned to the East he would return as a United 
 States senator from the new and untrammelled 
 state of California. This he did." 
 
 Let it be remembered that when Broderick ex- 
 pressed this resolve there was no state of Califor- 
 nia, nor did it exist until nearly two years later. 
 34 
 
NEW YORK 
 
 Evidently he had faith and confidence in the future. 
 No one succeeds who does not fight to win. 
 
 After his defeat for Congress he continued his 
 previous vocations. 
 
 At the next state election the Democrats were 
 beaten, which made his chance of success dubious, 
 even if "nominated a second time. 
 
 Then came tidings from far-away California. 
 Stevenson 's battalion of New York volunteers, who 
 arrived in the enchanted land before the gold find, 
 sent alluring letters to their friends. Colonel Ste- 
 venson, well known to Broderick, had written : 
 "Come, leave there, and try this new land, this 
 El Dorado." 
 
 Around him were friends and acquaintances dis- 
 posing, like Alexander, of all their effects and 
 thronging every steamer. What was he to do ? His 
 political future looked blank. The life he lived 
 and his daily associations were repugnant. He 
 longed for a broader scope and a higher terrace 
 on which to crown a career. Above all the lure of 
 a United States senatorship fevered his brain and 
 made more intense his restless, ambitious disposi- 
 tion. 
 
 These were the days of the great triumvirate — 
 Webster, Clay, Calhoun. It was worth while to 
 sit among those men and be one of them. They 
 were free as the eagle, unbound, unbought, belong- 
 ing to nobody but themselves, yet forced to exercise 
 
 35 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 the best powers of mind and intellect to be noticed 
 and commended among their colleagues in that ex- 
 alted station. 
 
 Broderick never sought money. His character 
 istics were essentially governing and not commer- 
 cial. Success in one is difficult ; in both still more. 
 He chose the first. Therefore his present existence 
 was doubly distasteful. 
 
 Yet it is not so very tranquillizing to desert the 
 old life, home and associates, perhaps forever, and 
 to seek a new land, new life. Hesitancy was one 
 of his missing qualities. He lingered and lingered 
 despite his characteristic determination, which or- 
 dinarily made it easy for him to resolve and exe- 
 cute. At length, one morning, he broached all his 
 casks in the street, saying that he never would 
 "sell, nor drink liquor, smoke a cigar, or play 
 a card." That vow he kept in all the dissipations, 
 allurements and excitements that environed his 
 California existence. 
 
 He left New York on a steamer and debarked 
 at Chagres. There was no railway in 1849, and 
 travelers went up the Chagres River by boat and 
 thence by land to Panama. It was a wet, dirty, 
 hot, unhealthy journey and the miseries of the 
 crossing have never been adequately portrayed. 
 
 At the very outset, the town of Chagres itself 
 was a dreadful place. On the thresholds of the 
 doors and in the huts were thrown hides, bullocks' 
 36 
 
NEW YORK 
 
 heads, fish, cattle and other animals putrefying in 
 the damp, tropical atmosphere. Part of this was 
 food. 
 
 No one remained in Chagres more than one night, 
 but at the risk of a malignant fever. The next day 
 and the next and again a third were spent poling 
 up the small, narrow, tortuous stream, tormented 
 by gnats and mosquitoes. On shore the ants came 
 for their loot. 
 
 Cholera and yellow fever were epidemic on the 
 Isthmus, especially in the rainy months. It is on 
 record that of twelve gold-seekers arriving at 
 Chagres from an English port but one appeared 
 at Panama a week later. The eleven others died 
 en route of yellow fever. Fifty thousand adven- 
 turous young men invaded California that year and 
 a moiety toiled through the dark, fever-dripping 
 forests and up the miasmatic stream. One hun- 
 dred and fifty years previous, Morgan and his 
 buccaneers made the same desperate struggle and 
 for the same guerdon — gold. 
 
 We have not nor we will not change. Yet these 
 death-clinging paths lay through a thick jungle of 
 palms, teaks and every variety of rich fern. After 
 rain storms the refreshed air would be mellow with 
 a sweet fragrance distilled from the thirsty 
 epiphytes. Fortunately Panama was relatively 
 healthy, and no one stayed or rested between 
 Chagres and Panama except those who still rest on. 
 
 37 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 Ships clustered at Chagres from many different 
 world lanes — Britain, France, Italy, New York, 
 New Orleans, Havana and other places, but on the 
 Pacific shores Panama was the only point connected 
 by steamers with the Mecca — San Francisco. 
 Hence Panama was always thronged and crowded 
 and vessels at this early period were far more nu- 
 merous on the Pacific than on the Atlantic. 
 
 These were pleasant days for the old Spanish 
 town and wanderers have complacently discoursed 
 of the monkeys, bananas, cock-fights and bull-fights ; 
 of the old cracking walls with the older brass can- 
 non that had not been discharged within the mem- 
 ory of any living man; of the quaint church and 
 quainter houses, and of narrow sun-shaded avenues 
 where the mandolin and guitar accompanied the 
 sloe-eyed senoritas warbling ' ' La Golondrina. ' ' But 
 none of these terrors or pleasures seem to have 
 disturbed or interested the moody, firm-faced young 
 man from New York, who crossed the deadly Isth- 
 mus unscathed, speedily leaving Panama and com- 
 ing up the Coast without mishap. 
 
 On a fair June eve in 1849 the Stella, round- 
 ing the southerly rocky point, with the northerly 
 bluffs extending far to the westward, passed 
 through the Golden Gate, encompassed by treeless, 
 grassiess, verdureless hills and, sweeping from east 
 to south, ceased from her long voyage in the placid 
 depths of San Francisco harbor. 
 
 38 
 
NEW YORK 
 
 On the tar eastern horizon a range of mountains, 
 separated from the waters by a wide and charming 
 valley, extended for miles north and south. The 
 bay itself, one of the three safest and most commo- 
 dious havens in the world, stretched for leagues 
 and leagues to the east, north and south and from 
 the west the setting sun's rays glided through the 
 straight and narrow entrance, illuminating with 
 mellow radiance this portal of the Land of Gold. 
 Of the multitudes who thronged the muddy shores, 
 restlessly awaiting the arrival, with its messages of 
 loves and tears from distant kindred and friends, 
 coming o'er the world's wide compass, were some 
 who in later years gathered sweet and bitter leaves 
 from life's tree. But of all these adventurous Ar- 
 gonauts there was none whose future existence and 
 death was destined to be more weird, tragical and 
 picturesque than that of this newcomer, -who with 
 sedate visage looked steadfastly upon the panorama 
 that stretched before him in the place whither he 
 had come to win and to die. 
 
 He was twenty-nine years old, of good height and 
 weight, with superb physique and strength. Few 
 men could cope with him in wrestling and he was 
 an excellent boxer. His ruddy brown beard covered 
 his face, and his hair, slightly dark, was plentiful. 
 It was not then the custom to wear a moustache. 
 Indeed the Southern statesmen followed Clay and 
 Jackson's example, who, like the Romans, went 
 
 39 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 with shaven faces ; but the Northerners wore beards. 
 Even then, and in remote California, the differences 
 and prejudices between the two sections, culminating 
 a decade afterwards in the Civil War, were clearly 
 visible in their personal appearance. 
 
 Broderick's large mouth was filled with strong, 
 white teeth, but his heavy upper lip was unpleas- 
 ant, and his sombre countenance not cheerful. He 
 looked like one always thinking; one of those men 
 whom Caesar would have disliked. His steel-blue 
 eyes met one, not glitteringly, but with a depth and 
 steadfastness that strongl,y impressed. 
 
 One can not look at his face and call it attractive, 
 but it is the face of a man who thinks, resolves and 
 acts without taking counsel. One can understand 
 that it was difficult to disagree with him in con- 
 versation, he was so positive, not to say dogmatic 
 or domineering. Like Henry II, he seldom smiled 
 and witticisms were foreign to his nature. He had 
 come resolved to sacrifice all milder pleasures and 
 endearments on Ambition's altar. He won, but 
 the price was death. 
 
 40 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 1849 
 
 In the good year 1849 the boundaries of Cali- 
 fornia were not adjusted, nor its exact extent 
 known. Today with seven hundred miles of coast- 
 line backed by over seventy leagues of valley, plain, 
 and mountain, it yields only to Texas in area, of all 
 the fifty commonwealths embraced in the nation. 
 
 The most northerly of the twenty-three missions 
 built by the padres were on the upper borders of 
 San Francisco Bay. These were also the last. They 
 were gradually constructed from south to north, 
 each mission being about a good day's canter from 
 another; but after the last one at Sonoma was 
 founded came the Mexican governors, then the 
 gringos, then chaos. 
 
 A confirmation is afforded by observing the lo- 
 cal nomenclature. South of Sonoma are sweet 
 sounding, sibilant, Spanish accents. But north of 
 Sonoma come the harsh, unyielding American 
 words, reeking with consonants instead of vowels. 
 
 The old friars named every place of importance 
 within their demesnes and I am glad that these soft 
 Castillian phrases have been retained by the Amer- 
 icans who succeeded to the lands and fruits 
 thereof. 
 
 41 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 California was claimed by the early native Cali- 
 fornians to extend northerly for many leagues 
 beyond Sonoma but the location of the line was 
 unknown, it never having been surveyed by their 
 officials. 
 
 Sutter's Fort on the Sacramento River, thirty 
 leagues northeast of San Francisco, was built, for- 
 tified, and held bj^ Captain Sutter, a Swiss, who ac- 
 knowledged none, or a very slight, allegiance to the 
 Mexican authorities. He was not disturbed nor 
 molested by the Californians. Indeed, there was 
 never a platoon of soldiers or a mission within 
 many miles of Sutter's establishment. It is to 
 be recorded that the gold invaders stripped him 
 of his wealth in cattle and lands, slaughtering the 
 one for food and squatting on the other, until the 
 broad and fertile valleys were involved in endless 
 litigation. It would have fared ill with many of 
 the Americans had there been no Sutter to welcome 
 and nourish them from his abundant stores, when 
 their weary caravans came to his hospitable por- 
 tals, after months of travel over arid and barren 
 plains, snow and ice-capped mountain ranges be- 
 set by Indians, disease and famine. It was just, 
 it was Christian to give succor, but it was often 
 repaid only by ingratitude. Before the advent of 
 the Americans he was lord of thousands of fruit- 
 ful acres; owner of myriads of fat cattle; sheep, 
 mules and horses, with scores of Indian subjects, 
 42 
 
1849 
 
 who willingly did his behests. The Californians 
 feared and respected his tact, power and sterling 
 good judgment. He was superior to all, and could 
 look confidently forward to establishing a little 
 principality of his own. Through the irony of 
 fate, gold was first exposed on his property by 
 one of his employees who promptly imparted the 
 potent intelligence to General Sutter. The latter 
 eagerly gave the tidings to the world. In a very few 
 years he was stripped of nearly all his possessions 
 and died in Washington at the close of his cheq- 
 uered career, vainly beseeching Congress for some 
 restitution of the princely fortune, filched from 
 him by the Americans. 
 
 His fate was somewhat akin to the fates of 
 Columbus and Balboa. They all won, and the 
 victory was the cause of their later utter desola- 
 tion. 
 
 The hordes that devoured Sutter's substance, 
 were only a fragment of the mighty mass of men, 
 rushing to the lure of gold and which reached 
 its apogee in 1849. In that year the immigratipn 
 exceeded any other twelve months preceding or 
 subsequent thereto. The adventurers embraced 
 several thousand Orientals, who, even at that early 
 day, came across the wide ocean seeking fortune 
 on a foreign shore. All landed at San Francisco 
 and journeyed thence to the mines which were on 
 the westerly slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains 
 
 43 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 and foothills. The auriferous area was gradually 
 increased by discoveries, but it was not until years 
 later that the vast extent was known and explored. 
 
 Shasta and Los Angeles were both obscure. The 
 latter was a dusty, dirty, miserable little hamlet, 
 where existed a few Californians and Indians, liv- 
 ing in one-room adobe huts. The wealth of fruit 
 and wine that now makes it the paradise of the 
 West was undreampt of in that era and none 
 could divine its bright destiny. Between Los An- 
 geles and San Diego lay forty leagues of barren 
 mesa lands, over which wandered cattle and a few 
 natives. No other place deserving a name except 
 the missions could be located within a hundred 
 miles of Los Angeles. The San Joaquin Valley 
 was frequented only by game and cattle, roaming 
 freely without restraint, each careless of the other 's 
 presence; and the oblong periphery of San Fran- 
 cisco Bay was void of inhabitants save in "the 
 City," Benicia, and the missions. 
 
 Hence the relation between the town and the 
 mines was close and binding for there was noth- 
 ing else. No agriculture of any kind ; nothing was 
 raised. Everything was brought to the city by 
 water and thence to the mines in one way or every 
 way thinkable. 
 
 The glut of merchandise, imported in the scores 
 of vessels, occasioned curious incidents at times. It 
 is related that during the winter of '49 which was 
 44 
 
1849 
 
 very rainy, boxes of tobacco unopened were thrown 
 into the crossings over some of the streets. To- 
 bacco was so plentiful and unsalable that it was 
 actually cheaper to make of the boxes a foot way 
 than to construct a bridge of lumber. Mules are 
 said to have been lost in the mud and an old cari- 
 cature of that eventful period represents men walk- 
 ing or wading in thoroughfares up to their waists 
 in mud while others are being pulled out by friends 
 as if from a quicksand. The habitations were 
 tents, and wooden houses with cloth linings, ranged 
 close together on both sides of narrow streets. 
 Therefore, when a fire occurred it did good busi- 
 ness, as there were ample materials for an exhibi- 
 tion. Four fires occurred in nine months each tak- 
 ing a little of what was left by the preceding one, 
 so that it w^as said after the last that the next 
 conflagration would have to begin all over again, as 
 of the earliest structures, there was not one left. 
 The people literally lived in the streets, there 
 being very few dwellings, but plenty of hotels and 
 boarding-houses, and shaps with lofts where the 
 owners slept. There were no theatres, but many 
 drinking and gambling resorts which, brightly 
 lighted and thronged with the world's tribute, were 
 attractive and inviting. Orientals, the most im- 
 passive and consistent gamblers on the globe, 
 chanced their ounces at the tables side by side 
 with Occidentals, and lost or won with a fatalist's 
 
 phlegm. 
 
 45 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 All night long, the restless mass came and went, 
 drinking and gaming. The medium of exchange 
 was gold dust carried in a deer skin bag, from 
 which the varying quantities would be weighed on 
 a pair of gold scales, with which every business 
 establishment was provided. 
 
 But very few women or families had come into 
 the land and the men were young, fine, healthy, 
 hopeful, sunny beings — the salt of the earth. Every 
 one carried a revolver attached, on the right side, 
 to a leather belt, buckled aroimd the waist, and 
 the convenience of the weapon encouraged and 
 incited affrays. Men cannot shoot if they leave 
 their weapons at home. All this has been since 
 repeated in other gold countries. Australia, South 
 Africa, the Klonclilce; and the scenes just limned 
 have subsequently had their prototypes more than 
 once or twice; but the first experiences of this 
 nomadic, restless, wandering, intense, and novel 
 existence were in California. Besides, assaults and 
 crimes were committed in San Francisco and in 
 the interior, that did not occur, or, at least, oc- 
 curred in a very much lesser degree, in the British 
 possessions. British justice may not appear on the 
 law books as superior to our own, but as it is regu- 
 lated and applied by British judges, it protects 
 life and punishes criminals. Here we protect crim- 
 inals and punish life. If we had fewer lawyers and 
 less law it would be a relief and an advancement. 
 46 
 
1849 
 
 The medley aggregation congregated in the town 
 and country, embraced some eccentrics. It would 
 be odd if so many nations could not supply dif- 
 ferent varieties of human nature to laugh or weep. 
 
 A man who had accumulated many pounds of 
 gold enjoyed his wealth in a novel manner. He 
 would spread sheets on the floor, pour the metal 
 on them ; walk upon it ; roll in it ; cast it around 
 the apartment in handfuls and let the golden 
 stream descend over his head and body like Jupi- 
 ter upon Danae. 
 
 A New Yorker, just disembarked from a Panama 
 steamer, carried in his hand a bunch of six pine- 
 apples. He was presently accosted by a man who 
 said abruptly, pointing to the fruit: "Do you 
 want to sell them?" 
 
 "Well, yes." 
 
 "How much?" 
 
 "Well," with doubt and hesitation for he was 
 in a new world where the gold grew upon the 
 trees. ' ' Well, you may have them for ten dollars. ' ' 
 
 "Here's your money," said the buyer. 
 
 Directly afterwards other men, strolling along 
 the water front, saw the luscious product of the 
 tropics and one of them said to the new owner, 
 "How many are there in the bunch?" 
 
 "Six." 
 
 "Want to sell 'em all?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 47 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 "Will you sell three?" 
 
 ''Yes." 
 
 "How much?" 
 
 "Fifteen dollars." 
 
 "Here's your mouey," and he walked off leav- 
 ing the first buyer with three fine pineapples and 
 five dollars. The New Yorker glided away with 
 that abstract expression of feature that belongs to 
 new students of Euclid. 
 
 The costume, besides the universal revolver, 
 comprised a red shirt, corduroy breeches, and top 
 boots. The red shirt, sometimes blue, was espe- 
 cially in demand. To note a man walking in this 
 apparel without coat or waistcoat and with his 
 head surmounted by a black silk top hat would 
 seem to us an amusing incongruity; still it was 
 the prevailing style among the richer residents. 
 
 Amid such scenes and people, Broderick began 
 his new life. He commenced with a resolute spirit 
 and purpose few of those who preceded or followed 
 could rival or excel. Before many days he con- 
 ceived a clever and ingenious undertaking. Gold 
 and silver coins, together with gold dust were the 
 medium of exchange. There was no paper money 
 or currency, nor was there a mint to transmute 
 the metal morsels into coined money. The customs 
 dues were large and the government would receive 
 in payment only gold and silver coins. 
 
 The bulk of the money was brought in by the 
 48 
 
1849 
 
 Americans and other immigrants, and as all sums 
 were retained by the government, except the much 
 smaller amounts disbursed as salaries to federal 
 officers, the scarcity of gold coins became daily more 
 acute. 
 
 Broderick formed a business relationship with 
 an assayer and at once began the manufacture 
 of five-and ten-dollar gold coins or "slugs" 
 the intrinsic value of the metal contained in each 
 coin relatively, being only four and eight dollars. 
 These bore an inscription consisting simply of the 
 date, location of coinage and the value in dollars. 
 
 The coins readil}^ passed current in the com- 
 munity, for they were far more convenient and 
 comfortable than parcels of gold dust, even if 
 every one knew that the intrinsic was something 
 less than the face value. Tradespeople received 
 and paid them freely. Only the last holders could 
 suffer. Governments stamp a piece of paper with 
 some marks and signs and directly it becomes of 
 value. Why should not private persons do the 
 same in the absence of official prohibition? Brod- 
 erick proceeded on this assumption and gained im- 
 mense profits. 
 
 I have said already that he was not a commercial 
 business man, and yet when I reflect, I must admit 
 that the few enterprises in which he engaged were 
 distinct successes. 
 
 He added to assaying, the manufacture of jew- 
 49 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 elry and himself used a sledge hammer in the 
 stamping press. He retained his interest in the 
 business while absent in the legislature. 
 
 Nothing important occurred during the latter 
 part of his first session, while he was serving the 
 unexpired term of his predecessor, which began in 
 the autumn of 1849. New elections were held and 
 Broderick was again returned to the state Senate 
 representing the City of San Francisco. 
 
 In January, 1851, hardly a fortnight after the 
 assembling, occurred the first of his California 
 rencounters by which he was destined, alas, to be 
 fated. The governor resigned and, under the law, 
 the lieutenant governor succeeded to the station 
 thus vacated. The president of the Senate was the 
 lieutenant governor. His promotion to the higher 
 place left his own vacant. Broderick was at once 
 indicated as an aspirant. There was a joint meet- 
 ing of the Senate and the Assembly. 
 
 A member of the Assembly named Moore de- 
 livered a short address stating that he was "op- 
 posed to the resignation of good men especially 
 when they were to be succeeded in the office by 
 persons about whose character I know nothing. ' ' 
 
 This was understood to apply to Broderick. The 
 latter who would brook nothing, at once arose and 
 made a caustic retort. The body adjourned in due 
 course and later in the day the Senate met and 
 elected Broderick lieutenant governor of Califor- 
 50 
 
km'=^m. 
 
 
1849 
 
 nia. He was advancing. Only a little over a year 
 in the country and already lieutenant governor. 
 An hour later nothing but cool courage and cahn- 
 ness saved his ambitious soul from extinction. 
 That evening Broderick accompanied by a friend 
 passed Moore on a street. After passing, Broder- 
 ick heard the words "scoundrel, rascal," used by 
 Moore. Broderick turned on his heel and faced 
 him. Moore produced a revolver and re- 
 peated the words. Broderick immediately struck at 
 him but missed, and Moore was then seized and 
 disarmed. He was taken into an apartment ad- 
 joining, but presently rushed out again to Brod- 
 erick on the street. Some one had given Moore 
 another or the same weapon, and the furious man, 
 who possessed an unenviable reputation as a des- 
 perado, levelled his weapon within a yard of Brod- 
 erick who stood immobile, saying, "I will shoot 
 you, you scoundrel!" There was a cry of "he's 
 going to fire!" and the crowd scattered. But 
 Broderick, turning his steel-blue eyes sparkling 
 with fire on his assailant cried: "You cowardly 
 assassin, why don't you fire? You dare not 
 fire, you coward!" The two men faced each 
 other, one with the weapon of death trem- 
 bling in his nervous hand and the other armed 
 only with courage and conscience. Awed by 
 his resolute antagonist, Moore hesitated. In an- 
 other moment the pistol was wrested from his 
 
 51 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 grasp and Broderick was saved. His unflinch- 
 ing firmness in this affair together mth the eclat of 
 the office to which he had been just elevated, made 
 him at once the most conspicous personage in the 
 legislature and brought him directly to the knowl- 
 edge of the miners. 
 
 The circumstance that his assailant was South- 
 ern while he was Northern added a graver tinge 
 to the colors of feeling that the affray produced. 
 It was the beginning of the feud that only ended 
 with his death. Personal courage is the highest 
 of all human attributes. As long as we love life 
 and dread death, it shall be exalted above the 
 clouds. Alexander killing the two Persian nobles 
 at Granicus and Napoleon leading his grenadiers 
 across the bridge at Lodi gained for themselves 
 reputations excelled by the exploits of no others as 
 generals or conquerors. 
 
 Broderick 's career in the legislature as lieuten- 
 ant governor seems to have been approved. Here 
 is what one of the publications of that period said : 
 
 ''Something is due to this distinguished citizen 
 for the dignity, ability and impartiality with 
 which he has discharged the various arduous 
 duties imposed upon the presiding officer of the 
 Senate. He has thus far administered the duties 
 of that officer in a manner gratifying to every 
 member of the Senate. I do not know that a 
 single member of the opposition has at any time 
 52 
 
1849 
 
 expressed dissatisfaction at the manner in which 
 Mr. Broderick has performed his duties. This is 
 a rare and exceedingly gratifying fact. A pre- 
 siding officer, however just and able, seldom es- 
 capes the animadversion of his political opponents. 
 
 "Mr. Broderick is a good parliamentarian; he 
 is familiar with parliamentary rules; his decisions 
 are promptly given, and an appeal from one of 
 them has never yet been taken by any Senator. 
 The facility and despatch with which the busi- 
 ness of the Senate is transacted is a subject of 
 general remark and congratulation. 
 
 "In this respect the Senate of California can 
 vie with the Senates of any of the American 
 States." 
 
 He was at ease in political assemblages. While 
 never a fluent nor ready speaker he made a study 
 in this position of the ordinary rules and customs 
 governing conventions, so that on subsequent oc- 
 casions his tactical knowledge of technical rules 
 was invaluable to his cause. At this same legisla- 
 ture an effort was made to elect a successor to 
 Fremont, whose term had expired. Fremont was 
 a Southerner, but yet, in the short period during 
 which he was senator he announced his positive 
 abhorrence of slavery. That, of course, ranged 
 against him many of his former friends and allies. 
 One hundred and fortj^-two ballots were taken, and 
 there being no election the legislature adjourned, 
 
 53 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 leaving the senatorship vacant. A year passed 
 away and at its next assembly the legislature 
 elected John B. Weller, who also was a Southerner, 
 as Fremont's successor. 
 
 Again was Broderick's mettle tested, and again 
 was his life in jeopardy. The occasion was so 
 similar to the one of a year previous that it would 
 be facile to conceive that they were more than a 
 coincidence. Ex-Governor Smith, a man of distinc- 
 tion, and ex-governor of one of the Southern states, 
 vilipended Broderick at a Democratic convention, 
 in a violent address. The latter was not then 
 present but, true to his nature, he replied at the 
 next session of the state Senate, virulently re- 
 proaching the former official. Governor Smith 's son 
 promptly challenged, and Broderick promptly ac- 
 cepted. They met in Contra Costa County, being 
 thus immune from arrest, and each opponent emp- 
 tied his revolver at the other, standing twenty 
 yards apart. Broderick, who does not seem to have 
 been a good shot, missed altogether, but Smith 
 with his sixth and last bullet struck the watch 
 Broderick carried in the fob of his trousers. The 
 latter 's skin was slightly abraded by the impact, 
 but the watch possibly saved his life. 
 
 Years later, after Broderick's death, this watch 
 was found among his effects carefully safeguarded. 
 
 A few weeks after the duel, Broderick, from 
 his place in the Senate said: 
 54 
 
1849 
 
 *'I rise, Mr. President, to a question of privi- 
 lege. On a former occasion I alluded from my 
 place in the Senate to an honorable citizen by 
 name, reflecting upon him in somewhat personal 
 language. My remarks on that occasion were 
 prompted by a feeling of vexation from remarks 
 reported to have been made by that gentleman re- 
 flecting upon mj^self in the Democratic Conven- 
 tion. I have this day received from Governor 
 Smith a letter which with the indulgence of the 
 Senate I will read: 
 'Hon. D. C. Broderick, 
 
 'Sir: Having made remarks in the Democratic 
 Convention, which yourself and others supposed 
 reflected on you, and having just learned from a 
 reliable source that you had no connection with 
 the transaction then referred to, I now, deeming it 
 my duty, take great pleasure in withdrawing any- 
 thing then said of a disagreeable nature. 
 
 (Signed) 'Yours, ,^^ Smith.' 
 
 "Regretting as I do the occasion which led me 
 into remarks unpleasant to Governor Smith, I now 
 take pleasure in promptly withdrawing the same. ' ' 
 
 I have quoted this letter and his observations 
 textually, for I think that what they say is of more 
 importance than what I say, and it illuminates the 
 character of Broderick. In neither of these alter- 
 cations was he the aggressor, and yet in neither does 
 he seem entirely blameless. 
 
 55 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 His replies are not alone vigorous, but harsh and 
 violent. They show him to have been stern 
 and implacable; he gave "a word for a word, a 
 blow for a blow. " It is well that the ascerbities of 
 political controversies are much more mellow now 
 than sixty years ago. We have no duels nor do 
 we essay to slay one another for a mere quip. But 
 the words that today cause a smile, in those days 
 caused a shot. Amid the stirring scenes of that 
 epoch, no man dared blench, and if he was not 
 killed he became popular, following Wolseley's 
 aphorism to the young ensign. 
 
 Another episode followed. Stephen J. Field — 
 who subsequently became a justice of the United 
 States Supreme Court — was a member of the As- 
 sembly. He represented an interior district and 
 had had an embittered controversy with the judge 
 of the local court before whom he practiced. 
 
 Field introduced a resolution looking to the im- 
 peachment of his enemy and spoke thereon. He 
 was answered by Moore, another member of the 
 Assembly, who possessed an intimate friendship 
 with Judge Turner, the object of Field's enmity. 
 Every one carried weapons. The Assembly em- 
 braced thirty-six members and over two-thirds 
 never appeared without displaying knives or pis- 
 tols or both. It was the habit for a legislator when 
 he entered the sacred portals of the House to take 
 off his pistols and lay them in his desk before re- 
 56 
 
1849 
 
 suming his seat. This was so natural as to attract 
 neither surprise nor observation. But when Moore 
 arose to address the Assembly, he deliberately 
 opened his desk, took out two revolvers, cocked 
 them, and, closing the lid, deposited the pistols on 
 the top. He then vilipended Field atrociously, 
 stigmatising him very offensively and declaring 
 more than once he was responsible for his utter- 
 ances both there and elsewhere. 
 
 Field replied only to his arguments. His epi- 
 thets required another kind of rhetoric. Hence 
 when the body adjourned. Field applied succes- 
 sively to two brother members desiring them to 
 carry his cartel to Moore. Both declined, alleging 
 the constitutional inhibition against duelling and 
 its implication of both principals and seconds. 
 
 The formidable reputation of ]\Ioore as a desper- 
 ado, was recalled. Field was troubled and discon- 
 solate. In the evening while meditating sombrely, 
 he wandered into the Senate chamber where sat 
 Broderick writing at his desk. Up to now they 
 enjoyed but a desultory acquaintance with each 
 other. Broderick looked up and exclaimed, ' ' Why, 
 judge, you don't look well. What is the matter?" 
 Field said, ' ' I don 't feel well either, for I have not 
 a friend in the world." Broderick continued, 
 "What is it worries you?" Thereupon Field told 
 him. When Broderick had heard all, he at once 
 said, "My dear Field, I will be your friend in this 
 
 57 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 matter ; sit down and write a note at once to Moore 
 and I will deliver it." Field wrote, demanding a 
 public retraction or a duel. Broderick directly called 
 on Moore. The latter after perusing the missive 
 stated that he expected to be a candidate for Con- 
 gress and thus he could not accept the challenge. 
 But he added that he would meet Field in the 
 street any time and place, and be ready. Broderick 
 asserted that a street brawl and shooting were not 
 quite correct between gentlemen, but if Moore, 
 after what he had said in the Assembly, declined a 
 formal duel, there was no other course but to as- 
 sent to his suggestion, and he added that Field 
 would be found on the street at a stipulated time 
 the next morning. 
 
 An hour later Moore met Broderick again and 
 told him he would reply to Field's note in the 
 morning and that the answer would be delivered by 
 Mr. Baldwin, another assemblyman. 
 
 Broderick took Field to the outskirts of the town 
 in the early dawn, handed him a navy revolver and 
 pointing at a knot on a tree thirty yards distant 
 said, "shoot!" Field struck the knot three times 
 in five shots, which is by no means bad target prac- 
 tice. They returned and Broderick, meeting and 
 accosting Baldwin, asked for Moore's reply. Bald- 
 win said that his principal had made up his mind 
 to do nothing farther in the matter. "Then," 
 said Broderick, "as soon as the House meets. Judge 
 58 
 
1849 
 
 Field will arise in his seat and refer to the attack 
 on him and to the language of Moore, wherein he 
 stated that he held himself responsible for what he 
 said ; that respect for the dignity of the House had 
 prevented him from replying to the attack at the 
 time in the terms deserved ; that he had since de- 
 manded satisfaction of Moore for his language ; and 
 that Moore had refused to respond, and will there- 
 upon pronounce him a liar and a coward. ' ' 
 
 "Then," said Baldwin, "Judge Field will get 
 shot in his seat." 
 
 "In that case," rejoined Broderick, "there will 
 be others shot, too. ' ' He hastened to Field, related 
 the conversation and asked if the latter would do 
 as he told Baldwin. Field, who through the entire 
 affair conducted himself most chivalrously, quickly 
 assented. 
 
 The House met a few minutes later. Broderick 
 sat near Field and around them were a number of 
 Broderick 's friends, fully armed and prepared. 
 
 Both Moore and Field simultaneously arose but 
 the speaker recognized Moore, who at once read a 
 full, ample and satisfactory apology, and that was 
 the end. Did Field recall this memory when, 
 nearly forty years thereafter, he beheld the slayer 
 of Broderick fall dead at his feet! Tacitus ob- 
 serves, "men's minds revert from present to past, 
 with infinite apprehension." It must be confessed 
 
 59 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 that deeds like Broderiek's detailed in this incident 
 forge chains whose links outlast life. 
 
 Field escaped a dangerous situation with both 
 life and honor, and he never forgot either the 
 occasion nor the man. 
 
 These occurrences made Broderick a natural and 
 conscious leader in state politics and, although he 
 tranquilly returned to his lucrative pursuit, he was 
 never consigned to oblivion. His term as state 
 senator expired; but when next he wore the toga, 
 it was in the chamber of the United States Senate. 
 
 60 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 PROGRESS 
 
 Meanwhile the years immediately following 1849 
 passed. The state gradually augmented its popu- 
 lation to a quarter of a million for whom San Fran- 
 cisco was as Rome. San Jose, Stockton, Sacra- 
 mento, and other interior towns came to their own 
 slowly. When miners left the gold district they 
 went directly to the city, for in the city they met 
 friends and witnessed amusements. Every citizen 
 was struggling to improve, but it was no slight 
 task to construct all the muniments of a modern 
 town, such as sanitary, fire, and water necessities, 
 streets and sidewalks, from simple mud and sand, 
 with no system of local taxation and no insurance. 
 
 It was not until 1852 that fire insurance com- 
 panies established agencies. All the larger cities 
 without exception suffered from the devastation of 
 fire. San Francisco, especially, was burned and 
 partially destroyed time after time. 
 
 The scanty water supply, contained in a few arti- 
 ficial reservoirs sunk at street corners, would be ex- 
 hausted in an hour. During the summer, with the 
 town fanned by the strong trade winds, any con- 
 flagration was inevitably destructive to the tents 
 
 61 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 and board shelters. Ships, deserted by their crews 
 and anchored in the mud, which gradually mount- 
 ed as the streets were built into the waters, had 
 been transformed into stationary hotels; one even 
 served as a prison. A number of these ships were 
 destroyed, the fires burning sails, shrouds, masts and 
 bulwarks down to the level of the soil in which they 
 lay embedded. The keels made a good foundation 
 for a superstructure of shops and lodging houses, 
 which were rapidly occupied. Years later, in re- 
 moving the upper works to build on the now valu- 
 able locations, keels of once splendid clippers that 
 queened the waves, have been uncovered from the 
 deep soil into which they had sunk. In one of 
 them were found some baskets of champagne, the 
 wine proving delicious to the gourmet, even after 
 thirty-six years' submersion. Good wine may not 
 need a bush but it does require a cover. 
 
 The fire engines of this period were manned by 
 volunteers. Broderick, faithful to his New York 
 instincts, had organized a company of which he was 
 foreman and the nominal distinction remained with 
 the name, though, of course, he relinquished his 
 active association when higher aims intervened. 
 
 Natheless, the state flourished. ]\Iillions and 
 millions of gold were annually extracted and the 
 mining area continually enlarged. In the north 
 half of the state, embracing Shasta and Yreka — 
 regions that possessed only a name in the mission- 
 62 
 
^■j y//^s^w '\ 
 
 Mi - 
 
 
PROGRESS 
 
 ary days — auriterous soils were located. The miners 
 flocked to the new placers, for whatever we may 
 have, we are not content, and the unlaaown always 
 fascinates. But it was a free, happy, merry life 
 for those young men, clad in their red and blue 
 shirts, corduroy trousers and top boots, hither and 
 thither, sleeping beneath the stars and hoping to 
 find a fortune under every stone — in every sylvan 
 glen or in every rivulet that laced the Sierra Ne- 
 vadas. They were forever searching for the un- 
 seen treasure that lay somewhere beneath the soar- 
 ing summits; somewhere within those sunless re- 
 cesses, walled by crags that leap to the clouds. 
 
 After the day's toil came the campfires, near the 
 running waters and under the martial pines. The 
 wild and jocund halloas filled the cafion and were 
 lost surmounting the trees. The beauty of these 
 wild woods where one communes with unviolated 
 nature, refreshes the brain, fills the lungs, and 
 lightens the spirit. The dreamless repose; the 
 carol of the exulting birds; and the awakening 
 slumber shaking from its wings the refreshing dew 
 — such was the beatific existence in those halcyon 
 days, with the delvers searching for the stone of 
 Fortunatus. 
 
 The successful adventurers came to the urban 
 places during the winter; the others built cabins 
 and mined, the rains softening the soil and render- 
 ing it much easier to treat. 
 
 63 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 Presently the splendid resources of the country 
 for agriculture were manifested and people began 
 to cultivate the land. Most of the flour was im- 
 ported from South America and cargoes and car- 
 goes of cereals, coming from New York and foreign 
 lands, were wafted to California shores. 
 
 During the year 1852, five hundred and sixty- 
 eight vessels arrived from abroad in the port of 
 San Francisco, including five hundred and twenty- 
 four American ships. Fancy that proportion to- 
 day! Only one in ten foreign-made or foreign- 
 manned ! 
 
 Gradually the farmer raised many articles of 
 food cheaper and more appetizing than the im- 
 ported kinds, and the old days of speculators buy- 
 ing all of a certain commodity in the market and 
 then doubling the price passed away. Many found 
 it more profitable and, at least, less uncertain than 
 mining, and continued to prosper until gold be- 
 came second in value to other products of the soil. 
 But with this Arcadian similitude, living was cheap 
 both at the mines and in the towns of the seaboard. 
 
 Every miner slung his six shooter at his waist 
 on going out of his abode. In San Francisco in 
 1851 no one was safe from assaults, even on the 
 streets or in his home. Hence every one carried 
 deadly weapons — the revolver or the bowie knife. 
 
 The number of duels and personal encounters 
 was prodigious. From the day they disembarked 
 64 
 
PROGRESS 
 
 the new arrivals found excitement. A month was 
 a year; a week a month. Each day had its own 
 history both for the town and for individuals. The 
 pleasures were restless not tranquil and no one had 
 leisure to be courteous. Perhaps one man calls an- 
 other a liar and, instantly — revolvers, shooting, 
 silence ! The silenced may be an innocent bystand- 
 er rather than the half -drunken reveler. The South 
 Americans and Mexicans favored the bowie knife. 
 It was discreet, and, handled with adroitness and 
 dexterity, might be quicker than the pistol. Brawls 
 occurred nightly. No one was arrested; no one 
 warned, except, perhaps, by his enemy. The prison 
 was a ship, and the police too few and inefficient. 
 But the avenging Vigilance Committee eventually 
 applied to these evils drastic and efficacious reme- 
 dies. 
 
 The commerce of the city enlarged with increas- 
 ing values during the passing years. In new forma- 
 tions one often finds some simple but necessary 
 ingredient lacking, the least valuable and yet most 
 wanting. After one of the usual normal conflagra- 
 tions small tacks were in demand to nail cloth and 
 muslin on wooden partitions. The supply was ex- 
 hausted and they sold as gold, weight for weight 
 — tacks on one side of the scales and gold on the 
 other until nicely balanced. They were like Cru- 
 soe's axe, which was more valuable to him than all 
 his Spanish doubloons. 
 
 65 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 Meanwhile, in the city, better hotels and theatres 
 — buildings of brick and stone — were erected. 
 Streets were excavated from the sand, mud and 
 bogs, paved and sewered. The invisible lots under 
 the water-front were sold on various occasions at 
 auction and the purchasers piled, capped, and 
 built thereon, thereby adding a new quarter. It 
 was by purchasing at these public sales that Brod- 
 erick became wealthy. His avocation of rivaling 
 the alchemists had many competitors, including, at 
 length, the Federal government which established 
 an assay office in San Francisco. 
 
 Foreseeing this result he invested his capital and 
 all he could borrow in water lots. He was a bold 
 man, who was forever daring Chance. 
 
 Though he never "gambled," yet he speculated 
 with his life and future, unlocked and open. These 
 properties increased in value many fold and there- 
 after he experienced no real want of money for his 
 political campaigns. 
 
 Not for a day, not for a moment had he for- 
 gotten his matured resolve to become senator from 
 California. Like the coral insects he labored and 
 built without cessation. Entirely dedicated to am- 
 bition, he did not relax, but placed stone after 
 stone on the temple of his life. 
 
 He was omniscient in all public matters. Was 
 it a committee to send succor to distressed immi- 
 grants — Broderick was chairman. Was it a ques- 
 66 
 
PROGRESS 
 
 tion of a new municipal building for the city — 
 there he was in the familiar plaza, relic of Mexican 
 days, where all gatherings were held, positive, 
 brusque, intolerant, triumphant. He was a most 
 energetic citizen and nothing could daunt his reso- 
 lution. 
 
 Everybody respected him and some liked him. 
 He became more dignified, austere and reserved. 
 The man seemed to grow with the glow of his in- 
 tense mentality. 
 
 It was no longer ''How are you, Dave?" But 
 "How are you, Mr. Broderick?" The press al- 
 ways wrote of him as the ''Hon. D. C. Broderick." 
 Even the roystering firemen, boyhood companions 
 of New York days, who had followed him towards 
 the setting sun, became quiet and considerate in his 
 presence. To preserve and deserve this transition 
 he became studious. 
 
 He had attended school but very little while a 
 boy. His father died when he was fourteen and 
 there were his mother and brother. Books were 
 almost a puzzle to him. His brain was concrete, 
 not abstract; practical, not didactic. His place 
 was in the open, not in the study, or office. So he 
 set himself now to make the new cogs that he felt 
 essential to the wheel of his future. He read and 
 studied night after night in his quiet room, like 
 a school boy preparing for college. It is said 
 that he engaged an apartment distant from his 
 
 67 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 usual domicile, where he spent long hours in ab- 
 sorbing knowledge, the knowledge that books im- 
 part. Certainly there was nothing in his conversa- 
 tion thereafter that betrayed a lack of cultivation. 
 
 He dressed carefully in the ordinary apparel 
 of the merchant or statesman ; black frock coat, vest 
 and tie, with white shirt. Rather an innovation if 
 not an improvement on the red shirt, high boots, 
 corduroy trousers and belted six-shooter of '49. 
 Broderick seldom carried a weapon, by day or 
 night, even when his life was threatened, which 
 was more the observance than the breach. Only 
 cowards go armed. He was strong, active, broad 
 shouldered, a good boxer, and could easily take 
 care of himself with most men. 
 
 In San Francisco he became the dictator of the 
 municipality. His political lessons and observa- 
 tions in New York were priceless. He intro- 
 duced a modification of the same organization in 
 San Francisco with which Tammany has controlled 
 New York for lo ! these many years. 
 
 It was briefly this. At a forthcoming election 
 a number of offices were to be filled ; those of sher- 
 iff, district attorney, alderman, and places in the 
 legislature. Several of these positions were very 
 lucrative, notably that of the sheriff, tax-collector 
 and assessor. The incumbents received no speci- 
 fied salaries, but were entitled to all or a certain 
 proportion of the fees. These fees occasionally 
 68 
 
PROGRESS 
 
 exceeded $50,000 per annum. Broderiek would 
 say to the most popular or the most desirable as- 
 pirant: "This office is worth $50,000 a year. 
 Keep half and give me the other half, which I 
 require to keep up our organization in the city and 
 state. Without intelligent, systematic discipline 
 neither you nor I can win, and our opponents will 
 conquer, unless I have money enough to pay the 
 men whom I may find necessary. If you agree 
 to that arrangement I will have you nominated 
 when the convention assembles and then we will 
 all pull together until after the election." Pos- 
 sibly this candidate dissented, but then someone 
 else consented, and as the town was hugely Demo- 
 cratic his selections were usually victorious. It 
 may be asked, who gave him power and authority? 
 By what right dared he assume this prerogative? 
 What monarch constituted him viceroy and or- 
 dained that he should dictate to the citizens of 
 San Francisco, the men who should rule the city, 
 manage its finances, direct its police, choose its 
 judges and control its schools? Broderiek might 
 have responded in the words of Napoleon when 
 he said that "he found the crown of France in 
 the gutter, picked it up and put it on his head." 
 When he came there was chaos and he created 
 order. There was no party system in the town 
 and he constructed one. It was the beginning and 
 he was perforce the architect. He was also ship- 
 
 69 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 Wright and captain. Yet he never interfered in 
 local affairs nor imdertook to influence the city 
 officials on purel}' civic questions. It was said 
 of him, from the first that he was a citizen of Cali- 
 fornia, and not of any section. For the same 
 methods that were so brilliantly successful — be- 
 cause methodically directed in the city — he intro- 
 duced into the more populous counties. He was 
 as supreme in Sacramento as in San Francisco 
 and in every region of importance he maintained 
 men whose care it was to proselytise Broderick 
 adherents, and above all to select legislative can- 
 didates who would be favorable to his well known 
 and openly avowed candidacy for the senate. These 
 men were paid by Broderick a regular stipend, 
 like employees in a merchandise establishment, 
 when he could find for them no permanent appoint- 
 ment. 
 
 However, from 1854 he was the recipient from 
 Governor Bigler of considerable patronage. Brod- 
 erick, it was said, elected the governor, and the 
 latter liquidated the indebtedness by accepting 
 many of the former's recommendations to state 
 positions. 
 
 This enabled him to provide for a number of 
 retainers. In the city likewise he would stipulate 
 with his party associates or rather subordinates for 
 a certain proportion of their office employees. Thus 
 from these double sources he supplied sustenance 
 70 
 
PROGRESS 
 
 for a number of capable politicians who became 
 his devoted friends and partisans. 
 
 Surely he needed friends to counterpoise the 
 bitter enemies who daily augmented. During this 
 period of his career he displayed but little tact or 
 discretion. He was intolerant, irritating and dog- 
 matic. If one was not with him, why then one 
 was against him. But later, when he found the 
 steps he strove to ascend so steep and slippery, 
 he sought for helping hands wherever proffered and 
 asked and accepted assistance gratefully from 
 whatever source. Broderick has never been ac- 
 cused of personal jobbery. His legislative repu- 
 tation was unblemished. He might be quarrelsome, 
 vindictive and harbor doubtful associates, but he 
 never descended to vulgar venality. The tribute 
 he collected from his official satellites was dis- 
 bursed in promoting the welfare of the party. It 
 was well understood that his personal contribution 
 and expenses largely exceeded his tithes. 
 
 If there was a hall to be engaged, bands of music 
 to be provided, platforms to be erected, banners 
 to be bought, election quarters to be taken, it was to 
 him that they went and he judged, selected, de- 
 cided, and paid. He was omniscient and inde- 
 fatigable. As one of the opposing periodicals 
 said: "Broderick from '52 to '54 was the Demo- 
 cratic party. Since the organization of the party 
 in California he has been its most active and effi- 
 
 71 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 eient member. His strong and decided character 
 is known to every one. Vehement in his nature, 
 unbending in his will, he has the intuitive political 
 sagacity which fits him for the people." 
 
 He required very little personally. He neither 
 drank, smoked nor gambled, nor was his name ever 
 associated with lewd women. Society w^as in em- 
 bryo. He had no vices save one, ambition — if it be 
 a vice — to seek to govern and that, like the rod of 
 Aaron, consumed all others. 
 
 The result of the election in 1853 was disappoint- 
 ing. His friend Bigler was elected governor, but 
 the legislature was of a doubtful complexion. 
 
 That body assembled in Benicia in January, 1854. 
 The term of Gwin, one of the senators, expired 
 in March, 1855, and that of Weller, his colleague, 
 in March, 1857, two years later. The legislature 
 met in January of each year and it was the un- 
 violated custom to elect the senator during the 
 session immediately preceding the expiration of 
 the incumbent's term. This was indeed the pur- 
 port of the Constitution of the United States. 
 
 Gwin's six years expired in March, 1855, so to 
 the legislature assembling in January, 1855, for 
 they were annually chosen, would properly fall the 
 function of selecting his successor. But Broderick 
 from the depths of his restless and fertile brain 
 evolved a bold, novel, and ingenious project. 
 
 The legislature of 1855 would have to be elected. 
 72 
 
PROGRESS 
 
 He did not know how the future would affect his 
 aspirations. One can not see a day ahead; how, 
 then, can one prophesy what fate may bring in the 
 course of a year? He carefully canvassed the 
 members of the '54 body, then in session, and de- 
 cided that his chance for election to the Senate 
 by them was at least equal to that of any other 
 man. 
 
 The first movement was to persuade this legis- 
 lature to elect the senator themselves and for that 
 purpose a measure would have to be passed author- 
 izing such action. So he launched his revolutionary 
 project, and his partisans to a man sustained the 
 proposition. This is not strange as we commence 
 to appreciate his positive force, though it must have 
 caused odd misgivings to some of his followers. 
 But not one faltered. They closed ranks and 
 moved on the common enemy. For every one who 
 was not a Broderickite came together after the first 
 spasm of astonishment and indignation. It was 
 not then a question of party. It was Broderick 
 and anti-Broderick. 
 
 Even the Whigs, who mustered a small num- 
 ber of votes, took sides and were by no means 
 unanimous. Of course, Gwin and Weller, both of 
 whom wished to retain their exalted and dis- 
 tinguished stations, united. They were absent in 
 Washington, but they possessed adroit and capable 
 friends at Benicia. And there were several other 
 73 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 gentlemen who had hopes and aspirations. Broder- 
 ick was not the only statesman who strove to mount 
 the capitol steps. All these combined, formed a 
 phalanx, which, composed as it was of various and 
 incongruous elements, yet valiantly breasted the 
 Broderick array. In the Assembly the measure 
 directing the legislature to elect a United States 
 senator at the session passed, which was a victory 
 for Broderick. It was different in the Senate. 
 
 In that smaller body the aligned forces were 
 more equally matched. The Broderick senators 
 were immovable; like Spartans they never 
 changed. Nothing could alter their devotion, and 
 to a man they never missed a session during a long 
 two months while this bill was on the table. Not 
 one was absent, and they were ever at the behest 
 and command of the cliief for any deed or pur- 
 pose looking to success. 
 
 But with the opposition it was not so unani- 
 mous. They had several chiefs instead of one, 
 and many intrigues of which the Broderick men 
 tried to make capital. 
 
 It is related that one of the opposition senators 
 was invited to ride behind two fine horses driven 
 by a warm friend who was, however, a Broderick 
 partisan. On a level, pleasant road his friend 
 carelessly drove into a ditch and both were slightly 
 injured. After his return our prudent senator 
 reflected and the more he reflected the more pe- 
 74 
 
PROGRESS 
 
 ciiliar he thought the accident. There was to be 
 no "pairing" nor explanations; if a man was not 
 in his seat his vote was not counted, so a very- 
 slight mishap, one that might keep a member to his 
 chamber for only a day, could be disastrous. 
 
 After cogitating, he arose like David and went 
 forth to his friends who locked him in a room, 
 where he was carefully guarded from intrusion or 
 molestation until the hour of voting. The result 
 was a tie, and the lieutenant governor cast his vote 
 affirmatively, thus giving the measure a majority of 
 one. A reconsideration was moved and, according 
 to parliamentary usage, the vote would have to be 
 confirmed at the next session. 
 
 The Santa Clara senator was named Grewell. 
 He had been a clergyman nor did he deny the asser- 
 tion. That he was vacillating and impressionable 
 became, to state moderately in the following re- 
 cital, quite clear. He was a Whig and from char- 
 acter and associations would be naturally anti- 
 Broderick. He was, therefore, ranked with the 
 allies and had hitherto supported them. 
 
 But the Broderick people were vigilant and 
 sleepless. Every senator opposed was taken to the 
 summit of the Mount and there proffered the earth 
 and all contained therein, as a recruit for the 
 standard. One of the most fervent of the Broder- 
 ick contingent, the leading banker of San Francisco, 
 had several private interviews with Grewell. No 
 
 75 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 matter how carefully concealed, very little was done 
 on one side that was not known to the other. The 
 allies reflected. 
 
 Like the boatman in Dumas' novel, who had 
 conversed with "milady" and therefore was no 
 longer safe, Grewell had met the banker and there- 
 fore required surveillance. He lived in San Jose, 
 fifty miles away. A mounted rider was sent on 
 relays of speedy steeds to that place. He arrived 
 at midnight in a pitiless storm, delaying en route 
 only to remount. He brought a letter to the self- 
 appointed anti-Broderick guardian of Grewell. 
 The latter was awakened, placed in a carriage and 
 driven towards Sacramento. Half way, he met 
 another agent who received the consignment from 
 the San Jose cerberus and conveyed it safely to the 
 headquarters of the allies. But the suasive elo- 
 quence of the banker was yet potent, for Grewell, 
 when momentarily unobserved, escaped from his 
 captors and rushed to the realms of the enemy, 
 by whom he was comforted, cherished, and con- 
 fined. 
 
 These events had occupied several days and they 
 included the unavailing pursuit of the allied 
 Grewell cavalcade by Broderick forces, who ascer- 
 tained too late the cause of his sudden and mys- 
 terious disappearance from San Jose. 
 
 Grewell was kept like a precious jewel all that 
 Sunday in the Broderick refuse for the repentant, 
 76 
 
PROGRESS 
 
 and on Monday when the session opened he ap- 
 peared in his seat and voted affirmatively, thus 
 causing a tie. But, as Paul Jones said, the fight 
 was only begun. Both sides possessed champions 
 of resource, artifice, and enterprise, and the allies 
 well knew that if they could re-capture Grewell 
 his uncertain temperament might again be oscil- 
 lated. They sent out scouts who, after quiet but 
 skillful researches over the length and breadth of 
 the town, located the apartment wherein he v/as 
 harbored and guarded by a faithful henchman of 
 Broderick. But the faithful one was known to 
 be quite susceptible to agreeable beverages. He 
 was liberally and quite unsuspectingly supplied 
 by a common friend, who nevertheless represented 
 the allies. 
 
 There seems to have been rapid conversions in 
 those delectable days. At the midnight hour, in 
 stocking feet and pistol in hand, the latest friend 
 stealthily opened the door of the chamber where 
 Grewell and his guileless guardian slept. The 
 latter still slumbered heavily, but Grewell was 
 quietly awakened, told to arise and go forth. He 
 did as bidden, and after a tender and interesting 
 conference with the Whig leader, he entered the 
 Senate at the next session and coolly reversed his 
 vote of the previous day, ascribing his altered atti- 
 tude to ' ' telegraphic despatches ' ' from his constitu- 
 ents. 
 
 77 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 Of such was the nature of California legisla- 
 tures even five lustrums ago. The changing of 
 Grewell's vote caused the failure of the measure 
 and annihilated the darling ambition of Broderick 
 for the time. But, though beaten, he had defied 
 and fought all of whatever rank or party were al- 
 lied against him, and was defeated only then by the 
 relapse of a traitor. I think it was Dean Rich- 
 mond who drank a toast to "the damned rascal 
 who wiU stay bought. " I do not mean to state that 
 Grewell had been corrupted, but a man who so 
 shamelessly and brazenly reversed his action over 
 night subjects his conduct to the worst inferences. 
 
 Among those who stood forward as champions 
 of Broderick were two men who afterward be- 
 came celebrated in other places. One was Stephen 
 J. Field, who died a Justice of the United States 
 Supreme Court. The second was William Walker 
 who, a year or two afterward, endeavored to sub- 
 jugate Central American States, emulating Morgan, 
 but with different success, for the one was ennobled 
 and the other shot. California was then the home 
 of the world's choice spirits. The courage and 
 hardihood which transported them in safety from 
 remote distances to this unknown land still wrought 
 like an Homeric legend and built from nothing 
 this unique factor of the American structure. 
 
 I cannot discover in this initial combat for the 
 throne a division of forces on sectional or racial 
 78 
 
PROGRESS 
 
 lines. It was simply Broderick and anti-Broderick. 
 The Northern and Southern alignment did not ap- 
 pear so strongly until some years later when 
 Broderick was a senator and discussed the national 
 issues that led to the Civil War. 
 
 Broderick 's supporters comprised a number of 
 the most ardent Southerners, and among his most 
 envenomed opponents were several New Yorkers 
 from his own state. The conflict was waged then 
 and for three years more, until his ultimate suc- 
 cess revolved around his individual personality. 
 It must be remembered that he was not the only 
 person that wished to be senator, and all these of 
 course opposed his aspirations. It was one against 
 all and all against one. He openly avowed his 
 candidacy and frankly said that those who would 
 not assist he would regard as enemies. Therefore 
 it can easily be understood that what supporters 
 he had would follow him forever. After this 
 struggle there would be no traitors and there were 
 none. Once a Broderick man, always a Broderick 
 man — against the world. Yet his imperiousness, 
 annoyed and irritated adherents, and his lack of 
 mental equipoise lost associates. He was reproached 
 for not taking counsel with his friends. He said : 
 "I do, but I do not let them control. A leader 
 must lead even if he commits errors. Men will 
 follow the man who decides and acts while others 
 are temporizing. My goal is the Senate and I will 
 
 79 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 arrive, if living. Why," he added, "to sit in the 
 Senate of the United States as a senator for one 
 day, I would consent to be roasted in a slow fire 
 on the plaza." Such fierce resolve wins, as most 
 men win who set their lives to the accomplishment 
 of a certain design. It is energy, persistence, and 
 consistency. 
 
 80 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 CONFLICT 
 
 The state legislature of 1854 ended its days 
 in March of the same year. The state Democratic 
 convention assembled in July, 1854, at Sacramento 
 to nominate candidates for various offices, the elec- 
 tion to be held in the autumn. The Broderick feud 
 had become, by now, the web and warp and woof of 
 the land. It entered into the arcanum of every 
 county, every town, every miners' camp. From 
 the base of Mount Shasta, whose summit, lifted 
 high, eternally guarded its white cerement, to the 
 sea-bound cypresses of Monterey, California, was 
 divided. Several counties held Broderick and anti- 
 Broderick local meetings and elected contesting 
 delegations to the state convention. The ruling law 
 did not permit delegations from districts which 
 were divided to participate in the first deliberations 
 of the convocation. Only those whose seats were 
 not disputed possessed that privilege. Even San 
 Francisco, where Broderick had hitherto reigned 
 with a level hand, sent an opposing delegation, 
 whose claims must be decided by the convention 
 and pending which the members of neither could 
 vote. However Broderick himself as chairman of 
 
 81 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 the state committee would preside at the first ses- 
 sion and entertain preliminary motions. 
 
 Large halls were scarce and a church was chosen. 
 The Broderick men were allowed ingress by a 
 small side door prior to the appointed moment, 
 so that they might occupy the best seats in front. 
 The strategem availed little, however, for the op- 
 posing forces as soon as the broad doors leading 
 into the sacred edifice were thrown apart, rushed 
 in and passing rapidly down the chancel, forced 
 their way bodily to the foot of the pulpit where 
 stood Broderick. After the tumult had partially 
 ceased he addressed the body, declaring the con- 
 vention open and inviting proposals for temporary 
 presiding officer. Two men arose, simultaneously, 
 one of them suggesting a partisan and the other an 
 opponent of Broderick for the position. Broderick 
 recognized his adherent, put his motion, and de- 
 clared Judge Edward McGowan chosen chair- 
 man. But the others were clamoring for recogni- 
 tion, which he declined, declaring his duty fulfilled. 
 Thereupon, one of his enemies, from the chancel 
 of the church, offered a resolution, and after a 
 pandemonium of affirmatives, announced that Gov- 
 ernor McDougall had been also duly elected chair- 
 man. 
 
 Thirty resolute men, armed with knives, der- 
 ringers and revolvers, surrounded and escorted 
 McDougall to the platform near the pulpit and 
 82 
 
CONFLICT 
 
 seated him in a chair, whilst McGowan confronted 
 him from another. Distinguished among the fore- 
 most of the thirty by his tall, slender, straight- 
 backed figure and steady poise stood David S. 
 Terry, whose name later mingled in death with 
 that of Broderick. 
 
 Pistols were uncovered, bowie-knives glittered; 
 every man in the church was alert and intense. 
 Only a miracle prevented a massacre. In that con- 
 fined area each bullet would find a victim. A revol- 
 ver in the hands of a nervous delegate was acci- 
 dentally discharged and both factions only hesitated 
 to learn who had shot, whilst a few prudent war- 
 riors instantly vaulted through stained-glass win- 
 dows, bearing with them the image of God. Brod- 
 erick himself displayed in this fearful hour rare 
 tact, courage and moderation. A person noted more 
 for his skill as a scribe than as a marksman and 
 who many years after constituted himself Brod- 
 erick 's by-no-means profound or impartial biogra- 
 pher, excitedly drew a revolver and with trem- 
 bling hand brandished it before Broderick 's face. 
 "Take care," said the latter, "take care; that might 
 go off and you may hurt someone, ' ' and very delib- 
 erately (he seems never to hurry) he leaned for- 
 ward, wrested the weapon from the palsied grasp 
 and carefully laid it on the table. 
 
 Nevertheless, the angry, tenacious, tumultuous 
 throng remained in sullen conclave for five hours 
 
 83 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 disdaining fruitless efforts to harmonize. Neither 
 wing would tolerate speeches by their opponents. 
 
 Governor Bigler, a Broderick adherent, was 
 hooted and forced from the pulpit platform, while 
 the leading men of the allies were served no better. 
 The two chairmen sat side by side quite helpless 
 in the uproar and darkness, which now came on, for 
 the pastor after vainly imploring them to vacate and 
 not stain the house of God with hot, sinful blood, re- 
 fused lamps and they were perforce content with 
 two dip candles placed on the top of the pulpit. For 
 one side to adjourn first was to confess defeat 
 and grant, to the other, perhaps, nominal claims of 
 legality. Finally, a compromise was effected and 
 the two chairmen with locked arms descended 
 from the platform, proceeded down the aisle and 
 out into the world, followed by the whole conven- 
 tion in the same equitable manner. 
 
 The following day the Broderick battalion and 
 their opponents met separately. Several fruitless 
 and half-hearted attempts at compromise were of- 
 fered but little disposition to unite was evinced. 
 Lilve Orlando they were content to be better stran- 
 gers. In this mood each body selected different 
 candidates for the ensuing election and dissolved. 
 The Whigs, chastened by defeat and encouraged by 
 the venomous division in the ranks of their heredi- 
 tary enemies, put forth an admirable ticket. This 
 party though always in the minority in California 
 84 
 
CONFLICT 
 
 embraced a number of the most reputable and con- 
 servative citizens, many of whom, as members of 
 the Republican party rose later to high distinction 
 in the counsels of the state and nation. But the 
 Democrats, fortified by the federal power, patron- 
 age and forty years of national administration yet 
 divided, like Corsicans as they were, still conquered. 
 The anti-Broderick candidates alone received a 
 larger vote than the Whigs. The Broderick line 
 was badly defeated, but with his usual careful and 
 intelligent combinations Broderick, to whom the 
 legislature was all, the rest nothing, had made such 
 conditions and exchanges for county offices with 
 both Whigs and any or all other adversaries, that 
 his contingent in the legislature was more numerous 
 than the average vote warranted. 
 
 During election day he was at the polls in one of 
 the San Francisco districts. Disputes were fre- 
 quent and the feud vigorous and vindictive be- 
 tween the contending Democrats. Colonel Balie 
 Peyton confronted Broderick and a violent alterca- 
 tion ensued over the ballots. Peyton thrust his 
 hand in his hip pocket and the handle of a pistol 
 appeared. But Broderick, who had his right hand 
 in his trousers' pocket, exclaimed coldly and delib- 
 erately: "Move, Colonel Peyton, and you are a 
 dead man. ' ' Peyton then knew that Broderick had 
 his hand on a derringer which carried an ounce 
 bullet, and which was small enough to be fired from 
 85 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 his pocket without drawing — a most deadly weapon 
 in a street brawl. Peyton stood motionless until 
 Broderick said: "There is no need for us to kill 
 each other or to have a personal difficulty. Let us 
 take a boat on the bay or a walk under the trees 
 and talk over this matter. If we cannot agree then 
 I am ready to fight to the death or to any extent 
 that you may elect." Peji;on consented and a few 
 minutes' conversation apart made them both life- 
 long friends. 
 
 A friend complained to Broderick of turbulent 
 characters who assisted him in elections, but Brod- 
 erick replied: "You respectable people I cannot 
 depend on. You won't go down and face the re- 
 volvers of those fellows and I have to take such 
 material as I can get hold of. They stuff ballot- 
 boxes and steal the tally lists and I have to keep 
 these men to aid me." 
 
 On another occasion Broderick was walking one 
 dark, rainy evening in a street when a person com- 
 ing up behind and mistaking him for a friend, 
 gave him a gentle push. The street was slippery, 
 and the gentle push landed Broderick in no very 
 gentle manner in the mud. He turned angrily and 
 saw one of his most inveterate antagonists. "Oh !" 
 said this startled personage, "I-I-thought it was 
 Benham." "I wish to heaven it M-as," grunted 
 Broderick. The humor of it appealed to both. They 
 laughed, shook hands and ever after entertained 
 86 
 
CONFLICT 
 
 personal if not political amity. This little anec- 
 dote is trifling, but it serves to illustrate the milder 
 degree of his character. As Plutarch says, ''One's 
 lighter and unstudied actions hold a clearer mir- 
 ror to the world." 
 
 When the Solons met in January, 1855, it was 
 very soon ascertained that no one person could 
 command a majority of the legislature for United 
 States senator. The strongest was Senator 
 Gwin, whose term matured in the following March ; 
 but his forces were not so numerous as Broderick's 
 at the previous session when the latter lost by a 
 single vote. 
 
 While Broderick and Gwin were the principal 
 contestants there were other men who would will- 
 ingly wear the toga, and each possessed a certain 
 number of adherents in the legislature. 
 
 These gentlemen at the previous session were 
 all united with Gwin against Broderick. Now with 
 the utmost sincerity and cynical frankness they 
 united with Broderick against Gwin. There is 
 nothing better than modern Republican politics to 
 illustrate the independence, as well as the selfish- 
 ness, of our school. After all, happiness consists 
 in pleasing one's self; in pleasing one's self one 
 may displease others; therefore, happiness is sel- 
 fishness. And so if the recalcitrants were vili- 
 pended by the Gwin advocates, were they not justi- 
 fied? Winston Churchill relates in the life of his 
 
 87 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 father that Lord Randolph, after assisting the 
 Irish party, in the exigencies of time found his 
 friends were on the other side. So he said to Par- 
 nell : " I 've done, as you know, all I could for you. 
 Now, of course, I'll do all I can against you." 
 
 This legislative coalition, guided by the clear 
 brain of Broderick, easily foiled all the efforts of 
 the rest of the Democrats to enter a caucus, in 
 which the decision of the majority would be bind- 
 ing. The Wliigs, who were less numerous than the 
 combined Democrats, were quite ready to do noth- 
 ing towards the election, as the choice could not fall 
 upon a Wliig, and so the session vacuously ended. 
 Gwin's seat in the Senate remained untenanted, and 
 California possessed only Weller to give it voice in 
 that august body. During this session of the Cali- 
 fornia legislature and the one preceding, Gwin was 
 absent in Washington. Congress sat coincidently 
 with the California body, and it was not then con- 
 sidered American or patriotic for a senator to desert 
 Congress while in session, to go home and re-elect 
 himself. Distant as Washington was from Sacra- 
 mento, Gwin's personal management of his cam- 
 paign was made still more difficult. Neither tele- 
 graphs nor railways existed in the far West, and 
 the shortest time by way of steamer to Panama, 
 thence by rail sixty miles to Aspinwall, and thence 
 by steamer to New York, was thirty days. 
 
 I do not find, in a close study of this period, 
 88 
 
CONFLICT 
 
 that any special antagonism existed between Gwin 
 and Broderick. The latter was a candidate for 
 the senatorship, resolute and immovable, confront- 
 ing the world in his determination to win. All 
 who did not aid his upward course were enemies, 
 though he was too clever a statesman to refuse or 
 decline tangible assistance from any source. He 
 was always ready for a bargain, and in the political 
 trades of the day he was seldom worsted. He was 
 by far more successful with individuals than with 
 the public at large. His positive, unyielding per- 
 sonality impressed his associates, but this brusque- 
 ness did not augment his popularity with the 
 people. 
 
 Gwin had been a federal official in Mississippi 
 and came, like others, seeking his fortune. 
 
 He arrived the same month as Broderick and 
 with the same purpose; to return as United States 
 senator from California. And, as a singular coin- 
 cidence, before leaving Washington, he bade fare- 
 well to Stephen A. Douglas, saying: "I leave for 
 California tomorrow. It will become a state, and 
 I shall be back in a year bearing my credentials as 
 United States senator." And he was. Broderick 
 said to Sickles what Gwin repeated to Douglas a 
 month later. The one from the North; the other 
 from the South. Both fulfilled their prophecies 
 and the career of each was equally weird and 
 romantic. 
 
 89 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 Of stately presence, over six feet, with agree- 
 able mien, Gwin possessed the courtly manners of 
 a Southern gentleman. Those things counted for 
 more at that time than today. Education, family, 
 personal associations and surroundings had more 
 weight and consideration. Possibly now it is more 
 the man himself; not his ancestors nor friends nor 
 religion, but himself. Sons of senators become em- 
 ployees in department stores, and railway conduc- 
 tors, sons of artisans and tradesmen become 
 senators. 
 
 Gwin was chosen a San Francisco representa- 
 tive to the body that framed the constitution of 
 the state at Monterey in October, 1849, and the 
 ensuing legislature selected him and Fremont as the 
 two senators. He seems to have been easily first 
 and obtained the coveted distinction without envy 
 or rivalry. By allotment his term expired in 
 March, 1855, and the adjournment of the legis- 
 lature without choosing his successor, left him office- 
 less. During these several years, however, he had, 
 with great diligence and industry, filled the more 
 important federal offices in the state with his per- 
 sonal adherents from the South. 
 
 His colleague Weller, chosen to succeed Fremont 
 in 1851, had not an equal influence or ascendency 
 in Washington. He was a Northern man and the 
 Southern element controlled the government. 
 Gwin's personal acquaintance with the brilliant 
 90 
 
CONFLICT 
 
 galaxy of Southern swiators ruling in Washington 
 added to his power and prestige. But he did not 
 exercise political prudence nor wise statesmanship. 
 His appointees, to a man, were from one section. 
 Postmasters, port collectors, naval officers, apprais- 
 ers, federal attorneys and treasurers, mint em- 
 jdoyees, revenue officials, lighthouse keepers and 
 inspectors were all from the happy Southland. The 
 San Francisco Customs was called the "Virginia 
 Poor-IIouse." If he had been as great a senator 
 as office philanthrophist his renown would be endur- 
 ing. Senator Jones of Nevada used to say that 
 "for one friend you make in appointments you 
 create five enemies." So given enough appoint- 
 ments and one's enemies will surely overwhelm one. 
 
 The ideals and struggles that culminated in the 
 Civil War were only latent in California in 1855, 
 but still the complete predominance of the South- 
 ern element in office w^as irksome and irritating to 
 many of the Northerners, and to none so much as 
 to Broderick, the leading aggressive, enterprising 
 Northerner. 
 
 Gwin had also fought his duel in recognition of 
 sanctified precepts. It was in 1853, with an ex- 
 member of Congress, McCorkle. The duellists 
 fought, armed with rifles. They stood back to back 
 forty yards from each other and, at the command 
 of one of the seconds, wheeled and fired. After 
 three exchanges, in which neither one was hit, 
 
 91 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 the combat ended. McCorkle was little and 
 Gwin big, a fact that caused General Harry 
 "Worthington to exclaim, several years afterwards, 
 when requested by his mentor, Broderick, to vote, 
 as a member of the legislature, for IMcCorkle for 
 some position: "I'll do nothing of the kind. A 
 man who couldn't hit old Gwin at forty yards in 
 three shots with a rifle isn't fit for any place within 
 the gift of American freemen." Which illustrates 
 the doubtful amenities that come with the years. 
 
 In July, 1855, the Democrats, under the immi- 
 nent pressure of danger, came together. Through 
 overtures made by Broderick, who could not win 
 with his slender cohorts, they met, harmonized and 
 nominated candidates for the autumn elections. 
 
 But a new contestant for political laurels 
 appeared. 
 
 Two principal political organizations existed in 
 the state. Democrats and Whigs, the former 
 largely outnumbering the latter. In fact, the 
 Whigs had never gained a victory. The Know- 
 Nothing, or American Party organization, which 
 was born in a day, proclaimed as its chief tenet 
 and doctrine rescission of voting rights from for- 
 eigners. It demanded that no naturalized citizen 
 should hold office, and it impliedly proscribed the 
 Roman Catholic religion whose devotees were large- 
 ly Irish. 
 
 It began in the New England states and appar- 
 92 
 
CONFLICT 
 
 ently found fruitful soil for its principles in Cali- 
 fornia, The new party swallowed the Whigs at 
 one mouthful, and made a second meal of many 
 Democrats, for the membership must come from 
 the other parties, it having no previous exist- 
 ence. Like a besom or a pestilence, or a fire or a 
 sirocco, it swept the state in October, electing the 
 entire ticket, including the governor and a ma- 
 jority of the legislature. All this, notwithstanding 
 that their ticket was not advertised in the press or 
 at public meetings or placarded throughout the 
 country. 
 
 Absolutely no public announcement of the Know- 
 Nothing candidates was made. Even on election 
 day there were no men at the polling precincts 
 distributing election ballots and advocating their 
 choice, as was customary with the other parties. 
 
 The candidates and proceedings were unknown 
 as the doings of the Druids. Whilst orators de- 
 claimed over the state, of the benefit to the common- 
 wealth that would follow the adoption of the ab- 
 stract and morbid doctrines the Know-Nothing 
 platform demanded, yet not one avowed his can- 
 didacy. It was like asking an army to fight with- 
 out commanders. 
 
 The able men who hitherto directed the state's 
 destinies realized that an organization which pro- 
 scribed a numerous section of American citizens 
 
 93 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 and yet dared not avow its leadership could only 
 be ephemeral. 
 
 Like Rothschild with Napoleon, they gave it 
 only a hundred days. Both friends and enemies 
 of Broderick joined the exotic, and the struggle 
 between them continued under the new banner. 
 When the session of 1856 opened the Know-Noth- 
 ings had a majority and might therefore elect a 
 senator. But this majority included a number of 
 former Democrats who still cherished secret devo- 
 tion and allegiance to the old party that had gov- 
 erned the nation so wisely these many years. Few 
 believed in the permanency of the new dogmas. 
 This doubt was augmented by the exposure of 
 large and numerous defalcations committed by sev- 
 eral of the lately chosen state officials. It was 
 written that "they began the day after induction." 
 
 The conflict of 1854 had its repetition. The 
 struggle with Broderick then was to induce the 
 Senate and Assembly to meet in joint convention. 
 It was carried in the Assembly and only lost in 
 the Senate by one vote, the one vote that prevented 
 him from mounting the throne three years earlier 
 than he did. Now, in 1856, Broderick 's purpose 
 was to prevent the Know-Nothing legislature from 
 assembling in joint convention, and again a com- 
 fortable majority existed in the Assembly and a 
 minute majority in the Senate. 
 
 His deadly Democratic senatorial opponents in- 
 94 
 
CONFLICT 
 
 structed all their legislative friends to blindly 
 obey the behests of Broderick, and then quietly 
 went about their business. They knew by repeated 
 experience his pre-eminent ability to handle con- 
 ventions of this character. And again I must add 
 that Gwin was not his only rival and therefore ally. 
 
 Latham and McDougall were distinctly recog- 
 nized as men of strength. Both had been members 
 of the House of Representatives, both had served 
 the state well and both brooked no one's patronage 
 or suzerainty. After Broderick's death Latham 
 became governor and senator, so he was made of 
 winning material. In the end, Broderick, who never 
 left Sacramento for one single day or night dur- 
 ing the session, triumphed, and the legislature ad- 
 journed for the third time without choosing a suc- 
 cessor to Gwin, whose seat still remained cold. 
 
 Judge David S. Terry who, it will be remem- 
 bered, was a violent opponent of Broderick in the 
 Democratic convention of the preceding year, re- 
 nounced his early beliefs and joined the Know- 
 Nothings. His reward, in the variegated wave that 
 swept them on the sands of success, was election 
 to the important and dignified position of Justice 
 of the Supreme Court of the state of California. 
 He assumed the supreme ermine on January 1, 
 1856, the term being for four years. 
 
 95 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 The law of nature, the primordial law which 
 precedes civil law and civilization, is the law of 
 self-preservation. A community or a nation at- 
 tacked defends itself. Why not a man ? And if it 
 comes to killing, why not kill rather than be killed 1 
 When the constituted tribunals of a land fail or 
 neglect to fulfill or accomplish the purpose for 
 which they were created, society is resolved into its 
 first elements and some new method must be 
 adopted to preserve its existence. 
 
 Opinions may vary as to the special occasion, 
 epoch or necessity when the ordinary processes 
 of justice, when formal law and legal courts be- 
 come incompetent and inoperative, and when a 
 community is warranted in adopting novel and 
 extraordinary measures for its safety and the 
 safety of its units, but that that right exists, though 
 dormant, is established by the love of life and the 
 right to live. What civilized nation exists today 
 that did not commence its history with violence 
 and the overthrow of settled customs and ordi- 
 nances? What one so wise and sedate as to be 
 content to mark time? That comes with age. But 
 
 96 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 youth is turbulent, unruly and careless. And this 
 abundant and abounding youth far away in dis- 
 tant California chafed under ancient fetters and 
 harked back to the savage days, when men like 
 animals, fought and slew for very love of blood. 
 
 A promiscuous habit of carrying weapons in- 
 creased this tendency. When D'Artagnan and his 
 compeers wore swords daily combats were the mode, 
 and the Californian with revolver at the belt, 
 was ever prepared with a quick eye and ready 
 finger. 
 
 In the beginning there were no laws, and later 
 those chosen as legal expounders were often venal 
 and inefficient. In early mining camps every one 
 except the gamblers labored more or less diligently 
 in actually excavating for gold, and seldom was 
 an occurrence so grave as to require a legal tri- 
 bunal and advocates. Some elderly personage was 
 usually selected as alcalde, a species of governing 
 official, but his duties were not onerous. The gam- 
 bler's toil began with eventide, but if not deemed 
 an honest gamester, for it seems there were such, 
 he was told by the alcalde to leave, and he went. 
 
 Those three first years in the gold regions, from 
 '48 to '51, were Arcadian. The best, most capable 
 and most intelligent young men of the world 
 labored skilfully and patiently in the building of 
 the state; but in San Francisco, the heart of this 
 western world, the years brought changes for the 
 
 97 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 worse. The British had established a penal colony 
 in Australia, to which they sent felons from home. 
 In time the sentences of many convicts terminated 
 and others were granted tickets of leave. It was 
 much easier and shorter to sail from Botany Bay 
 to San Francisco than to the old country, and then 
 there was the lure of gold. These gentry descended 
 on the town like vampires and found congenial 
 associates in various members of the Latin race 
 from Mexico and South America. 
 
 Robbery and assassination prospered. Arson 
 was aristocratic. Several of the large fires that 
 devastated the city during this epoch were ascribed 
 to incendiarism. The courts — well, the courts and 
 lawyers helped to protect, not to punish, vice. Be- 
 sides, the prison was insecure and inadequate, and 
 the police few and incapable. These misfortunes 
 are perhaps unavoidable in new communities, where 
 no one admits a master, but yet is so only with 
 us Americans. It was not thus with the British, 
 either in Australia or in the Klondike. We have 
 the same laws, but with us the tribunals are 
 superior to them ; with the British the tribunals 
 obey the laws and do not override them. 
 
 The citizens of San Francisco, foreseeing anarchy 
 and pillage, determined on a very grave and seri- 
 ous innovation, which was, to supersede the imbecile 
 courts, execute the criminal laws themselves, and 
 practice terrible experiments in the punishment of 
 98 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 assassins. In June, 1851, a certain number of mer- 
 chants, always the backbone of the town, banded 
 tofjjetlicr and evolved an orj^anization wlii<!h was 
 called The Cominittee of Vigilance, tlie first, I be- 
 lieve, ever invoked in an Anglo-Saxon community to 
 protect life and property whilst the law was perish- 
 ing. This is the beginning of their declaration : 
 
 "Whereas, it has become apparent to the citi- 
 zens of San Francisco that there is no security for 
 life and property, either under the regulations of 
 society, as it at present exists, or under tiie law, as 
 now administered ; 
 
 "Therefore, the citizens wliose names are hiwe- 
 unto attaciied do unite tlieiiisclves into an associa- 
 tion for the niaintcnaiice of tlu! peace; and good 
 order of society and the prciservation of the lives 
 and |)r()p(!rty of the citizinis of San Francisco, and 
 do hind themselves, each unto tlie other, to do and 
 ])erform every lawful act for the maintcinance of 
 law and order and to sustain the laws when faith- 
 fully and properly administered; but we are de- 
 termined that no bui'glar, incendiary or assassin 
 shall escape j)unishment, either by the quibbles of 
 the law, the inscicurity of prisons, the carelessness 
 or corruption oL" tlie ])()liee, or laxity of those who 
 pretend to admin isi(!i; justice!. And to secure the 
 obje(!ts of this association we do hereby agree: 
 
 "That the luuue and style of the association 
 shall be the Connnittee of Vigilance, for the pro- 
 99 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 tection of the lives and property of the citizens 
 and residents of the City of San Francisco. ' ' 
 
 These brave words somehow recall the Declara- 
 tion of Independence. There were other provisions 
 providing for rooms, organization, equipment and 
 sustenance, inviting every respectable and approved 
 citizen to become a member, and finally averring 
 that the action of a majority of the committee 
 should be binding upon all, and pledging unquali- 
 fied support to the committee "at the hazard of 
 their lives and fortunes. ' ' Within a week a ' ' Sj^d- 
 ney Cove" was captured in the commission of a 
 felony. 
 
 He was tried in the rooms of the committee by a 
 jury and judge fashioned from their own member- 
 ship. He was allowed an attorney, the right to 
 testify and to call witnesses. The jury of sixty 
 found him guilty, sentenced him to death, and he 
 was hanged two hours later on the plaza, in the 
 presence of the whole town. 
 
 A month afterward they hanged another ex- 
 convict from Australia who had committed and 
 confessed to many murders. He was executed at 
 the foot of Market street on the stroke of twelve, 
 the Vigilantes forming an armed escort of a 
 thousand stern and just judges. In August two 
 more malefactors, who had confessed, were sus- 
 pended by the neck at the corner of Battery and 
 Bush streets, in full view of thousands, whose 
 100 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 somber silence and fixed, resolute mien during the 
 deliberate preparations for the execution appalled 
 an English wanderer. He said they did not seem 
 like men, but judges sent by Osiris from the nether 
 world, so stern and implacable was their expression. 
 
 Thus four were put to death, but only for crimes 
 committed after the committee's organization. They 
 let the law deal, if it would, with the many untried 
 criminals in the jails before their appearance, but 
 they were unyielding in punishing, if they could 
 not prevent the commission of crimes during their 
 existence. 
 
 The municipal officials did nothing; they were 
 helpless, and no one either pitied or trusted them, 
 for justice never cleansed their venal hands. 
 
 In August, before the last hangings, the gov- 
 ernor of the state issued a proclamation asking all 
 good citizens to sustain public law and tranquillity, 
 aid public officers in discharge of their duty and to 
 discontinue any attempt to substitute the despotic 
 control of a self -constituted association, unknown, 
 and acting in defiance of the laws, in place of the 
 regularly organized government of the country. 
 
 To this the Vigilantes replied : ' ' We, the under- 
 signed, do hereby aver that the present Governor 
 McDougall asked to be introduced to the executive 
 committee of the Committee of Vigilance, which 
 was allowed and an hour fixed. The governor, upon 
 being introduced, stated that he approved the acts 
 101 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 of the committee, and that much good had taken 
 place. He hoped that they would go on and en- 
 deavor to act in concert with the authorities, and 
 in case any judges were guilty of mal-administra- 
 tion to hang them and he would appoint others." 
 There was a governor ! 
 
 Hang the judges! But that millenium has not 
 even yet arrived. His proclamation was necessary, 
 as head of the state, but there was no question of his 
 sjTnpathies and convictions as a citizen of the com- 
 monwealth. Their work was done. Not a killing, 
 save those for which they hanged the killers, had 
 occurred in three months in the city. 
 
 Many rascals had fled the town, some leaving the 
 state and some going into the interior. There was 
 less arson, less robbery and gambling. People dared 
 to walk the streets at night. 
 
 The officers awoke from their lethargy. Justice 
 was no longer blind or leaden-heeled. Trade in- 
 creased and new edifices multiplied. 
 
 The Vigilance Committee of 1851 ceased to act, 
 but the association never formallj^ dissolved. The 
 membership roster was retained and the officers 
 guarded their designations. Like the sleeping 
 Swiss, they awaited the next call to arms, which 
 came five years later. For, though the action of the 
 Vigilantes rendered criminals less popular for a 
 period, the old conditions began presently to recur. 
 
 During the first half of the decade serious doubts 
 102 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 as to the permanency of the gold deposits existed. 
 In 1854 a marked diminution of the product oc- 
 curred, and properties of all descriptions declined 
 excessively in value. It was not until the next 
 year, when new, rich and large placers in Shasta 
 and Siskiyou counties were unearthed that the bird, 
 Confidence, returned. 
 
 Miners, especially, were like Arabs, roving from 
 gorge to gorge, seeking more lucrative deposits. Few 
 claims lasted more than a year at best, and then 
 the search for others continued. The alluvial soils 
 containing gold were quickly exhausted. The era 
 of quartz mines and mills had not yet commenced. 
 Hence their relative permanency was unknown. 
 
 People wandered, therefore, from one camp to 
 another, giving rise to a turbulent and fluctuating 
 population. Possessed of no interest in the soil, 
 and very often penniless, with a distant memory of 
 moral restraint and little dread of the weak forces 
 of authority, they were exposed to strong tempta- 
 tion. After the Thirty Years' War a large pro- 
 portion of the disbanded soldiery became bandits. 
 There was no other similar occupation. 
 
 To California in the early years came the cream 
 of the world, but it was followed by the dregs of 
 the world. Men whose careers were ended at home, 
 whose names spelled vice and debauchery ; who had 
 run the race and were marked and known in the 
 eastern states ; in a word, those whose records were 
 103 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 not clean and whose hopes were ended, came to this 
 alluring land on the western sea to forget and to 
 live anew. The newcomer was never asked his name 
 and address. He told what he pleased and it was 
 accepted. Men have lived in partnership for 
 months, digging the same mine, living in the same 
 cabin, sleeping in the same cot and finally separ- 
 ated without one knowing either the true name or 
 antecedents of the other. It was the way of the 
 mines and pleasant, genial, faithful comradeship 
 for the time. If they met again why well and 
 good, if not, the parting had been agreeable. 
 
 There was another picture in the state gallery. 
 The Saturday night and Sunday wassail. Gamblers 
 had become an integral portion of every prosperous 
 mining hamlet. With their shaven faces, white 
 linen and expensive jewelry they stood out from 
 the honest worker as a wolf among honest dogs. 
 Games of many varieties with cards flourished, and 
 the gamekeeper w^as an expert ; otherwise he failed 
 at his trade. All labor in the mines ceased from 
 Saturday afternoon to Monday morning, and the 
 gold that had been mined during the week was taken 
 on Saturday to the little town. Armed with this 
 universal weapon which he had gathered from a 
 week 's grinding, laborious toil in water and mud at 
 the bottom of dangerous shafts the happy, careless, 
 reckless miner would meet the professional and 
 play. Drinking, cursing, gambling, kniving, shoot- 
 104 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 ing, all follow in normal seqnence. Sometimes it is 
 the gambler, more often the miner, for the former 
 never drinks on duty and is as ready with the re- 
 volver as with the cards. Like the Egyptians who 
 buried their dead in ground useless for any other 
 purpose, the miners always devoted Sundays to in- 
 quests. If it was the gambler it was "justifiable 
 self-defense." The coroner took charge of his 
 effects, sold the card paraphernalia and retained 
 the whole for fees and funeral expenses. If it was 
 the miner the gambler was sometimes ordered out 
 of town and sometimes he was hanged. It de- 
 pended upon the mood of the miners and the 
 standing of the dead man. What of the 
 courts and lawyers? The judges and satellites 
 would be in session at the county seat and the 
 miners saved them exertion and the county expense. 
 The gambler would repair to another camp, but 
 killing is not a vocation to be commended, for one 
 knows and remembers. He would be shunned, few 
 would pay tribute to his talents, and he well knew 
 that in an affray he would be given no chance unless 
 he shot first. 
 
 Yet he must live and he would not work. So he 
 took to robbing cabins, sluice-boxes and stage- 
 coaches. The last was the boldest, most dangerous 
 and chivalrous occupation of all and commanded 
 everyone's admiration except that of the passen- 
 gers. For one man to stop a four-horse coach 
 105 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 in the open, rob the dozen travelers — most of 
 whom had revolvers in their belts, whilst the rob- 
 ber carried his revolver in his hand — equalled 
 the exploits of England's most doughty highway- 
 men. 
 
 Throughout the gold fields the Vigilance Com- 
 mittee of San Francisco of 1851 had follow- 
 ers and exemplars. Lynch law prevailed, but the 
 culprit was always tried patiently and equitably, 
 and was hanged only when the twelve jurymen, 
 under oath, as in the rounded legal chamber, so 
 decided and agreed. 
 
 These men said: "After all, what difference 
 exists between the first trial by jury and the lynch 
 execution among a colony of men living far from 
 civilization? Was the peace of a community of 
 honest men to be disturbed by unpunished crime 
 and bloodshed, when, from circumstances, the law of 
 their country was unable to protect them ? ' ' These 
 and similar questions formed the basis of the argu- 
 ment in defense of lynch law in the mountains. 
 And it must be added that the fear as well as the 
 reality of lynch law was beneficial. In several 
 localities public indignation was confined to order- 
 ing unsavory characters to leave camp in twenty- 
 four hours, and the command was rarely disobeyed. 
 Driven with ignominy from the mountains and val- 
 leys a proportion of these wastrels drifted to the 
 metropolis, wicked with vile and vicious thoughts, 
 106 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 engendered by their expulsion. They joined the 
 city bands of ruffians and marauders, and little 
 by little the old horrors of violence, arson, robberies 
 and murders recommenced. Every morning there 
 was ' ' a man for breakfast. ' ' 
 
 The old delays, the old tribunals; perjury, quib- 
 bles and technical errors ; corrupt and dense prose- 
 cutors; ignorance and venality leading the jury; 
 misunderstood and misapplied laws ; life itself, and 
 freedom again to continue the course of rapine and 
 murder were once more the privileges of the de- 
 lighted criminal. 
 
 On November 18, 1855, occurred the Cora-Rich- 
 ardson affair. One must be careful of the dates in 
 describing these tragedies, like those that marked 
 the French Revolution. Napoleon always said that 
 the eighteenth Brumaire was one of the most poten- 
 tial days in his career. Cora and Richardson 
 met by hazard in a saloon. They were mutally 
 presented and drank several times together, finally 
 separating after a quarrel, in which neither was 
 blameless, as is usual when Bacchus intervenes. 
 The following day they again encountered one an- 
 other in the same place; another dispute ensued; 
 they went outside, scuffled, and Cora shot Richard- 
 son through the heart. The coroner's jury — impan- 
 eled the next day — in session over the dead body, in 
 the presence of which they examined Cora and 
 other witnesses, reported unanimously that Rich- 
 107 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 ardson "was deprived of his life by Cora, and from 
 the facts produced, the jury believe that the said 
 act was premeditated and that there was nothing 
 to mitigate the same." Every juror signed this 
 report. 
 
 General Richardson was a distinguished citizen 
 of the state. Coming to California in the '49 
 hegira he had resided there continuously; always 
 active in public affairs; was esteemed and re- 
 garded. When killed he was United States mar- 
 shal, a promotion awarded only to the best. 
 
 Charles Cora, an Italian, was a professional 
 gambler and consorted openly with the keeper of 
 a bagnio. The two men were antithetical in career 
 and character. They represented two diverse 
 classes in the city, the man and the man-killer. 
 The crime loomed large amid the conventional mur- 
 ders and the whole town was amazed and terrified. 
 
 The trial took place two months later. Because 
 of the tense and continued excitement the usual 
 interminable delays were abridged. Cora was sur- 
 rounded by the most brilliant array of counsel that 
 money could hire. Colonel E. D. Baker was one 
 of them. This same Baker, who afterward pro- 
 nounced the classic discourse over the slain Brod- 
 erick, became senator from Oregon and died facing 
 the foe while leading his men in a thrilling charge, 
 full against the enemy, at Ball's Bluff! And yet 
 108 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 this same Baker defended Cora, the pander, the 
 gambler, the deliberate murderer! 
 
 What will not lawyers do for money? There 
 was a veiled, floating legend that Baker at first 
 accepted a generous fee from the woman, and that, 
 shortly afterward, recognizing the universal pub- 
 lic attention concentrated on the case and the oblo- 
 quy he might encounter, he endeavored to with- 
 draw, but she refused to take back the money and 
 he was compelled to continue. There was another 
 saying prevalent at the same time that a San Fran- 
 cisco advocate stopped at nothing to save his crim- 
 inal client except committing the same crime. 
 
 The jury disagreed after forty-one hours' con- 
 finement and was dismissed. These are the com- 
 ments of a city journal on the day following: 
 
 "Men were placed upon that jury who should 
 never have been there. They went upon it in order 
 to defeat the ends of justice, in other words, to 'tie' 
 the jury. This they effectually did. It is not 
 pleasant for us to comment upon the depravity 
 which has been brought to light in the trial. It is 
 not very agreeable to state that the conviction is 
 almost universal, that crime cannot be punished in 
 San Francisco. 
 
 ''But it is, nevertheless, a duty which we owe 
 
 to the public community, as journalists, to put the 
 
 people upon their guard. It is well for every man 
 
 to understand that life here is to be protected at 
 
 109 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 the muzzle of the pistol. The best man in San 
 Francisco may be shot down tomorrow by some ruf- 
 fian who does not like what he has said or done; 
 yet the chances are an hundred to one that that ruf- 
 fian will escape punishment. He may go through 
 the farce of a trial, but nothing more. Now, what 
 is to be the end of this ? Crime will become so fre- 
 quent that it cannot be longer endured. Then will 
 come lynch law, then men even suspected of crime 
 will be hung ; for people cannot long live as things 
 are now running. No man's life is safe, in our 
 opinion, for a single moment." 
 
 This publication, four months preceding the 
 birth of the 1856 Vigilance Committee, evidences 
 clearly the trend of public opinion. It was not 
 sudden nor spasmodic. It was coming, deadly and 
 terrible, if crime continued. What people thought 
 in the East may be perused in this excerpt from a 
 New York periodical of January, 1856 : 
 
 "Assassinations, murders and hangings consti- 
 tute the leading materials of the budget of news in 
 San Francisco. First, we are told that General 
 W. H. Richardson, United States marshal for the 
 Northern District of California, was basel}^ assassi- 
 nated in the streets of San Francisco on the even- 
 ing 01 November 19 by a desperado named Charles 
 Cora. Then, that Hon. Isaac B. Wall, collector of 
 the port of Monterey, and T. S. Williamson, an 
 officer of the county of Monterey, were murdered 
 110 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 on the 10th inst. Then we have duels and robbery 
 eases innumerable. The papers devote large space 
 to the particulars of these horrors, showing a state 
 of things, especially in San Francisco, which car- 
 ries one back to the days of vigilance. The provo- 
 cation to hang the murderer of General Richard- 
 son was very strong, but the good sense of the 
 better portion of the people overcame the passion 
 of the moment and induced them to await the 
 proper judicial tribunal. It is surprising to see 
 in what a matter-of-fact, business-like way the Cali- 
 fornia editors post the books of their criminal cal- 
 endar. Here, for instance, is a recapitulation of 
 the statistics of killings and hangings from the 1st 
 of January last to date : 
 
 1st 2nd 3rd 
 Quar. Quar. Quar. Oct. Total 
 
 Total killed 120 99 208 62 489 
 
 Hung by sheriff. .2 2 2 6 
 
 Hung by mob.... 8 14 18 6 46 
 
 ' ' Horrible ! Horrible ! Total killed in only ten 
 months, 489; hung 52. Kentucky must give up 
 the name of the 'dark and bloody ground' — which 
 is simply a traditional Indian nomenclature — 
 while here is ghastly reality in California. ' ' 
 
 The New York scribe might have added that for 
 the 489 murdered men the sacred law had only 
 punished six of the 489 assassins ! 
 
 It is true the miners were industrious. They did 
 111 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 fairly well, hanging forty-six wretches; but they 
 could not do everything. 
 
 And so the scroll remained. After the mis- 
 trial of Cora he was committed to prison. It was 
 thought best by those who aided him to let several 
 months expire before agitating for a second trial. 
 They counted on the proverbial forgetfulness by 
 the many of that which coneerna the many. Ob- 
 livion companions time. Nevertheless, the fashion- 
 ableness of crime had somewhat abated. The 
 slaughter of Richardson had evoked such openly 
 expressed exclamations of fierce resentment that 
 scoundrels were cowed. But this resentment was 
 restrained by the deep feeling of regard and respect 
 for the laws and welfare of the city, by men who 
 hesitated to usurp the functions of justice and 
 who quietly waited. 
 
 James King of William, a Virginian, was one 
 of the early pioneers, and joined the Vigilantes of 
 1851, already portrayed. Like others who came 
 to seek fortune, he had engaged in different occu- 
 pations, including banking. 
 
 The bank of which he was manager failed and 
 he was directly censured. But that was a misfor- 
 tune and not a crime. Possessed of some literary 
 acumen and a disdain and contempt for those who 
 disturbed the city's reputation and tranquillity, he 
 thought that an honest newspaper might exist. 
 
 With slender resources, obtained from friends, 
 112 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 he established the Evening Bulletin, which still 
 flourishes, without change of appellation. His 
 sharp, sarcastic paragraphs, clarity of statement, 
 and the vigor and vehemence with which he daily 
 assailed public wrongs and their perpetrators made 
 both editor and journal marked and distinct above 
 others. Included in .these others was a weekly 
 paper owned and published by James P. Casey. 
 These two men represented the two moral and polit- 
 ical extremes. 
 
 On a Sunday Casey's journal printed an article 
 from an anonymous contributor. The article related 
 that King's brother had vainly sought a fed- 
 eral office, the one, in fact, held by General Richard- 
 son at his death, and that he had been ignominiously 
 repulsed. Meanwhile, King was daily attacking 
 the federal brigade and asserting their active or 
 silent co-operation with the blackguards of the city. 
 
 King's brother went to Casey's office, denied the 
 statement and demanded the author's name. Casey 
 refused, truculently adding that he held himself 
 responsible. A day or two later Casey heard that 
 James King had ascertained some unpleasant de- 
 tails of his career and contemplated publishing 
 them. He repaired to the Bulletin office and re- 
 monstrated with King, but the latter give him slight 
 recognition. The same evening: the Bulletin con- 
 tained a statement, from whicb the annexed is an 
 extract. 
 
 113 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 "The fact that Casey has been an inmate of Sing 
 Sing prison in New York is no offense against the 
 laws in this state; nor is the fact of his having 
 stuffed himself through the ballot-box, as elected to 
 the Board of Supervisors from a district where it 
 is said he was not even a candidate, any justifica- 
 tion why Mr. Bagley should shoot Casey; however 
 richly the latter may deserve having his neck 
 stretched for such fraud on the people." Strong 
 provocation surely; but hardly a killing matter, 
 when it was true ! The evil that men do lives with 
 them as well as after them. 
 
 Casey after reading the paper lurked in the 
 vicinity of King's office until the latter departed 
 for home. Casey suddenly confronted King on the 
 street near by and shot him. The latter sank to the 
 ground mortally wounded. 
 
 Casey was arrested and incarcerated. It was five 
 in the afternoon, when the thoroughfares were 
 crowded, and the appalling intelligence was direct- 
 ly known. 
 
 The similarity both in characters and circum- 
 stances raised the cries: "Another Cora and 
 Richardson affair," "More hung juries and less 
 hung men," "He will get clear if the officers keep 
 him." 
 
 With one brain and action, as if in telepathic con- 
 cert, maddened men ran to the city prison ; but the 
 heavy outside iron doors leading to the halls were 
 114 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 closed and locked, and the inner station was guard- 
 ed and barricaded. King was too severely hurt 
 to be transferred to his residence. He was ten- 
 derly raised, carefully placed on a cot, hurried 
 to the nearest office, and in thirty minutes five 
 of the best physicians in town were at the bedside, 
 fighting death. Around the building where he 
 rested thronged a sorrowing multitude whose sym- 
 pathy was soon changed to violent frenzy when the 
 medical men stated the gravity of the wound, while 
 cries of : " Let us organize and hang him ! hang all 
 the gamblers!" terrified the air. Darkness came 
 and the authorities, fearing a night attack on the 
 city prison, planned to remove Casey to the stronger 
 county jail on Broadway. A carriage was osten- 
 tatiously brought to the main entrance, and while 
 the populace watched and waited, he was quietly 
 removed by a side door, pushed into a conveyance, 
 a pistol thrust into either hand and, drawn by 
 speedy and strong horses, dashing up the steep 
 incline, the prisoner was made safe in his new 
 cell before the manoeuvre could be detected and 
 thwarted. Ten thousand desperate men surged 
 and seethed all night around the solid prison walls 
 like storm-tossed waves dashing on an island light- 
 house. The policemen, aided by two city troops hast- 
 ily summoned from their quarters, mustered a force 
 of three hundred, who kept guard in the jail and 
 patrolled the walls. A woman hard by was asked 
 115 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 to provide food for them, but she hotly refused 
 and not one of the neighboring residents would 
 furnish shelter or coffee to the defenders of "law 
 and order." 
 
 It was a fearful night and there might have been 
 a massacre had the fates so willed. Every building 
 in the vicinity was alive with humanity, and the 
 thrilling and exciting scenes exceeded any occur- 
 rence during the old Vigilance Committee era. 
 The mayor endeavored to address the people from 
 the jail steps, saying : ' ' Let the law have its course 
 and justice will be done." But they replied: 
 "Look at the case of poor Richardson. How is 
 it in his case? Where is Cora now? Down on 
 such justice. Let us hang him ! ' ' Unable to 
 secure a hearing he retired. Cora must have heard 
 these fearful demands from his cell near by, which 
 he had restlessly trodden for six months. The ru- 
 mor that King's condition was somewhat alleviated 
 and that the doctors were more hopeful, tranquil- 
 lized the impatient mass and the night closed in 
 quiet, waiting for the day. 
 
 116 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE CONTINUED 
 
 The next morning a call appeared in the press 
 for a meeting of citizens at IO51/2 Sacramento 
 street, in the quarters lately occupied by the 
 Native American party. During the day a thou- 
 sand men signed the roster of the committee and 
 sanctioned the adoption of a constitution. This 
 document was a repetition of the one under which 
 the Vigilantes of five years earlier acted. 
 
 It embraced several additional provisions to pro- 
 vide for the present emergencies. For example: 
 "that the action of this body shall be entirely and 
 vigorously free from all consideration of or parti- 
 cipation in the merits or demerits, or opinions, or 
 acts of any and all sects, political parties or section- 
 al divisions in this community; and every class of 
 orderly citizens, of whatever sect, party or nativity, 
 may become members of this body. No discussion 
 of political, sectional or sectarian subjects shall be 
 allowed in the rooms of the association. That no 
 person accused before this body shall be punished 
 until after fair and impartial trial and conviction. 
 No vote inflicting the death penalty shall be binding 
 117 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 unless passed by two thirds of those present and 
 entitled to vote." 
 
 This thousand embraced the principal merchants 
 and professional men, those best known for charac- 
 ter, influence and standing. 
 
 The two city troops that had protected the jail the 
 night previous, promptly sent their resignations to 
 the governor, stacked their arms in the armory, 
 disbanded, and then the major portion proceeded 
 to the Vigilante headquarters and appended their 
 signatures to the membership list. Mass meetings 
 assembled at Sacramento, Nevada, Placerville, Fol- 
 som and Marysville denouncing the shooting of 
 King, approving the organization and purposes 
 of the committee and offering armed assistance if 
 requested. The following from the Marysville 
 meeting indicates the universal expression: 
 
 ' ' That we recognize in James King, editor of the 
 Bulletin, the sincere and earnest friend of the 
 poor; the bold and fearless exposer of vice, crime 
 and corruption ; the independent and uncompromis- 
 ing opponent of official villians and swindlers, and 
 the best and most faithful exponent our State has 
 afforded of that sentiment which prevails every- 
 where among the masses of the people." 
 
 Thousands of miners ceased their labors, belted 
 
 their revolvers, shouldered their rifles and hastened 
 
 to the city. There was an immediate cessation of 
 
 business and traffic ; the dense masses in the streets 
 
 118 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 awaiting with intense interest the bulletins of the 
 doctors. Mr. King lingered several days, and mean- 
 while the swelling numbers of the committee; the 
 purchase by their representatives of every weapon 
 in the gun shops; the seizure of those in the ar- 
 mories, including two pieces of ordnance with 
 abundant ammunition, and the constant drilling in 
 companies of a hundred men each day and night, 
 evidenced the resolute firmness, admirable plan- 
 ning and cool foresight of the leaders. Governor 
 Johnson came down from Sacramento and held 
 a conference with the executive committee. By 
 his instructions the sheriff who kept the prison 
 allowed a small body of Vigilantes to camp within 
 the walls. The committee was resolved that Casey 
 should not be spirited away. The sheriff, through 
 his deputies, served a document on citizens he en- 
 countered in the streets commanding them to ap- 
 pear at the jail, prepared to serve under his au- 
 thority. 
 
 One hundred were summoned ; but fifty respond- 
 ed, of whom the moiety were legal advocates. King 
 was of strong and buoyant physique; he fought 
 hard. On Saturday night his condition was worse. 
 The Vigilantes had been directed to assemble on 
 the ringing of the Monumental Fire Engine Com- 
 pany's bell. The fateful bell rang out slowly and 
 distinctly at nine o'clock on Sunday morning. It 
 seemed not unexpected. People were waiting, 
 119 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 ready and strained to the work. Moving throngs 
 hurried to the Sacramento street quarters, where 
 they were assigned arms. Already they knew the 
 military duties. At midday an army of twenty- 
 six hundred men, cavalry, infantry and artillery, 
 armed and equipped in strict martial array, pro- 
 ceeded in regular marching order to the prison 
 which they completely surrounded. 
 
 Placing two cannon in front of the gates, these 
 were deliberately loaded with ball and powder in 
 full view of the inmates. Then Mr. W. T. Cole- 
 man, the president of the organization, with three 
 other members, advanced to the doors, requested 
 audience of the sheriff and demanded of him the 
 custody of Cora and Casey. As the imposing force 
 wound up the hill to the prison portals the sheriff 
 went to the cell of Casey and said: "There are 
 two thousand armed men coming for you and I 
 have not thirty men about the jail." Casey re- 
 plied: ''Then do not peril your life and that of 
 the officers in defending me ; I will go with them. ' ' 
 
 When Coleman and his associates came to his 
 cell, Casey asked for a fair trial and protection in 
 leaving. He was apprehensive of being hanged 
 forthwith. Both were assured and Casey came 
 out, was placed in a carriage and taken to rooms 
 prepared for him at headquarters. Cora was 
 placed in a second carriage and joined him an hour 
 later. They were guarded and escorted by the 
 120 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 whole force with all San Francisco as silent specta- 
 tors ; for it is said there was no disturbance of any 
 kind. 
 
 The entire proceedings were conducted with the 
 dignity and decorum of a funeral. When men 
 contemplate death, levity disappears. Three hun- 
 dred Vigilantes remained on guard day and night. 
 The rest of the army marched quietly down to the 
 bay and discharged their weapons, in order to pre- 
 vent accidents and be again prepared for the ring- 
 ing of the bell. 
 
 King died on Tuesday, six days after he was shot. 
 An inquest and trial were had and the verdict 
 rendered read: "That the deceased came to his 
 death by a pistol ball fired by James S. Casey and 
 that the act was premediated and unjustifiable." 
 Two days later, the 22nd of May, 1856, King was 
 interred. 
 
 As the funeral cortege of ten thousand silent 
 mourners pressed down Montgomery street, they 
 were startled on gazing to the left to see, a hundred 
 yards distant, the suspended, swaying bodies of 
 Cora and Casey. The vast multitude of soldiers, 
 spectators and mourners, encompassing the sable 
 catafalque, and the lithe figures overhead, quivering 
 in the mellow spring sunshine, constituted such a 
 sombre spectacle as has been rarely witnessed. 
 Before being hanged, Casey addressed a few sen- 
 tences to the listeners; Cora said nothing. They 
 121 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 both died like men, bravely. The two thousand 
 armed Vigilantes who had witnessed the execution 
 in stoical silence, were then drawn up in line, double 
 file, and reviewed by the superior officers. Thereafter 
 they countermarched to headquarters and, entering 
 through one door, stacked arms and filed out 
 through the opposite exit to mingle again with their 
 fellow citizens. 
 
 The power they had assumed for a definite pur- 
 pose was finished, and they resumed their various 
 vocations after its accomplishment. They believed 
 what was done was best done, for the will of the 
 good people should be the law of the land. San 
 Francisco, that had been aghast and stupefied since 
 the shooting of King, lived once more. In its ar- 
 teries flowed again the ripe blood of commerce; 
 people were aroused from their lethargy, and life's 
 game continued, as when sand is thrown over the 
 red stains, the dead gladiator dragged from the 
 Roman arena and the combat renewed. 
 
 But the committee retained its existence, ac- 
 tivity and organization — inexorable, indefatigable, 
 implacable. It declared itself ' ' a regulating court, 
 determined to enforce measures to prevent the far- 
 ther perpetration of crime and corruption in the 
 community. We allow persons of all nations and 
 tongues of good moral character to become mem- 
 bers. These are fundamental principles of the 
 body and will be rigidly adhered to. All creeds, 
 122 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 religious and political opinions must be thrown 
 aside. We enter the great battle of virtue against 
 vice, of right against wrong, of liberty against op- 
 pression, and we are determined at all hazards to 
 crush out the monster vice of election frauds as one 
 of the greatest causes of our troubles." 
 
 I quote thus copiously from their proceedings 
 and proclamations for it is my opinion that men 
 who combined for such grave purpose and did 
 such grave deeds without legal warranty can give 
 better reasons for their actions than others. No 
 one has ever been able to state our grievances 
 against Britain more lucidly than they are stated 
 in the Declaration of Independence. 
 
 The conunittee arrested and imprisoned many 
 persons suspected or known to be guilty of crimes. 
 One of these, overcome by terror, committed suicide. 
 They were all tried and, if found guilty, various 
 penalties were imposed, the most serious being 
 banishment from California. In such cases the 
 culprits were placed on sea-going vessels for Aus- 
 tralia, Europe or the Orient and warned not to 
 return under penalty of death. 
 
 The mayor and officials of the city made no 
 effort to thwart the energetic actions of the Vigi- 
 lantes. The governor at the committee's initiative 
 did not oppose them. On the contrary, after con- 
 ferring with the leaders he instructed the sheriff to 
 receive a number of Vigilantes in the prison, for the 
 123 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 purpose of overseeing Casey and Cora, and prevent- 
 ing attempts at escape. After their execution he be- 
 came more hostile to the committee, and issued 
 orders to W. T. Sherman authorizing him to raise 
 troops, incorporate with them the enrolled militia 
 and stand ready for the enforcement of the law. 
 
 The governor's proceedings were exactly parallel 
 with those of his predecessor five years previous, 
 and one might presume that he was simply fol- 
 lowing an established precedent. W. T. Sherman 
 had been a West Point graduate, but at this period 
 was a member of a San Francisco banking house. 
 Because of his military education the governor very 
 properly proclaimed Sherman major-general of the 
 California National Guard. Sherman issued orders 
 directing volunteer captains to fill their companies 
 to the highest standard, and for all other citizens 
 not legally exempt to enroll, form companies of fifty, 
 elect a captain, and report to him for duty. The 
 number of those, including new recruits, who re- 
 ported at his quarters was seventy-five, to oppose 
 whom the Vigilantes had five thousand men, with 
 a regular battery of field pieces. Two days after 
 the governor's proclamation was issued, the com- 
 mittee tried, found guilty and deported on an out- 
 going vessel a half dozen vicious and desperate 
 characters. 
 
 There were some good men in the city who had 
 not as yet become affiliated with the committee. 
 124 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 Several of these gentlemen repaired to Benicia 
 and interviewed the governor; Sherman, Terry, 
 Douglas, the secretary of state, and several other 
 state officials attending. They asserted emphatic- 
 ally that they M^ere not Vigilantes nor cognizant 
 of the Vigilantes' projects; but if the governor 
 undertook to suppress the society by force it would 
 cause a crisis and bloodshed. 
 
 The vacillating and temporizing executive hesi- 
 tated, and Sherman in disgust resigned his com- 
 mission after five days tenancy thereof. When 
 he died, years later, he was general of all the armies 
 of the United States. 
 
 The very day after his resignation one of the 
 city companies that had been summoned by Sher- 
 man met and resolved to 'disband; but at once 
 reorganized under the name of the Independent 
 National Guard, subject to such rules in sustaining 
 the cardinal interests of the community as they 
 thought best, but distinctly disavowing all con- 
 nection with state authorities. 
 
 Marshal North, who had been very alert in per- 
 sistent antagonism to the committee, resigned as 
 city marshal. The press of San Francisco num- 
 bered several daily papers. Of these the Herald 
 was perhaps the best written, most influential and 
 successful. Existing since 1849, it had approved 
 the Vigilantes of 1851. On this occasion it at 
 first exhibited vacillation and presently denounced 
 125 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 the Vigilantes in no uncertain terms. The ven- 
 geance of the Vigilantes was prompt and incisive. 
 An immense number of copies were heaped together 
 on Front Street and burned by merchants and em- 
 ployees. The tradespeople then simply withdrew 
 their subscriptions and advertisements. The next 
 issue of the Herald following the denunciation 
 shrunk from forty to twenty-four columns; in a 
 week to sixteen, and then it became moribund. 
 Encouraged by these marks of public support, 
 the committee issued the following clear and vigor- 
 ous statement to the people of California, explain- 
 ing and justifying their actions: 
 
 "Embodied in the principles of republican gov- 
 ernment are the truths that the majority shall 
 rule, and when corrupt officials who have fraudu- 
 lently seized the reins of authority, designedly 
 thwart the execution of the laws of punishment 
 upon the notoriously guilty, then the power they 
 usurped reverts back to the people from whom 
 it was wrested. Realizing these truths, and con- 
 fident that they were carrying out the will of the 
 vast majority of the citizens of this country, the 
 Committee of Vigilance, under a solemn sense of 
 responsibility that rested upon them, have calmly 
 and dispassionately weighed the evidence before 
 them and decreed the death of some who, by their 
 crimes and villianies, had stained our fair land. 
 
 "Our single, heartfelt aim is the public good: 
 126 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 the purging from our community of those aban- 
 doned characters whose actions have been evil con- 
 tinually and have finally forced upon uS the efforts 
 we are now making. Beyond the duties incident 
 to this we do not desire to interfere with the de- 
 tails of government. Our labors have been ar- 
 duous, our deliberations have been cautious, our 
 determination firm, our counsels prudent, our mo- 
 tives pure, and when the community shall be freed 
 from the evils it has so long endured, when we have 
 insured to our citizens an honest and vigorous 
 protection of their rights, then this Committee of 
 Vigilance will find great pleasure in resigning 
 their power into the hands of the people from 
 whom it was received." 
 
 But while thus explaining their motives the 
 committee did not neglect other and different pre- 
 cautions. It selected a square by the water front, 
 bounded by four streets. A few small buildings oc- 
 cupied part of this square and within were con- 
 structed cells, guard-houses and trial courts. 
 
 The principal front was protected by a sand- 
 bag breastwork, ten feet high and six feet wide, 
 constructed twenty feet from a wall, fronting the 
 square. A narrow passage through this fortifica- 
 tion admitted members to the interior, which was 
 diligently and discreetly guarded night and day. 
 Upon the strengthened roof were located a large 
 alarm bell and several field pieces. The executive 
 127 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 chamber was a spacious room decorated with Ameri- 
 can flags. It was denominated Fort Vigilance. 
 Every Vigilante knew his number and company 
 and was obligated whenever the dread bell should 
 ring out the alarum, at whatever hour it might be, 
 to go at once to the fort, shoulder his rifle, join his 
 company and stand for orders. 
 
 For over two months following the execution of 
 Cora and Casey not a single man was murdered 
 in the streets or houses of San Francisco. Not a 
 single one ! A record hitherto unknown in the 
 annals of the town. The fear of Vigilante ven- 
 geance was effective protection. The cry of a "man 
 for breakfast" was forgotten and people breathed. 
 
 Then came the reopening — a quarrel, verbal al- 
 tercation and ruthless shooting on the street in open 
 day. The assassin had shot a man on the street 
 in a similar manner three years before and the 
 complacent jury acquitted him. But things were 
 different now. He was promptly seized, jailed anJ 
 tried in the executive chamber. He was permitted 
 attorneys, witnesses and every legitimate method of 
 disproving the grave crime. After three days' 
 patient hearing the committee of four hundred 
 sworn and attentive members adjudged him guilty 
 and pronounced the penalty — death. 
 
 Another prisoner within the fortress walls had 
 killed two men a year or two previous and com- 
 mitted other felonies which he had boastingly and 
 128 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF MGILANXE 
 
 insolently avowed. Divided and bought juries had 
 hitherto saved him, but it was different now. He 
 also was tried, convicted, condemned and, on the 
 29th of July, the two were hanged together like 
 Cora and Casey in the presence of a Viligance 
 military force au lamented to five thousand men. 
 A looker-on said that "a more impressive, dramatic 
 or tragic scene was seldom seen." By now the 
 Vigilantes had procured bayonets, which were at- 
 tached to their muskets, and constant drilling gave 
 them a martial and resolute array. The gray- 
 haired and the black-haired stood together; arrest- 
 ing the laws; hanging men without cowl, candle 
 or .judge, yet no execution was ever more grave or 
 solemn. The silence of the tomb jjervaded the 
 brilliant July day, and fifty thousand spectators 
 assisted at the event. If death is to be the penalty 
 for death, it would seem that the more p»ublic the 
 punishment the more deterrent the effect. "SVhat 
 we do not see we may not fear. To view a hang- 
 ing would deter the average spectator I should 
 think from participation as principal. 
 
 Judge Edward McGowan was an intimate aiiso- 
 ciate of Casey. It was surmised that he was cog- 
 nizant and encouraged Casey in his crime, as he was 
 seen in the latter 's company on the street a few 
 minutes before King was shot. It was even asserted 
 that the weapon used by Casey belonged to Mc- 
 129 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 Gowan, and he was at once indicted by the Grand 
 Jury as an accessory. 
 
 Therefore the Vigilantes sought him after the 
 assassination when these events were known, with 
 an ardor that was compelling. McGowan was secret- 
 ed by friends in the town and a few weeks later 
 made a thrilling escape from the guarded city. He 
 rode swiftly five hundred miles to Santa Barbara, 
 a most romantic journey, replete with interesting 
 adventures. While at Santa Barbara his identity 
 was discovered, and the committee sent several Vig- 
 ilantes to arrest and bring him back, in which they 
 were cordially assisted by the Santa Barbara au- 
 thorities. All over the interior sympathy and sup- 
 port were devoted to the Committee of Safety. 
 Armed military organizations in Sacramento, 
 Marysville and Placer offered to march to San 
 Francisco and to imite with the Vigilantes if de- 
 manded. McGowan fled the beautiful hamlet 
 by the sea, whence he escaped by a desperate 
 chance and remained ensconced alone, hidden in the 
 mountains, coming down by night and digging po- 
 tatoes in the fields, which he devoured raw. 
 
 For weeks he thus existed and, finally, months 
 later, when the fires had died out, the committee 
 disbanded and men were trying to forget, if not 
 forgive, he returned again on horseback, resting 
 at several of the mouldering old missions en route. 
 He describes his experiences in a fascinating vol- 
 130 
 
DAVID S. TERRY 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 ume, the glamour of which is scarce exceeded by 
 the most brilliant romances of Dumas or Scott. 
 
 He was subsequently tried and acquitted on the 
 indictment and existed to a ripe age, leaving 
 descendants who are of the most valued and 
 respected in the land. 
 
 The office-holders representing ' ' Law and Order, ' ' 
 were naturally violently opposed to the committee, 
 inasmuch as it had divested them of any real au- 
 thority in both city and state. They met frequently 
 in conference, but were unable to formulate any 
 successful plan of antagonism. Power, influence, 
 sympathy, righteousness and numbers joined with 
 the committee. As an instance, several cases of 
 rifles had been secretly shipped on a vessel sailing 
 from Benicia. These weapons were consigned to 
 one of the few city military companies newly re- 
 cruited for "Law and Order." 
 
 Before touching its destination the bark and 
 contents were captured on the bay by the efficient 
 agents of the committee. Two men of the guard 
 escaped to San Francisco and took refuge in the 
 office of the captain of the company for whose use 
 the weapons were intended. Hopkins, one of the 
 Vigilante police, was sent to arrest these men, but 
 he found in the apartment a number of people, 
 including Judge David S. Terry, Justice of the 
 Supreme Court of the state. Hopkins, encountering 
 resistance, rushed out and, mounting a horse, 
 131 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 dashed to the headquarters, summoned assistance, 
 and dashed back. Meanwhile, the party of half 
 a dozen, including Terry, all well armed with 
 shotguns and pistols, left the rooms and hurried 
 along the streets towards the armory of the com- 
 pany. 
 
 But Hopkins overtook them, jumped from his 
 horse, and undertook to pass Terry and another 
 man, who formed the rear guard, the two men 
 Hopkins sought being in front. Terry raised his 
 shotgun, Hopkins seized it and pushed it down. 
 Then a scuffle ensued, and Terry drawing a bowie 
 knife, stabbed Hopkins deeply in the left side of 
 the neck. A melee followed between the rest of 
 Terry's party and a number of citizens who came 
 to Hopkins' rescue, but, although a shot was fired, 
 no one was killed or injured, and the assailed partj' 
 finally reached the armory, which was quickly bar- 
 ricaded. The ominous song of the heavy bell crown- 
 ing the summit of the Vigilantes 'headquarters, rang 
 over the startled and attentive metropolis. Mer- 
 chants and clerks closed their shops, draymen un- 
 harnessed their horses in the streets, laborers 
 and artisans hurried from their toil, the hotels 
 and manufactories were emptied; members of 
 the committee, hastening to headquarters, gave the 
 password, were admitted, seized rifles and formed 
 companies outside. All in good time, with decorum 
 and gravity. In an hour the armory was sur- 
 132 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 rounded by thousands of armed and disciplined 
 Americans and a peremptory demand made for 
 the surrender of the inmates. 
 
 Resistance was hopeless and invited instant 
 death. The armory opened its gates, those within, 
 some sixty-eight, surrendered their arms, and were 
 all marshaled down between ranks to headquarters 
 where everyone was released except Terry, who 
 was confined and strictly guarded in one of 
 the cells, awaiting the outcome of the wound he 
 inflicted upon Hopkins. This was the 21st of June, 
 1856. He was brought before the executive com- 
 mittee and the trial in its majesty and exemplary 
 conduct is a marvel and example. 
 
 Terry was accused of the stabbing of Hopkins 
 and resisting officers of the committee while in the 
 discharge of duty; of an attack in 1853 on Mr. 
 Roadhouse, a citizen of Stockton, in the court- 
 house of Stockton; of an attack on Mr. King, a 
 citizen of Stockton, at the charter election of Stock- 
 ton ; of resistance in 1853 of a writ of habeas corpus 
 by which William Roach escaped from the custody 
 of the law and the infant heirs of the Sanchez 
 family were deprived of their rights; and of an 
 attack in 1853 on J. H. Purdy, in the city of San 
 Francisco. To all of these several charges he re- 
 plied in person and by evidence. His first state- 
 ment began thus: 
 
 "It has been suggested that I should make some 
 133 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 written statement in reply to the charges made 
 against me by your body. 
 
 "You doubtless feel that you are engaged in a 
 praiseworthy undertaking. This question I will 
 not attempt to discuss; for whilst I cannot recon- 
 cile your acts with my ideas of right and justice, 
 candor forces me to confess that the evils you arose 
 to repress were glaring and palpable, and the end 
 you seek to attain is a noble one. The question on 
 which w^e differ is, as to whether the end justifies 
 the means by which you have sought its accom- 
 plishment ; and as this is a question on which men 
 equally pure, upright and honest might differ, a 
 discussion would result in nothing profitable. 
 
 "I am aware that at times I have acted hastily. 
 I am naturally of a very excitable habit, but it 
 cannot be said by anyone that I ever sought 
 difficulties. The specifiations speak of my violent 
 and turbulent habits; and what do they prove? 
 That I will promptly resent a personal affront. One 
 of the first lessons I learned was to avoid giving 
 insults and to allow none to be given to me. I have 
 acted, and expect to continue to act, on this prin- 
 ciple. I believe no man has a right to outrage 
 the feelings of another or attempt to blast his good 
 name, without being responsible for his actions. I 
 believe if a gentleman should wound the feelings 
 of anyone he should at once make a suitable repara- 
 tion, either by an ample apology, or, if he feels 
 134 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 that circumstances prevent this — that is, if he made 
 charges that he still thinks true — should afford 
 him the satisfaction he desires. 
 
 "I know that a great many men differ with 
 me, and look with a degree of horror on anyone 
 entertaining such sentiments. My own experience 
 has taught me that when the doctrine of personal 
 responsibility obtains men are seldom insulted 
 without good cause and private character is safer 
 from attack; that much quarreling and bad blood 
 and revengeful feeling is avoided." 
 
 Amid the numerous witnesses who testified in 
 Terry's behalf were Perley and Brooks, the former 
 having been his legal associate in Stockton. Both 
 these gentlemen appear later in his difficulty with 
 Broderick. 
 
 Also came judges and sheriffs from Stockton, 
 and people from all over the state. Terry con- 
 ducted his own defense, and the proceeding lasted 
 several weeks. It must be understood that only the 
 executive committee, counsel of the defense and 
 prosecution, and single witnesses were present, and 
 that the hearings were in the executive hall, and 
 entirely secret. 
 
 I extract this testimony from the evidence of 
 E. P. Ashe, from whose apartment Hopkins was 
 first ejected. "A man called Terrence Kelly came 
 to see us. Terry was lying on the sofa. He said 
 he had received notice to leave from the Vigilance 
 135 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 Committee and acknowledged that he had been in- 
 strumental in giving in false election returns. He 
 evidently came for protection. Judge Terry said 
 to him that it was such damned rascals as he was 
 that people had a right to complain of who had 
 produced all this trouble and that he ought to be 
 hung. Kelly left and never returned." 
 
 The trial, which embraces seventy-five closely 
 printed pages embodying the oral testimony and 
 written depositions of numerous witnesses, lasted 
 six weeks with this 
 
 VERDICT 
 
 First charge — Guilty. 
 
 Second charge — Guilty. 
 
 Third charge — Guilty. 
 
 Fourth, fifth and sixth charges — Dismissed. 
 
 JUDGMENT 
 
 "That David S. Terry, having been convicted, 
 after a full, fair and impartial trial of certain 
 charges before the Committee of Vigilance and the 
 usual punishments in their power to inflict not 
 being applicable in the present instance, therefore, 
 be it declared the decision of the Committee of 
 Vigilance, that said David S. Terry be discharged 
 from their custody; and also 
 
 "Resolved, that in the opinion of the committee 
 the interests of the state imperatively demand that 
 the said David S. Terry should resign his position 
 as Judge of the Supreme Court. 
 136 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 "Resolved, that this resolution be read to David 
 S. Terry, and he be forthwith discharged from the 
 custody of the Committee of Vigilance on this be- 
 ing ratified by the Board of Delegates. ' ' 
 
 He did resign his position as Judge of the Su- 
 preme Court three years later under other but 
 equally untoward conditions. Hopkins lived, and 
 was convalescent when Terry was discharged. It 
 is very probable that if Hopkins had died Terry 
 would have hanged. The committee were im- 
 placable. 
 
 Those opposed to the Vigilantes were styled 
 "Law and Order" associates. They by no means 
 desisted in their efforts, despite the overpowering 
 moral and military ascendency of the committee. 
 
 Turning from the governor as impracticable, they 
 appealed to the United States naval and military 
 authorities at San Francisco. General Wool de- 
 clared he should intervene only upon instructions 
 from Washington. A committee left directly and, 
 proceeding via Panama, interviewed the President 
 at the White House. The President told them that 
 until called upon officially by the state authorities 
 the federal government could do nothing. He 
 added that the proper method of procedure would 
 be for the governor to summon the legislature in 
 extra session, the legislature should declare the 
 state in insurrection and authorize the governor to 
 levy troops and forcibly suppress all insubordina- 
 137 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 tion. Then, if imsuceessful, the governor and legis- 
 lature could call upon the President for relief, and 
 it would be granted. 
 
 The deputation returned to California with this 
 bootless message. For the members of the legisla- 
 ture, springing from the people and seeking re- 
 election in the fall, were only solicitious to make 
 their approval and endorsement of the Vigilantes 
 decided and positive, and the governor dared not 
 call them together, even if he had been so inclined, 
 so that project was fruitless, and the committee 
 remained resolute masters. Still, affairs progressed 
 as usual. Courts met and adjourned, petty crim- 
 inals were arrested, tried and judged. Over the 
 state was the utmost quiet. The Vigilantes inter- 
 fered with no constituted authority ; only as censors, 
 like so many Catos, they serenely contemplated the 
 conditions. 
 
 From the police commissioner they took the bal- 
 lot-boxes, still preserved, of the preceding elections. 
 On a careful examination it was ascertained that 
 the boxes had false bottoms and sides, skilfully con- 
 trived. These false compartments were stuffed with 
 spurious ballots before polling; when the balloting 
 was ended the contents of the box would be emptied 
 on the table; the secret chambers opened, and the 
 fictitious ballots fell in a heap with the genuine ones 
 and were counted together. It was quite easy and 
 
 138 
 
THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
 
 simple, and its efficiency was exhibited in the elec- 
 tion of Casey and his friends. 
 
 The Vigilantes exposed this fraud to the public, 
 and then nominated for the ensuing city elec- 
 tion a ticket chosen by the committee and ratified by 
 the Vigilantes in general, publishing the names sev- 
 eral weeks in advance, and substituting other names 
 when found desirable or necessary through public 
 criticism. In November this ticket was elected to 
 a man, and the same people and influences that 
 inspired and controlled the action of the Vigi- 
 lantes continued to rule San Francisco for a quar- 
 ter of a century, during which it was one of the 
 best-governed cities in the world. Directly after 
 the election the Vigilantes held a grand review and 
 then disbanded. 
 
 On the roster were between eight and nine thou- 
 sand names, and nearly the entire host paraded. 
 They had existed six months and the two assassina- 
 tions in the city during that period could be easily 
 computed. During the same half of the previous 
 year the number of men killed by violence exceeded 
 a hundred! That is what the Vigilantes accom- 
 plished. The reign of terror was ended and Cali- 
 fornia was civilized by methods not sanctioned in 
 civilization. 
 
 139 
 
CHAPTER Mil 
 
 SENATOR 
 
 The Yigilance Committee, like the Native Ameri- 
 cau party of the preceding year, does not appear 
 to have seriously afifeeted Broderick or his for- 
 tunes. He remained constantly and inviolably a 
 Democrat, never swerving from his fealty. The 
 American organization was evanescent and the 
 Vigilantes confined to the city, with no special bear- 
 ing on the legislatnre. The proof of this is exhib- 
 ited when we find that in the November elections 
 of 1S56, while the Vigilantes elected every single 
 one of their nominees on the municipal ticket, all, 
 or nearly all, of the successful members of the legis- 
 lature from San Francisco were Broderick men. 
 The Vigilantes, according to their written tenet, 
 recognized no party nor creed in their councils; 
 only honesty and integrity, against dishonesty and 
 crime. 
 
 It is true that formerly Broderick had the city 
 government in his grasp and possessed it for years. 
 It was the real foundation of his power and en- 
 abled him to live while he was growing. But the 
 American party victory of 1855 had shattered his 
 edifice, and the Vigilantes of 1856 completely de- 
 140 
 
SENAIOR 
 
 molisluHl 1,Ih; sinicliu'o. lint by mow ho was re- 
 garded over the state as a statesman whoso aspira- 
 tions for an exalted station were known to every- 
 one, and l)y virtue ol' this re(;()<j;iiiti()n Ik; was not 
 ('.•died n|)()n to do " loeal politics," whieh mnst 
 have hecn to him an iinnHMisi; relief. 
 
 N(!V(!rtli(^lesH, many ol' his errant followers were 
 on tile proscribed list of the committee and many 
 more deservcnl to be. A man wlio had ruled a city 
 for y(>ars must have been compelled to use and rec- 
 oj4'ni/.(i elements that were sordid and vicious; ele- 
 ments that he nuist have despised, yet admitted to 
 his ac(iuaintance, for one cannot control men or 
 multitudes with kid gloves and platitudes. Almost 
 the only delinite reference to the committee by 
 Brodcrick or of Broderick is his own statement, 
 made three years later, that "during Terry's incar- 
 ceration by the Vigilance Committee I paid $200 
 a week to support a newspaper in Terry's defense." 
 Like a wise man he h^l't the turbulent g(!yser of the 
 city to the calming induence of Time, that marvi^l- 
 ous physician, and visited the towns, handets, camps 
 and gold gorges oL" the interior, lie met and inter- 
 viewed each and every individual Democratic as- 
 pirant for the legislature fi-om north to south and 
 from east to west, exercising all his grave and 
 impressive personality to gain their suffrages. One 
 of these, Rogers of Tuolumne, relates that Brod- 
 erick came to see him on a rainy day and they con- 
 141 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 ferred from sundown until late next morning. Rog- 
 ers was obdurate ; he was pledged to both Gwin and 
 Weller, but did not so declare to Broderick. On the 
 contrary, he said: "I will not vote for you, for 
 when the Vigilance Committee was running the 
 city your friends wanted to know where you stood, 
 whether for or against them, and no one knew." 
 But Broderick only replied : ' ' When you come to 
 San Francisco I wish you would come and see 
 me." "No," said the sturdy Rogers: "I am not 
 going to the city. I am going to Sacramento." 
 
 Of course, Broderick guarded silence respecting 
 the committee, for it was indeed a double-edged 
 blade ; besides it was over, and what man will risk 
 his political future over past questions ? The pres- 
 ent problems are always sufficiently absorbing. 
 
 Here, perhaps, I may advert to the story of 
 George Willces and Broderick. Wilkes was of New 
 York; a brilliant writer and bubbling Bohemian, 
 but erratic and unreliable, with a peculiar repu- 
 tation. He had known Broderick in New York 
 and followed him to California, where he became 
 one of the latter 's political associates and adju- 
 tants. After a while they quarreled and Wilkes 
 forthwith returned to New York. The idea or 
 thought was industriously propagated that Wilkes 
 was Broderick 's brains; that every wise action 
 was due to the prompting of Wilkes, and every un- 
 wise deed ascribed to Broderick himself. I can dis- 
 142 
 
SENATOR 
 
 cover no rouiuliilion for this assumption. Wilkes 
 left ('iilirorni.-i in KSf)!, and certainly my rejulers 
 will eoinride tliat liroderiek's career tliereal'ter in- 
 dicated no abatement in cncri^'y or jiid^incnt. 
 Doul)M(>ss in the earlier ('alil'ornia, years, vvIhmi a 
 meager opinion, based on ij^iioranci^, pnivaihnl as 
 to Broderick's mental and cdneationul accpiire- 
 ments, a miseoneeption of the man existed, and it 
 took time to dissipate this [)rejudice. 
 
 General "Worthinji;ton relates that when he came 
 to Calil'ornia he imbibed the common seidimcMit 
 a^'ainst JU'oderiek as a shoulcUir-hittcu- and brawling 
 rnflian. One of his new-made friends, Colonel Mon- 
 roe, a grand nephew of President Monroe, and, of 
 course, parenthetically, a federal oHicial, was a 
 ch)se personal friend of Jiroderiek. 
 
 Worthington could not comprehend an intimacy 
 between the aristocratic- scion of the South and the 
 knock-down and drag-out leader of the mass(^s fi'om 
 New York City. On an occasion lu; and Moiu-oi; 
 met several men at a hotel. Broderiek was 
 one of these; Wortliington had never seen him. 
 When presented mntiially, Krodcriclc's nain(; was 
 pi-onouiu'.ed so indisiinctly that the g(!n(u;al tlid not 
 hear. After a short conversation they separated, 
 and Worthington said to Monroe: "Who was the 
 remarkably aifable and int(!lligent gentleman with 
 whom we have been talking?" He was amazed to 
 hear that it was Broderiek. Their friendship dated 
 143 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 from that moment, and when garlanded with the 
 silvered radiance of eighty-four years, Worthing- 
 ^ ton could refer to his dead leader and the pathetic 
 end only in broken accents and with humid eyes. 
 
 The election of 1856 included three parties. The 
 Presidential nominee of the nascent Kepubliean 
 party was Fremont, the California path-finder and 
 the first man to represent the state in the national 
 senate. The American party was dying, almost as 
 soon as born and, by now, was moribund, while 
 the Republicans were alert and bold with the 
 fervor, energy and devotion common to new re- 
 ligious and new political principles. The Demo- 
 crats won, as usual, but for the last time in many 
 years. 
 
 Buchanan was chosen President, and in Califor- 
 nia all the state officials, as well as the legislature, 
 were safely Democratic. The Vigilance Committee 
 carried and held the citadel of San Francisco, but 
 did not intervene in state affairs. 
 
 An early estimate of the legislators-elect gave 
 Broderick a preponderating majority of the Demo- 
 crats, though not by any means of the whole legis- 
 lature, for that body embraced in its membership 
 Know-Nothings, Whigs and Republicans, as well as 
 Democrats, the latter outnumbering all the others 
 combined. 
 
 His triumphant position was recognized to that 
 degree that when he returned to the city in Novem- 
 144 
 
SENATOR 
 
 ber, directly after the elections, he received an ova- 
 tion as if he already sat upon the throne. It was 
 a gage of his ultimate success. The legislature met 
 early in January, 1857. The condition and the prob- 
 lem confronting Broderick and his opponents were 
 these : Two senators were to be chosen. I say two 
 because Gwin's seat had been untenanted since 
 1855, and Weller's period of six years terminated 
 in March, 1857. Therefore, the man chosen for 
 Gwin's place would hold only four years, whilst 
 the successor to Weller would serve six solid, long, 
 important years, pregnant even then with war and 
 death, with the welfare, nay, even the life of the 
 great republic ; and, therefore, the six years ' prize 
 was the highest reward of the tournament, and 
 for it the knights prepared their lances and armor. 
 Broderick found a half-dozen antagonists, each of 
 them with votes, but the votes controlled by no 
 one, nor even two allied forces could outnumber his 
 warriors. Most of these men had remained loyal 
 and faithful during the five years' campaign, 
 marked with more defeats than victories, but never 
 despairing and never rebellious. With the enemy 
 divided and their champion in arms, they were 
 buoyant, vigilant and energetic. One of them 
 assumed the garb and duties of a waiter at a secret 
 consultation of the allies, and thus hearing projects 
 discussed, promptly divulged them to Broderick; 
 only after the campaign ended did the conclave 
 145 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 know who had betrayed their counsels. But Brod- 
 erick had heavy political debts accruing during the 
 past years of struggle, which he should liqui- 
 date. Wliat with the American party success of 
 '55 and the Vigilantes' triumph of '56 in San Fran- 
 cisco he had been completely dislodged from that 
 old haven, and his faithful retainers were wan- 
 dering in the cold, cold world with not even a 
 mantle of their master to protect them. He had 
 never a mouthful of the federal provender, for 
 his influence was local, not national. He was un- 
 known in Washington, and the senators in the sad- 
 dle very naturally gathered the game. The state 
 administration was Know-Nothing, or American, 
 and though in a condition of catalepsy, all the 
 grapes were garnered and devoured by the few 
 remaining members of that association. On the 
 other side, however, the new national administra- 
 tion was Democratic and so was Broderick. It was 
 customary at the commencement of each four years 
 of a presidency to replace the federal incumbents 
 by friends of the new regime. So, without im- 
 propriety or injustice, according to the recognized 
 political tenets, one could foresee an entire and rad- 
 ical change emanating from the White House, in- 
 volving naval officers, appraisers, mint, revenue 
 service, postmasters, treasurers and other national 
 employees — enough patronage to content even his 
 hungry supporters. And as very few, indeed, of the 
 146 
 
SENATOR 
 
 "Virginia Poor-House" collection supported him, 
 Broderick could contemplate their funeral with 
 equanimity. I have said it was enough for his 
 people; but only if it were not divided. One is 
 only one-half of two, and one-half would not be 
 sufficient. He must have all. 
 
 In demanding the resignation of the patronage 
 he saw no injustice. For all the years that Grwin 
 had been senator none but pro-slavery men had re- 
 ceived office from his generosity. There was but a 
 single exception; and of those pro-slavery men the 
 greater number were Southerners. Broderick could 
 now reward his friends, remember Northern Demo- 
 crats, and equalize the sectional distribution of ap- 
 pointments. 
 
 He examined these various problems carefully in 
 the recesses of his silent, reflective brain, for, like 
 Napoleon before Marengo, he realized the value of 
 his position, and finally determined to demand not 
 one but all the trophies. He resolved to be elected 
 as senator for the long term of six years, to choose 
 his colleague for the shorter period of four years, 
 and to bind this associate to surrender the patron- 
 age. 
 
 First he must be elected for the long term. It is 
 true that all precedents pointed to the filling of 
 Gwin's seat first, which had been vacant since 
 1855, and his successor would only retain the office 
 four years, for, though the term was six years, yet 
 147 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 it would date, according to the statutes, from the 
 expiration of Gwin's incumbency. But precedents 
 were made to be broken and Broderick was already 
 proficient in the art. 
 
 With six men clamoring for the senatorship it 
 would go hard, indeed, if he could not clutch the 
 few votes necessary to his success. It must not be 
 thought that these aspirants were not men of ' ' light 
 and leading." Weller was afterwards governor; 
 Latham became both governor and senator, filling 
 Broderick 's post after his death; McDougall also 
 ended his fitful career as senator, and Field as- 
 sumed the ermine of a Justice of the United States 
 Supreme Court. 
 
 The attrition of elements from over the entire 
 globe that clashed in these early years of the golden 
 state threw the best and brightest upward and for- 
 ward. Up to now the Broderick-Gwin feud or ven- 
 detta was a misnomer. It became a stern verity 
 later when the two men sat together in the Senate 
 and differed on national questions ; but at this epoch 
 both were fighting all comers as well as each other. 
 It is quite true that all California knew Broder- 
 ick 's inexorable, implacable, unyielding resolve, and 
 all California knew that Gwin desired to return to 
 his exalted station ; but while these two were more 
 distinctive, the other men I have enumerated were 
 by no means negligible quantities. I have shown 
 that in the legislature of 1854 they had united with 
 148 
 
SENATOR 
 
 Gwin against Broderick because he was the stronger. 
 Again in 1855 they coalesced with Broderick 
 against Gwin, for then Gwin was more potent. 
 
 In 1856 the Know-Nothings preponderated, and 
 all these warring Democrats allied themselves like 
 everlasting friends to prevent the foolish and inex- 
 perienced American party virgins from taking the 
 lighted lamp. And now in 1857, for the fourth 
 time, the contestants assembled in the legislative 
 arena. Let me also add that sectional sentiments 
 controlled the situation to but a very slight degree. 
 
 The war had not yet begun, not even in Cali- 
 fornia. Events trod on, one after another, faster 
 and faster, with startling celerity within the com- 
 ing years, but the shadows of the veiled future 
 did not disturb the Sacramento gathering. On the 
 contrary, men met in the camps and mountains 
 and formed durable and sympathetic friendships 
 which began and culminated under the California 
 sunshine until the end, regardless of political or 
 personal antecedents. All that happened in the 
 East was forgotten and the new amities created out 
 of the rising West endured forever. Broderick 's 
 principal lieutenant. Judge Frank Tilford, was a 
 Kentuckian, and Randolph and Crittenden related 
 to well-known Southern families, were his staunch 
 partisans, while several of Gwin's most ardent sup- 
 porters were Northerners. Neither Gwin nor Brod- 
 erick had expressed himself as personally hostile 
 149 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 or antipathetic. No one of the several aspirants 
 had placed himself by ill-timed word or fruitless 
 action beyond the line of negotiation or compro- 
 mise, so when Broderick confronted the array he 
 was free to make any combination or combinations 
 as his faculties and his friends commended. 
 
 Directly the legislature assembled a Democratic 
 caucus was summoned to meet the third evening 
 thereafter. Broderick 's supporters announced that 
 the caucus would be asked to vote for the long term 
 first and he would be a candidate for that station. 
 What were the others to do? He was stronger by 
 far than any single opponent. Why then incur his 
 enmity, especially as he hit hard and when the sec- 
 ond seat remained, even if only for four years? 
 He could afford to be neutral. They could hardly 
 combine on one of themselves. That would not 
 quench the losers' sorrow and they would gain no 
 more by that than in beating Broderick. 
 
 Several attempts were made to win his favor for 
 one or the other, notably for Latham, most of whose 
 supporters were also the adherents of Broderick, 
 but he very sagely held himself aloof. Why not? 
 Like Miltiades at Marathon he was their second 
 choice. On Thursday evening all the Democrats 
 in the legislature, to the number of seventy-nine, 
 met in caucus and adopted a resolution to ballot for 
 the long term first. The division stood forty-two 
 to thirty-seven. 
 
 150 
 
SENATOR 
 
 Broderick was immediately nominated for sen- 
 ator ; this much coveted six years, his only opponent 
 being Weller, who was defeated by the same vote. 
 Not much, it is true; only five, but enough, as said 
 Mercutio. 
 
 The very next day, January 10, 1857, the legisla- 
 ture, in joint convention assembled, elected David 
 Colbert Broderick as United States senator from 
 California for six years, to begin March 4th, 1857. 
 The balloting stood : 
 
 David C. Broderick 79 
 
 J. W. Coferoth 16 
 
 Edward Stanley 14 
 
 L. Bynm 1 
 
 J. B. Weller 1 
 
 He received every Democratic vote. The official 
 journal says that "the announcement of the elec- 
 tion of Mr. Broderick was received with tremen- 
 dous applause." 
 
 One of the beautiful classic legends of Greece 
 (I wish there were more of them) relates that three 
 golden apples were taken from the triply-watched 
 garden of the Hesperides. But for the combatants 
 in Sacramento there existed only two, and one had 
 already fallen to Broderick. Therefore, the struggle 
 for the remaining golden fruit of the senatorship 
 was fierce and uupausing. The town was small, 
 the hotels few and in near proximity. Each cheva- 
 lier had his headquarters with patrols and scouts 
 151 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 to guard his own force from treachery and observe 
 the movements of the enemy. Sacramento was 
 overflowing with Californians drawn from the 
 whole state, who came to help their favorite or to 
 survej-^ the field of honor. Every motive or argu- 
 ment of influence, of friendship, hate, love, auger, 
 old feuds, old friendships, bitter memories and 
 pleasant ones, too, were conjured, nourished, cher- 
 ished and thrown in the swaying balances. We who 
 float in these placid, smooth, ambitionless waters 
 today find it extremely difficult to realize the fierce 
 rivalry, the intensity of purpose and the sleepless 
 energy of those few short days. Every motive, as 
 I have said, was called into play except the vulgar, 
 debasing one of money bribery. Not a single taint 
 of corruption stains the escutcheons of those gentle- 
 men who struggled so well and valiantly for their 
 chosen chieftains. Votes were changed, but the 
 reasons were well understood, and those reasons 
 were honorable as well as human. The caste of 
 political prostitutes was then unknown, and men 
 continued free Americans. 
 
 They charged home, brandishing lances and 
 swords, but fairly, with faces to the foe. It is said 
 that for five nights and days Sacramento was as 
 active by night as b}' day. No one seemed to sleep. 
 The Civil War was not yet begun, but the blood- 
 red veil of the future had commenced to chill the 
 air and cool friendships. The days to come were 
 152 
 
SENATOR 
 
 port<;ntous and those men, Htronj^ and self-reliant, 
 were anxious to be leaders amonj^ the eleet. 
 
 Finally they stood, panting and exhausted, con- 
 fronting each other. The five days' struggle cul- 
 minated in a deadlock; no one had a majority and 
 only superior power and prestige, hitherto unfelt, 
 could cause victory to appear. Broderick had re- 
 mained aloof from the i'ruy, observing the daily and 
 nightly assaults an<l parries; mofjdily biding the 
 liour. 
 
 It came, and the embattled warriors like siip- 
 pliants offered him fealty. (Jive tlie senatorship, 
 tfiat bauble solely, and he could have aught else, 
 i'atronage, prestige, all were his. They were ready 
 to accept the seat on any terms whatever that he 
 should impose. lie chose Gwin. I have hitherto 
 said that between Broderick and Gwin, up to their 
 joint election, there was no personal or political 
 antipathy. That came afterwards, and one of the 
 potent reasons shall presently appear. Otherwise, 
 why did he not select as his colleague some other 
 candidate ? That he could have done so is manifest. 
 And his choice of Gwin was, from the standpoint 
 of elevated statesmanship, a judicious one. They 
 represented the two extremes, political and sec- 
 tional of Democracy, and, therefore, their friendship 
 should allay past jealousies arising from these 
 causes. 
 
 Gwin had already served in the Senate, and his 
 153 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 acquaintance and influence earnestly and sincerely 
 given to Broderick should render the younger man 's 
 beginnings in his new sphere more agreeable. 
 
 Broderick at thirty-seven was the second young- 
 est member of the Senate. Gwin was fifty-two. 
 They held a secret conference, and at the next cau- 
 cus Gwin received a majority, and the day fol- 
 lowing was elected senator for four years, until 
 March, 1861. On this same day, namely, the 13th 
 of January, 1857, Gwin, published, over his signa- 
 ture, "an address to the people of California": 
 
 "I have thought it proper, in view of the sena- 
 torial contest, which has resulted in the election of 
 Mr. David C. Broderick and myself to the Senate 
 of the United States, to state to the people of Cali- 
 fornia certain circumstances and facts which com- 
 pose a part of the history of that arduous struggle. 
 
 "My election was attended by circumstances 
 which rarely occur in the course of such contests. 
 A representative, whose evil destiny it is to be the 
 indirect dispenser of federal patronage, will 
 strangely miscalculate if he expects to evade the 
 malice of disappointed men. 
 
 "I had learned in the struggle that he who aids 
 in conferring great official power upon individuals 
 does not always secure friends, and that the force 
 of deep personal obligations may even be converted 
 into an incentive to hostility and hate. In a word 
 to the federal patronage in the state do I attribute 
 154 
 
SENATOR 
 
 in a great degree the malice and hostile energy, 
 which, after years of faithful public service and 
 toward the closing period of life, have nearly cost 
 me the endorsement of a re-election to the United 
 States Senate. From patronage then and the curse 
 it entails I shall gladly in future turn and my sole 
 labor and ambition henceforth shall be to deserve 
 well of the state and to justify the course of the 
 legislature in honoring me a second time as a repre- 
 sentative of its interests. 
 
 "I have hinted above at other aid than that re- 
 ceived from those whom I have regarded as friends ; 
 I refer to the timely assistance accorded to me by 
 Mr. Broderick and his friends. 
 
 ** Although at one time a rival and recognizing 
 in him a fierce but manly opponent, I do not hesi- 
 tate to acknowledge in this public manner his for- 
 getfulness of all grounds of dissension and hostil- 
 ity, in what he considered a step necessary to allay 
 the strifes and discords which had distracted the 
 party and the state. To him and to the attachment 
 of his friends I conceive in a great degree my elec- 
 tion is due; and I feel bound to him and them in 
 common efforts to unite and heal, when the result 
 heretofore has been to break down and destroy. ' ' 
 
 This clear and intelligent document made quite 
 
 evident to the least discriminating the price Gwin 
 
 paid for the senatorship. It was neither obscure 
 
 nor dubious. It was addressed to the people. Two 
 
 155 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 days previously, however, before he was elected, he 
 presented to Brodrick the annexed letter. 
 
 "Sacramento City, January 11, 1857. 
 
 ' ' Hon. D. C. Broderick, Dear Sir : I am likely to 
 be the victim of the unparalleled treachery of those 
 who have been placed in power by my aid and exer- 
 tion. 
 
 "The most potential portion of the federal 
 patronage is in the hands of those who, by every 
 principle that should govern men of honor should 
 be my supporters instead of my enemies, and it is 
 being used for my destruction. My participation in 
 the distribution of this patronage has been the 
 source of numberless slanders upon me that have 
 fostered a prejudice in the public mind against me 
 and have created enmities that have been destruc- 
 tive to my happiness and peace of mind for years. 
 It has entailed untold evils upon me, and while 
 in the senate I will not recommend a single indi- 
 vidual to appointment to office in the state. Pro- 
 vided I am elected you shall have the exclusive 
 control of this patronage, so far as I am con- 
 cerned ; and in its distribution I shall only ask that 
 it may be used with magnanimity and not for the 
 advantage of those who have been our mutual ene- 
 mies and unwearied in their efforts to destroy us. 
 
 ' ' This determination is unalterable ; and in mak- 
 ing this declaration I do not expect you to support 
 me for that reason, or in any way to be governed 
 156 
 
SENATOR 
 
 by it; but as I have been betrayed by those who 
 should have been my friends, I am in a measure 
 powerless myself and depend upon your magna- 
 nimity, 
 
 ''Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 "Wm. M. Gwin." 
 
 The existence and contents of this "scarlet" let- 
 ter Broderick never divulged, though at times he 
 had rare provocation, for two years and a half. A 
 month later he was slain ! 
 
 On his return as a senator to San Francisco 
 he was received like a triumphing Roman. Pro- 
 cessions, addresses, illuminations, the roar of 
 ordnance and the whole town to acclaim. In sev- 
 eral of the interior cities, as in Benicia, special 
 entertainments were presented. It should have 
 been soothing to his perturbed spirit, for it was 
 generous and spontaneous. Those who had op- 
 posed him most strenuously during the years chival- 
 rously said : ' ' He has won fairly and manfully in 
 fair fighting, and he deserves his success." 
 
 But Broderick was not unduly elated. He re- 
 ceived the plaudits with dignity and in silence. 
 Now that he sat in the chariot of the sun, would 
 he prove able to guide its course among the stars? 
 After winning life 's goal, there be disappointments 
 ever and oft. The stimulus of seeking is more soul- 
 stirring than the pleasure of possessing. 
 
 157 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 The two senators departed from California to- 
 gether, going by steamer, via the Isthmus route, 
 which was relatively speedy and more comfortable, 
 the voyage to New York occupying somewhat less 
 than a month. Gwin continued on to Washington, 
 while his brother senator remained in New York 
 for a few short days. The latter 's former friends, 
 personal and political, welcomed his advent with 
 warm demonstrations. The distinction he had 
 achieved and the redemption of the assurance an- 
 nounced on his departure eight years previously 
 that he would never return "except as United 
 States senator from California" were recalled and 
 recognized. 
 
 He was cordially and heartily greeted. The mu- 
 nicipal authorities adopted resolutions welcoming 
 him to New York and he was the guest at several 
 banquets where were gathered the city's best. The 
 New Yorkers seemed to regard him as one of them 
 and his success a personal triumph. Yet, in pe- 
 rusing their encomiums one cannot discern a very 
 strong note of surprise. One might say that it 
 158 
 
WASHINGTON 
 
 was expected ; so strong a sense of his personal abil- 
 ity and energy had he inspired. 
 
 His New York friends seemed to think he would 
 move farther and higher. But he hastened from 
 these vanities, as he had from home tributes, and 
 journeyed to Washington, where his new life would 
 have its inception. Here he was presently to know 
 how void and futile become written promises when 
 the will to execute them is wanting and how much 
 larger were national than state issues. 
 
 Congress assembled in March and, in accord 
 with the senate's unwritten mandate, he found 
 himself condemned to silence in that chamber for 
 the entire session. He was received, however, with 
 more attention than was usually tendered to a new 
 senator, and one so young. 
 
 His indomitable struggle and final success had 
 been observed and heralded in the East and South. 
 Everything transpiring in that far California, near 
 the dying sun, was of more than fleeting interest to 
 the older commonwealths. The rumor that he had 
 dictated the election of his colleague and brought 
 him "to Washington in chains" was piquant and 
 fruitful of comment. Especially the few Repub- 
 lican senators who represented the beginnings of 
 that patriotic organization took him to their hearts. 
 They had been Democrats or Whigs before aposta- 
 sising. This young man of serious demeanor and 
 plebeian Northern stock had a future, and in the 
 159 
 
r) 
 
 A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 portentous events that the wise felt impending, 
 what might he not do, perhaps at their side ? Wil- 
 son was a shoemaker ; Johnson a tailor. Both were 
 then senators and one subsequently became Vice- 
 president and the other President of the United 
 States. Still, these were the rare, unique excep- 
 tions. No one except of superlative birth and 
 breeding, was considered eligible. We have changed 
 all that, let us hope, for the better. 
 
 Broderick was the first senator sprung from the 
 masses, far more distinctly so than Johnson and 
 Wilson, and his personality was infinitely more 
 commanding. If it be asked why then did they 
 advance higher, I will reply that they lived, but 
 he died. 
 
 He was born in the capital and the Washing- 
 tonians celebrated the coming of "their senator" 
 with Roman freedom. I am not aware that they 
 have since had an opportunity to repeat the fes- 
 tival. But Gwin had friends, sage and astute 
 friends, who had moved in the changing political 
 currents of the nation's capital for years, and who, 
 above all, were known to the President. Broder- 
 ick 's reception by Buchanan was not cordial; as he 
 said after his first visit: "It was cold without, 
 but icy within." The polished old bachelor, who 
 preferred knee buckles to breeches and a powdered 
 wig to nature's covering, was not impelled toward 
 the stern, haughty young senator, who, with West- 
 160 
 
WASHINGTON 
 
 ern brusqueness demanded, rather than requested, 
 presidential favors. 
 
 It was rumored and believed, both in California 
 and Washington that Broderiek had promised more 
 persons than there were positions. The names of 
 three individuals who had been assured by him of 
 succession to the same office, were uttered aloud so 
 that all could hear. Yet only one could win. 
 Doubtless it was true. He may have followed the 
 precept of Euripides : 
 
 Be just; unless a kingdom tempts, to break the laws, 
 For Sovereign power alone can justify the cause. 
 
 When next Broderiek visited the White House 
 and suggested a certain appointment he was told 
 by the President that it would be made provided 
 the senator would submit the application, in writ- 
 ing, with his signature. Broderiek asked if this 
 had hitherto been the rule. Buchanan said it had 
 never been practiced by any of his predecessors, but 
 he chose to establish the innovation for his own 
 protection and the service of the state. He added 
 that Broderiek was the first man of whom he asked 
 this pledge, but that, of course, it would be ap- 
 plicable to every member of congress. Broderiek left 
 the White House in anger and fury. He saw too 
 clearly the whence and why this unparalleled stain 
 on the word of representatives of the nation, and 
 recognized the source which had inspired the docile 
 brain of America 's chief. To checkmate him, Gwin 
 161 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 and his friends had invoked a radical alteration of 
 the customs and courtesies existing between Presi- 
 dent and Congress since the foundation of the 
 republic ! 
 
 This condition, as then instituted, remains unal- 
 tered, and is just and equitable ; but it first sprang 
 from the fertile brain of Broderick's enemies. He 
 repaired to the White House again and again, but 
 was met by the placid obstinacy of the President. 
 
 There was a legend current, which may be apoc- 
 ryphal, that after leaving the President on his last 
 visit Broderick stood on the steps of the White 
 House enclosure, facing Lafayette Park, and de- 
 nounced Buchanan in language more picturesque 
 than polite. Like his friend. Judge Field, he pos- 
 sessed a superlative vocabulary of adjectival exple- 
 tives. He never again entered the portals of the 
 executive mansion, and he never again asked a 
 favor of the President. The latter made his Cali- 
 fornia appointments leisurely and with deliberation. 
 Scarce a single one of the federal horde could be 
 considered other than an opponent of Broderick. 
 In fact, Buchanan out-Gwinned Gwin and displayed 
 personal animosity to the junior California senator 
 most conspicuously. 
 
 Broderick stayed in Washington only a few days 
 
 and hastened home to engage in the nominations 
 
 and elections during the summer and fall. The 
 
 convention was organized against him. The nomi- 
 
 162 
 
WASHINGTON 
 
 nees were his foes, with the solitary exception of 
 Supreme Judge Field, and Broderick had but this 
 single success to lessen his chagrin. 
 
 Field was sworn as Judge of the Supreme Court 
 of the state of California on January 1, 1858. 
 Judge Terry had become chief justice a few months 
 earlier, succeeding on the death of the previous 
 incumbent. Field and Terry thus sat side by side on 
 the Supreme Bench, the latter as presiding judge. 
 It is proper to align this statement clearly, for it 
 tells us that the two men knew each other very 
 well, indeed. They were not strangers when they 
 met and clashed years after, and the knowledge of 
 each other's characteristics must have qualified their 
 actions. 
 
 The rupture of Broderick with the President was 
 not yet fully known in California nor its gravity 
 appreciated. Those of his supporters who had an- 
 ticipated official rewards looked at his empty hands 
 with equanimity and made little complaint, much 
 less, perhaps, than they might have been justified 
 in doing. 
 
 After all, there did not appear to be so much self- 
 ishness as one might have expected. The men who 
 had fought his battles and carried him to success 
 were cheerful and contented. He was senator, and 
 they waited to see his wings spread like others in 
 the national halls. He was senator, and they had 
 won ; as for the rest, it did not matter much. Cali- 
 163 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 fornia was gentle, gracious, lovely, abounding, and 
 there were many other avocations besides playing 
 gentleman in federal boudoirs. A philosophic for- 
 titude under disappointment is not difficult, when 
 the disappointment is easily compensated. 
 
 For the rest Broderick remained very quiet, at- 
 tending to his personal interests that had been ne- 
 glected during his engrossing political campaigns. 
 He was indebted quite largely, and most of the 
 water lots that he possessed and which were his 
 main holdings were unimproved. He filled some, 
 sold a few, and built on others. They had been 
 chosen with rare judgment and were rapidly in- 
 creasing in value, as the city extended eastward into 
 the bay. The shallow mud flats were filled with 
 sand, wooden piles driven deep down to a firm 
 foundation, heavy planks fastened to the piles, and 
 on this superstructure strong brick edifices were 
 constructed. Streets led into the waters, and the 
 quays advanced fully a quarter of a mile from the 
 westerly point of debarkation in the record year of 
 1849. 
 
 All this promised to inake him a wealthy man. 
 The remarkable purity of his life and the sim- 
 plicity of his wants made his personal- expenses 
 quite limited. He applied himself severely to a 
 careful reading of instructive works. He was fond 
 of poetry and the contemplative Shelley was his 
 favorite. He had a private, secluded apartment, 
 164 
 
WASHINGTON 
 
 where night after night, he studied like a school 
 boy. Washington had taught him his deficiencies. 
 But he contributed largely to political require- 
 ments and assisted his friends, when asked, which 
 was infrequently. Independence and self-reliance 
 characterized the young men who made the Cali- 
 fornia of the fifties. "Old Gwin" was the uni- 
 versal appellation of Senator Gwin, and yet he 
 was only fifty-two when elected as Broderick's col- 
 league, and he had been distinguished since the 
 state was born. The average age of the arrivals in 
 1849, when the immigration exceeded that of any 
 preceding or subsequent year, was twenty-five years, 
 and 1857 was only eight years later. The state was 
 settling fast. The human tide that flowed in 1848, 
 upon the gold discovery, had not yet ebbed. 
 Nearly every steamer from Panama brought a full 
 complement of passengers and others came in dif- 
 ferent ways over seas and over lands. At first they 
 came alone, but now they brought families, women, 
 children and other relatives, who came to abide. 
 The fallacy that California was arid, barren, and 
 only good for gold had vanished. Cereals were 
 largely cultivated the production of fruits and wines 
 increased, and their quality improved. The sweet- 
 ness and softness of summer life, under the slopes 
 of the Sierras, with atmosphere anointed by the 
 balsam from the pines, enthralled and fascinated. 
 Cabins were substituted for tents, houses for 
 165 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 cabins, and towns for camps. Churches and school- 
 houses appeared. The red shirt and top boots dis- 
 appeared ; people apparelled themselves as in other 
 parts of the world, and the custom of '*a man for 
 breakfast" was abolished. The Vigilance Commit- 
 tee in San Francisco not alone cleansed that city, 
 but distributed its moral medicines over the entire 
 state. Crimes diminished markedly, and every- 
 where the Vigilance Committees serenely slum- 
 bered. The terrible remedy has never again been 
 invoked, showing how well it slew the dragon then 
 rampant — ^today an indistinct memory. 
 
 Only a single episode stands forth in the cam- 
 paign. In replying to a political communication, 
 Broderick observes, ''I challenge my enemies to 
 produce a man within the length and breadth of 
 the state whom I ever deceived or to whom I ever 
 falsified my word." A strong asseveration which 
 would hardly issue from one who had reason to ap- 
 prehend the result. But in the same statement 
 he added that there were no conditions whatever be- 
 tween Gwin and himself respecting the federal pat- 
 ronage. Which was untrue as well as sacrificing 
 of self, for one whose bond he held and who had 
 outwitted him at Washington. Evidently he did 
 not seek a rupture and was willing to shield Gwin. 
 
 He returned to Washington by Panama and was 
 in his seat when the thirty-fifth Congress assem- 
 bled in December, 1857. He had stepped from the 
 166 
 
WASHINGTON 
 
 rear to the front, from a local to a national theatre, 
 from Sacramento to Washington. Grave and dan- 
 gerous problems agitated the country. Abraham 
 Lincoln, a man of his own type, was rising in Illi- 
 nois and preparing for the contest with Douglas 
 in the ensuing year. The ferment among people 
 was shattering the old aristocracy and sending men 
 from the ranks to become leaders. 
 
 A revolutionary spirit pervaded the land. The 
 political issues were momentous. The depreciation 
 of state-bank currency rendered indispensable a 
 change in the monetary system. The building of 
 a railway to connect the Atlantic coast with the 
 Pacific slope was imperative. Statutes to pre- 
 serve public lands and secure homesteads for actual 
 settlers were demanded. There was open rebellion 
 in Utah and the situation in Kansas bordered on 
 civil war. The Dred Scott decision lately promul- 
 gated by the United States Supreme Court had been 
 extensively circulated throughout the nation with 
 bitter comments, denouncing it as the unrighteous 
 judgment of a partisan tribunal. 
 
 President Buchanan referred in his message to 
 these subjects and made certain observations on 
 the Kansas question which at once caused an ani- 
 mated controversy, continuing throughout the ses- 
 sion. The territorial legislature of Kansas in Feb- 
 ruary, 1857, passed an act providing for the elec- 
 tion of delegates in June of the same year to a 
 167 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 convention to meet in the following September and 
 frame the state constitution. 
 
 But the legislature wittingly omitted in this 
 act to provide for the submission by the convention 
 to the people for ratification of any instrument 
 adopted or adapted as a constitution by them. 
 When the convention chosen in pursuance of this 
 provision assembled in September at Lecompton, 
 Kansas, it framed a state constitution. 
 
 One article of this instrument provided that only 
 that portion of the document which embraced the 
 question as to whether the new state should be ad- 
 mitted to the Union "with or without slavery" 
 should be referred to the populace for rejection or 
 ratification. A second article largely nullified in 
 advance whatever decision might be given by the 
 people by inserting in a schedule the provision that 
 the rights of property in slaves already within the 
 confines of the territory should be recognized. 
 
 This nullifying clause and the failure to refer 
 the entire constitution instead of one or two quali- 
 fying sections to the people for their action, added 
 to the lack of authority in the legislature to call 
 the convention which framed the constitution, 
 caused Stephen A. Douglas intense chagrin and 
 disappointment. 
 
 Douglas was the leader of the national Democ- 
 racy and had been the principal opponent of Bu- 
 168 
 
WASHINGTON 
 
 ehanan for the presidential nomination in the last 
 national Democratic convention. 
 
 Not then a pronounced anti-slavery advocate, he 
 resolved to oppose the admission of Kansas with 
 that constitution. It was difficult for Northern 
 Democrats, whose life-long political associates from 
 the South had dwelt with them in complete con- 
 cord, to sever the ancient ties without regret ^.nd 
 with reluctance. 
 
 To Broderick it came easier. A New York City 
 man by training, though a native of Washington, 
 he had the natural objection of those who had 
 worked for a living to the existence of servile labor, 
 and he objected still more to contemplate the 
 exigency of toiling side by side with black men, 
 themselves slaves. He remembered that on the 
 same question the miners in 1849, coming from 
 all quarters of the globe, sent up from the gold- 
 fields a resonant shout, "No slaves nor fugitive la- 
 bor in California!" He remembered also that 
 Gwin, then a member of the California Constitu- 
 tional Convention, had silently bowed his head to 
 this insistent roar and uttered no objection. And 
 now this same Gwin was advocating slavery in a 
 new state, applying for admission into the Union 
 under conditions precisely analogous to those that 
 obtained in California nine years earlier. It was 
 true that he was then only an unknown member 
 of the convention, while now he represented his 
 169 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 state in the Senate. The one was local, the other 
 national. Gwin and Bro"derick were not so far 
 apart in ideals. Broderiek told Sickles in 1849, 
 when leaving New York for that unknown land 
 whose strands were laved by the waters of the 
 Pacific, "I will never return unless as United 
 States senator." Gwin also when departing from 
 Washington for the Land of Hope the same year, 
 said to Douglas, "I will be back in a year as sena- 
 tor. ' ' Both succeeded, Gwin having won within his 
 year. Gwin but followed where his people led. He 
 was not a prophet, only a devotee. 
 
 It was as natural for Broderiek to oppose slavery 
 as to breathe. For he breathed the air of freedom. 
 At this period few foresaw the future ; certainly not 
 the Northern element. Neither did Broderiek; 
 but his resolute, undaunted character refused com- 
 pliance and repelled seduction. He therefore al- 
 lied himself at once with Douglas, the two with 
 one other, Stuart from Michigan, forming the 
 Democratic trio of senators who originated the war 
 upon slavery. In December he pronounced his 
 first discourse in the Senate. He opposed the 
 Lecompton constitution and boldly confronted the 
 President and the Democratic majority of the Sen- 
 ate, He severely criticised Buchanan for insist- 
 ing that the sovereign people of Kansas should 
 accept the decision of a convention clearly unauthor- 
 ized by any valid law, and no less emphatically 
 170 
 
WASHINGTON 
 
 condemned the convention itself. It is interesting 
 to peruse a fragment of this address: 
 
 "As I am the only senator, I believe, on this side 
 of the house who feels disposed with the senator 
 from Illinois and the senator from Michigan to 
 oppose the Lecompton constitution, I should like 
 before the adjournment of the Senate today to be 
 heard for a very few minutes on this question. 
 
 "It is the first time that a President of the 
 United States ever stepped down from the exalted 
 position he held and attempted to coerce the people 
 into a base submission to the will of an illegal body 
 of men. 
 
 "I am very sorry that I am placed in the un- 
 fortunate position of disagreeing with my party 
 on this question, for I believe that I rendered as 
 much service in my way in the election of Mr. Bu- 
 chanan as any gentleman on this floor. He was my 
 choice before the convention at Chicago met. I 
 considered him the most available and most con- 
 servative candidate that could be presented to the 
 American people for election to the presidency, 
 and for that reason I supported him. I regret very 
 much that I am compelled to differ with him on 
 this question ; but, sir, I intend to hold him respon- 
 sible for it. 
 
 "I do not intend because I am a member of the 
 Democratic party to permit the President of the 
 United States, who has been elected by that party 
 171 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 to create civil war in the United States. The only 
 thing that has astonished me in this whole matter 
 is the forbearance of the people of Kansas. If 
 they had taken the delegates to the Lecompton 
 convention and flogged them, or cut their ears off, 
 and driven 1;hem out of the country, I would have 
 applauded them for the act. I have spoken for the 
 purpose of placing myself right upon this ques- 
 tion. 
 
 "I feel embarrassed, very much embarrassed, in 
 doing so, because this is the first time I have ever 
 attempted to address the Senate of the United 
 States." 
 
 From its lack of symmetry it is very clear that 
 he did not carefully prepare this speech, but 
 it evinces his forthright frankness and detestation, 
 almost contempt for the President. He did not 
 expect or apparently desire a reconciliation. Sev- 
 eral weeks later, when the same envenomed subject 
 was again discussed in the Senate, he was quite 
 conspicuous in making motions and short speeches. 
 For awhile he seems to have been in complete 
 charge of the business on the part of the minority, 
 especially including filibustering tactics, which 
 suited the present purpose of his faction. 
 
 Again in March he delivered a set address, evin- 
 cing careful study and reflection. He gave a clear, 
 connected, Attic description of slavery enactments 
 of the congress from the Missouri Compromise 
 172 
 
WASHINGTON 
 
 in 1820, citing copiously from the utterances of 
 eminent champions on either side, up to the meas- 
 ure then under debate. I shall quote only briefly. 
 Speaking of slavery and of the intent of the bill 
 to give the territories an option on slavery, he 
 said : ' ' How foolish for the South to hope to con- 
 tend with success in such an encounter. Slavery 
 is old, decrepit and consumptive ; freedom is young, 
 strong and vigorous. The one is naturally station- 
 ary and loves ease; the other is migrating and en- 
 terprising." It would be difficult even now, fifty 
 years after the event, to phrase the conditions 
 more accurately. Continuing, he said : 
 
 ' ' They say cotton is king ! No, sir, gold is king. 
 I represent a state where labor is honorable ; where 
 the judge has left his bench, the lawyer and doctor 
 their offices, and the clergyman his pulpit, for the 
 purpose of delving in the earth; where no station 
 is so high and no position so great that its occupant 
 is not proud to boast that he labored with his own 
 hands. There is no state in the Union, no place 
 on earth, where labor is so honored and so well 
 rewarded ; no time and no place since the Almighty 
 doomed the sons of Adam to toil, where the curse, 
 if it be a curse, rests so lightly as now on the people 
 of California." 
 
 A Southern senator had stigmatized Northern 
 laborers as "mudsills," an expression that was the 
 ultimate cause of more injury to their doctrines 
 173 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 than fifty regiments of federal troops, for it an- 
 gered and solidified the Northern masses. 
 
 Broderick quoted this previous observation and 
 continued: 'T suppose the senator from South 
 Carolina did not intend to be personal in his re- 
 marks to any of his peers upon the floor. If I had 
 thought so I would have noticed them at the time. 
 I am, sir, with one exception, the youngest in years 
 of the senators upon this floor. It is not long since 
 I served an apprenticeship of five years at one of 
 the most laborious trades pursued by man, a trade 
 that from its nature devotes its followers to 
 thought, but debars him from conversation. I 
 would not have alluded to this if it were not for 
 the remarks of the senator from South Carolina, 
 and that thousands who know that I am the son 
 of an artisan and have been a mechanic would feel 
 disappointed in me if I did not reply to him. 
 I am not proud of this. I am sorry it is true. I 
 would that I could have enjoyed the pleasures of 
 life in my boyhood days, but they were denied to 
 me. I say this with pain. I have not the admira- 
 tion for the men of that class from whence I 
 sprang that might be expected; they submit too 
 tamely to oppression, and are too prone to neglect 
 their rights and duties as citizens. But, sir, the 
 class of society to whose toil I was born, under our 
 form of government, will control the destinies of 
 this nation. If I were inclined to forget my con- 
 174 
 
WASHINGTON 
 
 nection with them, or to deny that I sprang from 
 them, this chamber would not be the place in which 
 I could do either. While I hold a seat here, I have 
 but to look at the beautiful capitals adorning the 
 pilasters that support the roof to be reminded of 
 my father's talent and handiwork. 
 
 "I left the scenes of my youth and manhood 
 for the far West because I was tired of the 
 struggles and the jealousies of men of my class, 
 who could not understand why one of their fellows 
 should seek to elevate his position above the com- 
 mon level. I made my new abode among strang- 
 ers, where labor is honored. I had left without 
 regret. There remained no tie of blood to bind 
 me to any being in existence. If I fell in the 
 struggle for reputation and fortune there was no 
 relative on earth to mourn my fall. 
 
 "The people of California elevated me to the 
 highest oflSce within their gift. My election was 
 not the result of an accident. For years I had to 
 struggle, often seeing the goal of my ambition with- 
 in my reach ; it was again and again taken from me 
 by men of my own class. I had not only them 
 to contend with, but almost the entire partisan 
 press of my state was subsidized by government 
 money and patronage to oppose my election. I 
 sincerely hope, sir, the time will come when such 
 speeches as that from the senator from South Caro- 
 lina will be considered a lesson to the laborers of the 
 175 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 nation. ' ' He concluded in these words : "I hope 
 in mercy, sir, to the boasted intelligence of this 
 age, the historian, when writing a history of these 
 times, will ascribe this attempt of the Executive 
 to force this constitution upon an unwilling people 
 to the fading intellect, the petulant passion and 
 trembling dotage of an old man on the verge of 
 the grave." 
 
 This speech made Broderick a marked man. It 
 was published in full by several potent Eastern 
 journals and by part of the California press. The 
 allusion by the son, standing erect among his 
 brother senators in the stately hall, to his father's 
 genius exhibited aloft on the carven entablature, 
 created sympathetic admiration, and the declara- 
 tion that no kindred blood flowed in the veins of 
 any living being caused a sentiment of kindly re- 
 spect for this lonely figure from the Pacific shores. 
 
 The words in which he refers to Buchanan so 
 contumeliously were the first public expression of 
 his opinions. Several writers have stated that 
 Broderick denounced the President a year .previous 
 but that is an error. He guarded silence in the 
 Senate as custom ordains during the first session 
 in March, 1857, and in fact remained only about 
 six weeks in "Washington on that occasion. In De- 
 cember, 1857, he censured the Executive for his 
 course in the Lecompton issue, but only now, in 
 March, 1858, a year after his accession, did he an- 
 176 
 
WASHINGTON 
 
 nounce their relations in these bitter phrases. Brod- 
 erick had ample provocation long before, as far as 
 patronage was in question, for it is not in evidence 
 that Buchanan gave him a single appointment 
 nor is it in evidence that he asked for a single 
 one. Nevertheless, with true dignity, he felt that 
 to embroil himself with party and President for 
 a few trifling offices would neither be judicious 
 nor creditable, and when he did make the issue it 
 was on a grave and national question from which 
 he could not recede, and wherein his decision 
 gained him the plaudits of the entire North. Even 
 toward GavIu, who was placidly fattening on the 
 official provender that he had filched, I can dis- 
 cover no expression of rancor nor resentment. All 
 through this session, when Broderick alludes to his 
 colleague, it is pleasantly and with decorum. In- 
 deed, most of his allusions refer to Gwin as absent 
 when measures affecting their state were under 
 discussion. The latter was not very assiduous, 
 while Broderick never missed a session nor a com- 
 mittee meeting. Gwin rather carped at Broder- 
 ick 's oratorical accomplishments, while the latter 
 retorted that whenever the former commenced to 
 read one of his dreary exhortations, the chamber 
 was deserted by all save the speaker, Broderick and 
 one more senator. Broderick remained through 
 courtesy and the other man through pity. I must 
 again destroy the fallacy that George Wilkes wrote 
 177 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 this speech or any other speech for Broderick, or 
 that he was either his Mentor or his Mephistopheles. 
 Can anyone for a moment surmise that Wilkes 
 wrote that simple passage about his father, or that 
 solemn statement of his loneliness amid countless 
 millions ? The lack of polish and rhetoric are mani- 
 fest in all Broderick 's public utterances, which 
 Wilkes would not have omitted; but the sincerity, 
 earnestness and clear, direct statement belong to the 
 man, and the worldly Wilkes could not have evolved 
 them. This Wilkes cult was formulated by a writer 
 not overly just to Broderick and adopted by sub- 
 sequent historians without sufficient investigation. 
 Those who read with me do not require the convic- 
 tion that if ever there was a bold, self-reliant, ven- 
 turesome man, it was Broderick; one of those who 
 do not need nor seek advice or inspiration. What 
 such men really lack is not one to guide their foot- 
 steps, but to keep them still. They want not so 
 much propulsion as a brake. 
 
 In this work I have endeavored to seek original 
 sources of information. I have accepted no state- 
 ment, even if printed, without cognate and com- 
 petent authority. I am writing history, not ro- 
 mance nor fiction. I have not read a single volume 
 treating of these troublous times that does not dis- 
 play bias and imperfect knowledge. For the reason 
 that they were written either by participants, 
 spectators or contemporaries. History, be it said, 
 178 
 
^^-^-^-^^^^ 
 
WASHINGTON 
 
 however strange, is best written after all the actors 
 are dead. 
 
 The project of a railway between the two oceans 
 was conceived at an early epoch, and many bills 
 in relation thereto were presented to Congress. At 
 this session several distinct routes were proposed 
 and Broderick energetically advocated the 41st 
 parallel as the best and most central location. 
 There were others who advocated more northerly 
 and southerly lines and no decision was reached. 
 
 In one day, by his promptness of action, he 
 secured the consideration and passage of three 
 important measures affecting California. 
 
 Because of the increased cost of living in early 
 California days, the federal officials were allowed 
 larger salaries than in other states. Broderick con- 
 tended that household expenses had decreased to a 
 normal condition and therefore the government 
 should lessen its payments. 
 
 Inasmuch as no one of the officials were his 
 appointees or friends, that was a labor of love 
 as well as economy, and he was vigilant in examin- 
 ing appropriation and deficiency bills. There was 
 no gainsaying this position, and he relentlessly 
 decimated the perquisites of Gwin's adherents 
 without much difficulty, for the latter frequented 
 the Senate but seldom. 
 
 The wits of Congress might have said, follow- 
 179 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 ing those of Rome, that the name of one California 
 senator was David and the other Broderick. 
 
 Nevertheless, at a certain sitting, Gwin was de- 
 cidedly present, for he presented to the Senate 
 resolutions of the California legislature instructing 
 their two senators to vote for the Lecompton con- 
 stitution. The resolutions were read, and Broder- 
 ick immediately said that "the resolutions intro- 
 duced by my colleague will have no influence upon 
 my action here, now, or in the future. I am satis- 
 fied that four-fifths of the people of California re- 
 pudiate the Lecompton fraud. 
 
 '*I shall respect the wishes of the people and 
 pay no respect to the resolutions passed by a legis- 
 lature not representing the opinions of the people 
 of California. I merely say this now for the pur- 
 pose of placing myself on the record." Of course 
 this was not the legislature that elected Gwin and 
 himself, but a new body. 
 
 Fremont, the first senator from California, who 
 had been the year before the first nominee for the 
 presidency of the newly created Republican party, 
 had presented to Congress claims for services while 
 engaged in the Mexican War. Some moneys had 
 been paid Fremont, but for the moiety he had been 
 vainly pleading session after session. It illus- 
 trates the tendency of Broderick 's political 
 views to learn that, with his usual diligence and 
 earnestness, he advocated a settlement and payment 
 to this Republican, and finally succeeded. 
 180 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 DISSENSION 
 
 After the adjournment in June, 1858, Broderick 
 returned directly home. He found that his repu- 
 tation had increased and so had the number of his 
 enemies. 
 
 The rupture with the administration was pal- 
 pable and his anti-slavery sympathies were equally 
 clear. Californians were inclined to think him 
 premature and precipitate. Even the Northerners 
 doubted the justice of his positive declarations, 
 and as for his Southern friends, their numbers had 
 diminished. 
 
 The first sound or sight of war is on the firing 
 line, and Broderick in Congress saw farther than 
 the inhabitants of distant California. Unable to 
 reward his friends, censured by those whose judg- 
 ment he valued, and compelled to differ with an or- 
 ganization to which he had been always loyal and 
 devoted, his position was excessively difficult and 
 disagreeable. He could not proclaim what he 
 feared and foresaw, for no one would credit him. 
 To one friend, and this man a Eepublican, he con- 
 fided his belief that "the Southerners would stop 
 at nothing, even to the disruption of the Union." 
 181 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 This statement was expressed three years before 
 the war. Not many Northern men possessed the 
 same prescience. 
 
 Broderick kept his soul in patience, attended to 
 his private affairs, which were prosperous, quali- 
 fied for the bar and, after a detention of only three 
 months, left for Washington. 
 
 But, prior to his departure, there occurred in 
 August of the same year one of those events that 
 are never forgotten, but which, on the contrary, 
 recall themselves, accompanying distrust and fore- 
 boding. 
 
 W. I. Ferguson, from Pennsylvania and Illinois, 
 was a member of the California Senate, represent- 
 ing Sacramento. He served in the legislature for 
 several years, beginning like Baker as a member 
 of the Native American party, and subsequently 
 reverting again to the Democracy. He voted for 
 Broderick at his election and was the intermediary 
 who arranged the midnight interview between 
 Gwin and Broderick on the evening preceding the 
 former's selection by the caucus. To Ferguson had 
 been confided the custody of the personal letter 
 from Gwin to Broderick renouncing all claim to 
 patronage, which was the price of Gwin 's elevation. 
 The secret of this document's existence and the 
 identity of its possessor must have been known to 
 but very few. It carried death amid its pages. 
 
 During the Congressional session of 1858, as I 
 182 
 
DISSENSION 
 
 have already indicated, Broderiek's position with 
 reference to party and President had been clearly 
 defined. Ferguson, a brilliant young attorney 
 with Northern antecedents and predilections, came 
 to the aid of Broderick and Douglas. In an elo- 
 quent and effective harangue he declared his faith 
 in and conversion to their doctrines, and bitterly 
 condemned Buchanan. The address delivered in 
 the state Senate made Ferguson a marked man. 
 
 At San Francisco a few months afterwards, 
 he became involved in a trivial political dis- 
 pute with a Southern gentleman, who promptly 
 challenged him. Ferguson was shot in the duel 
 that ensued and died after suffering the torture 
 of having a leg amputated. It was a warning to 
 Broderick, Baker and other Northern men. Events 
 were hastening. The national differences were 
 leavening California, and the leaders of the North 
 were being struck down. This is what Baker said 
 in his eulogy on Ferguson — the same immortal 
 Baker who, a year later, delivered the pane- 
 gyric over a more illustrious victim: "He stood 
 four fires at a distance of scarcely twenty feet 
 with a conviction that there was a strong de- 
 termination to take his life — that the matter 
 should be carried to extremity — and that, too, when 
 until the day before, he had never fired a pistol in 
 his life." Ferguson's successful antagonist was a 
 practised duellist. The night following Ferguson's 
 183 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 death his office desk was found broken open and the 
 contents scattered. 
 
 Broderick averred the next year, when canvassing 
 the state, that Ferguson's desk was rifled with the 
 hope of securing possession of the "scarlet letter," 
 and added that Ferguson, onhis death-bed, intrusted 
 the letter to General Estill, who kept it in secrecy 
 until restored to Broderick. This was the second 
 Northern statesman killed in a duel with a South- 
 erner. There was a sentiment that it was too much 
 like skill against ignorance, practical training 
 against its absence. It was fate that the element 
 of equality was lacking. The civilian is no fair 
 match for the soldier when the former has not 
 been trained to the use of arms; nor, although his 
 courage is high and he may have a profound con- 
 viction that he is right, will the contest be there- 
 fore equal and just. 
 
 To inaugurate and test the first line of coaches 
 from the Pacific, Broderick journeyed by land to 
 St. Joseph, Missouri, at that time the railway's 
 western terminal. A boat-load of faithful friends 
 accompanied him to Benicia where he took stage 
 for the East, after a banquet, reception, addresses 
 and salutes. After all he was California's senator 
 and typically represented the state. 
 
 It shows how his fame was enlarging to read that 
 the mayor and common council, of Salt Lake City 
 waited upon and tendered him its hospitality. He 
 184 
 
DISSENSION 
 
 was assigned special apartments and visited by 
 many distinguished citizens, including Brigham 
 Young and other Mormon church dignitaries. He 
 was told that he was the only man from the West 
 in whom they trusted and he was implored to aid 
 and protect the people and territory of Utah, and to 
 act as their friend and representative in Congress. 
 The journey to St. Joseph by stage coach took 
 forty-seven days including a stay of a week in Salt 
 Lake. Going down a steep mountain grade the 
 vehicle upset, fracturing one of Broderick's ribs, 
 and he arrived with frost-bitten feet and generally 
 debilitated. In those early staging days across the 
 plains, people did not know how to guard against 
 the asperities of the weather and Broderick nearly 
 became a victim to inexperience. Still he assisted 
 to open this great overland thoroughfare, the suc- 
 cess of which was of importance to California's de- 
 velopment, and, partially recovered, was present in 
 Washington at the December overture of Con- 
 gress. 
 
 When the committees were announced he dis- 
 covered that his name had been dropped from 
 the important Committee on Public Lands, of 
 which he had been a member since his accession. 
 
 This was done because he was known to strongly 
 favor a Pacific railway. The Southern element, 
 who controlled Congress and the President, was 
 185 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 indisposed to such a project, if not, indeed, posi- 
 tively hostile. 
 
 While the Southerners hoped in the conflict 
 which they kaew was inevitable — to retain Califor- 
 nia as a slave state — still the railway's Eastern 
 terminus would be among the Western middle 
 states, which were free soil; hence they preferred 
 that there should be no road. Moreover, as devel- 
 oped during the discussion, they wished any pro- 
 jected route to be South of parallel 36° 30' — that 
 line being the accepted division between slavery 
 and freedom in the extreme Western states and ter- 
 ritories. The Northern advocates, however, de- 
 manded the forty-first parallel or neighboring 
 degrees. The more southerly line would be through 
 Texas and touch California at its extreme south- 
 eastern point. From there San Francisco was 
 hundreds of miles distant. If the government ren- 
 dered assistance it was contemplated to the state 
 line only, so this southern railway would have to 
 be extended north for 500 miles to San Francisco 
 without federal subsidies. All these various pro- 
 jected railways are now completed, but it was very 
 different fifty years past. For this 36° 30' meant, 
 if completed, a railway within Southern lines. If 
 not constructed, so much the better; and the more 
 obstructions the less possibility. 
 
 Broderick had studied existing conditions care- 
 fully. He had made the arduous and fatiguing 
 186 
 
DISSENSION 
 
 stage journey of forty days to familiarize himself 
 with the country. Therefore, to minimize his 
 influence he was deprived of a place on this com- 
 mittee, although California was most vitally inter- 
 ested and he himself, perhaps, the best informed 
 man in Congress on this absorbing question of a 
 railway from ocean to ocean. 
 
 But the statesmen who represented the South did 
 not do things by halves. Gwin introduced a rail- 
 way measure early in the session, read a two hours' 
 lecture to the Senate, and then — no more. 
 
 His bill designated the line of 36° 30'. He rarely 
 attended the earnest and intelligent as well as 
 numerous debates. Broderick complains more than 
 once that his colleague's absence left him without 
 assistance. Indeed, on the approach of the final 
 vote, he directly asked Gwin if he was in favor 
 of the measure that he had himself presented, and 
 the latter did not reply. The pity of it was that 
 Gwin sacrificed his state to his Southern friends 
 and affiliations. Not that he loved California less, 
 but he loved the South more. The measure finally 
 passed the Senate with no special parallel indi- 
 cated, and perished in the House. 
 
 The legislature elected in California this year 
 was anti-Broderick. The state and federal powers 
 were in perfect and consistent alignment against 
 him. Every state and federal officeholder was his 
 foe, and his friends did not realize the underlying 
 187 
 
1 
 
 A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 cause. Only himself, alone at Washington, and his 
 enemies knew and forecasted the future. Broder- 
 ick's intellectual sagacity surpassed even that of 
 Douglas with all the latter 's years of political knowl- 
 edge, for he would not or could not observe the 
 red light on the horizon increase in its balefulness 
 of unhappy portent. 
 
 This legislature condemned Broderick by reso- 
 lution for not complying with the instructions of 
 its predecessor relative to the Lecompton constitu- 
 tion and stigmatized his words applied in the 
 Senate to the President as a disgrace and humilia- 
 tion to the nation and people. I have related else- 
 where both the resolutions of the preceding Cali- 
 fornia body and Broderick 's objurgation of Bu- 
 chanan, to which the last resolutions applied. 
 
 I have been unable to discover that these later 
 declarations of the legislature were presented to 
 the Senate, as were the first. Other Northern sen- 
 ators in those days were reprimanded by their 
 timid and thoughtless constituents, who dreamt the 
 difficulties could be settled with words. There 
 were Cass, Pugh, Bright, and even Sumner. It is 
 true that in every instance reparation was ulti- 
 mately made. 
 
 The California legislature of 1861 expunged all 
 these violent diatribes against Broderick, and his 
 memory with becoming dignity and indignation, 
 but that was two years after he had fallen, 
 188 
 
DISSENSION 
 
 Meanwhile the bitterness of it rankled in his lofty- 
 spirit, and he must have doubted if, after all, he 
 should be wrong. He had one rasping rencounter 
 with Gwin, taunting him with his free-soil doc- 
 trines in the California Constitutional Convention 
 of 1849, and quoting from Gwin's own address, 
 advocating freedom and not slavery. But 1859 
 was ten years later. Men change, and perhaps 
 with reason, in a much shorter period. Broderick 
 also attacked several schemes which contemplated 
 the expenditure of federal funds in California as 
 improper and extravagant. Gwin was their author 
 and defender. One has only to glance over the 
 Senate proceedings to clearly observe the tempered 
 rancor and augmenting irritation between the two 
 senators. 
 
 Gwin was not absent at this session as at the 
 last. The country was fast drifting on the rocks, 
 and he was one of the pilots directing its dangerous 
 course to destruction; alert, active, adroit. 
 Broderick was beset on every side. There was 
 nothing he wanted that he could have. Every- 
 thing he opposed succeeded. In one debate six of 
 the enemy confronted him, each one of the six 
 being a Southern senator. He stood alone with his 
 back to the wall. Seward styled him openly "the 
 brave young senator," but the Republicans were 
 few and they did not comprehend the broadness 
 of his intellect and the priceless value of his ser- 
 189 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 vices. They regarded him with pity mingled with 
 respect; but he was a Democrat. 
 
 Douglas had been sorely wounded in his forum 
 contest with Lincoln. His lifelong dream of the 
 Presidency he saw was only a dream, and his 
 lifelong friends were wandering from his side 
 into the filmy fog of the future. He could only 
 pray for Broderick, but could not, dared not battle 
 by his side. Besides, Broderick went far. His 
 steel-blue eyes, looking upwards at his father's 
 monument, saw blood clouds encompassing the 
 capital and the country. He had the clearest 
 vision and intellect of any man in the Senate, and 
 yet he was treated like a pariah; an outcast; 
 taunted and baited until he began to doubt. Even 
 his firm, rugged character quailed for a moment, 
 and in his lonely environment he cried out: "If 
 I have made a mistake here this evening I will try 
 to correct it when I come here next winter if I 
 should live so long and not resign in the meantime." 
 Did these ominous, fateful expressions presage his 
 doom? Did the memory of Ferguson cloud his 
 mental vision? Did he know how his blood would 
 be sought? Men do not talk of dying at thirty- 
 nine without reasons. Yet there were gallant foes 
 among those Southrons. Toombs and Benjamin 
 were both chivalrous cavaliers, who would have 
 rivalled the French at Fontenoy. While they as- 
 sailed him often on national issues, on minor ajffairs 
 190 
 
DISSENSION 
 
 affecting his own state they aided him. They 
 seemed to take a grim delight in thwarting Gwin. 
 It does not lie with me to censure the Southerners. 
 The South was their country as the North was 
 ours. They felt as Decatur said in his toast : ' ' Our 
 country, may she be always right; but our coun- 
 try, right or wrong." 
 
 Lee followed not the Confederacy, but his state. 
 That was his country. It is true the cause was 
 indefensible. Slaves could not exist in civilized 
 communities. Even in semi-barbarous South 
 America they had been manumitted. The propo- 
 nents of slavery were warring against the inevi- 
 table, against the moving glacier of modern prog- 
 ress. But many a man fought in Southern ranks 
 not for slavery, but for his state. It is all over 
 now and the Union is stronger after the struggle, 
 though those who glance over these pages may be 
 appalled at the venom and ferocity with which 
 some were pursued. 
 
 As a senator Broderick not only advocated the 
 enfranchisement of labor, but stood for the home- 
 stead law; for the endowment of mechanical and 
 agricultural colleges by Congress ; for the construc- 
 tion of a railway from the Missouri River to the 
 Pacific Ocean ; for the prosecution of peculators in 
 all departments of the government, and for general 
 reform and retrenchment in public affairs. Among 
 the special objects of his animadversions were cor- 
 191 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 rupt Indian agents; venal surveyors of public 
 lands; jobbery by postmasters and the rascally 
 revenue collectors of the administration, sparing 
 not even Buchanan himself. 
 
 He left Washington, his birthplace, forever, on 
 the adjournment of Congress in March, 1859. While 
 conversing with friends at a hotel in New York he 
 was wantonly insulted by two men, — unknown to 
 him. On a repetition of the offense, Broderick, 
 strong and active, struck them both severely with 
 his cane. Subsequently it was learned that they 
 were from New Orleans and of a certain standing. 
 
 The affair annoyed him, as it seemed premedi- 
 tated, and he suspected a plot to force a duel. Was 
 it not a forerunner of the future? In bidding 
 farewell to a friend in New York, he said : " I don 't 
 know whether you will ever see me again." 
 
 In this gloomy mood he returned home, via Pan- 
 ama, to find political chaos reigning in California. 
 There was no question of his position. He was 
 clearly opposed to all the dominant elements, both 
 in Washington and at home. He was hardly a Dem- 
 ocrat; he was not yet a Republican, and there was 
 no half-way house. He was in that anomalous posi- 
 tion of men who doubt the old, but still are not 
 quite ready for the vigorous embrace of the exuber- 
 ant young. He could not, would not, deny his 
 antagonism to Buchanan and Southern dogmas, 
 and yet dared he desert the Democratic party? 
 192 
 
DISSENSION 
 
 Where would he go? The Republican organiza- 
 tion was his natural home, for in that which caused 
 its birth and growth — opposition to slavery — he 
 was one of the most early and ardent advocates. 
 In effect, each state and government official was 
 Southern by birth or sentiment. It was said that 
 of an hundred and fifty federal officeholders sta- 
 tioned in San Francisco, all but five sprang from 
 south of Mason and Dixon's line. Which, of 
 course, was both unjust and imprudent, for it car- 
 ried reflection and irritation to Northern men. By 
 now, indeed, the cleavage was pronounced and the 
 two factions were ranging in ranks. Only the 
 Democrats could not yet forget the fetich of the 
 name under which as talisman they had ruled the 
 land these many years. Hence Northern Demo- 
 crats were dissatisfied and discontented, yet knew 
 not where to go nor why. 
 
 Nevertheless, the rupture was complete. On the 
 question of the Lecompton constitution, the Demo- 
 crats divided, formed two state conventions and 
 nominated two complete state tickets. The fed- 
 eral and state governments combined in favor of 
 the Lecompton constitution and were undoubtedly 
 the regular Democratic organization, and as such 
 carried the votes of those whom I have indicated, 
 as well as of the timid, who deprecated change 
 and confusion. They were not seers nor Cassan- 
 dras and could not penetrate the future. On his 
 193 
 
' A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 side Broderick selected as candidate for governor 
 a Republican. 
 
 He was too sagacious not to know he could not 
 win without their aid and probably not with them, 
 for he, better than any man in the state, fathomed 
 the depth, solidity and discipline of the battle line 
 which he confronted. Doubtless he hoped for 
 fusion, and Horace Greeley, one of the earliest 
 and foremost Republicans, then on a visit to the 
 coast, openly advised the California Republicans 
 to coalesce with Broderick and his Democratic ad- 
 herents. 
 
 But the California Republicans declined, per- 
 haps feeling with Pompey that more people wor- 
 shipped the rising than the setting sun. Still the 
 sentiment between the new birth and the anti- 
 Lecomptonites was cordial. Baker, the Republican 
 nominee for Congress, and Broderick became close 
 and intimate associates. They were of the same 
 stamp and type, men who led multitudes and 
 founded states. 
 
 For the first time Broderick canvassed the state 
 addressing the people. Very likely his sojourn in 
 the Senate and contact with ready and fluent ora- 
 tors had furnished him with courage and a certain 
 aptitude. He spoke frequently in a clear, sonor- 
 ous voice, distinctly heard. His enunciation was 
 deliberate and his elocution good. He seldom ges- 
 194 
 
DISSENSION 
 
 ticulated and never played cadence with his sen- 
 tences — the orator's charm. 
 
 Not a jest, not a smile, but intensely resolved, 
 grand, gloomy and peculiar, as Shiel said of Napo- 
 leon. He accused Gwin of several public transac- 
 tions as senator, which were prompted by venal 
 motives; he delved into details on these matters; 
 challenged Gwin to a public debate before the popu- 
 lace, and summed up his sins and crimes with the 
 phrase "dripping with corruption." 
 
 Gwin, who was also active in the campaign, re- 
 plied with vigor and ascerbity, and the conflict 
 became bitterly personal and acrimonious. Latham, 
 who had been a candidate for senator when Broder- 
 ick and Gwin were elected and who was now the 
 Lecompton nominee for governor, made a second 
 antagonist of Broderick. He was of the North 
 with Southern prejudices and predilections, and 
 supported Gwin, for therein lay advancement, but 
 he was neither loved by the one nor hated by the 
 other to a pernicious degree. 
 
 The senatorial election of 1857 was one of the 
 principal topics, and Latham was involved only to 
 a less degree than Gwin, The difference was that 
 Gwin gave Broderick a written letter of renuncia- 
 tion and abdication of the government patronage, 
 and Latham did not, though he had been quite 
 willing. Broderick had carefully refrained from 
 informing the people of this extremely humble and 
 195 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 abject paper. He was not of a forgiviui; ov 
 magnanimons nature, but his party creed and faitli 
 had been deep and constant, and he knew the reve- 
 lation would never be forgiven. 
 
 Now, however, he himself had left Democrac}' 
 and was drifting on the political waters, farther 
 and farther from the old shores and nearer and 
 nearer to the new, from whence shone the light of 
 Republicanism that was to save the republic. 
 
 Besides, he felt that Gwin deserved no sympathy 
 for his turpitude in continuing to advise Buchanan, 
 as if no such damning document existed. So, in 
 August, at a meeting under the pines and the stars 
 at Shasta, he said : 
 
 "I now return to Gwin, and I shall be brief. I 
 will give you the copy of the letter that I believe 
 led to the death of W. L. Ferguson. Do you be- 
 lieve it was for nothing that Ferguson's desk in 
 the Senate chamber was broken open immediately 
 after his decease? On his deathbed Ferguson told 
 General Estill where he could tind the letter. A 
 curse has followed tliat letter, and I now give it 
 to the public that the curse may return to its 
 author — that its disgrace and shame may burn the 
 brand upon his forehead even as plainly, as pal- 
 pably as the scarlet letter burned upon the breast 
 of Hester Pryn! Let Dr. Gwin or any of his set 
 deny its authority and I will prove that he wrote 
 it, letter for letter, column for column." 
 196 
 
DISSENSION 
 
 He then read the instrument which appears on 
 an earlier page of this volume. 
 
 Qwin, in his reply a few days later at Yreka, said 
 that Brodcrick was *'a cowardly liar. He will 
 slander and lie upon me — it is his vocation and 
 has been that of his minions I'or years, but I will 
 survive it now as I liuve li(!r(!toi"ore. The more he 
 abuses me the more firmly I will liold the (;()ufi(ien(^e 
 of my constituents. This is strong language, but I 
 intend it to be so. Brodcrick is to l)c here in a sliort 
 time and I wish him to understand it." These 
 words with their direct implication and applica- 
 tion conveyed a clear significance that was univcir- 
 sally understood and accepted. In the same ad- 
 dress he refers almost humorously to the penalties 
 of patronage in language that I heard re-cclioed 
 by another senator forty years afterwards. Gwin 
 said: 
 
 * ' The first five years of my term I had no trouble 
 on the subject of executive patronage as it was 
 a Whig reign. I made no complaint. But when 
 Pierce came in and new officers had to be ap- 
 pointed all the officeseekers flacked to Washington. 
 I among others was beset by them. You can form 
 no idea of the manner in which they urged their 
 claims. There was about five for every office. They 
 interrupted me in the senate chamber, and I was 
 not safe in my own home from their pursuit. I 
 never got up to eat my breakfast but my eyes were 
 197 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 greeted with the sight of them. The result was 
 that I came to the determination never to have 
 anything to do with the dispensing of office if I 
 remained in the senate. 
 
 "For Collector of the Port of San Francisco, 
 under Pierce, there were two prominent candidates 
 — Marshall and another. The President informed 
 me that if I would commend Marshall he would 
 appoint him, otherwise, from personal feelings, he 
 would give the appointment to the other, Latham, 
 I declined signing Marshall's paper. He came 
 home the worst enemy I had. 
 
 "With all the talent he is Imown to possess, by 
 articles signed 'Interior,' attacking me, etc., he 
 proved the bitterest foe I ever had. The gentle- 
 man appointed to the office is at present one of my 
 enemies, ' ' 
 
 198 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 PROVOCATION 
 
 David S. Terry came to California from Texas 
 in 1849 and located in Stockton. He volunteered 
 in the United States service from Texas during the 
 Mexican War in 1846 and served throughout as 
 one of a company of mounted rangers. Their 
 principal function was to repel Mexican and Indian 
 incursions from the borders, where helpless fami- 
 lies and small hamlets lay unprotected. 
 
 As a mounted soldier he acquitted himself cred- 
 itably and with courage. The war ended in 1848, 
 and young Terry became an advocate. The next 
 year he followed the hejira toward the West that 
 came from all quarters of the globe, and crossed 
 the plains to California. A year or two later he 
 returned to Texas, married, and brought his bride 
 to Stockton, which became their permanent resi- 
 dence. He was always an active Democrat in state 
 politics, conventions and in the local politics of 
 his county. 
 
 He was a strong opponent of Broderick in the 
 convention of 1854, which assembled in the Sacra- 
 mento church and nearly ended its deliberations in 
 a sanguinary battle. Subsequently he deserted 
 199 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 the Democratic organization and espoused the 
 Native American party. During its meteoric and 
 ephemeral career he was elected in 1855 as associate 
 justice of the Supreme Court of California and took 
 office the first of the ensuing year. Some time 
 thereafter Chief Justice Murray died and Terry 
 was appointed by the governor his successor. 
 
 In the summer of 1856, only a few months after 
 his elevation and before the demise of Murray, he 
 stabbed one of the Vigilante officers in San Fran- 
 cisco for which he was tried and released by the 
 committee after an imprisonment of several weeks. 
 
 A year later Stephen J. Field was chosen to fill 
 the vacancy on the supreme bench caused by the 
 elevation of Terry to the chief justiceship. His 
 tenure of office terminated in three years; that is 
 at the end of 1859. 
 
 Elected as a Know-Nothing, Terry, like many 
 others, had abandoned this organization and be- 
 came once again a Democrat. Always an extreme 
 partisan the bitter feud raging between the two 
 wings of the party had found in the Texan an 
 ardent response, and his Southern slavery antece- 
 dents and proclivities naturally ranked him with 
 that element. 
 
 After his dangerous experiment with the 
 Vigilantes in 1856 he remembered and conserved 
 the dignity demanded of his station and exercised 
 his judicial functions with justice and honor. 
 200 
 
PROVOCATION 
 
 Three years later he was a candidate before the 
 Lecompton convention to succeed himself. But 
 the delegates chose another contestant. The same 
 evening, at Sacramento, after his defeat, he came 
 before the convention and delivered a vehement 
 address. The subjoined is a part of his speech : 
 
 * ' What other ? A miserable remnant of a faction 
 sailing under false colors trying to obtain votes 
 under false pretenses. They have no distinction 
 they are entitled to. They are the followers of one 
 man, the personal chattels of a single individual, 
 whom they are ashamed of ; they belong heart and 
 soul, body and breeches, to David C. Broderick. 
 
 "They are yet ashamed to acknowledge their 
 master, and are calling themselves, forsooth, Doug- 
 las Democrats, when it is known to them, as to 
 us, that the gallant senator from Illinois, whose 
 voice has always been heard in the advocacy of 
 Democratic principles, has no affiliation with them, 
 no feeling in common with them. 
 
 "Perhaps, Mr. President and gentlemen, I am 
 mistaken in denying their rights to claim Douglas 
 as their leader; but it is the banner of the Black 
 Douglas, whose name is Frederick, not Stephen." 
 
 These were the words of the chief justice of the 
 state, delivered after three years of silence, before 
 a body of delegates who had just defeated his as- 
 pirations, so that no epithets, however violent, 
 could have altered their declared resolve. 
 201 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 Even today, when we are very tolerant and philo- 
 sophical toward political animadversions, such a 
 diatribe would be indignantly resented; still more 
 so in the years of which I write. Every man of 
 distinction was careful of his language, public and 
 private; people would fight for a pin and their 
 "honor" was, of course, a more valuable com- 
 modity. 
 
 Terry, in his letter to the Vigilantes, said : * ' One 
 of the first lessons I learned was to avoid giving 
 an insult, and to allow none to be given to me. 
 I have acted and expect to act on this principle. 
 I believe no man has a right to outrage the feel- 
 ings of another, or attempt to blast his good name 
 without being responsible for his actions." 
 
 If Terry thought others felt like himself he must 
 have expected recognition. On the morning of the 
 27th of June Broderick, while at the breakfast table 
 of the International Hotel in San Francisco, read 
 in a journal the address of Terry, delivered in 
 Sacramento two days previously. He became angry 
 and disturbed and spoke to a friend at the table, 
 the company including several ladies. He observed 
 that while Terry was incarcerated by the Vigi- 
 lance Committee he had paid $200 a week to sup- 
 port a newspaper to defend him, and added: 
 "I have said that I considered him the only hon- 
 est man on the supreme bench, but I now take it 
 all back." Mr. D. W. Perley, by a coincidence, 
 202 
 
PROVOCATION 
 
 was breakfasting in the room and heard Brod- 
 erick. Perley, though not an American citizen, had 
 been a legal colleague of Terry until the latter 's 
 accession to the Supreme Court. Years previously 
 Terry had seconded Perley in a duel, and Perley, 
 in the trial of Terry before the Vigilance Commit- 
 tee, had given strong and insistent evidence in 
 favor of Terry's personal character and integrity. 
 Hence he was an old and intimate friend, 
 though his professional and personal standing had 
 somewhat lessened since Terry was no longer his 
 associate. He asked Broderick if he meant Terry, 
 and being answered "yes," at once resented the 
 words used by Broderick, who cut him short with 
 some curt remarks that Perley deemed personally 
 offensive. He sent a challenge to Broderick, which 
 the latter declined, giving his reasons in a some- 
 what lengthy epistle, from which I quote: 
 
 "For many years and up to the time of my ele- 
 vation to the position I now occupy it was well 
 known that I would not have avoided any issue of 
 the character proposed. If compelled to accept a 
 challenge it could only be with a gentleman hold- 
 ing a position equally elevated and responsible ; and 
 there are no circumstances which could induce 
 me even to do this during the pending of the pres- 
 ent canvass. When I authorized the announcement 
 that I would address the people of California 
 during the campaign it was suggested that efforts 
 203 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 would be made to force me into difficulties, and I 
 determined to take no notice of attacks from any 
 source during the canvass. There are probably 
 many other gentlemen who would seek similar op- 
 portunities for hostile meetings for the purpose of 
 accomplishing a political object or to obtain public 
 notoriety. 
 
 "I cannot afford at the present time to descend 
 to a violation of the constitution and the state 
 laws to subserve either their or your purposes. ' ' 
 
 A few days later one of the city press ad- 
 verting to the subject remarked: "For refusing 
 to fight a duel under the circumstances, the large 
 mass of the people will honor D. C. Broderick. The 
 belief is quite general that there are certain polit- 
 ical opponents of his who long for a chance to 
 shoot him, either in a fair or unfair fight, and that 
 efforts would be made sooner or later to involve 
 him in a personal difficulty. It is wisdom on his 
 part to avoid the traps set for him and thus defeat 
 all the plans of those in whose path he happens to 
 just now stand. His seat in the Senate would be 
 quite acceptable to a number of gentlemen in the 
 state. The people of California ought to manifest 
 in a manner not to be mistaken, their approval of 
 the conduct of a public man who exhibits courage 
 to refuse upon any ground to accept a challenge." 
 
 All this in a most matter-of-fact way, as if hunt- 
 ing the life of a senator of the United States was 
 204 
 
PROVOCATION 
 
 not an unusual and customary proceeding! And 
 Broderick also refers to this assumption in his let- 
 ter above. It seems to have been in the air, on 
 everyone's lips, in every gathering, that this man 
 was to be followed and shot like a wild beast ! 
 
 Over two months afterwards, on Wednesday, the 
 7th of September, occurred the election and, dur- 
 ing this period Terry said never a word. His 
 only public address in three years was the one 
 from which I have given the excerpt attacking 
 Broderick. Broderick emerged from the contest 
 dispirited, defeated, in ill-health, which had clung 
 to him for months, and should have gone to a 
 sanitarium. He had just ended the most severe and 
 trying canvass within the memory of Californians, 
 concentrating in his own person the abuse, cal- 
 umny and vituperation of his triumphant adver- 
 saries. Mark now how events followed fast and 
 followed faster. The election was on the 7th of 
 September. That very day Terry forwarded to 
 the governor his written resignation as Chief Jus- 
 tice of the Supreme Court of the state of Califor- 
 nia. His duration of the office expired with the 
 year. He left Sacramento immediately, journeyed 
 direct to Oakland and at once sent to Broderick the 
 subjoined communication : 
 
 "Oakland, September 8, 1859. 
 
 "Hon. D. C. Broderick, Sir: Some two months 
 since, at the public table in the International Hotel 
 205 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 in San Francisco, you saw fit to indulge in certain 
 remarks concerning me, which were offensive in 
 their nature. Before I had heard of the circum- 
 stance your note of 29th of June, addressed to Mr. 
 D. W. Perley, in which you declared that you 
 would not respond to any call of a personal char- 
 acter during the political canvass just concluded, 
 had been published. 
 
 "I have, therefore, not been permitted to take 
 any notice of these remarks until the expiration 
 of the limit fixed by yourself. I now take the 
 earliest opportunity to require of you a retraction 
 of those remarks. This note will be handed you 
 by my friend, Calhoun Benham, Esq., who is ac- 
 quainted with its contents and will receive your 
 reply. 
 
 "D. S. Teery." 
 
 Benham sought out Broderick, gave him the 
 letter and requested an immediate response. Brod- 
 erick said he would answer the day following, but 
 Benham asked for a reply directly and it was so 
 agreed. 
 
 The reply follows : 
 
 "San Francisco, September 8, 1859. 
 
 "Hon. D. S. Terry, Sir: Your note of Septem- 
 ber 8th reached me through the hands of Mr. Cal- 
 houn Benham. The remarks used by me in the 
 conversation referred to may be a subject of future 
 misrepresentation; and for obvious reasons I have 
 206 
 
PROVOCATION 
 
 to desire you to state what were the remarks that 
 you designate in your note as offensive, and of 
 which you require of me a retraction. 
 **I remain, etc., 
 
 '*D. C. Broderick." 
 This is Terry's answer: 
 
 "San Francisco, September 9th, 1859. 
 ''Hon D. C. Broderick, Sir: In reply to your 
 note of this date I have to say that the offensive 
 remarks to which I alluded in my communication 
 of yesterday are as follows: 'I have hitherto con- 
 sidered and spoken of him (myself) as the only 
 honest man on the Supreme Court bench; but I 
 now take it all back,' thus by implication reflect- 
 ing on my personal and official integrity. This is 
 the substance of your remarks as reported to me; 
 the precise terms, however, in which such an im- 
 plication was conveyed are not important to the 
 question. 
 
 "You yourself can best remember the terms in 
 which you spoke of me on the occasion referred 
 to. What I require is the retraction of any words 
 which were calculated to reflect on my character 
 as an official or a gentleman. 
 
 "I remain, your obedient servant, 
 
 "D. S. Terry." 
 "Friday evening, September 9th. 
 "Hon. D. S. Terry — Yours of this date has been 
 received. The remarks made by me were occa- 
 207 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 sioned by certain offensive allusions of yours 
 concerning me made in the convention at Sacra- 
 mento, reported in the Union of Jime 25th. 
 Upon the topic alluded to in your note of this 
 date my language so far as my recollection serves 
 me, was as follows: 'During Judge Terry's 
 incarceration by the Vigilance Committee I 
 paid $200 a week to support a newspaper 
 in his (yours) defense.' I have also stated 
 heretofore that I considered him (Judge Terry) 
 the only honest man on the supreme bench, but 
 I take it all back. You are the best judge as 
 to whether this language affords good ground for 
 offense. 
 
 "I remain, etc., 
 
 "D. C. Broderick." 
 "San Francisco, September 9th, 1859. 
 "Hon. D. C. Broderick, Sir: Some months ago 
 you used language concerning me offensive in its 
 nature. I waited the lapse of a period of time 
 fixed by yourself before I asked reparation there- 
 for at your hands. You replied, asking specifica- 
 tions of the language used which I regarded as of- 
 fensive. In another letter I gave you the speci- 
 fication and reiterated my demand for a retraction. 
 To this last letter you reply, acknowledging the use 
 of the offensive language imputed to you and not 
 making the retraction required. This course on 
 your part leaves me no other alternative but to 
 208 
 
PROVOCATION 
 
 demand the satisfaction usual among gentlemen, 
 whicli I accordingly do. Mr. Benham will make 
 the necessary arrangements. 
 
 "Your obedient servant, 
 
 "D. S. Terry." 
 "San Francisco, September 10th, 1859. 
 
 "Hon. D. S. Terry, Sir: Your note of the above 
 date has been received at 1 o'clock A. M., Septem- 
 ber 10th. 
 
 "In response to the same I will refer you to my 
 friend, Hon. J. C. McKibben, who will make tht 
 necessary arrangements demanded in your letter. 
 "I remain, etc., 
 
 "D. C. Broderick." 
 
 The super-serviceable friends of Broderick, in 
 obedience to Benham 's behest, repaired to Haskell's 
 house at Black Point, a mile and a half distant, 
 awoke the wearied and harassed man at dead of 
 night and brought him to the city to be presented 
 by Benham with a cartel challenging and threaten- 
 ing his life. This was only the beginning of 
 blunders. 
 
 Directly afterwards, the same Saturday, the 
 commissioners on both sides met and drew articles. 
 On reading them one would conclude that they ap- 
 plied to a treaty or conference on high legislation 
 between puissant nations, so lengthy were the writ- 
 ten preliminaries. They prepared to slaughter 
 each other in those days with dignity and decorum. 
 209 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 One change was made from the ordinary proce- 
 dure in duels. The word ** three" was omitted, it 
 being agreed that the contestants should shoot be- 
 tween the words ' ' fire — one, two. ' ' This alteration 
 was insisted upon by Broderick 's seconds. He was 
 supposed to be a quicker and more accurate shot 
 than Terry ; besides, for humanity 's sake, the shorter 
 the period to aim and fire, the less the danger. 
 Broderick was reputed one of the best shots in the 
 state, while Terry's reputation had been made 
 with the knife and not the pistol. But if two 
 men will separate ten steps and face each other, 
 holding the duelling pistols of the fifties, with long 
 barrels that shoot like rifles, they will realize how 
 murderously short the space, and how difficult to 
 miss a man. 
 
 It was also provided in the articles that the 
 choice of weapons and position should be deter- 
 mined by chance on the ground which was selected 
 and described, and that the time should be 5:30 
 A. M., the following Monday morning. 
 
 Broderick occupied Saturday and Sunday in 
 settling his personal affairs and, it is said, in draw- 
 ing his last testament. He was under no delusion. 
 He was aware that his life was in great danger, 
 that the crisis had arrived which he foresaw, when 
 on leaving New York the last time he mournfully 
 said to one of his friends who accompanied him to 
 the departing steamer: "Good-bye. You may 
 210 
 
PROVOCATION 
 
 never see me again." Rumors of the impending 
 meeting abounded and he was constantly beset by- 
 people who besought particulars. Duelling was 
 like attending the theatre ; there were always spec- 
 tators. 
 
 On Monday morning early the actors and specta- 
 tors, numbering several score, were on the ground, 
 but presently there appeared the sheriff who placed 
 the duellists under arrest. Being about to break 
 the law they first obeyed the law — "I kissed her 
 ere I killed her." 
 
 During the day their respective counsel appeared 
 before the justice, and he decided no breach of the 
 peace had been committed. Of course not, hence 
 the law could not interfere until some one was 
 shot or slain ! 
 
 All Monday afternoon and early eve Broderick 
 was intensely preoccupied with the many urgent 
 questions that the campaign had left un- 
 answered, and arrangements for another meeting 
 were left entirely to his seconds. These were cool, 
 brave men. McKibben was an ex-Congressman. 
 Colton, the other, had been sheriff of Siskiyou 
 County and, almost single-handed, had quelled a 
 miners' mob. But they had had no experience in 
 the scientific art of shooting in cold blood. They had 
 never participated in duels, either as principals or 
 seconds, and they did not know that a man should 
 be groomed for one like a horse for a race. 
 
 211 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 It was decided that the second meeting should be 
 next morning, at about the same time and place. 
 This compact was concluded late on Monday. The 
 distance from the city was nearly ten miles, over a 
 rough and hilly road. 
 
 212 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE DUEL 
 
 The pistols were the Lafoueheux type, a well 
 known Belgian make, and had been brought to 
 California by a French Creole named Beard. They 
 represented the most approved European duelling 
 pattern, with barrels twelve inches in length, but 
 the stock or breech construction was different from 
 that of ordinary American duelling pistols. Every 
 nation has its idiosyncracies. 
 
 Hence the man who had never handled them 
 nor adjusted the stock to his hand would be cer- 
 tainly at a disadvantage. They had been well tried in 
 a code function two years earlier, between two Cali- 
 fornians named Ryer and Langdon. Langdon, 
 who was challenged and won choice of weapons, 
 selected this pair and also the one he preferred. 
 Both men practiced with the respective pistols al- 
 lotted to them the day before the duel. Dr. Ryer, 
 in firing the one assigned to him, discovered the 
 hair trigger was so light and delicate that the 
 pistol would be discharged on a sudden jar or mo- 
 tion, without touching the trigger. Even thus 
 forewarned of this eccentric characteristic he was 
 unable upon the field to fully guard against the 
 213 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 defect, and on the first two exchanges with his 
 antagonist his bullets entered the ground directly 
 in front. On the third round he succeeded in 
 elevating it to his adversary's knee before it was 
 discharged. The bullet struck the knee and 
 stopped the duel, but Ryer stated that the bullets 
 from Langdon's weapon whizzed unpleasantly past 
 his ear, clearly evidencing that the other pistol was 
 not similarly affected. 
 
 This pair of pistols had passed into the possession 
 of Dr. Aylette of Stockton, and were known as the 
 **Aylette pistols." Dr. Aylette was Terry's in- 
 timate friend and would have been with him at 
 the duel had not the postponement sent him home 
 to Stockton. 
 
 Ex-Lieutenant Governor Daggett has written me 
 a letter from which the annexed is an excerpt: 
 
 * ' I had a talk with Senator Langf ord some years 
 ago, who was a life-long friend of Terry's and, as 
 I believe you know, a reliable and truthful man. 
 Ben, much to my surprise, related to me the fact 
 that when the duel was decided upon, Terry came 
 to his house in Lodi for advice, and together they 
 went to Dr. Aylette in Stockton, who had pistols 
 and was authority upon such matters. 
 
 ' * They all went out to the doctor 's barn to prac- 
 tice, and Ben said Terry never had carried a pis- 
 tol — always depended upon his knife — and at his 
 first attempts to fire at the words 'one, two, three,' 
 214 
 
THE DUEL 
 
 he could not hit the side of a barn, while Aylette 
 would hit the size of a man every time. Of course 
 he subsequently learned." 
 
 Senator Langford was one of my associates, rep- 
 resenting Stockton in the State Senate of Califor- 
 nia in 1885, while Daggett was lieutenant-governor 
 and presiding officer of the Senate. 
 
 Judge Terry was a frequent visitor to the Sen- 
 ate chamber, and Langford made us acquainted. 
 I had several conferences with Terry and assisted 
 in the passage of a measure that he strongly 
 favored. My conception of him was that of an 
 upright and capable gentleman. He was of mas- 
 sive build, dignified mien, and demanded considera- 
 tion. The shadows of the past seemed to cluster 
 around his form, for he rarely smiled and was 
 stoically silent. 
 
 In my researches of his career while a jurist 
 I can find no reproaches by any one as to the 
 character or the justice of his decisions. 
 
 It would appear from this statement of Lang- 
 ford that Terry practiced with these "Aylette" 
 pistols more than once, and it follows that 
 he must perforce have become cognizant of the 
 "tricky" defect or fault in one of them. As the 
 duel occurred over two months after his speech, 
 which was the first cause, he had ample time to 
 perfect himself in the use of the pistols and de- 
 liberately make all other personal arrangements, 
 215 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 contemplating without doubt that the meeting must 
 come. 
 
 During this same period, Broderick was the 
 leader and, therefore, the active participant in a 
 harassing, acrimonious, fatiguing campaign, from 
 which he emerged with shattered spirits, depleted 
 health and exhausted body, to be instantly pre- 
 sented with a sinister note and finally a deadly car- 
 tel, all within three days after the election, when 
 he should have been resting and recovering from 
 the struggle. It has been stated that he had con- 
 tracted pneumonia near the end of the canvass 
 but for this I can find no positive authority. 
 
 Monday night, Colton and McKibben, with a 
 surgeon and Broderick, entered a carriage and 
 were driven out to the Lake House, a little inn on 
 the old Mission Road, some two miles from the sea, 
 and the same distance north and west of the rendez- 
 vous. The small habitation was almost untenanted, 
 and low cots with scant covering constituted the 
 sleeping accommodations. It was infested with 
 sand fleas and no one closed an eyehd. In the raw 
 and foggy morning they arose unrefreshed, and 
 without a stimulant of any kind, not even a drop of 
 coffee, the quartette, mounting the vehicle, drove to 
 the spot where they descried Terry and his party. 
 The latter had also passed the night in the vicinity, 
 but it was in a comfortable farm house hard by, 
 216 
 
THE DUEL 
 
 where he was furnished with a good bed and a 
 warm substantial breakfast when he arose. 
 
 A group of men who had arrived on foot, on 
 horseback and in carriages, stood at a distance on 
 a knoll, like Romans viewing the gladiators in the 
 Coliseum. They numbered some three score, and had 
 left the city after midnight for the picnic ground. 
 Broderick and Terry did not salute each other 
 but stood apart conversing with friends. A city 
 gunsmith had brought a pair of pistols, which had 
 never been fired by either opponent. Broderick 's 
 people brought none, while Terry's carried the 
 "Aylette" pistols. The seconds of Broderick won 
 the position and the giving of the words, but 
 Terry's won a far more important point, the selec- 
 tion of weapons. Of course they choose their 
 own, and why not? Does one go to battle with 
 one's own or with the enemy's arms? When our 
 lives are in jeopardy would we not fight with our 
 own sword, and shoot with our own pistol, which 
 we know and have used rather than with one that 
 we do not know and had not used ? 
 
 Broderick had no favorite arms. He had dis- 
 carded pistols since his election to the Senate, if 
 not before, and, though reported a dead shot, had 
 not handled a pistol for months. The "Aylettes" 
 having been chosen, the next thing was to decide 
 between the two as set down in number eight of the 
 217 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 articles — " Choice of the two weapons to be deter- 
 mined by chance as in Article Seven." 
 
 McKibben, one of Broderick's seconds, snapped 
 a cap on one of the pistols and was satisfied. He 
 did not snap a cap on the second as he should have 
 done, and I can find no evidence as to which one 
 he thus tested. Then Terry's seconds took one of 
 the pistols and the other remained for Broderick. 
 Thus Article Eight — tossing for choice of pistols — 
 was not fulfilled, nor did the seconds of Broderick 
 so demand. 
 
 After being thus allotted, the arms were sub- 
 mitted to the gunsmith for examination. He made 
 a careful inspection and pronounced them in 
 good order, except that they were light and deli- 
 cate on the triggers, and he also informed one of 
 Terry's seconds that the one intended for Broder- 
 ick was lighter on the trigger than the other. The 
 armorer, Legardo, so testified at the inquest over 
 Broderick's dead body, and he added that the 
 pistol for Broderick was so delicate that it would 
 explode by a sudden jar or movement. This evi- 
 dence was not contradicted. Colton and McKibben 
 stated in a public letter the day after the duel, 
 and before Broderick's death, that had they known 
 one of the weapons was lighter on the trigger 
 than the other they would not have permitted the 
 duel. Why did they not know? Did they ask, 
 218 
 
THE DUEL 
 
 and if they had asked, would they not have been 
 told the verity at once? 
 
 The day after, on his death bed, Broderick said 
 that he did not touch the trigger of the pistol as 
 he raised it, but that the sudden movement in 
 elevating his arm from the vertical position caused 
 the weapon to explode and the bullet plunged into 
 the ground. 
 
 While this prologue to the tragedy was passing, 
 Broderick stood apart with Elliott J. Moore. He 
 had been calm and collected, but when he was 
 apprised that Terry's seconds had won the choice 
 and saw the pistols, he complained to Moore of the 
 inefficiency of his seconds and said they were no 
 match for those of his adversary. He spoke of 
 them as children and expressed apprehension lest 
 they might unwittingly "trade away his life." 
 
 The pistols were loaded, Broderick 's by the ar- 
 morer and Terry's by S. H. Brooks, one of his 
 faithful friends. The ten paces were measured 
 and white marks placed to establish the distance. 
 The men were told to take their stations. 
 
 Up to now Terry seemed agitated and measured 
 the space with an uneasy and an anxious glance. 
 Benham approached Terry and whispered. Terry 
 faintly smiled, became calm, and thereafter was 
 as cold and impassive as the marble statue of 
 El Comendador. Did the whispering cadence 
 breathe aught of the pistol? 
 219 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 In accord with the nominal rule, both men 
 were searched by a second of the other. McKibben 
 merely touched Terry's breast, but Benham manipu- 
 lated his hands up and down Broderick 's person, as 
 if he might discover a coat of mail. Broderick said 
 to a friend near by that Benham had treated him 
 "as an officer with a search warrant would search 
 a thief for stolen property." Six years before, 
 in his duel with Smith, a bullet from Smith's pistol 
 had shattered a watch in Broderick 's fob pocket. 
 After his death this broken jewel was found in his 
 safe. Perhaps the memory of this episode caused 
 Benham 's rigourousness ; but it was an ominous 
 reminiscence for Broderick. Long after Benham 
 acknowledged that he was not courteous, but said 
 his principal's life being in danger, he was bound 
 to do whatever was possible to protect him. 
 
 But why did Broderick 's seconds permit this 
 unusual and irritating personal examination? It 
 angered and annoyed their principal, when, if ever, 
 his calmness should not be disturbed. For many 
 persons the indignity would have sufficed to ad- 
 journ the combat. Lien's lives are lost by actions 
 much less trivial. 
 
 The loaded pistols were handed to the duellists 
 and they faced each other, Terry, straight backed, 
 wan and attenuated. Broderick, equally tall, but 
 broader and heavier. The latter, on receiving his 
 weapon, anxiously examined and turned it about, 
 220 
 
THE DUEL 
 
 scrutinizing and measuring its stock with his own 
 hand. He seemed uneasj^, adjusting his hand to 
 the conformation of the breech and presenting an 
 unsatisfied appearance. These efforts caused him 
 to swerve from the line, and in response to Ben- 
 ham's suggestion, one of his perennially gentle- 
 manly seconds spoke to him. He changed his 
 attitude, but his body slightly projected and of- 
 fered a fairer mark. Duellists stand with their 
 sides facing one another, head and feet in ver- 
 tical plane, so that no part of the body shall 
 be unduly exposed. He stood with his back to the 
 rising sun, driving over the distant sea the dark 
 and dismal fogs slowly emerging from the bleak, 
 somber slopes and canons, where they had wandered 
 to and fro in the restless night. The white surf 
 of the broad Pacific rose in vapory laced veils, en- 
 veloping the fleeing fog in its snowy embrace, and 
 leaping as if with ardent steps to greet the com- 
 ing orb. 
 
 Fronting the ocean like himself was California, 
 that California on which he stood and to whose 
 fame and future he had consecrated his hopes, all 
 his energy and devotion — California with her 
 mountains and valleys, her glens, where the gold 
 grew, and her hills crested with gigantic trees 
 towering to the stars and coeval with recorded life. 
 With troubled mien he turned to the pistol, which 
 was of a type he had never used and had hardly 
 221 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 ever seen. He was too discerning not to instantly 
 realize his disadvantage, and with nervous motions 
 continued to adjust the stock which did not seem to 
 fit his hand. Even after the words had been 
 * ' exemplified ' ' by Colton and repeated by Benham 
 he did not cease to labor at the weapon. 
 
 Presently Colton said, "Gentlemen, are you 
 ready?" Terry, who had stood immovable and 
 imperturbable since the whispering, directly re- 
 plied, ''Ready." Broderick, who wore a soft 
 black hat, pulled down low over his forehead, still 
 fingered the intractable arm, and it was four or 
 five seconds after Terry's response that, with a 
 nod to Colton, he also answered ' ' Ready. ' ' 
 
 The duellists held their pistols vertically to the 
 side, with the muzzles pointing downward. Colton 
 said, after a moment's interval, "Fire — one — 
 two — "like the measured strokes of a cathedral 
 clock. Broderick fired as ' * one ' ' was pronounced, and 
 Terry at "two." Broderick 's bullet struck the 
 earth midway between himself and his adversary. 
 Terry's shot entered Broderick 's body about an 
 inch and a half above the right breast, penetrating 
 the lung. Broderick swerved, staggered and 
 gradually dropped on his left side until his left 
 shoulder rested on the sward, the useless pistol 
 dropping from his nerveless grasp. He told 
 Baker on his death couch between gasps and with 
 the blood gushing from his breast, "Baker, when I 
 222 
 
THE DUEL 
 
 was struck I tried to stand firm, but the blow 
 blinded me and I could not." 
 
 After Broderick's fall, Benham walked to Terry, 
 who instantly said, "The wound is not mortal. I 
 have hit two inches too far out." From a man 
 who was presumed not to know how to shoot, this 
 revelation of expert knowledge and confidence is 
 marvelous. The physician who accompanied Brod- 
 erick's party, carried a small bag of surgical in- 
 struments, from which a saw protruded, as if he 
 were going to hospital after a battle. He lost his 
 head, became confused, and not until the other 
 doctor came forward was anything done to relieve 
 the stricken man's anguish. 
 
 A carriage and mattress were brought and Brod- 
 erick was conveyed ten miles to Black Point and 
 placed in the mansion of Leonidas Haskell. The 
 same residence in which he had been aroused at 
 midnight three days before to receive the challenge. 
 Chloroform was administered which, by affecting 
 his nervous system, strung to the utmost tension in 
 the three days' harassing anxiety preceding the 
 combat, deadened the excruciating agony. Be- 
 fore the contest he expressed the resolve not to 
 shoot Terry above the hips, as he considered that 
 he had no quarrel with him. That is thought to be 
 the reason why he pulled the black sombrero so low 
 over his brow. 
 
 In delirium he recalled this determination and 
 223 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 the conviction that he was to be hunted until 
 killed. He talked ramblingly of the election de- 
 feat; of those great principles for which he had 
 striven; of the fact that he had been deserted 
 by the people, and that he was to be silenced. 
 "They have killed me because I was opposed to a 
 corrupt administration and the extension of 
 slavery. ' ' 
 
 The sentiment of the startled and horrified com- 
 munity is perhaps shown in an editorial in one of 
 the city papers the day after the duel and while 
 Life and Death grappled over his prostrate form. 
 It said: "What has this man done that he should 
 be hunted and abused? Wherein was his great 
 offense against the land or the Nation? What law 
 of morality or religion did he violate ? What trea- 
 son did he commit against his country? What 
 widow did he wrong — what orphan did he de- 
 fraud? What act of his in an official capacity 
 ever stained his hand? What was his crime?" 
 Broderick's final expression, as he lapsed into 
 death 's lethargy, was : "I die ; protect my honor. ' ' 
 
 He was shot Tuesday morning and died Friday 
 morning, September 16, 1859. The intelligence, 
 like all doleful tidings, spread like a pestilence. 
 People refused to credit that which their hearts 
 dreaded — that he had been thus slain in the very 
 morning of his career ; that his sun had set while it 
 was yet day. But the conviction, the sad con- 
 224 
 
THE DUEL 
 
 viction, was verity. Men's hearts sank; eyes were 
 moistened by tears which the sternest pride of man- 
 hood could not repress, and voices were hushed to 
 earnest whisperings. They left their daily voca- 
 tions and gathered in groups discussing the one 
 topic, sjome offering consolation, other generous trib- 
 ute to the untimely dead. There was no concerted 
 signal of woe, no set form or phase of sorrow; 
 but gloom like a black mist crested the town and 
 its expression was silence. There was no parade of 
 mourning, no ostentatious grief. Men asked not 
 what others did, nor did they care. Moved by the 
 fullness of their individual sorrow, they suspended 
 business, draped doors, and repaired slowly to their 
 homes. 
 
 San Francisco had never such a day in its stormy 
 existence. There are those living who yet recall 
 the universal gloom. Meanwhile the dead senator 
 was conveyed to the city and placed in a chamber 
 of the Union Hotel, on the corner of Merchant and 
 Kearny streets, to be viewed by all those who 
 venerated martyrs. 
 
 On Sunday afternoon the body was removed 
 opposite, to the Plaza, deposited on a catafalque, 
 and without music, banners, religion, organizations 
 or chairman, but in the presence of the dead and 
 of thirty thousand silent, living men. Colonel Baker 
 pronounced a discourse almost unrivalled in Eng- 
 lish literature. 
 
 225 
 
A SENATOR OF THE FIFTIES 
 
 The Monte Diablo range to the east, recalling the 
 Alban Hills; the sparkling September sun, scarce 
 equalled by Italia 's brilliant sunshine; the seven 
 hills of San Francisco, like the seven hills of Rome 
 — the first towering o'er the plaza where lay the 
 stricken senator, while the others, looking over the 
 forum, on the mangled body of the first of the 
 Caesars — surely, to the modern Antony, who lived 
 and died as did his ancient prototype, the parallel 
 must have occurred when he exclaims: 
 
 ' ' What hopes are buried with him in the grave. ' ' 
 
 He sleeps at the base of Lone Mountain, itself 
 
 as lonely as he, where, facing the lordly Pacific, 
 
 he lies, a pathetic and memorable sacrifice to the 
 
 minotaur of human slavery. 
 
 226 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 David S. Terry was indicted for his duel with Broderick, 
 as it contravened the State laws. The case was transferred 
 to another county and there dismissed. During the Civil 
 War he joined the Confederate forces, was wounded at 
 the battle of Chickamauga, and attained the rank of Briga- 
 dier General. 
 
 At the close of the conflict he repaired to Mexico, but 
 returned to California in 1869, and, locating again at Stock- 
 ton, resumed the practice of the legal profession. 
 
 Some years later he became advocate for a lady who was 
 one of the principals in a noted divorce suit. Subsequently 
 they were espoused. Legal contentions arising from the 
 first marriage caused her to appear before the Circuit 
 Court held in Oakland, over which Stephen J. Field, Asso- 
 ciate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, presided. 
 
 In open court the Justice proceeded to read the decision. 
 As he continued, the tenor was manifestly unfavorable to 
 Mrs. Terry's claims. She suddenly arose and interrupted 
 the reading by violently upbraiding and denouncing Field. 
 He ordered her removal from the judicial chamber. She 
 resisted, and Terry, coming to his wife 's assistance, drew 
 a knife and assaulted the bailiffs. He was disarmed, both 
 parties secured, and the Court of three judges sentenced 
 Mrs. Terry to one month and her husband to six months' 
 imprisonment, which they served in full. 
 
 Justice Field returned to Washington, and the next year, 
 in fulfillment of his official requirements, came again to 
 California. He had been informed that Terry uttered 
 threats of violence against his person, and therefore he 
 
 227 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 was accompanied by a man employed by the Government 
 to act in the capacity of guard. 
 
 On their journey from Los Angeles to San Francisco, 
 Field and his companion, with other passengers, left the 
 train to lunch at a small hamlet named Lathrop. Terry 
 and his wife, who had boarded the cars en route, also 
 descended and shortly afterward entered the same res- 
 taurant. A few minutes later, Terry arose from his seat, 
 walked directly back of Field and slapped or struck the 
 venerable justice on the face, while he was yet seated. 
 Neagle, the guard who attended Field, leaped to his feet 
 and shot Terry twice, who fell and died instantly. 
 
 This event occurred on the 15th of August, 1889, not 
 quite thirty years from the day when Terry shot Broderick. 
 
 228 
 
ORATION BY 
 
 COL. E. D. BAKER 
 
 DELIVEEED OVER THE DEAD BODY OF DAVID C. 
 BRODERICK, AT PORTSMOUTH SQUARE, SAN 
 FRANCISCO, ON THE 18th OF SEPTEMBER, 1859. 
 Citizens of California: 
 
 A Senator lies dead in our midst! He is wrapped in a 
 bloody shroud, and we, to whom his toils and cares were 
 given, are about to bear him to the place appointed for all 
 the living. It is not fit that such a man should pass to the 
 tomb unheralded; it is not fit that such a life should steal 
 unnoticed to its close; it is not fit that such a death should 
 call forth no rebuke, or be followed by no public lamenta- 
 tion. It is this conviction which impels the gathering of this 
 assemblage. We are here of every station and pursuit, of 
 every creed and character, each in his capacity of citizen, 
 to swell the mournful tribute which the majesty of the 
 people offers to the unreplying dead. He lies today sur- 
 rounded by little of funeral pomp. No banners droop above 
 the bier, no melancholy music floats upon the reluctant air. 
 The hopes of high-hearted friends droop like fading flowers 
 upon his breast, and the struggling sigh compels the tear 
 in eyes that seldom weep. Around him are those who have 
 known him best and loved him longest; who have shared the 
 triumph, and endured the defeat. Near him are the gravest 
 and noblest of the State, possessed by a grief at once earnest 
 and sincere; while beyond, the masses of the people whom 
 he loved, and for whom his life was given, gather like a 
 thunder-cloud of swelling and indignant grief. 
 
 In such a presence, fellow-citizens, let us linger for a 
 
 229 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 moment at the portals of the tomb, whose shadowy arches 
 vibrate to the public heart, to speak a few brief words of 
 the man, of his life, and of his death. 
 
 Mr. Broderick was born in the District of Columbia, in 
 1819. He was of Irish descent, and of obscure and re- 
 spectable parentage; he had little of early advantages, and 
 never summoned to his aid a complete and finished education. 
 His boyhood and his early manhood were passed in the City 
 of New York, and the loss of his father early stimulated him 
 to the efforts which maintained his surviving mother and 
 brother, and served also to fix and form his character even 
 in his boyhood. His love for his mother was his first and 
 most distinctive trait of character, and when his brother 
 died — an early and sudden death — the shock gave a serious 
 and reflective cast to his habits and his thoughts, which 
 marked them to the last hour of his life. 
 
 He was always filled with pride, and energy, and ambi- 
 tion — his pride was in the manliness and force of his char- 
 acter, and no man had more reason than he for such pride. 
 His energy was manifest in the most resolute struggles with 
 poverty and obscurity, and his ambition impelled him to 
 seek a foremost place in the great race for honorable power. 
 
 Up to the time of his arrival in California, his life had 
 been passed amid events incident to such a character. Fear- 
 less, self-reliant, open in his enmities, warm in his friend- 
 ships, wedded to his opinions, and marching directly to his 
 purpose through and over all opposition, his career was 
 checkered with success and defeat: but even in defeat his 
 energies were strengthened and his character developed. 
 When he reached these shores, his keen observation taught 
 him at once that he trod a broad field, and that a higher 
 career was before him. He had no false pride : sprung from 
 a people and of a race whose vocation was labor, he toiled 
 with his own hands, and sprang at a bound from the work- 
 shop to the legislative hall. From that time there congre- 
 
 230 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 gated around him and against him the elements of success 
 and defeat — strong friendships, bitter enmities, high praise, 
 malignant calumnies — but he trod with a free and a proud 
 step that onward path which has led him to glory and the 
 grave. 
 
 It would be idle for me, at this hour and in this place, to 
 speak of all that history with unmitigated praise: it will 
 be idle for his enemies hereafter to deny his claim to noble 
 virtues and high purposes. When, in the Legislature, he 
 boldly denounced the special legislation which is the curse of 
 a new country, he proved his courage and his rectitude. 
 When he opposed the various and sometimes successful 
 schemes to strike out the salutary provisions of the Con- 
 stitution which guarded free labor, he was true to all the 
 better instincts of his life. When, prompted by ambition 
 and the admiration of his friends, he first sought a seat in 
 the Senate of the United States, he aimed by legitimate 
 effort to attain the highest of all earthly positions, and 
 failed with honor. 
 
 It is my duty to say that, in my judgment, when at a 
 later period he sought to anticipate the Senatorial election, 
 he committed an error which I think he lived to regret. It 
 would have been a violation of the true principles of repre- 
 sentative government, which no reason, public or private, 
 could justify, and could never have met the permanent ap- 
 proval of good and wise men. Yet, while I say this over 
 his bier, let me remind you of the temptation to such an 
 error, of the plans and reasons which prompted it — of the 
 many good purposes it was intended to effect. And if am- 
 bition, ' ' the last infirmity of noble minds, ' ' led him for a 
 moment from the better path, let me remind you how nobly 
 he regained it. 
 
 It is impossible to speak within the limits of this address, 
 of the events of that session of the Legislature at which he 
 was elected to the Senate of the United States; but some 
 
 231 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 things should not be passed in silence here. The contest 
 between him and the present Senator had been bitter and 
 personal. He had triumphed. He had been wonderfully 
 sustained by his friends, and stood confessedly "the first 
 in honor and the first in place." He yielded to an appeal 
 made to his magnanimity by his foe. If he judged unwisely, 
 he has paid the forfeit well. Never in the history of 
 poUtieal warfare has any public man been so pursued; 
 never has malignity so exhausted itself. 
 
 Fellow-citizens! the man whose body lies before you was 
 your Senator. From the moment of his election his char- 
 acter has been maligned, his motives attacked, his courage 
 impeached, his patriotism assailed. It has been a system 
 tending to one end: and the end is here. What was his 
 crime? Keview his history — consider his public acts — 
 weigh his private character — and before the grave en- 
 closes him forever, judge between him and his enemies! 
 
 As a man — to be judged in his private relations — who 
 was his superior? It was his boast, and amid the general 
 license of a new country, it was a proud one, that his 
 most scrutinizing enemy could fix no single act of immor- 
 ality upon him! Temperate, decorous, self -restrained, he 
 had passed through all the excitements of California, un- 
 stained. No man could charge him with broken faith or 
 violated trust; of habits simple and inexpensive, he had 
 no lust of gain. He overreached no man's weakness in a 
 bargain, and withheld from no man his just dues. Never, 
 in the history of the State, has there been a citizen who has 
 borne public relations, more stainless in all respects than 
 he. 
 
 But it is not by this standard he is to be judged. He 
 was a public man, and his memory demands a public judg- 
 ment. What was his public crime? The answer is in his 
 own words: "I die because I was opposed to a corrupt ad- 
 ministration, and the extension of slavery." Fellow-eit- 
 
 232 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 izens, they are remarkable words, uttered at a very re- 
 markable moment: they involve the history of his Sena- 
 torial career, and of its sad and bloody termination. 
 
 When Mr. Broderick entered the Senate, he had been 
 elected at the beginning of a Presidential term as the 
 friend of the President elect, having undoubtedly been one 
 of his most influential supporters. There were unquestion- 
 ably some things in the exercise of the appointing power 
 which he could have wished otherwise; but he had every 
 reason to remain with the Administration, which could be 
 supposed to weigh vnth a man in his position. He had 
 heartily maintained the doctrine of Popular Sovereignty, 
 as set forth in the Cincinnati Platform, and he never 
 wavered in his support till the day of his death. But 
 when in his judgment the President betrayed his obliga- 
 tions to his party and country — when, in the whole series 
 of acts in relation to Kansas, he proved recreant to his 
 pledges and instructions — when the whole power of the 
 Administration was brought to bear upon the legislative 
 branch of the Government, in order to force Slavery upon 
 an unwilling people — then, in the high performance of his 
 duty as a Senator, he rebuked the Administration by his 
 voice and his vote, and stood by his principles. It is true, 
 he adopted no half-way measures. He threw the whole 
 weight of his character into the ranks of the Opposition. 
 He endeavored to arouse the people to an indignant sense 
 of the iniquitous tyranny of federal power, and, kindling 
 with the contest, became its fiercest and firmest opponent. 
 Fellow-citizens, whatever may have been your political pre- 
 dilections, it is impossible to repress your admiration, as 
 you review the conduct of the man who lies hushed in 
 death before you. You read in his history a glorious 
 imitation of the great popular leaders who have opposed 
 the despotic influences of power in other lands, and in 
 our own. When John Hampden died on Chalgrove field, 
 
 233 
 
APPENDIX ' 
 
 he sealed his devotion to popular liberty with his blood. 
 The eloquence of Fox found the sources of its inspiration 
 in his love for the people. When Senators conspired 
 against Tiberius Gracchus, and the Tribune of the people 
 fell beneath their daggers, it was power that prompted the 
 crime and demanded the sacrifice. Who can doubt, if your 
 Senator had surrendered his free thought, and bent in 
 submission to the rule of the Administration — who can doubt 
 that instead of resting on a bloody bier, he would have this 
 day been reposing in the inglorious felicitude of Presiden- 
 tial sunshine? 
 
 Fellow-citizens, let no man suppose that the death of the 
 eminent citizen of whom I speak was caused by any other 
 reason than that to which his own words assign it. It has 
 been long foreshadowed — it was predicted by his friends — 
 it was threatened by his enemies: it was the consequence 
 of intense political hatred. His death was a political neces- 
 sity, poorly veiled beneath the guise of a private quarrel. 
 Here, in his own State, among those who witnessed the late 
 canvass, who know the contending leaders, among those 
 who know the antagonists on the bloody ground — here, the 
 public conviction is so thoroughly settled, that nothing 
 need be said. Tested by the correspondence itself, there 
 was no cause, in morals, in honor, in taste, by any code, by 
 the custom of any civilized land, there was no cause for 
 blood. Let me repeat the story — it is as brief as it is fatal: 
 A Judge of the Supreme Court descends into a political 
 convention — it is just, however, to say that the occasion 
 was to return thanks to his friends for an unsuccessful sup- 
 port. In a speech bitter and personal he stigmatized 
 Senator Broderick and all his friends in words of con- 
 temptuous insult. When Mr. Broderick saw that speech, 
 he retorted, saying in substance, that he had heretofore 
 spoken of Judge Terry as an honest man, but that he now 
 took it back. When inquired of, he admitted that he had 
 
 234 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 so said, and connected his words with Judge Terry's speech 
 as prompting them. So far as Judge Terry personally was 
 concerned, this was the cause of mortal combat; there was 
 no other. 
 
 In the contest which has just terminated in the State, 
 Mr. Broderick had taken a leading part; he had been 
 engaged in controversies very personal in their nature, 
 because the subjects of public discussion had involved the 
 character and conduct of many public and distinguished 
 men. But Judge Terry was not one of these. He was 
 no contestant; his conduct was not in issue; he had been 
 mentioned but once incidentally — in reply to his own at- 
 tack — and, except as it might be found in his peculiar 
 traits or peculiar fitness, there was no reason to suppose 
 that he could seek any man's blood. When William of 
 Nassau, the deliverer of Holland, died in the presence of 
 his wife and children, the hand that struck the blow was 
 not nerved by private vengeance. When the fourth Henry 
 passed unharmed amid the dangers of the field of Ivry, to 
 perish in the streets of his capital by the hand of a fanatic, 
 he did not seek to avenge a private grief. An exaggerated 
 sense of personal honor — a weak mind with choleric pas- 
 sions, intense sectional prejudice united with great con- 
 fidence in the use of arms — these sometimes serve to 
 stimulate the instruments which accomplish the deepest 
 and deadliest purpose. 
 
 Fellow-citizens! One year ago today I performed a duty, 
 such as I perform today, over the remains of Senator 
 Ferguson, who died as Broderick died, tangled in the 
 meshes of the code of honor. Today there is another and 
 more eminent sacrifice. Today I renew my protest; today 
 I utter yours. The code of honor is a delusion and a snare; 
 it palters with the hope of a true courage and binds it 
 at the feet of crafty and cruel skill. It surrounds its vic- 
 tim with the pomp and grace of the procession, but leaves 
 
 235 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 him bleeding on the altar. It substitutes cold and deliberate 
 preparation for courageous and manly impulse, and arms 
 the one to disarm the other; it may prevent fraud be- 
 tween practiced duelists who should be forever without its 
 pale, but it makes the mere ' ' trick of the weapon ' ' superior 
 to the noblest cause and the truest courage. Its pretence 
 of equality is a lie — it is equal in all the form, it is unjust 
 in all the substance — the habitude of arms, the early train- 
 ing, the frontier life, the border war, the sectional custom, 
 the life of leisure, all these are advantages which no 
 negotiation can neutralize, and which no courage can over- 
 come. 
 
 But, fellow-citizens, the protest is not only spoken, in 
 your words and in mine — it is written in indelible charac- 
 ters; it is written in the blood of Gilbert, in the blood of 
 Ferguson, in the blood of Broderick; and the inscription 
 will not altogether fade. 
 
 With the administration of the code in this particular 
 case, I am not here to deal. Amid passionate grief, let us 
 strive to be just. I give no currency to rumors of which 
 -personally I know nothing; there are other tribunals to 
 which they may well be referred, and this is not one of 
 them. But I am here to say, that whatever in the code 
 of honor or out of it demands or allows a deadly com- 
 bat where there is not in all things entire and certain 
 equality, is a prostitution of the name, is an evasion of 
 the substance, and is a shield, emblazoned with the name 
 of Chivalry, to cover the malignity of murder. 
 
 And now, as the shadows turn towards the East, and 
 we prepare to bear these poor remains to their silent rest- 
 ing-place, let us not seek to repress the generous pride 
 which prompts a recital of noble deeds and manly virtues. 
 He rose unaided and alone; he began his career without 
 family or fortune, in the face of difficulties; he inherited 
 poverty and obscurity: he died a Senator in Congress, hav- 
 
 236 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 ing written his name in the history of the great struggle 
 for the rights of the people against the despotism of 
 organization and the corruption of power. He leaves in 
 the hearts of his friends the tenderest and the proudest 
 recollections. He was honest, faithful, earnest, sincere, 
 generous and brave; he felt in all the great crises of his 
 life that he was a leader in the ranks, that it was his high 
 duty to uphold the interests of the masses; that he could 
 not falter. When he returned from that fatal field, while 
 the dark wing of the Archangel of Death was casting its 
 shadows upon his brow, his greatest anxiety was as to the 
 performance of his duty. He felt that all his strength and 
 all his life belonged to the cause to which he had devoted 
 them. "Baker," said he — and to me they were his last 
 words — "Baker, when I was struck I tried to stand firm, 
 but the blow blinded me, and I could not." I trust it is 
 no shame to my manhood that tears blinded me as he said 
 it. Of his last hour I have no heart to speak. He was 
 the last of his race; there was no kindred hand to smooth 
 his couch or wipe the death damp from his brow; but 
 around that dying bed strong men, the friends of early 
 manhood, the devoted adherents of later life, bowed in 
 irrepressible grief, "and lifted up their voices and wept." 
 But, fellow-citizens, the voice of lamentation is not ut- 
 tered by private friendship alone — the blow that struck 
 his manly breast has touched the heart of a people, and 
 as the sad tidings spread, a general gloom prevails. Who 
 now shall speak for California? — who be the interpreter of 
 the wants of the Pacific coast? Who can appeal to the 
 communities of the Atlantic who love free labor? Who 
 can speak for masses of men with a passionate love for the 
 classes from whence he sprung? Who can defy the bland- 
 ishments of power, the insolence of office, the corruption 
 of administrations? What hopes are buried with him in 
 the grave! 
 
 237 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 "Ah I who that gallant spirit shall resume, 
 Leap from Eurotas' bank, and call us from the tomb?" 
 But the last word must be spoken, and the imperious 
 mandate of Death must be fulfilled. Thus, O brave heart! 
 we bear thee to thy rest. Thus, surrounded by tens of 
 thousands, we leave thee to the equal grave. As in life, 
 no other voice among us so rung its trumpet blast upon 
 the ear of freemen, so in death its echoes will reverberate 
 amid our mountains and valleys, until truth and valor cease 
 to appeal to the human heart. 
 
 Good friend! true hero! hail and farewell. 
 
 238 
 
PERSONS WHO HAVE FURNISHED 
 WRITTEN STATEMENTS 
 
 General Haery Worthington 
 
 Isaac R. Hitt 
 
 General Daniel E. Sickles 
 
 General P. C. Rust 
 
 Mrs. John A. Logan 
 
 Colonel W. B. Shaw 
 
 George H. Rogers 
 
 George T. Knox 
 
 Chas. W. Kendall 
 
 John H. Wise 
 
 John Daggett 
 
 239 
 
PARTIAL LIST OF OTHER 
 AUTHORITIES 
 
 Men and Memories San Francisco in the Spring of '50 
 
 Barry and Patten 
 
 Memoirs of Wm. M. Gwin 
 
 Memoirs of Stephen J. Field 
 
 Hittell's History of California 
 
 Bancroft's History of the Pacific Coast 
 
 The Terry-BrodericTc Duel, John Currey 
 
 Representative Men of the Pacific — Shuck 
 
 George William Curtis, 1860 
 
 George Wilkes, 1859 
 
 New York Ah. Papers, 1844 to 1849 
 
 Alta California, 1851 to 1859 
 
 Mountains and Molehills, Marryatt 
 
 Harper Brothers, New York, 1855 
 
 Three Years in California, Colton, New York, 1850 
 
 Annals of San Francisco, 1854 
 
 Life of Junipero Serra 
 
 Trial of B. S. Terry hy Committee of Vigilance 
 
 San Francisco, 1856 
 
 History of Vigilance Committee 
 
 San Francisco, 1857 
 
 Narrative of Edward McGowan 
 
 San Francisco, 1857 
 
 Early Days and Men in California, Swasey 
 
 Brodericlc and Gwin, O'Meara 
 
 Every Paper Published in San Francisco During the Weelc 
 
 of the Duel and Death 
 A Complete Transcript of BrodericTc's, Senatorial Eecord 
 
 240 
 
INDEX 
 
 Pages 
 
 Ashe, E. P., his evidence in the Terry trial 135-136 
 
 Baker, E. D., defends Cora, 1856 108-109 
 
 Ballot Box Featjds 138 
 
 Benham, Calhoun, mention of 206, 220 
 
 BiGLEE, Gov. John, concedes patronage to Broderick. . . 70 
 
 Mention of 84 
 
 Broderick, David Colbert, anecdotes of 85, 86 
 
 Attitude of the press on his refusal to accept the 
 
 challenge of Terry 204 
 
 Attitude towards Kansas and Slavery ques- 
 tions 167 
 
 Challenge of Terry 203-204 
 
 Change in politics towards the close of his 
 
 career 191-193 
 
 Character of his supporters 79 
 
 Chosen United States Senator, 1857 154 
 
 Contest for the Senate of the United States . . 144-154 
 
 Death of 224 
 
 Duel with J. Caleb Smith 54 
 
 Duel with David S. Terry, see Broderick-Terry 
 duel. 
 
 Early history of 29-36 
 
 Elected Senator to California Legislature 28, 50 
 
 Encounter with Moore 51-52 
 
 Encounter with Peyton 85-86 
 
 Entertained at Salt Lake City 184-185 
 
 Establishes a private mint in San Francisco .... 48-49 
 
 Friendship for Stephen J. Field 57-58 
 
 Funeral ceremonies 225-226 
 
 241 
 
INDEX 
 
 Broderick, David Colbert (continued) Pages 
 
 In Washington 158-162, 166-181 
 
 Influence with the Democratic party 71-75 
 
 Leaves Washington 192 
 
 Makes a canvass of California 194-195 
 
 Mysteriously assaulted in New York 192 
 
 Personal bravery 83 
 
 Personal description 39, 67-69 
 
 Platform as Senator 191-192 
 
 Eelations with William M. Gwin 87-88, 196-198 
 
 Kelations with George Wilkes 142-143 
 
 Kemoved from the Committee on Public 
 
 Lands 185-187 
 
 Replies to Terry's letter of September 8, 1859. . . 206 
 
 Secures settlement of Fremont's claims 180 
 
 Simplicity of his tastes and habits 164-165 
 
 Speech on slavery 171-176 
 
 Speeches written by George Wilkes denied. . .177-178 
 Supports Terry during the trial of the latter by 
 
 the Vigilance Committee 141 
 
 Voyage of, to California 36-38 
 
 Broderick-Terry duel 213-224 
 
 Articles of engagement 209-210 
 
 Description of weapons used in 213-215 
 
 Immediate origin of 202-203 
 
 Scene on the field of 216-223 
 
 Brooks, Samuel H., present at the Broderick-Terry 
 
 duel 219 
 
 Bulletin, see Evening Biilletin. 
 
 Bucareli, Viceroy, sends vessel to California 9 
 
 California, admitted to the Union 28 
 
 Constitution of 1849 26-27 
 
 Constitutional delegation 27 
 
 Early history of 1'^ 
 
 Early lynch law in 22-23 
 
 242 
 
INDEX 
 
 California (continued) Pages 
 
 Election of 1853 72 
 
 Indians 10 
 
 Immigration 23-26 
 
 Latin population of 21-22 
 
 Life in 1849. Society, manners and customs. . .44-48 
 
 Missions 12-13 
 
 Progress of, described 61-66 
 
 Senatorial vote, 1857 151 
 
 State Democratic Convention of 1854, remarkable 
 
 proceedings of 81-84 
 
 Casey, James P., assassinates James King of Wil- 
 liam 112-116 
 
 Coleman, William T., mention of 120 
 
 CoLTON, David, mention of 211 
 
 CoEA, Chaeles, assassinates Richardson 108 
 
 Cokrespondence leading to the Broderick-Terry 
 
 duel 205-209 
 
 Crime in California, see Punishment, 
 
 Custom House of San Francisco 91 
 
 Daggett, John, statement of 214-215 
 
 DoNNER party 17 
 
 Douglas, Stephen M 168-169 
 
 Drake, Sir Francis, mention of 3 
 
 Early party politics in California, see Party Politics. 
 Eastern opinions regarding crime in California in 
 
 1856 110-111 
 
 Election of 1856 144 
 
 Evening Bulletin of San Francisco established by 
 
 James King of William c 113 
 
 Statement in, regarding James P. Casey 114 
 
 Ferguson, W. I., fatal duel with Geo. Pen John- 
 ston 183-184 
 
 Friendly relations with Broderick 182-184 
 
 243 
 
INDEX 
 
 Field, Stephen J., becomes Justice of the Supreme 
 
 Court of California, 1858 163 
 
 His encounter with B. F. Moore averted by 
 
 Broderick 56-59 
 
 Fremont, John C, military journey from Monterey to 
 
 Los Angeles 15-16 
 
 United States Senator, 1849 27 
 
 Gambling in California 104-106 
 
 Gold discovered in California 17-20 
 
 Grewell, Jacob, Senator from Santa Clara, defeats 
 
 Broderick 's political plans 75-78 
 
 Gwin, William M., arrival in California 89 
 
 Duel with J. W. McCorkle 91-92 
 
 Famous letter to Broderick 156-157, 184-185, 196 
 
 Member of the Constitutional Convention in 
 
 1849 90 
 
 Personal appearance and history 89-90 
 
 Political antagonist of Broderick 87-88, 195-196 
 
 Haskell, Leonidas, friend in whose house Broderick 's 
 
 death occurred 223 
 
 Herald, see San Francisco Herald. 
 
 Hopkins, S. A., stabbed by David S. Terry 131-132 
 
 Indians, see California. 
 
 King of William, James, death of 121 
 
 Personal history of 112-113 
 
 Latham, Milton S., mention of 95 
 
 "Law and Order" Party 131, 137-138 
 
 McCorkle, J. W., duel with William M. Gwin 91-92 
 
 McDougall, John, chairman of State Democratic Con- 
 vention of 1854 82 
 
 Favorable to the Vigilance Committee of 1851 . 100-101 
 McGowAN, Edward, evades the Vigilance Commit- 
 tee 130-131 
 
 Mention of % 82 
 
 244 
 
INDEX 
 
 Pages 
 
 McKiBBEN, J. C, mention of 209 
 
 Moore, B. F., antagonistic to Broderick 51 
 
 Attitude towards Field 57-59 
 
 Moore, Elliott, J., mention of 219 
 
 Party politics in California 92-95 
 
 Perley, D. W., mention of 202-203 
 
 Peyton, Balie, encounter with Broderick 85-86 
 
 PORTOLA, GASPAR DE 6 
 
 Punishment of crime in California, statistics of Ill 
 
 Eichardson, W. H., assassinated by Charles Cora 107 
 
 San Francisco Custom House called "Virginia Poor 
 
 House" 91 
 
 Eerald, Anti-Vigilante 125-126 
 
 Vigilance Coromittee, see Vigilance Committee. 
 
 Serra, Junipero, in California 5-9, 11 
 
 Sherman, William T., mention of 124 
 
 Sickles, Daniel E., recollections of Broderick 34 
 
 Smith, J. Caleb, duel with Broderick 54 
 
 Stella, pioneer vessel 38 
 
 Stevenson 's regiment 17 
 
 Sutter, John A., mention of 43 
 
 Sutter 's Fort, description of 42-43 
 
 Terry, David S., attempts the murder of Hopkins. . .131-133 
 
 Arrested by the Vigilance Committee 132-133 
 
 Duel with Broderick 213-224 
 
 Justice of the Supreme Court of California. . .95-200 
 
 Letter to Broderick, September 8, 1859 205 
 
 Mention of 83 
 
 Personal history of 199-200 
 
 Eesigns from the Supreme Court of California. . 205 
 
 Speech before the Lecompton Convention 201 
 
 Statement to the Vigilance Committee 133-135 
 
 Trial by the Vigilance Committee, verdict and 
 judgment 136-137 
 
 245 
 
X 
 
 
 INDEX -iU^f^ 
 
 Pages 
 TiLPORD, Frank, Broderick's chief political supporter. . 149 
 
 Vigilance Committee of 1851, actions of 100-102 
 
 Causes of organization of 96-98 
 
 Declaration of 99 
 
 Justification of 106-107 
 
 Vigilance Committee of 1856, actions of 117-139 
 
 Disbands 139 
 
 Justification of 126-127 
 
 "Virginia Poor House," see San Francisco Custom 
 House. 
 
 Walker, William, filibuster, friend of Broderick 78 
 
 Weller, John B., chosen to succeed Fremont in 1851 
 
 54, 90-91 
 
 Wilkes, George, relations with Broderick 141-143 
 
 246 
 
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