fnr^^ IUlf*J«k'J^fr-;:.i; .iija-f'rtaHiJJMpr-. p i^iJim R f:qf (:mliJ'Grnia ^:!>' j;:{v;iU:::>l^> >c^ HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. ^o"' History of California FBOM THE EARLIEST PERIOD OF ITS DISCOVERY TO THE PRESENT TIME. By Lucia Norman. . 1 ■' Second Edition, REVISED AND ENLARGED By T. E. {[ JUL 11 / SAN FRANCISCO: A. ROMAN, AGT., PUBLISHER. 1883. Copyrighted, 1883. By a Roman. Agent. BACON & COMPANY, PRINTERS, PEEFACE. The following " History of California " has been written to supply the public with a brief and reliable account of the progress of this State from the time of its first discovery to the present. It is hoped that the concise relation of the many interesting facts contained in it, and gleaned from various sources, will commend it to all who are in- terested in the fortunes of the " Goldon State." LUCIA NORMAN. San Francisco, 1867. PEEFACE TO SECOND EDITION. The first edition of " The Popular History of Cali- fornia " supplied a want not previously provided for. The book was well received, and, while the edition lasted, it was in active demand. A lapse of nearly sixteen years has since transpired, during which some of the most interesting events in the history of the State have occurred. This edition has, therefore, been enlarged and revised, so as to bring the history down to the present day. The essential feature of conciseness which ruled in the former edition has been adhered to in the statement covering the later period. It is therefore hoped that the volume in its present form will be deemed worthy of as cordial a reception as it received before. THE PUBLISHER. San Francisco, 1883. OONTEE'TS. CHAPTER I. Description of California.— Discovery of the South Sea.— First Settlement made upon its Shores.— Search for a Strait at the Isthmus of Darien.— First Attempt under Cortez to reach California.— Misfortunes and Crimes of the Adventurers.— Their Arrival at Santa Cruz.— The Expedition of Cortez 17 CHAPTER II. The Sufferings of Cortez and his Followers.— Exploration of the Coast of the Gulf of California.— Alvar Nunez Cabeza and his Companions.— Keports of Treasures at the South.— Expeditions of the Viceroy of Mexico.— Chagrin of Cortez. — His Death. — Voyage of Cabrillo 33 CHAPTER III. California neglected by the Spaniards.— Sir Francis Drake's first View of the South Sea.— His Visit to California* 43 CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. The Commerce of Spain harassed by Privateers.— Expedition of Viscaino. — The Settlement at the Bay of La Paz.— Re- moval North and a Fight with the Indians.— The Poverty of Lower California 50 CHAPTER V. Second Expedition of Viscaino. — Discovery of the Port of Monterey.— Death of Viscaino.— Expedition in Search of Pearls.— Attempt of Otondo to found a Colony.— Hostility of the Indians and Cowardice of the Spaniards.— Settlement at San Bruno. — Missions established. — The Religion of the Indians. — Their Treatment by the Missionaries. — An Insur- rection 58 CHAPTER VI. Father Salva-Tierra at San Dionysio. — Baptism of a Casique. — The Hechiceros and their Treatment of the Sick.— Father Ugarte.— A Hurricane.— Death of Fathers Salva-Tierra and Ugarte.— Building of the First Vessel in California.— State of the Missions 73 CHAPTER VII. Insurrection of the Pericues.— Martyrdom of Fathers Tamaral and Carranco. — Devotion of the Northern Indians. — The ex- pulsion of the Jesuits. — End of the History of Lower Cali- fornia 82 CONTENTS. xi CHAPTER VIII. Earliest Settlement of Upper California.— Father Junipero Serra.— Sufferings of the Colonists.— Consecration of the first Church erected in California.— Trouble with the Indians. ... 87 CHAPTER IX. The Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco.— Return of Portala , to San Diego.— Arrival of the San ^n«omo.— Rediscovery of the Bay of Monterey.— Arrival of Monks from Mexico.— Missions established.— Frost at San Antonio CHAPTER X. The Mission Dolores established.— Effect of Pictures upon the Indians.— The Pious Fund.— Several Missions founded.— An Attack upon San Diego.— Father Jayme murdered.— Death of Father Junipero Serra 106 CHAPTER XI. State of the Converted Indians.— Selfishness of the Fathers.— Wealth of the Missions.— The Native Californians.— The In- dians freed.— Loss of Power by the Friars.- Arrival of Com- modore Jones.— The American Flag raised over Monterey.— Fall of the Missions HO XU CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. Captain John A. Sutter.— He joins the Forces of Michelto- rena.— The Californians victorious.— Arrival of John C. Fre- mont. — Treachery of Castro. —Collision of the Americans with the Mexican Authorities.— The Flag of the United States raised at Monterey.— Arrival of Commodore Stock- ton.— Capture of Los Angeles.— Its Recapture by the Mexi- cans 119 CHAPTER Xm. Stockton recommences the Subjugation of California. — He pro- ceeds to San Pedro.— Meets General Kearny.— March to Los Angeles. — Battles on the Banks of the San Gabriel and the Plains of the Mesa.— Stockton enters Los Angeles.— Ap- points Fremont Governor of California. — His Collision with, General Kearny 132 CHAPTER XIV. California ceded to the United States by Mexico.— Immigra- tion.— Sufferings of the Donner Party.— Discovery of Gold at Coloma.— Sutter's Mill.— The Cities deserted.— Bush of Gold-seekers into Calif ornia.— Sudden Growth of Towns 140 CHAPTER XV. Gamblers and their Victims. — Speculations of Merchants. — Progress of Gold-mining. — A Convention. — A State Govern- ment adopted.— California admitted into the Union 151 CONTENTS. XIU CHAPTER XVI. Growth of Towns.— Floods and Fires.— The Chinese.— Arrival of Steamships from New York.— Great Fires in San Fran- cisco. — Its rapid Growth 168 CHAPTER XVn. Indian Wars.— Indian Reservations.— The Scenery of Califor- nia.— Description of the Yosemite Valley.— Of Napa and other Valleys.— The Big Trees.— Mud Volcanoes.— Geysers or Hot Springs. — Caves and Rocks 165 CHAPTER XVIH. The first Quartz Mill erected. — Other Improvements in Min- ing.— Scheming Politicians. — Scenes in San Francisco. — The Vigilance Committee established.— Land Claims 176 CHAPTER XIX. Filibusterism.— Walker.— Improvements in San Francisco.— Murder of James King of William.— Second Reign of the Vigilance Committee 182 CHAPTER XX. Establishment of Schools and Churches.— Benevolent Socie- ties.— Evidences of Wealth.— Political Troubles.— Noted Duels.— The Loyalty of California 188 XIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXI. The New Almaden.— The Mining Excitement of 1863.— The Silver Mines of Nevada.— Mining Speculation and its Ef- fects.— Discovery of the Big Bonanza.— Decline in Mining. . 193 CHAPTER XXH. steamship Lines to China and other Countries. — Transconti- nental Railroads.— The Chinese Question.— The Hoodlum Riots. — The Pick-handle Brigade. — The Kearney Anti-Chi- nese Agitation.— The Sand Lot.— Unsuccessful Efforts to Suppress the Agitation. — Kearney's Influence. — Organiza- tion of the Workingmen's Party.— Adoption of a New Con- stitution.— End of the Agitation 197 CHAPTER XXHI. Calls to Arms. — The Amador War. — The Modoc War. — Massa- cre of the Peace Commissioners.— Captain Jack and his Con- federates Captured and Hanged 204 CHAPTER XXIV. Development of Wheat-growing.— Wheat Exports.— Scenes in the Valleys and on the Rivers.— Present Insignificance of Mining. — Hydraulic Mining. — Effects on Valley Farms. — " Slickens."— Litigation 208 CONTENTS. XV CHAPTER XXV. Agricultural Progress.— Wine*making.— Semi-tropical Fruit Culture. — Earthquakes. — Prospects.— Industrial Develop- ment. — Settlement. — Tourists.— Climate.— Commerce 212 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER I. Description of California.— Discovery of the South Sea.— First Set- tlement made upon its Shores.— Search for a Strait at the Isthmus of Darien. — First Attempt under Cortez to reach California. — Misfortunes and Crimes of the Adventurers.— Their Arrival at Santa Cruz. — The Expedition of Cortez. That portion of America now called California — which has within its borders a large and enlightened population, many fine cities and towns, and all things necessary to give it a prominent place in the civilized world — was three hundred and fifty years ago quite unknown to the inhabitants of the other parts of the globe. Then the country was in its natural state, unimproved by any work of man. There were no roads, except the trails made by the Indians, or the footprints of bears, deer, and other animals, that wan- dered fearlessly through the forests, where the stroke of an ax had never sounded. Trees grew to an im- mense size, and after the lapse of ages fell and rotted 18 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. away, thus forming a rich soil, which the wild inhabi- tants never thought of cultivating. Birds flitted from bough to bough of the giants of the woods, or flew across the barren plains that needed only the toil of man to become as fertile and beautiful as the valleys that nestled among the mountains. Many fine rivers irrigated the country, whose waters were as clear as crystal, and free from the washings of ore and other impurities, which now ren- der them turbid and yellow. The people of this beau- tiful country were then savages, who roamed through its forests and over its plains unclothed, except in rude garments woven of sedge or cut from the skins of wild beasts. Even these were worn only by the women, the men thinking they were degraded by appearing in any clothing. They often wore upon * their arms and neck ornaments made of shells, pearls, and feathers ; but they had no idea of fashioning any- thing from gold or copper, or indeed from any metals, as many of the Indians of other parts of America had, and they were of all the races on the continent the most ignorant. They lived in miserable huts built near streams of water, or in caves in the earth, having indeed no fixed home, but making their resting places under the wide branches of trees, or in any sheltered HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 19 nook. These natural retreats were as good as any they themselves provided ; for their best houses were only rude tents made of the branches of trees, and most of them merely little spaces of ground fenced in by piles of stones, and without any roof whatever, so that these miserable people were exposed to the heat of the sun and the rain that fell. It seems, indeed, that their condition was much worse than that of the beasts and fishes upon which they lived ; for these found homes in the forests or the deep sea, and God himself had given them a cov- ering of hair or scales most suitable for them. At that time there were a great many beasts in California which are now almost unknown ; for al- though the Indians depended on them almost entirely for subsistence, their wants were so few that the dif- ferent animals increased in numbers and filled the woods, while countless birds flew over the plains and swam on the beautiful lakes and rivers. There were in the southern portion of California, which was first settled, but which is now almost for- saken, a number of very curious animals. One was called the Taye, and was about the size of a calf of a year and a half old, and resembled that animal in figure, but must have presented a strange appearance, 20 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. for its head was like that of a deer, and its horns thick and crooked like those of a sheep. This animal was no doubt often hunted by the Indians, for its flesh was very palatable. There was also another species, which resembled a sheep, only that it was much larger, that wandered in droves about the for- ests and mountains. It would have proved very interesting to see the Indians set forth from their lodges to hunt these ani- mals, and the hares, rabbits, and wild goats that abounded throughout the country. Although the inhabitants had no established govern- ment, as all civilized nations have, and had not even chiefs to lead and command them, as was usual with nations of other parts of America, they paid some attention to the wishes of the ablest and best men among them, and by their command would often meet together to gafher the wild grain and fruit, or to fish and hunt. When they moved from one place to another, the men carried nothing but their bows and arrows, a light boat made of the bark of trees, a little piece of wood for procuring fire, which was soon done by rubbing it between their hands, and a large case in which they carried the sinews of deer, feathers, and flints, to repair their bows and arrows. As they wore HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 21 little or no clothing, they of course had no pockets, but were as anxious as most people to prevent their burdens from annoying them, so to keep this case of small articles out of their way, they bored holes in their ears, and hung it to them by means of cords made of the sinews of deer. The women carried the children and all the heavy articles in nets made of a sort of thread spun from herbs and palms. These the men manufactured, and they were often of very pretty patterns, and of a variety of colors. Both men and women wore them upon their heads, and when a woman accepted an offer of marriage — which was generally made by the lover offering her a jug, in their language called olla^ of mescal thread — she pre- sented her future husband with a net for the hair. These strange people showed many good traits of character amidst all their ignorance. They shared their food with each other as long as it lasted, were not quarrelsome, and did not torture their captives as did many of the North American Indians. Yet they were an ignorant and barbarous people, totally unable to use or appreciate the blessings by which they were surrounded. Boundless forests rose in their midst, yet they never dreamed of cuttinor them down and buildin«^ with the 22 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. timber comfortable houses. Vast tracks of rich land were on every side, but they never thought of culti- vating them. Beds of pearls lay along the coasts beneath the ocean waves, but they knew nothing of their value, or that of the gold and silver that was mingled with their soil and washed by the current of every river that swept across their broad domain. It seems very strange to us that so fine a country should for many centuries have remained unknown to the rest of the world ; but we may rest assured it was for some wise purpose. Nor need we wonder that it was so, when we remember that until the present cen- tury the use of steam was almost unknown, and that until the time of Columbus it was not even thought that the world was round, or that it could have upon its surface room for such an extent of land as Amer- ica ; and it was even some time after it was discovered before its extent was known, or that the existence of California and the South Sea, or Pacific Ocean, was even imagined. I think that I can best give you a just idea of the great dangers and difiiculties attending the discovery and early settlement of this peninsula by taking you back to the time when Christopher Columbus first sailed over the seas and landed in America, then an unknown world. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. '23 He accomplished this in the year 1492, having ob- tained from Spain, through the kindness of its Queen, Isabella, who sold her jewels to help him, a small fleet with which to attempt to discover a new route to the East Indies. This was greatly desired on account of the treasures of silk, spices, and gems they produced, and which were then obtained by Europeans with great difficulty, as only a passage overland was known, and that was guarded by the Mohammedans. Now Columbus thought that the shortest way to reach those islands would be to sail directly west across the Atlantic Ocean. He did not know that the great continent of America lay in his way; therefore when, after a long and perilous voyage, he reached the Bahama Islands, touching first at St. Salvador, and saw the tropical fruits, the brilliant and many- colored flowers, and the copper-colored natives wear- ing ornaments of gold, he though the object of his voyage was accomplished — a passage to the Indies found ; and acting upon that belief, called the islands he first saw the West Indies. When he returned to Spain, taking with him rich spices and specimens of the gold he had found on the islands, he was welcomed with great joy and every mark of honor and gratitude. 24 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. After that he made three other voyages. In the third he discovered the Continent of America. He was led to it by meeting with the current caused by the rapid stream of the Orinoco, from the violence of which he justly concluded that it flowed through, and was supplied by, a vast extent of country. After landing at several points, with whose beauty he was so much charmed that he declared the Terrestrial Par- adise must have been situated within them, he re- turned to the islands he had first discovered, and on which he had planted a colony. He found it in a dis- turbed state, and although all outward demonstrations were soon quelled, rage and jealousy continued to rankle in many minds against him, both in the New World and the Old. At this time, incited by accounts of the great riches of the newly discovered regions, the Spaniards fitted out some private expeditions. On one of these, Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine gentleman, sailed ; and on his return to Europe published a glowing ac- count of the newly found lands, which was so eagerly received that his name was given to the country he described. Thus was Columbus defrauded of an iTonor that was justly his. But greater trials than that awaited him. After having made a fourth voy- HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 25 age and many fresli discoveries, he was followed to the New World by the hatred and jealousy of the Spaniards, and was arrested on some protext by a governor whom King Ferdinand had sent out, and taken to Spain in chains. These Columbus ever kept before him as a memorial of the treachery and ingrat- itude of those he had so greatly benefited. This great man died at Valladolid in 1506, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. He was succeeded by men whose discoveries were inspired more by a love of gold than a desire to gain knowledge of the wonderful sphere upon which they dwelt or to Christianize its heathen people. In all the voyages he had under- taken, Columbus had neither seen nor heard anything of the South Sea, or, as it was afterwards named, the Pacific Ocean ; but a few years after his death, sev- eral voyages from the West Indies toward the south were undertaken by the Spaniards that had settled on those islands. They had heard of gold-bearing lands lying in that direction and were most anxious to pos- sess them. As early as 1510, a colony was planted upon the Isthmus of Darien, or Panama, which con- nects Nortli and South America. « This was the first settlement made on the Continent of America ; and althouirh those on the northern and 26 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. eastern parts are more generally known about, and you may perhaps have supposed that they were the earliest made, you must now remember that they were not established until several years after that planted on the northern coast of Darien, by Vasco Nunez de Balboa. In those early days the Spaniards seemed to think of nothing but gold and gems, which they expected to find lying as commonly as pebbles or stones upon the surface of the earth. They were constantly disap- pointed in this expectation ; but they were so filled with it that they never rested in one place, no matter how rich and beautiful it was, but continually sought something better. Therefore, no sooner were Balboa and his followers settled on the coast of Darien than he, with a few followers, started forth in quest of gold. Then for the first time he heard of a vast body of water lying toward the south, and was guided by the son of a native chief to the top of a high mountain, whence he saw the placid waters of the Pacific spark- ling in the mornino^ sun. He gave it the name of the South Sea, and, filled with joy at his great discovery, descended to the shore, and in full costume, bearing in his hands the Spanish flag, went into the waters and took possession HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 27 of them and the lands they washed, in the name of his sovereign, the King of Spain. This happened in 1513. Four years later this illus- trious man was put to death by order of one of the governors of Darien. He had during his life exhibited great cruelty towards the Indians, and for this it may be that God brought upon him the jealousy and ha- tred of his fellow-adventurers, which effected at last his shameful death. This great sin of cruelty to the Indians, the rightful owners of the soil, was very prevalent for a long time. In South America and Mexico, where the precious metals were found, the most horrible massacres were perpetrated by the Spaniards, in order that they might wrest from the untutored natives their treasures of gold, gems, and lands. Among their most relentless persecutors was Ferdi- nand Cortez, the conquerer of Mexico. After a war of two years, he became master of the capital of that empire on the 13th of August, 1521, and soon after of all the country lying between that point and the South Sea, of which then there was no knowledge except near the Antarctic Circle. To discover the northern portion was the great ambition of Cortez. In order to effect that, he, in 1522, gave orders for the building 28 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. of two brigantines and two corvettes, a species of light, round ship much used by the Spaniards at that time. We should think it a very clumsy vessel now ; the masts all leaned forward, and the sails were of an awkward, three-cornered shape. However, the early navigators found them useful, and thought them very fine. At his own expense Cortez built these ships and fitted them out, for he thought the fame and wealth he would gain would amply repay him. His chief object was to discover a strait which was supposed to be near the Isthmus of Darien, and to connect the At- lantic with the Pacific Ocean. Such a strait was greatly desired, for it would have made the voyage from Spain to the East Indies only half the distance they were compelled to take. For this reason, the discoverer of such a strait would have been even as highly thought of as Colum- bus was when he returned to Spain with the first news of America ; and Cortez spared no effort to be- come the fortunate man. In order to procure strong and reliable ships, he caused great quantities of iron, anchors, rigging, and other naval stores to be brought from Vera Cruz, a town on the northeastern coast of Mexico, or New Spain, as it was then called, to Zaca- HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 29 tula, a small town lying over two hundred leagues southwest upon the shores of the Pacific. To carry these stores through the country was at that time a very great undertaking, and Cortez must have been delighted when they all safely arrived, together with the forty ship-builders, blacksmiths, and seamen that accompanied them. But, unfortunately, after these precious goods were stored at Zacatula, the magazine or house that contained them took fire, and all except the anchors and nails were destroyed. This, however, did not discourage Cortez, and with great energy and perseverance he procured a second supply of the nec- essary materials, and when the ships were finished, sent them to sea, under Christopher de Olid, whom he ordered to search for the strait which had been so long and anxiously hoped for. Of course, as the strait did not exist, it was not dis- covered ; but in 1527, three years afterthe first ships had been sent, Cortez, by command of Charles V. of Spain, dispatched the ships he had at Zacatula in search of the Trinity, one of Magellan's ships, and those of Loaysa and Cabot (navigators that had sailed from England and Spain) ; they were also to seek for the passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, which he had confidently assured his sover- eign was in existence. 30 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. The year after this expedition sailed, Cortez went to Spain, where he was received with great honor. Many titles and privileges were also conferred upon him, together with a promise that he should possess a twelfth part of all lands he might discover. This was a great inducement to Cortez to return to Mexico and explore more fully the Pacific Ocean. He how- ever was bound by a contract with the Empress of Spain, who was then Regent (that is, ruler in the King's place), to prosecute all his discoveries at his own expense. He returned to Mexico, and ordered the building of two ships at Acapulco, a town on the southwestern coast of Mexico, which is situated on a beautiful bay, and affords a safe and pleasant harbor. These ships were put under the command of his near relative, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, and they left port in May, 1532. This expedition proved very unfortunate. The crew of one of the ships mutinied, and encountering heavy gales had much difficulty in reaching Jalisco. The other ship, in which Hurtado himself sailed, was never heard of again. Afterwards, Cortez ordered two ships to be built at Tehuantepec, which is situated on the bay of the same name, and lies much farther to the southeast than any other town that has been mentioned. These HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 31 set sail, and encountering one of the storms that fre- quently prevail in the gulf of Tehuantepec, were separated on the very first night and never met again. By one of these, however, the first discovery of Cali- fornia was made. The captain, Hernando Grljalva, after sailing three hundred leagues, reached a desert island which he called Santa Thome, and which is believed to be one of a group that lies at the point of Lower California. He then turned back ; but the ship of which Diego Becerra de Mendoza was captain, went farther, and sailing up the Gulf of California, discovered the peninsula that lies between that body of water and the Pacific Ocean, and entered a small bay, which Cortez afterwards called Santa Cruz, and which is believed to have been the same that is now known by the name of La Paz. Before reaching there, however. Captain Becerra, by his overbearing demeanor, had excited the anger of his crew, and headed by Fortu- nus Zimenez, his pilot, they murdered him while he slept. For this wicked act they met a swift and just punishment upon their arrival at Santa Cruz ; for there, enraged by their actions, the Indians set upon them, and killed the pilot and twenty other Spaniards. This disaster, however, did not deter the Spaniards 32 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. from endeavoring to penetrate a country which they were assured by the sailors that survived was stored with treasure, and the coasts of which were paved with beds of pearh Many attempts were made to reach and survey the country ; the most famous being that of Cortez, who fitted out and dispatched three ships which he had launched at Teliuantepec, while he himself proceeded west by land to Chiametla. Thence he set sail, with a large number of people who had joined him, and steering up the Gulf of California, which was then called the Sea of Cortez, or the Vermilion Sea, landed on the 1st of May, 1526, at the place where Zimenez and others of the mutineers had been killed by the Indians. There the navigators endured many hardships, being for some time in danger of starvation. It is from the records kept by these men during their famous cruise that we obtain our first knowledge of California ; and although that portion of the peninsula is of little in- terest to us at present, as all settlements have been made in the upper part, still from it we gain our first ideas of the country and its people, and there the History of California must commence, in order that we may have a clear idea by what means the *' Golden State " was discovered and settled. HISTORY OP CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER 11. The Sufferings of Cortez and his Followers. — Exploration of the Coast of the Gulf of California. — Alvar Nuilez Caheza and his Companions.— Heports of Treasures at the South.— Expeditions of the Viceroy of Mexico.— Chagrin of Cortez. — His Death.— Voyage of Cabrillo Not long after Cortez had effected a landing on the shores of the Bay of Santa Cruz, he sent back all his ships to Mexico to bring him provisions, and also the people that had not sailed with him, either deterred by their own fears or his opposition, but whom he then thought would be of great service to him in form- ing a settlement upon the newly discovered land. It certainly was not a very promising place for any such attempt to be made, for the first article with the Spaniards — gold — was nowhere to be seen, the soil was arid and non-productive, and its owners — the Indians — were treacherous and unfriendly. But after the ships sailed for Mexico, Cortez and his followers were obliged to remain in their unen- viable position, whether they wished it or not; and very great must have been their disappointment when M HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. only one ship returned to them, all the rest having been stranded on the coast of Mexico. As Cortez had no stores, he was obliged to go in search of his ships, and crossing the Gulf of California, found them, and taking the provisions they contained, returned to the Bay of Santa Cruz, where he found that all the people had suffered much from the want of food, and that some had died. He enjoined them to be very careful in using the food he had brought ; but they were so rejoiced to obtain it, that instead of taking a little, merely to satisfy their hunger, many of them ate to excess, and died in consequence. Cortez and his followers staid at Santa Cruz for several months, endeavoring to make a settlement there. The people of Mexico had given him up as dead ; but the Viceroy sent out two ships to search for him, with instructions to him to return to Mexico. A third was sent by his wife ; and Cortez was very glad to find that he was so much needed elsewhere, that he could with credit abandon an enterprise that had proved so disastrous, and which promised to yield neither profit nor fame. Accordingly, he hastened to obey the mandate of the Viceroy, leaving his colony under the charge of Francisco de Ulloa. It was not long, however, before HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 35 he discovered that it was impossible for them to re- main in so poor a country, and they all set sail for Mexico. Thus ended the first attempt to colonize the peninsula of California. With the great energy that distinguished him throughout the whole of his eventful life, and with the hope that he should find a country as rich as Mexico, Cortez, in the same year (1537), sent three other ships, under the command of Francisco de Ulloa, to explore the coast lying upon the Gulf of California. These ships were absent a year, and then returned to Mexico without having made any important discover- ies. At the head of the Gulf of California they had found a wild, mountainous country, almost bare of vegetation, and affording subsistence only to a few large sheep with crooked horns. The inhabitants seemed chiefly to have drawn their living from the sea. They were quite naked, wearing nothing but ornaments of shining shells. They made fishing- hooks of wood or fish bones, and vessels of clay, though they chiefly used the maws of sea-wolves for domestic purposes. There were a great many whales in the northern part of the gulf, and it must have been a strange sight to those aboard the ships, as they glided at night along the inhospitable shore, lighted 36 HISTORY OP CALIFORNIA. perhaps on their way by the glare of volcanic fires, to see the monsters of the deep sporting near, and toss- ing the water into the air until it fell like foam around the quivering ships. It is probable that Cortez would not have attempted to make any further discoveries on the eastern coast of California, had not Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and his three companions, Castillo, Dorantes, and a negro named Estivanico, arrived in Mexico with glowing accounts of the coasts toward the south, which they said abounded in gold, pearls, and other treasures. In 1527, ten years before, they had landed with three hundred others, under the command of Pamsilo de Narvaez, in the country of' Florida, which had been discovered by Ponce de Leon, a Governor of the West Indies, several years before. Within this country was supposed to be an immense palace, with walls of marble and pillars of pure gold, within which was a fountain whose waters had the power of restor- ing the aged to youth. This, De Leon sought but never found ; but the country was so beautiful that three hundred Spaniards banded together to attempt its conquest. They were unsuccessful, and all but four men were killed by the natives or by disease. These four wandered for ten years among the Indians, HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 37 going from country to country, and enduring the greatest hardships. They insured their safety by pre- tending to work miracles ; they cured the sick, and even said that they could raise the dead. When they arrived in Mexico they were naked, and so altered that they were taken for Indians until they spoke, when they were recognized as Spaniards and properly cared for. The tales they told of the vast riches of the countries through which they had passed were scarcely credited, until the following year (1538), when they were confirmed by Marcos de Niza, a a Franciscan friar, who was the Governor of the province of Santo Evangelio, which was in the west- ern part of Mexico. He heard that a brother of his order had traveled over two hundred leagues to the northward, and passed through countries well peopled with intelligent races, who had told him of countries beyond, where there were many large cities, and where the people wore clothes and were skilled ir many arts. The soil, they stated, was very rich, pro- ducing many fruits, and a sufficient quantity of grain to feed vast herds of cattle, while the mountains were full of rich metals and gems. Allured by this description of the wealth of the country, and filled with a desire to preach the truth 38 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. to the poor Indians, the Franciscan set out to visit the place described, and returned after an absence of sev- eral months, with still more wonderful accounts of the unknown lands, which he had gleaned from the people he had seen, and not from actual observation. That fact, however, was not heeded. His words created the greatest excitement throughout New Spain. Nothing else was thought or talked of. There were many Spaniards in the City of Mexico who had just arrived, and these were overjoyed at the hope of con- quering a country more wealthy, if possible, than that which had rendered Cortez so famous. But that great man himself was not long inactive, and immediately determined to attempt the conquest of this country, both by sea and land. The Viceroy of Mexico, Don Antonio de Mendoza, wished to do the same. But although these two men had the same object in view, they could not agree upon the means to be employed in obtaining it, each fearing that the designs of the other would detract from his own fame. The Viceroy at first took command of the land forces in person, Cortez remaining behind, pro- testing that his rights were being wrested from him, as it was impossible for him to fulfill the contract he had made with the Queen of Spain some years before, HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 39 unless he was allowed to undertake the first expedi- tions of discovery. The command of the army was eventually given to Francisco Vasquez Coronado, who marched from the City of Mexico at the head of a thousand picked men, with the Franciscan as guide. As the expedition had nothing to do with the dis- covery of California or any settlements that were made there, it is unnecessary to proceed farther than to mention that the adventurers indeed found cities, though much smaller than they had hoped for, and but very little wealth, so that they returned in great disappointment to Mexico. Meanwhile, the fleet which had been sent to the coast of California to meet them waited in vain for their coming ; and after a long time the commander, Francisco Alarcon, set up several crosses, to denote that Christians had been upon the land, planted at the foot of them bottles containing records of the cruise, and then returned to Mexico. Thus ended the famous expedition of the Viceroy Mendoza ; and it seemed, indeed, as if California was never to be surveyed and settled ; for Pedro de Alva- rado, who was Governor of Guatemala, which lies between Mexico and Costa Rica, had been for some time engaged with the Viceroy de Mendoza in a scheme to survey the western coast of California, and 40 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. discover a route to the East Indies, and had built twelve large vessels for the purpose. No success fol- lowed his undertakings. He, on the contrary, gained the enmity of many Spaniards for his conduct towards Cortez, whose fortunes he had followed from the be- ginning, and whose interests he basely betrayed. In 1547 Cortez died, after having waited for seven years about the court of Spain, endeavoring in vain to obtain a hearino^ from his sovereio^n. Thus he found that his unfortunate expeditions by sea had obliterated all remembrance of his services on land, which had gained to the King of Spain, as he bitterly said, "more provinces than his father had towns." After his departure from Mexico, Pedro Alvarado prosecuted his schemes with far more ardor than be- fore ; but just as his fleet was ready to sail, he was killed in an encounter with the Indians of his own province, and his ships rotted in the harbors, instead of making those grand discoveries which their builder had hoped would render his name famous. The Viceroy de Mendoza was greatly distressed at the failure of both enterprises in which he had en- gaged ; but, animated by ambition which seemed to be an all-pervading passion with the Spaniards of that day, he went upon a dangerous enterprise himself, to HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 41 subdue the Indians, whom the death of Alvarado had encouraged in their revolt. He gave to Juan Rodri- guez Cabrillo, a Portuguese navigator, the command of some of Alvarado's ships, which were in a moderate state of preservation, and sent him to explore the western shores of California. It must be remembered that they had not been visited by any navigators ; all who had gone before having confined themselves to the gulf on the east. Cabrillo sailed from the port de Navidad, which is on the southwestern coast of Mexico, a short distance south of Manzanillo, on the 27th of June, 1542. He touched first at the bay of Santa Cruz ; then, instead of following the eastern coast, as others had done, he hurried to the west, and soon gained a bay, which he called La Magdalena, and soon after a point which he named Cape del Engauo (Deceit). He also named others that he encountered, but the only one of note is Cape Mendocino. He saw this cape lying between high mountains covered with snow, and named it in honor of the Viceroy of Spain. It lies about three hundred miles north of San Francisco; but Cabrillo even went farther, discovering the Bay of Pines (which he named from the trees growing near It), and also the Cape de Fortuna (the Cape of Fortune). 42 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. At that point he was obliged to turn back ; for the cold seemed very intense to his crew, who had been used to the hot sun of Mexico ; and besides, he was falling short of provisions. He had, however, accom- plished more than any navigator that had sailed upon the Pacific Ocean, and had discovered the existence of the upper portion of the land called California, and which is now the State that bears that world-renowned name. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 43 CHAPTER HI. California neglected by the Spaniards.— Sir Francis Drake's first View of the South Sea. — His Visit to California. You will be surprised to learn that upon the return of Cabrillo to Mexico, or of his pilot, Bartolomeo Ferrelo (for some say Cabrillo never made the long voyage that has been described, but died on the way), no immediate steps were taken to settle the vast country that had been discovered. But at that time the Spaniards were too much engrossed by the ac- cumulation of riches in Peru and other parts of South America to trouble themselves much about a land from which neither gold nor gems had been brought, and the chief features of which seemed to be barren or snow-clad mountains, and forests of dark pines. The Viceroy de Mendoza might have made some, attempt to explore the newly found land, had he not been removed from Mexico to Peru ; and he was suc- ceeded by men who seemed to think but little or nothing of California, till as late as the year 1557 or 1558, when the daring deeds of English navigators upon its shores recalled it to mind. At that time there 44 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. was but little good feeling between England and Spain, and British privateers were constantly on the watch to harass and destroy all Spanish vessels. The most important of these was the galleon that yearly sailed from the East Indies, down the western coast of South America, at the extremity of which she sailed through the Straits of Magellan, and continued in a northeasterly direction to Spain. These Straits of Magellan had been discovered by the navigator by whose name they were called, in 1520, about the time that Cortez was so eagerly seeking for a passage at the extremity of North America. Such a passage would have saved the galleon thousands of miles in her voyage, and also attacks from enemies lurking along her way. The most determined of these privateers was Captain, afterwards Sir Francis, Drake, a distin- guished navigator, who was the first Englishman to sail around the world. This famous man, during the reigns of Edward IV. of England and his sister Mary, made several voyages to the New World, and was treated so harshly by the Spaniards that he was most anxious to avenge himself ; and as soon as his govern- ment became involved in unfriendly disputes with Spain, he eagerly sought every opportunity to injure the commerce of the latter. In 1572 he landed on the HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 45 eastern shore of Panama, and captured a large amount of treasure which had been brought from the East Indies and stored to await transportation to Spain. While there, one of the natives took Drake to a high tree, from the top of which, he told him, he could see a great body of water. Drake climbed it ; and to his delight beheld the Pacific Ocean, and solemnly " be- sought God to give him health and life once to sail an English ship through those seas." His prayer was granted. Five years later, having with the aid of some friends fitted out an expedition, he sailed down the eastern coast of South America, and passing through the Straits of Magellan, continued his course up the western coast, capturing vessels as he went, and destroying the settlements which the Spaniards had made upon the shore. He spread terror and consternation throughout the Spanish provinces ; but having at last as much treas- ure as his ships could carry, he determined to return home. But he was afraid to do so by the Straits of Magellan, as he thought it very probable some Spanish ships might be lurking there to intercept him. He therefore proceeded westward, hoping to gain England by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, which lies at the southern extremity of Africa. It was then au- 46 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. tumn, and he met with such contrary winds that he was obliged to steer northward. This he did, until the intense cold, or what seemed to his crew intense, forced him to turn to the south. He then sailed back from the coasts of Oregon to those of California, the white cliffs of which reminded him so much of home that he called it New Albion, that having once been the name of England. Sir Francis Drake was very anxious to discover a bay in which he could anchor for the winter, and where he would be safe from the vigilance of the Spaniards. He found what he desired a short dis- tance north of San Francisco, and wintered in the bay which still bears his name. When he went ashore, accompanied by some of his men, he found a number of huts by the water-side. Upon entering them, they found the natives lying upon beds made of rushes, around fires which were built upon the ground in the center of each hut. The men were quite naked, but the women wore a deer skin over their shoulders, and a short skirt of cloth which was woven from tules and grass. These sim- ple-minded people seemed to regard Drake and his fol- lowers as superior beings. They gathered upon a hill and began haranguing him — having first sent him HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 47 presents of network, feathers, and tobacco — and then to shout and dance, to howl and tear their hair. Fear- ing that they were about to offer sacrifices to him, and in order to prove to them that he was no god, but mortal like themselves, he ordered divine services to be held before them. Whether this had the effect that Sir Francis Drake intended, or not, is doubtful ; but by some means the Indians were made to under- stand that the strangers were from a country much more powerful than their own, and this " being known through the country, two persons in the charac- ter of ambassadors came to the admiral (Drake), and informed him, in the best manner they were able, that the king would visit him." Drake assured them that he might do so in perfect safety ; and then a most en- tertaining scene began. The people formed a proces- sion, with a person at their head carrying a kind of scepter, from which hung two crowns and three chains of great length. The chains were of bones, and the crowns of network curiously wrought with feathers of many colors. The king^ — who was described as a very handsome, majestic person — came next, with a number of tall men dressed in skins ; these were fol- lowed by the common people, who were most hide- ously painted, and carried in their hands presents for 48 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. their visitors. When all had arrived at the admiral's tent, the men stood before it in line of battle, and the scepter-bearer made a long speech, to which Sir Fran- cis Drake replied ; then they all began to sing and dance, and went nearer the tent. At last the king sat down, and taking off his crown, put it on the head of Drake, and putting off all the insignia of royalty, made to him what the admiral supposed to be a solemn tender of his whole kingdom. Drake accepted it, and afterwards went into the interior of the country to see the value of the acquisition he had made. Perhaps he was disappointed at not finding another Florida or Peru ; for although he discovered traces of gold in the soil, he did not find it lying in lumps upon the surface of the earth, neither did he see springing therefrom beautiful flowers, or trees bearing luscious fruit. They found instead a mountainous country, with few streams, and consequently no luxuriant herbage. Upon the mountains they saw large herds of deer, and rabbits were so plentiful that the country appeared an "entire warren." After staying about a month in the beautiful bay he had discovered, Sir Francis Drake set sail for Eng- land, having first set upon the shore a pillar with a large plate on it, on which was engraved the name of HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 49 Elizabeth, Queen of England, her " picture, arms, and title to the country, together with the admiral's name, and the date of his arrival there." This was to let all future adventurers know that the land w^as the prop- erty of the crown of England. The Spaniards, how- ever, were not willing to acknowledge that, and as soon as they knew of the discoveries of Drake and other voyagers, threw off their apathy, and pre- pared with eagerness to survey and colonize the coast that offered so many safe harbors, from which their enemies might sally out, destroy their ships, and cap- ture their treasure. 50 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER lY. The Commerce of Spain harassed by Privateers.— Expedition of Viscaino.— The Settlement at the Bay of La Paz.— Removal North and a Fight with the Indian.— The Poverty of Lower California. Though many discoveries had been made up to this period by both Spanish and English navigators in Lower and Upper California, none had thrown much light upon the disputed point whether this tract of land was an island or a peninsula. Little indeed was then known of the geography of North America. In drawing a map of the world, our forefathers left no room for British America, but sup- posed that by sailing through Behring Straits (or, as they were called, the Straits of Anian), which they knew lay at the northeastern point of Asia, they would immediately reach the Atlantic Ocean, where- as, they would have found themselves in the Arctic Sea, more than two thousand miles from the desired point. During the reign of Phillip II. of Spain it became a matter of great importance that this question should HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 51 be decided, and that it should be positively known whether vessels could reach the Indies by sailing due west from Spain at the head of North America, passing through Behring Straits into the Pacific Ocean, as well as by taking the long and dangerous route around South America, on the western coast of which the English and Dutch had made many settle- ments, whence they sallied out to harass the com- merce of the Spaniards. From 1587, when the noted English privateer. Cap- tain Thomas Cavendish, touched at Cape St. Lucas, and lay in wait in a fine bay at that point for the richly laden Spanish vessels that sailed by, the coast of California was an especial terror to them. And after striving in every other way to abate ttie evil, and losing in many unsuccessful engagements the naval prestige that had once been hers, Spain decided to seek some other passage for her galleons ; and in 1596 Phillip II. transmitted orders to Don Gaspar de Zuniga, Count of Monterey, who was Viceroy of Mex- ico, to send ships to explore Behring Straits, and also to endeavor to make settlements upon the coast of California, to which the galleons might go for refuge from enemies, or to take in water or fresh provisions, from the want of which the crews often suffered on the long voyage from the Philippine Islands. 52 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. This was an expedition of great importance ; and only a man of unusual courage and prudence could hope to carry it to a successful termination. Sebas- tian Viscaino, the man chosen to conduct it, was well qualified in every respect. He was a fearless soldier, yet possessed of a disposition of great affability and mildness — thus beins; well calculated to fill the hearts of the inhabitants of the country both with love and awe. His knowledge was not confined to military affairs ; he was an excellent seaman, and took charge of the four ships with which he sailed — thereby, per- haps, taking upon himself more responsibility than had any of his predecessors. From Acapulco, the place of departure, he steered northwest to the islands of Mazatlan and San Sebas- tian, where he supplied his ships with water, and then crossed the gulf, which he found to be about two hundred and forty miles in width. He landed on the eastern coast of California ; but although the Indians flocked to the shore in great numbers, presenting an ample school to the four Franciscan priests that had come to teach them of God and his mercies, Viscaino decided not to attempt a settlement there, but to seek a parish for the priests where the land was capable of sustaining them ; believing that no virtue could flour- HISTORY OF CALIFOKNIA. 53 ish where only barren rocks and stunted shrubs were to be seen. Sailing thence, they proceeded to another harbor, Avhich they called San Sebastian. At this point the soil was barren, and there was but little fresh water ; so no settlement could be made. General Viscaino, however, enacted the ceremony of raising the royal standard, and again taking possession of the land in the name of his sovereign. He also from that point sent some of his soldiers into the interior of the coun- try, to see if it gave signs of greater prosperity than did the sea-shore. Nothing of any value was dis- covered ; the inhabitants seemed poor and peaceable people, and their appearance offered no inducements to the adventurers to stay among them. It is true that they brought them a few pearls ; but there ex- isted rumors that these gems were to be found in large quantities farther up the coast ; and thither, after a stay of eight days, Viscaino and his followers proceeded. In the Bay of La Paz (so called because of the peaceful disposition of the Indians), they finally es- tablished themselves. Their first act was to establish a o'arrison for the soldiers within a hio;h fence, so that it could not be approached by the natives ; and next 54 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. they built a church and some rude huts of the branches of trees. The Indians, doubtless, looked on with much quiet surprise and admiration at all these preparations ; and when the priests, wishing to gain their affec- tion, distributed many small presents among them, they believed them superior beings, and looked upon them as endowed with more than human kindness and wisdom. They very readily obeyed their wishes, and attended mass and other divine services, the ceremo- nies of which impressed them with the greatest awe and delight. For the soldiers, however, they entertained no de- gree of the affection they so liberally showed towards the priests. They feared and hated them, because, instead of giving them presents, they took away all the little wealth they originally possessed, especially their pearls, which they greatly treasured, and which all wore as ornaments. Indeed, one of their most solemn rites was the endowment of children with these gems. At a certain time of the year, all those who were not already ornamented were taken to the sorcerers — men who pretended to cure the sick and avert all evils ; and by them their ears and nostrils were bored, strings of shells and pearls being hung HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 55 from one to the other. This was a truly barbaro\is rite, and elicited the most awful shrieks from the poor little victims. But their parents thought it quite right and necessary that they should thus be tortured, and stood around them drowning their cries by shout- ing as loudly as possible and making all kinds of noises. It is not strange that, after having suffered so much in being invested with these uncouth adornments, these poor Indians prized them greatly, and also the pearls of which they were composed, and that they accordingly thought the soldiers who robbed them most cruel and wicked. However, the Indians at La Paz made no alarming demonstrations of their displeasure ; but when Vis- caino, finding that the garrison could not be support- ed at that point, removed it thence farther north, they found a tribe that would not so quietly endure their aggressions, or even their presence. At the first place they landed, they were indeed received quietly enough, although the Indians were drawn up upon the shore in battle array ; but when they attempted to depart, either because they had committed some outrages or from an unknown cause, the Indians conuiienced to shoot their arrows upon them. 5Q HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. Unfortunately, the Spaniards, of whom there were about fifty, forgot all prudence, and returned the fire, killinor three or four and woundinoj several. The re- mainder fled ; and the Spaniards, imagining they had quelled them, prepared to return to their ships. The boat in which they had gained the shore would only carry twenty-five men ; consequently that number em- barked, leaving their comrades behind. Tiiose that were left had no idea that the Indians were near them, and when the boat returned, hastened to the water's edge, anxious to leave the shore where they had been so inhospitably received. In the confusion, they did not notice the Indians spring from their ambush, and knew nothing of their presence until a shower of ar- rows fell upon them. Then ensued a scene of the o:reatest confusion, in the midst of which the boat was overset, and thus nineteen unfortunate men were drowned or killed by the Indians. Only six of the boat's freight returned to the ship to tell the frightful tale ; and these only gained their safety by swimming, and happily eluding the arrows and other missiles of their enemies. Much distressed at this unfortunate occurrence, the survivors decided to return to the place where the set- tlement had been made, and where General Viscaino HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 57 was waiting, ho])iiig to gain from them cheering re- ports of the country they had visited. He must have been greatly disappointed when they told him of the fierceness of the Indians and the pov- erty of the country from which they had been unable to gather any means of subsistence. The General himself had nothing to offer them, having indeed barely corn enough left to last till they could reach the coast of Mexico. So, in despair of making a set- tlement upon such a barren shore, he left it once more to the buccaneers, who alone seemed able to find within it any place of refuge or defense. 58 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER V. Second Expedition of Viscaino.— Discovery of the Port of Mon- terey.— Death of Viscaino.— Expedition in Search of Pearls.- - Attempt of Otondo to found a Colony.— Hostility of the Indians and Cowardice of the Spaniards.— Settlement at San Bruno.— Missions established.— The Religion of the Indians.— Their Treatment by the Missionaries.— An Insurrection. But, although no doubt Viscaino and his followers were greatly disgusted with the barren land that yielded them nothing but privations and discomforts, their sovereign. King Phillip HI. — who succeeded his father, King Phillip II., in 1589 — determined not to give up the land and the sea upon which it bordered, without a struggle. Consequently he sent orders to the Count de Monterey to send out another expedi- tion to attempt a settlement upon the peninsula. It often happened at that time that the galleons on their passage from the Philippine Isles encountered heavy gales off Cape Mendocino, and ran short of water and of fresh provisions, from the want of which the crews were frequently afflicted with scurvy, a most painful disease. From these causes it was nee- HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 59 essary that sojme settlement should be made near the cape, where vessels might put in for supplies, and find a refuge from storms. General Viscaino, who had conducted the first ex- pedition with such prudence and skill, was chosen to command the second ; and on the 5th of May, 1602, he sailed from the harbor of Acapulco with two ships — a frigate, and also a smaller vessel with which to ascend creeks and cruise in shallow waters. These vessels encountered contrary winds, and their crews were subjected to many hardships. They however persevered ; and gallantly combating all diflficulties, ascended the coast as far as Cape Mendo- cino, taking accurate surveys as they proceeded. Near the Cape of Pines, General Viscaino saw a large harbor, which he fancied would be suitable for the reception of the galleons and other ships ; and in honor of the Viceroy of Mexico, named it the Port of Monterey. At present there is a city there bear- ing the same name. It is situated about seventy miles south of San Francisco. This settlement, however, was not made for some time after General Viscaino first visited the bay ; for the crews of his ships were attacked with scurvy, from the effects of which many died, and the sur- 60 HISTORY of" CALIFORNIA. vivors were rendered unfit to attempt the labor of founding a colony, even in so desirable a spot, where the earth teemed with grains and fruits, and vast numbers of animals roamed through the woods and over the fields of luxuriant grass. General Viscaino returned to Mexico, delighted with the country he had visited, and immediately went to Spain to ask permission of the king to at- tempt a settlement at Monterey at his own expense. This favor, however, was denied him ; and he re- turned to Mexico, where he lived in obscurity until the year 1606, when, by command of the king, he was sought for, and put in command of some vessels, which were to sail immediately for the Port of Mon- terey. Unfortunately, when everything was in readiness, and Viscaino was elated with joy at the prospect of making a settlement upon the beautiful bay he had discovered and named, his plans and those of his king were thwarted by a fatal illness. Early in 1607, General Viscaino died, and the attempt to col- onize California was again abandoned. Occasionally small vessels crossed the gulf in search of pearls ; but; no settlements were attempted, and the commerce of the Spanish suffered as much as HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 61 ever from the depredations of the English and Dutch. These soon became masters of the seas, and totally- prevented any efforts from being made to occupy the coasts they so effectually guarded. Still, the Span- iards looked upon them with longing eyes, and the sight of some pearls that were brought thence excited their cupidity, and induced a number of private per- sons in Mexico to attempt a conquest which the emis- saries of their government had repeatedly failed to make. These persons were as unsuccessful as their prede- cessors. It is true, they sometimes succeeded in col- lecting a quantity of pearls, either by fishing for them or trading with the Indians ; and they learned many curious things regarding the country and its inhabi- tants ; but they made no discoveries of valuable lands, nor even settled the important question which had agitated the public mind for so many years — the ques- tion whether California was an island or a peninsula. The expeditions which sailed under the auspices of the government accomplished no more than those under private persons ; and, indeed, seemed to have the same object in view — the acquisition of wealth rather than the settlement of the country. It is true, a few missionaries entered with the more 62 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. laudable hope of converting the Indians to Christian- ity ; but their efforts were frustrated by adventurers, who behaved most cruelly, plundering the defenseless people of their valuables, and abusing and insulting them in every manner. This conduct brought its own punishment ; for the Spaniards became so greedy of the treasures they so unjustly obtained that they often quarreled concerning the division of them ; and on one occasion, during an expedition made in 1664, they carried their distrust and anger so far that a bat- tle among themselves ensued, in which several were killed and wounded. About nineteen years after this, in 1683, King Charles II. of Spain decided to attempt the work his predecessors had prosecuted so unsuccessfully ; and accordingly, in May of that year, Admiral Don Ifredo. Otondo, by his orders, set sail from Chacala; for the Bay of La Paz, with instructions to found a colony there. He took with him one hundred men and a large quantity of provisions and all kinds of stores. Three priests — Father Kino, Juan Baptista Coj^art, and Pedro Matthias Goni — accompanied this expedition ; the first having control of all affairs relating to the conversion of the Indians. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. C3 These had been so insulted iind annoyed by numer- ous small parties that had come from Mexico to seek pearls, that they suffered the ships to lie in the har- bor for five days without making their appearance. When, however, the Spaniards began to land, they rushed down to the shore in great numbers, armed with bows and arrows, and most hideously painted, making theatening gestures, and endeavoring in every way to terrify their unwelcome visitors. The missionaries at that time exhibited true cour- age ; for, leaving the soldiers, they went alone toward the Indians, offering them presents, and assuring them by signs that they wished to do them no evil, but good. After a little time the Indians believed them, and allowed all the ships' companies to land, and to erect upon the shore huts and a church for divine worship. Meanwhile, the natives watched them closely, and would often grow tired of them and order them away ; but the admiral, Otondo, took but little notice of that, and sent parties into the interior of the country to make surveys, and bring him reports of the prod- ucts and inhabitants of the land. The first they found of two dispositions : one war- like and treacherous, the other mild and inoffensive. 64 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. They were of two tribes, and were enemies to each other ; but the Guaycuros endeavored to enlist the Coras in the cause against the Spaniards ; and on one occasion advanced in force upon the intrenchments at La Paz. With admirable presence of mind, Otondo restrained his soldiers from firing uj)on them ; and going out to them alone, by a timely exhibition of anger and courage, prevailed upon them to return to their homes. But, unfortunately, he did not always show the same coolness and foresight as upon this occasion ; for shortly afterward, a mulatto boy being missed from the camp, it was supposed he had been killed by the Guaycuros ; and Otondo ordered their chief to be im- prisoned until the truth could be discovered. The Guaycuros were justly indignant at this, and accord- ingly fell upon the garrison in great fury : and al- though the soldiers had received timely notice of their intention from the Coras, they were filled with such terror when they saw them advancing that they could do nothing but groan and cry ; and General Otondo learned to his sorrow and dismay that he had with him a band of cowards, totally unlike those brave men that had conquered Mexico under Cortez, or had marched into South America with Pizarro. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 65 True, they fired a few guns, and easily dispersed tlie insurgents ; but they refused to stay any longer at La Paz ; and the admiral was obliged to go back to Mexico for provisions, and attempt a settlement elsewhere. In the harbor of San Bruno, on the southeastern coast of California, he next landed ; and finding the Indians peaceable, made a settlement there. But nothing of importance was done, except by Father Kino and his brother priests, who made themselves acquainted with the language, manners, and customs of the Indians, and did all in their power to convert them to Christianity ; but it was not until this settle- ment, like the many that preceded it, had been brok- en up because of the poorness of the country, and the Government of Spain had given up the country en- tirely to Father Kino and his brother missionaries, that any attempt to colonize California was successful. The reason of this was, that the soldiers and adven- turers had usually treated the Indians with such cruelty that they feared and hated them ; and because they had also sought through the country for gold and gems, which it was incapable of producing, in. stead of toiling patiently to improve their fortunes and the barren land together. 66 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. After all the unsuccessful attempts that we have noticed, the court of Spain decided that the Indians of California were far too intractable and the soil too poor to be reduced by the usual means. They there- fore offered the work to the Society of Jesuits, offer- ing to assist them with a sum of money, to be paid yearly. After considering the matter for some time, the Order accepted the trust ; and immediate prepa- rations were made for founding a mission. Four distinguished priests engaged most earnestly in the good work : Father Juan Maria Salva-Tierra, who was made Superior of the Mission, and who was well fitted for the place by his long experience among the heathen tribes of the province of Tarrahumara, in New Spain ; Father Piccolo, who was appointed in the place of Father Kino to accompany the expedition to its destination ; and Father Ugarte, who had been for many years Professor of Philosophy in the Col- lege of Mexico, but who cheerfully renounced his high position, his association with learned men, and all the comforts of home, that he might preach the gospeJ of Christ to the poor, benighted Indians. All these men were animated with holy zeal, quite different from the cruel and avaricious passions of their predecessors, and all relinquished comfort HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 67 and even affluence, instead of expecting to gain them. Father Kino, years before, when a professor of mathe- matics in Ingoldstadt, Germany, had been attacked by a severe illness, in the midst of w^hich he made a vow- to his patron saint, Francisco Zavier, that if his life was spared he would devote it to the conversion of heathen nations. By some accident this good man Avas prevented from joining the first expedition, which he had been most zealous in preparing, and it sailed without him from the harbor of the river Yaqui, on the 10th of October, 1697. After many accidents, they arrived at the Bay of San Dionysio, on Sunday, the 19th of October ; and being pleased with the country as well as the reception given them by the Indians, landed there and established the Mission of Our Lady of Loretto. This was the first of a lar^je number of missions that were established by the Jesuits in Lower Califor- nia, and which in a few years accomplished more than had the adventurers of Spain and England in the two preceding centuries. Although Father Salva-Tierra met with no opposi- tion from the poor Indians, whom he mollified by his words of kindness, and by daily presents of i^ozoU^ or boiled corn, which he distributed to those that at- 68 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. tended mass, he incurred the severest displeasure and hatred of the hechiceros^ or native priests, who had formerly held great control over the common people, and who now feared that under the influence of the religion which was introduced by the Christians, their votaries would learn to despise the arts which they practiced, and reject the authority which they held over them. At first the missionaries thought that, as the In- dians had no form of worship — neither bowed down to images of wood or stone, nor made sacrifices to any god — they would have a comparatively easy task to instruct them in the precepts of true religion; but they soon discovered that these apparently ignorant people had notions of their own in regard to a deity and a future state, which had been carefully incul- cated by the hecJiiceros^ who indeed held schools in secluded places in the woods and among the rocks, to which, at certain seasons, all the boys of the different nations were obliged to repair. There they were taught the hechiceros held con- stant communication with good spirits that lived in the sky, and with evil ones that dwelt in caves under the sea, and over which the whales were placed as guards that they might not escape. From these HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 69 two sources these impostors claimed to have gained great wisdom, so that they could do all things. The simple-minded Indians believed all that they said, even that they could restore the dead to life, and per- form other miracles ; and it was with the greatest dif- ficulty the Fathers could induce them to renounce these absurd convictions, although they came to the garrison every day, and apparently heard with pleas- ure all the priests said. It must have required an al- most inexhaustible amount of patience to deal with those stupid people, especially as the missionaries un- derstood their language very imperfectly, and were obliged to resort to numerous stratagems in order to learn it. They would often gather the Indians together by distributing among them boiled corn, of which they were very fond ; they would then walk among them, and listen to their conversation, and write it down that they might remember the sound of the words. Yery often the Indians would laugh heartily at the mistakes made by the missionaries ; but these never grew angry, but continued their labors with patience, until at last, by means of types, signs, and in other ways, they became thoroughly acquainted with the two languages they found it necessary to speak. But 70 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. this perfection was not gained without the exercise of much patience and ingenuity. It is related that at one time one of the missionaries was preaching to the Indians, and wished to tell them about the great prin- ciple of Christianity — the belief in the resurrection of the dead ; but he knew no word by which he could express his meaning, and in this dilemma hit uj^on an expedient to gain the knowledge so important both to himself and his hearers. He took some flies and put them under water, until the Indians supposed them to be dead ; he then took them out, placed them upon some ashes, and exposed them to the rays of the burn- ing sun. In a short time the flies gave signs of life, and in much amazement the Indians cried, " Ibimu- hueite ! " — and this word was subsequently used to sig- nify the resurrection of the dead. And besides this difficulty of making themselves understood, the missionaries had also that of render- ing God an object of love as well as of fear. The gods of the Indians — three of which they acknowl- edged but never worshiped — were regarded by them as terrible spirits, whom the sorcerers alone could ap- pease, and that only by enchantment. For some time the Indians were inclined to regard the Fathers as good spirits, and to render them hom- HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 71 age as such. But it was with great reluctance that they obeyed their requests and threw off their liea- thenish customs, even while they bowed in the sem- blance of worship to the true God. It was especially difficult to induce them to wear clothing of any kind, although the Fathers supplied all those who attended service with garments made of serge, baize, or palmil- las, a coarse cloth which was woven in Spain. They also gave them cloaks and blankets ; but the Indians had a great dislike to all kinds of clothing, and con- sidered that they disgraced themselves by adopting it. When the Fathers distributed garments they indeed put them on, but as soon as they could possibly do so, would destroy or hide them. Father Venegas, in his History of Old California, says : " A monkey dressed up does not appear so ridiculous to the common peo- ple of Europe as a man in clothes appears to the In- dians of California." By many acts of kindness, principally by distributing to them jiozolh or boiled corn, the missionaries induced many of these wild creatures to attend mass. And it is probable that the maize attracted them much more than the service itself. Indeed, at one time they proved that very plainly by stealing it from the sacks in which it was contained. The priests resented this 72 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. conduct, as tliey daily distributed all they could afford. The Indians then determined to kill all the Spaniards ; and after first destroying all the sheep and cattle which had been brought over from Mexico, and which were feeding in a field near by, they fell upon the garrison. This was during the night ; and most fortunately, just as the attack was commenced, a ship arrived in the harbor from Mexico, the signal gun of which brought the glad tidings of deliverance to the Spaniards and filled the Indians with terror. But the next morning they resumed the attack; for the shijD again stood out to sea, having only touched at that coast on account of bad weather ; and five or six tribes combined together to exterminate the good men who had sacrificed so much to serve them. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 73 CHAPTER VI. Father Salva-Tierra at San Dionysio.— Baptism of a Casique.— The Hechiceros and their Treatment of the Sick.— Father Ugarte.— A Hurricane.— Death of Fathers Salva-Tierra and Ugarte.— Build- ing of the First Vessel in California.— State of the Missions. It is difficult even to imagine the dreadful position in which Father Salva-Tierra and his followers were placed at the Mission of San Dionysio. This brave band, consisting only of ten men, not only endured all the hardships resulting from the poorness of the soil, which had disheartened all their predecessors, but had also to contend with the insolent savages, who often, in numbers even exceeding five hundred, attacked them. These were as cowardly as treacherous ; and therefore were readily repulsed by the firearms of the Spaniards, which, however. Father Salva-Tierra only permitted to be used in cases of great necessity. Not long after the establishment of the missionaries at San Dionysio, and very shortly after the first insur- rection was quelled, a casique, or chief, who had been converted by the teachings of Father Kino some years before, came from San Bruno to Father Salva-Tierra, 74 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. and begged him to baptize him, as he was dying of a cancer, and wished to proclaim his faith in the doc- trines of Christianity. He was received into the mis- sions, cared for by the Fathers, baptized, and after his death consigned to the earth with the rites of the church. All this must have made a deep impression upon the minds of the Indians, who at such times had been used to totally different exercises ; for, according to the ac- counts given by Father Venegas and others, when one of their number was taken sick it was their custom to call in their hechiceros^ the only men aniong them who pretended to have any knowledge of medicine, and these usually ajDplied to the suffering parts of the pa- tient's body the chacuaco^ a tube formed out of a very hard black stone ; and through this they sometimes sucked, and other times blew, but both as hard as they were able, supposing the disease was either exhaled or dispersed. They sometimes filled the tube with the smoke of tobacco or some other herb ; and no doubt, as they claimed, the strength of these applications often removed pain ; but much more frequently the poor Indians were tortured to death by these means ; for if one was considered very sick, and the hechiceros said he would die, he was immediately told of his HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 75 danger, and all his friends gathered in his hut to be- wail him. His daughter, or nearest female relation, would suffer her little finger to be cut off, as the hechiceros pretended that this sacrifice would either save the patient or remove from his family all sorrow for his death ; and then each of his friends would in turn seize the tube, and suck or blow upon him, while the others wept, each striving to cry the loudest. When the poor creature became insensible, the women would beat him with all their strength in order to arouse him ; and the hechiceros would thrust their hands into his mouth, and pretend to pluck death forcibly from his body. It is not wonderful that under such treatment but few sick persons recovered ; but it is indeed remark- able that the many that were saved by the tender and judicious care of the Fathers in most cases exhibited the basest ingratitude. Yet, in spite of this and of the intolerable laziness and stupidity of the natives, the Jesuits persevered in their labor of love. They established missions in different parts of the country ; often with their own hands erecting the poor liuts in which they dwelt and the churches from which the word of life was preached. Of these devoted missionaries, Father Uerarte forms 76 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. a striking example. When engaged in founding the mission of San Zavier de Viaundo, some distance from that of San Dionysio, in a rugged and mountainous country, he saw the great need of inducing the In- dians to support themselves ; not only that the treasury of the society might be spared, but that the Indians might in earnest toil forget the careless, thoughtless mode of life they had formerly pursued. That they might have no cause of complaint, the Father himself set them an example. After saying mass to the In- dians in the morning, and giving them a breakfast of pozoli (boiled corn), he would go with them to the woods to hew down trees, or set to work in erecting the church, or in forwarding some other matter. His example and the rewards which he distributed had but little effect upon the men ; but the boys willingly assisted him, especially when they thought he worked entirely for their amusement; as in the making of bricks, when he beoran to sino- and dance in the soft clay, calling upon them to dance with him, which they did, until it was of sufficient hardness to use in the construction of his adobe dwellinQ^s. But he soon found that, though the effects of kind- ness were undoubtedly most excellent in dealing witli the children, sternness was necessary in the manage- HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 77 ment of the adults. They often met together to jeer at his sermons and the mistakes he made in tlie use of their language. This annoyed him greatly, and, after trying all means of gentleness he could devise to in- duce them to desist, he decided, as he was a very powerful man, to see what force could do. One day in church he saw a very strong, insolent man mocking him, and seizing him by his hair, lifted him up and swayed him to and fro. His comrades were frightened, and fled from the church, but one by one returned, and never again jeered at the muscu- lar Father. They however often did worse, and revolted against his authority and that of his breth- ren. Many times they arose in force — the converted often joining with their savage brethren in attempts to destroy the missions. But they were usually quite easily subdued by the mild measures of the Fathers, or the guns of the two or three soldiers stationed in each garrison. From these soldiers themselves the Fathers often experienced much trouble, because of their discontent at being prohibited from engaging in the pearl fishery, in which they had often forced the Indians to dive in deep waters, and otherwise imperil their lives. Under the care of Fathers Salva-Tierra, Ugarte, 78 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. and others, the missions soon flourished. Churches and dwellings were built, though it was found impos- sible to induce the Indians to live in the latter ; orchards and vineyards were planted, and many improvements made upon that barren soil which had been by so many considered useless. But in 1717, to the great dismay of the missionaries and the Christianized Indians, their work was almost de- stroyed by a terrible hurricane which swept through the country. The church and house of Father Ugarte were destroyed; the very ground was torn away, leaving bare rocks where once cultivated land had been. At Loretto it is said that an Indian boy was carried away by the force of the wind and never beheld again. In that same year, Father Salva- Tierra, who had spent more than twenty years in the service of the Indians, died at Guadalaxara, while on a journey to the City of Mexico in their behalf. His loss, and that of Father Kino seven years before, was deeply felt throughout the missions ; for the latter had, by his exertions in Mexico, raised money and provisions — in more than one instance preventing thereby the work of Salva-Tierra and his brethren from being brought to an abrupt termination. This man it was who, by taking several hazardous and HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 79 difficult journeys to tlie north, satisfactorily obtained the knowledge that California was a peninsula, and not a collection of islands as some had supposed, and for which reason the name of Islas Carolinas had often been applied to it. Fortunately, after the death of Salva-Tierra, the indefatigable Father Ugarte still remained. With untiring zeal he attended to his own mission, instructed, rewarded, governed his Indians, and went among the other tribes, in distant parts of the country, choosing sites for missions, many of which were afterwards founded by Fathers Tamaral, Bravo, and others. In the year 1719 he accomplished the most wonder- ful feat ever attempted in Lower California. It had long been a favorite project with the court of Spain, and also the Society of Jesuits, to open some port upon the coast of California, where the ships from the Philippine Islands might put in for fresh water and provisions, which the crews always greatly needed, as the long voyage invariably subjected them to the awful plague of scurvy. For some time Father Ugarte had considered the necessity of such a port, and at last determined to go in search of one where a mission mio;ht be founded. But he had no vessel with which to explore the coasts ; and for many reasons he determined to build one. 80 HISTORY or CALIFORNIA. In the Vigge Mountains, at a distance of ninety miles from the Mulege River, where the vessel was built, he found timber suitable for his purpose, but ffrowinor in slouo-hs and ravines from which it was almost impossible to take it. Yet, by the patient toil of the Father and his assistants, it was done; and a road was also cut through the mountains, over which it was conveyed to the river by the oxen and mules belonging to the mission. Only three artisans from Mexico assisted in the construction of the vessel; all the other builders were native Californians. She was named " The Triumph of the Cross," and was launched in September of the year 1719. In company with an- other vessel sent from Mexico for that purpose, she sailed along the coast, discovering sites for missions, several of which were founded in the four or five sue ceeding years. These missions prospered well until 1722 and 1723, when a terrible flight of locusts passed over the land, destroying the pitahayas^ a fruit upon which the In- dians chiefly subsisted, and all other species of vegeta- tion. These locusts are said to have been so numerous as to have obscured the sun like clouds ; and they would undoubtedly have produced a famine in the land had not the Fathers distributed corn at the mis- HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 81 sions to all that applied for help. After that, sick- ness came ; and the hecliiceros, who were losing their authority over the Indians, declared it was produced by the holy water with which the Fathers baptized infants and converts ; and by these words incited re- peated insurrections, the most terrible of which oc- cured among the Pericues during the autumn of the year 1734. 6 82 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER YII. Insurrection of the Pericues.— Martyrdom of Fathers Tamaral and Carranco, — Devotion of the Northern Indians. — The Expulsion of the Jesuits,— End of the History of Lower California. At that time fourteen missions were in existence, and all were in a flourishing condition, and a large number of Indians, the majority of whom were women and children, were regular attendants at mass, and gave evidence of being truly converted. No disturb- ances of any importance had occurred for some time ; and the Fathers were congratulating themselves upon the peaceful disposition of the Indians, when the ashes of their discontent suddenly burst into the flames of anarchy. An attack was simultaneously made upon all the southern missions ; and as there were only two or three soldiers to defend them, the Indians met with no resistance in the perpetration of their horrible cruelties. At the newly founded mission of Santa Rosa, the revolt was begun by the murder of a soldier. The Indians then tried to decoy Father Tamaral into the woods, on the pretense that they wished him to give HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 83 absolution to the dying man, whom they represented to have been taken suddenly ill. Father Tamaral suspected that all was not right, and refused to go. Yet although he shortly afterwards learned the truth, and was entreated by a messenger from the other mis- sions to leave his post, he refused to do so ; and in a short time became a victim to the savage men he even at the risk of his life desired to serve. After murdering, at the mission of Santiago, the Missionary Father Lorenzo Carranco and a faithful Indian servant, and first mutilating then burning their remains, they returned to Father Tamaral, and drag- ging him by his feet from his house, cut his throat with one of the knives he had himself given them. It seemed that in these enraged so-called converts, the dreadful passions of their heathen life had been awakened, with a thousand times more power than they had ever exhibited before ; for they continued to assault with the most abominable and cruel insults the good man, who even with his last breath called upon God to forgive his persecutors. During this insurrection four of the southern mis- sions were entirely destroyed, and the others were only saved from the violence of the Indians by quar- rels which soon occurred among themselves, in which 84 HISTORY or CALIFORNIA. they expended their fury in deeds more terrible than they had ever before imagined, even in the days when California had never been visited by a missionary, or its inhabitants had been approached by the civilizing influences of Christianity. The Fathers at the northern missions, on account of the terrible deeds which had been enacted in the south, felt a great mistrust of the Indians by whom they were surrounded, and leaving their missions, went to that of Loretto, at the Bay of La Paz. But to their great joy, it was proved at this time that the work of the missionaries was not all in vain, and that some few of the Indians at least were capable of the emotions of love and gratitude ; but no sooner had the Yaqui nation been informed of the acts of the Peri- cues and other tribes, than they sent over five hundred warriors to the support of the missionaries. With the aid of these, the refractory Indians were at length subdued, and after some time the missions were re- stored to their former prosperity. Those that had been destroyed were rebuilt, and the work of Chris- tianizing the Indians was continued with many of the same difficulties as before, but with very good suc- cess — in outward form at least. Yet, with all the good that the Jesuits performed in California, and all HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 85 the sufferings they endured, the Indians under their rule became mere formalists and slaves. They bent their knees before the figure of the Virgin, made the sign of the cross, and dipped their fingers in holy water; yet, except in a few cases, they seemed to gain no idea of the principles of true religion, or to be influenced by them ; and though they toiled under the eyes of the Fathers, they immediately, when possible, returned to the slothful, savage life to which they had formerly been accustomed. After a career of usefulness of nearly a hundred years, and when their converts numbered about four thousand, the work of the Jesuits was sud- denly terminated by their expulsion from Califor- nia and all other Spanish provinces. For many years it had been believed by the Spaniards, who had considered California a land teeming with gold and gems, that the Jesuits rep- resented the soil to be barren and totally void of rich metals in order to discourage immigration, and thus secure to their own society the wealth of the land. These suspicions were proved to be unjust by visitors from Mexico and elsewhere ; but, though the Jesuits were declared innocent of treachery and fraud in California, they had become a sect of so 86 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. much power in Europe, that at last King Charles III. of Spain, in terror for the safety of his throne, ordered them to be expelled from his dominions, and, accordingly, in 1767, the control of the missions was taken from them. However, we shall no longer follow the history of Lower California, out turn to the career of the Franciscan friars, who in the year 1769 entered the territory of the present State of California (then called Alia or Upper California), and spread the germs of that civilization which has rendered it one of the most prominent divisions of the great American Kepublic. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 87 CHAPTER yill. Earliest Settlement of Upper California. — Father Junipero Serra. — Sufferings of the Colonists. — Consecration of the first Church erected in California.— Trouble with the Indians. The first expedition made to attempt a settlement in Upper California was by the order of Don Jose Galvez, Inspector-General, who arrived in July, 1768, at the Bay of La Paz, to visit and inspect the state of the missions, which had lately passed into the hands of Father Junipero Serra and his brother friars. Find- ing the missions of Lower California in a promising condition, Don Jose Galvez proceeded to put in exe- cution an order from the court of Spain regarding the upper portion of the peninsula. It was decided that the first settlement should be made at San Diego (which is only eighteen miles north of the present boundary line which separates Upper from Lower California), the second at Monterey, and the third at a place midway between those two points, which was to be named San Buenaventura. It was arranged that part of the missionaries should go by sea, the others by land, and that they should meet at San Diego. 88 HISTOKY OF CALIFORNIA. Two ships, the San Carlos and San Antonio^ were accordingly freighted with all kinds of agricul- tural implements, seeds, and other articles that were thought necessary for a new colony. The land forces drove before them two hundred head of neat cattle, not only to use as food, should necessity demand, but to employ in plowing and planting the soil. In the San Carlos — the first vessel that sailed — a missionary, twenty-five soldiers, and the officers and crew were embarked ; on the second — the San An- tonio — two missionaries and other soldiers, with the necessary number of sailors. The last vessel to sail was the first to reach its destination ; for, owing to the deplorable state of navigation which prevailed among the Spaniards of that period, and their igno- rance of the exact position of the point they desired to gain, the San Carlos many times barely escaped de- struction by the waves of the usually placid Pacific, in which she sailed far to the north of San Diego, where the crew and passengers of the San Antonio^ and one of the parties that had started overland, anxiously awaited her appearance. It seemed as if the settlement of Upper California was to be inaugurated by sufferings more terrible still than those endured by the early pioneers of the southern HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 89 portion of the peninsula; for the San Antonio had lost eight of her crew by scurvy before she arrived at San Diego ; and the San Carlos was almost entirely without sailors, all but two having died during the long and perilous voyage. A third ship, which sailed after these two, never reached the port, and was never heard of again. One can scarcely conceive of anything more dreadful than the situation of these adventurers, a few only of whom were upheld in their undertakings by a sense of duty to the church, or thoughts of the great work they were striving to perform in bearing a knowledge of the gospel to heathen lands. The sailors and soldiers who suffered most were mere hirelings ; and how full of misery must their lives have been, as they tossed day after day upon the deep sea, first experiencing the tortures of thirst, which resulted from drinking the tainted, fetid water obtained from the coast, none other being procurable ! One after one died, and were buried by their despairing comrades in the depths of the sea ; until at last so many were gone, and the few that remained were so exhausted by sick- ness and wasted by famine, that they were unable to do anytlung for the preservation of their lives, even so much as to lower the boats or row to the shore for 90 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. water. In this condition they were by some provi- dential chance drifted in sight of the port of San Diego, which the San Antonio had reached some days before. There they were soon joined by a part of the land expedition, which at the onset had divided into two companies and taken different routes, thinking by that means that one at least would reach their desti- nation in ease and safety. Both set out upon their journey on the same day, but took different routes. Fortunately, the second party, which was under the command of Don Gaspar de Portala, the Governor of California, arrived at San Diego first; and as they had with them a large number of cattle and a quan- tity of provisions, they were enabled to give speedy and welcome aid to the sufferins* crews of the San Carlos and San Antonio. Fortunately, they were all in good health and spir- its ; for they had encountered but few privations or difficulties on their way, which had lain through a very fine country, the rich soil and luxuriant herbage of which presented a strong contrast to the barren rocks of Lower California. The gently rising hills were crowned with grape-vines and roses ; and the weary travelers were often refreshed by the luscious fruit of the first and the delicious frao^rance of the latter. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 91 Although the roads were bad, they led them through de- lightful valleys and along clear mountain streams, that at once gave beauty to the landscape and richness to the soil. All this must have been very encouraging, as was also the friendly conduct of the numerous Indians whom they met. These were far superior in appearance and customs to those of the south. Although they made no attempt to cultivate the soil, they constructed boats and rafts of bulrushes, and ventured far out to sea on fishing expeditions ; and also proved themselves very expert in shooting, with their bows and arrows, the hares, rabbits, deer, goats, and other wild animals that abounded upon the hills. These people allowed the adventurers to pass quietly through the country, offering them no violence whatever. Indeed, they would take nothing from them except cloth ; and this proved that they possessed a degree of affection for the women exhibited by none of the other tribes, as they alone were clothed. Their garments were loose robes, woven of sedge, or tules, and ornamented with fringes of grass and shells. But they had not been long at San Diego, and had done nothing toward the establishment of the mission, when the sickness that had prevailed aboard the ships spread throughout the camp, and prostrated almost 92 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. every man, so that it is said, on the arrival of the oth- er expedition in July, only eight were able to keep upon their feet. Of these, two — Father Junipero Serra and Don Miguel Costanzo, the engineer — were engaged in digging graves to receive the bodies of their unfortunate companions. How delighted they must have been to look upon the faces of their countrymen, whom they almost feared had been destroyed ! They had indeed endured many hardships ; and had once, after traveling many hundreds of miles, been obliged to return to the mis- sion from which they had set out; whence they took a new road along the coast of the Pacific, and after forty-six days discovered the port of which they were in search. The Indians first gave notice of their ap- pearance by jumping astride casks and holding their arms out; and greatly rejoiced must the colonists have been to learn by these signs that men on horse- back were approaching. Eut before long it was estimated that the provisions they had would not long support so large a body of men ; and, as the surrounding country was so unpro- ductive that there was no hope that they should be able to renew their supplies from it, they determined to endeavor to do so elsewhere, and it was resolved HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 93 that two i^arties should immediately set out upon this important mission. The first departed in the San Antonio to obtain from San Bias a crew for the San Carlos, and provi- sions for the colony. The other was sent northward up the coast, to attempt the rediscovery of the Bay of Monterey, of which glowing accounts had been given by Viscaino many years before. When these had de- parted. Father Junipero Serra was left alone with two of the missionaries and eight soldiers, also a black- smith and a young boy, in the midst of a strange country, inhabited by a treacherous race, who soon exhibited their natural propensities. The Father, mindful of his sacred calling and the holy work he had undertaken, soon after the depart- ure of the second party raised an altar in one of the huts he had erected, placed before the door a cross decorated with flowers, and upon the 16th of July con- secrated this rude church. Thus was the first mission in Upper California founded, upon the day in which the Spaniards celebrated the triumph of the Holy Cross, that is, of the Crusaders over the Mohammedans that once held the supposed sepulcher of Christ at Jerusa- lem ; and it was hoped that, as those infidels had been overcome, so might those who then dwelt in Calif or- 94 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. nia. Father Junipero Serra, the president of this mission, was a man of strange and austere character, devoted to Christ and the tenets of his religion. His life was one constant effort to mortify his body for the glory of God and the good of his soul. Life was too solemn a thing for a jest, a smile, or the slightest pleasure. He was constantly engaged in good works, in preaching, praying, or fasting. It is recorded of this extraordinary man that he often scourged him- self most cruelly with rods, in expiation of his sins or those of others. On one occasion, after delivering an eloquent sermon, he bared his breast and lashed him- self so dreadfully that a witness became so excited as to weep bitterly, and beg the Father not to chastise himself so cruelly while so great a sinner stood in his presence, and immediately bared his own breast and beat himself until he fell dead. Such horrible deeds now appear to us utterly incompatible with the doctrines of the peaceful religion of Jesus, but they did not to the stern and gloomy Serra and his follow- ers ; and it was expressly to bring upon themselves discomforts and sufferings, and to test their faith, that they entered into California and attempted the conver- sion of the Indians. But, though Father Serra exhibited toward himself HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 95 SO much sternness and even cruelty, he followed the example of the Jesuits in Lower California, and wooed the Indians by words and acts of kindness. He first offered them food, but that they would not touch ; even the children ejected it from their mouths as if it were poison. This the missionaries looked upon as a direct interposition of Providence, as they would soon have been left entirely without provisions had they been compelled to feed the hungry multitude. But it was almost as great a task when they found they were expected to clothe them. Very soon all they could spare was distributed, and then the Indians began to steal. They went one night in their rush canoes and cut a large piece out of the sails of the vessel that lay in the bay, and committed other depre- dations. The priests reprimanded them, but inflicted no punishment ; so they armed themselves with bows and arrows, and stole everything within their reach. They soon became so daring that it was necessary to use force to protect the mission property ; for, re- lying upon their superior numbers, they tore the sheets from the beds of the sick, and even attempted to steal the cover of the altar and other articles in use in the church. For some time the priests endeavored to check their 96 . HISTOKY OF CALIFORNIA. rapacity by peaceful measures ; but as these were dis- covered to be useless, the soldiers were armed and set against them, the good Father Serra retiring to his hut in great distress to pray that the contest might be bloodless. Meanwhile, the firing of the soldiers com- menced, while that of the Indians was continued with increased earnestness, as they cheered each other on by the most unearthly and barbaric cries and yells. Very soon Father Serra was aroused from prayer by the entrance of a boy, who threw himself at the feet of the venerable man, crying, " Father, give me abso- lution, for the Indians have killed me." As soon as his request was granted he died, and ex- cited by his death, the four soldiers that remained, with the blacksmith and carpenter, continued to discharge their arms with such effect that a large number of the Indians were killed, and all fled. The bravery of the Spaniards produced a great effect upon the Indians, and rendered them for some time perfectly submissive. In a few days they came to the mission, bringing their wounded with them that they might be healed by the physician of the Fathers. The death of the boy was carefully concealed from them, and although four of the Spaniards were wounded, it was so slightly that they in a short time entirely re- HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 97 covered. For five months longer the little colony remained alone in a state of comparative quiet ; the Fathers busily engaged in attempting the conversion of the Indians, and all anxiously looking for the arrival of the San Antonio from San Bias ; yet, in spite of their hopes, it came not, and the first of their countrymen they saw were those who had gone north- ward to explore the coast. 98 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER IX. The Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco.— Return of Portala to San Diego.— Arrival of tlie San Antonio.— 'Rediscoveiy of the Bay of Monterey. — Arrival of Monks from Mexico. — Missions established. — Frost at San Antonio. These adventurers, under the governor of the en- terprise, Don Gaspar Portalat left San Diego with the hope that they would have a delightful journey through a region teeming with fruitfulness, direct to the Bay of Monterey. But, Owing to their ignorance of the exact position of that point, they passed by it, and made a long and exceedingly wearisome march of more than seventy leagues to the northward. There they encountered that which amply repaid them for all the fatigue and anxiety they had endured. After wandering for many days over hills of sand, viewing with dismay the barren country on every hand, they suddenly came in sight of a magnificent sheet of water lying like an immense crescent of silver at the foot of the arid sand-hills, and upon the farther side bounded by blue mountains and slopes of vivid green. All uttered an exclamation of joy at this unexpected HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 99 siglit ; and the friars exclaimed, " This shall be the port of our patron saint, the holy Francisco." No greater honor could these men have conferred upon this beautiful bay than to give it the name of tlie revered founder of their order. Since their ar- rival in California they had unceasingly looked for a place worthy of the honor. Before they left Mexico, all were greatly shocked, when told by the Inspector- General what names the missions were to bear, to find that the claims of their patron saint were entirely forgotten. " And is our father, San Francisco, to have no mission assigned him ? " exclaimed Father Serra ; and the Inspector-General, perhaps provoked at a question that betrayed his own thoughtlessness, replied, "If San Francisco wishes to have a mission, let him show you a good port, and then let it bear his name." " What better port could be found than this ? " thought the friars ; believing, indeed, that San Fran- cisco had led them to the spot, and even that the existence of it had been revealed to the Inspector- General by some means, when he uttered his seem- ingly irreverent words. Having named the port, they next took solemn pos- session of it, set up a cross, and after a short stay, re- 100 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. turned to San Diego; arriving, after an absence of six months, to find Father Junipero still alone, with the few that had been spared by the ravages of dis- ease. A short time after the return of Governor Portala to San Diego he caused an inventory of the provisions to be taken ; and finding that they had only enough left to last them until the following March, and that the surrounding country was capable of producing little or nothing, he gave Father Junipero notice that unless the San Antonio before that time arrived with provisions, they would be obliged to abandon the mis- sion. This intelligence greatly afflicted the good Father, who, having "no other resource but in God, had recourse to prayer." He asked most earnestly that all their sufferings and labors might not be rendered ineffective by their removal from the mist of the heathen. At any rate, Father Junipero Serra resolved not to accompany the expedition back, and a few of his companions ex- pressed the same determination. How anxiously, during the following month, must the San Antonio have been looked for ! Doubtless the first glance cast by the faithful priests in the morning and the last at night was towards the sea. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 101 But they looked in vain — the San Antonio came not ; and at last St. Joseph's day arrived — that being the last the members of the little colony expected to pass together. Early in the morning high mass was cele- brated Avith all the pomp their circumstances would allow of ; and the Father-President preached a ser- mon, after which they all dispersed to prepare for their departure the next morning, doubtless in great tribulation and heaviness of spirit ; for not only did they think that their mission to California had failed, but also were filled with fears for their future safety on their perilous journey home. Suddenly their hearts were cheered by the appearance of a vessel upon the sea. A moment she was seen by all, and then vanished so swiftly that they believed it a phantom, sent as a presage of the speedy arrival of aid ; and their departure was accordingly delayed. Four days of intense anxiety succeeded, and then the San Anto- nio entered the harbor ; she proving to be the vessel that they had seen. Conceiving her appearence on St. Joseph's day to be a miracle, Father Junipero vowed to celebrate the event by an annual mass ; which he religiously performed to the end of his life. No sooner were the Spaniards supplied with pro- visions than they again turned their attention to the 102 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. principal object of the expedition — the rediscovery of the magnificent Bay of Monterey. They had, indeed, visited it on their journey to the Bay of San Francis- co, but had failed to'recognize it. They were more for- tunate in their second attempt, for the land expedition under Portala entered it in time to receive Father Junipero Serra and others, who went by sea, taking forty-six days for the journey, which could now al- most be accomplished in as many hours. Father Serra seems, at first, not to have admired the situation or appearance of Monterey, which he speaks of in one of his letters as " this horrible port " ; but, according to the instructions received in Mexico, he founded a mission there. The inauguration cere- monies were performed with much pomp beneath a large oak, where a cross and an image of the Virgin had been set up. After mass was said, volleys of musketry were fired, which frightened the Indians so much that they could not be induced to approach the white men for some time. Meanwhile, the chapel had been completed, and after great efforts, the mis- sionaries so gained upon the good will of the natives that they began to attend mass, and a few were bap- tized. But the success of the Franciscans at that point cannot be said to have been great ; for only one HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 103 hundred and seventy-five converts were made in three years, and tliese seemed to have been only such in name. About this time, Father Serra, having traveled throughout the country, wrote such an encouraging account of it to Mexico that thirty priests were sent to establish new missions. These were sent in the ships San Antonio and San Carlos; and with the ill luck which attended them in all their voyages, one vessel was detained so long by storms, that upon her arrival at San Diego all on board were afflicted with scurvy ; while the San Carlos, instead of proceeding up the Gulf of California to Loretto, for which place the missionaries she carried were bound, was driven down the coast of Mexico as far south as Acapulco, and her unlucky passengers were obliged to make the journey on foot up the Mexican shore, until they reached a point opposite Loretto— a distance of twelve hundred miles. Soon after the arrival of the twenty friars that had been sent to Upper California, the Mission of San Antonio was established. It was situated in the hills of San Lucia, a short distance south of Monterey, and about eight leagues from the coast. There, as elsewhere, the priests endeavored to make the soil 104 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. produce all they required. Indeed, their chief idea of the conversion of the Indians seemed to be in makinor laborers of them, and preventing them from following the chase, or indulging in any of their accustomed modes of living. This was in a degree necessary ; but it sometimes subjected them to great straits when provisions at the missions became scarce, or a crop was blighted, as was once the case at San Antonio, when an unexpected frost passed over a field of wheat. For a time both the priests and the converted In- dians were overwhelmed with grief at the prospect of an approaching famine; but the former bethought themselves that all might not be lost. So they called the Indians together to celebrate the nonena of their patron saint, San Antonio, and at the same time caused the fields to be artificially irrgiated with water. In a few days, this and the hot sun j^roduced the desired effect — the wheat sprouted anew, and a plentiful harvest was the result. This the ignorant Indians were led to believe was a special miracle worked in their behalf. Indeed, it was one of the plans of conversion pursued by the Franciscans to ascribe nothing to natural causes. Thus the Indians were kept in the most lamentable ignorance, their natural tastes thwarted and subdued, HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 105 find nothing taught them but to mumble over a few prayers and work like beasts in the fields. It is, then, but little wonder that missions founded upon this plan, and composed of individuals treated like beasts, supposed to have only the soul without the mind of man, should after a few years assume an inert character, especially after the death of the first missionaries, who, though pursuing an unwise plan, atoned for all mistakes by their Christian ardor and devotion. These, with great rapidity, established missions all over the country ; among them that of Dolores, near the Bay of San Francisco. This had been projected ever since the discovery of the bay in 1769, but was not carried into effect until seven years later, when Father Junipero Serra and others set out from Mon- terey overland, having previously dispatched a ship with the stores necessary for the attemjDt. The land force, as usual, arrived at their destina- tion long before the vessel ; and they occupied the time before she appeared in cutting down timber and selecting a site for a settlement, which was finally inaugurated on the 17th of Sejitember. 106 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER X. The Mission Dolores established.— Effect of Pictures upon the In- dians.— The Pious Fund.— Several Missions founded.— An Attack upon San Diego. — Father Jayme murdered.— Death of Father Junipero Serra. The natives, who had upon the arrival of the mis- sionaries at San Francisco welcomed them with many demonstrations of pleasure, were so frightened at the ceremonies used at the establishment of the mission, that at San Antonio none for a long time could be induced to aj^proach it. They did not understand the way in which the pious priests gave thanks to God, by the continual discharge of firearms, used instead of the music of the organ ; and the explosion of gun- powder in place of the burning incense. But no doubt the priests thought that the glory of God was increased by these ceremonies, which so alarmed the simple-minded Indians, and which, with an incursion of an unfriendly tribe, effectually put to flight any feeling of kindness toward their visitors, and for some time prevented any conversions from beinir made. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 107 The only mission, the establishment of which seems to have been opposed l)y the natives, was that of San Gabriel, situated about one hundred and twenty miles north of San Diego, from which point Father Pedro Cambon and Father Angel Somera set out with ten soldiers and several muleteers. When they arrived at their destination they found the Indians in a very troublesome mood. To quell them, the Fathers exhibited a piece of cloth, upon which was painted the image of Our Lady de los Dolores (of Sorrows). This is said to have had such an effect upon the minds of the savages that they immediately became quiet, made signs of obedience to the lady, and allowed the settlement to proceed. This effect of pictures and other gaily colored ornaments was often very great upon the simple- minded Indians. Even to a late day, pictures of heaven and hell adorned the walls of the mission church; and although the quiet beauty of the first did not attract, the terrors of the latter frightened them so greatly that they were often the means of converting them. After establishing several missions, which were sup- ported by subscriptions sent from Spain and Mexico, and called the Pious Fund of California, Father Juni- 108 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. pero Serra visited Mexico, and by his representations not only prevented the Viceroy, Bucareli, from with- drawing the marine force from San Bhis, whence the chief stores in use in California were obtained, but succeeded in obtaining from him aid for the mis- sions, of which they were greatly in need, but which, with the usual delay attending all sea voyages at that period, did not reach the missions until they were nearly all starved, milk having been the food of both priests and converts for nearly eight months. Encouraged by the arrival of provisions, and also the return of Father Junipero with substantial proofs of the sood will of Mexico, the missionaries continued their labors with renewed zeal, which, however, met with a check the following year by an attack upon San Diego similar to those which had been made upon the missions of Lower California during the rule of the Jesuits. This, as in most other cases, was incited by the hechiceros^ and resulted in the murder of Fatheij^Luis Jayme, who went out with one or two others peace- fully to meet the insurgents. One of the missionaries at this time exhibited the most distinguished courage by holding the skirt of his habit over the powder, in order that it might not be reached by a spark from the HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 109 houses which the Indians had set on fire. This he did the whole night, though wounded, and each moment incurrins: the risk of beinor blown to atoms. Thus the powder was preserved, and the four sol- diers in the kitchen fort succeeded in dispersing a large body of infuriated savages. For some time afterwards they seemed to have a wholesome dread of the Spaniards, and offered but little opposition to their movements. Directly after this event, Father Junipero Serra founded the mission of San Juan Capistrano, and also, as we have noticed, that of San Francisco, where the first baptism was celebrated on St. John's Day, 1776. Two weeks later, three other missions had been established — Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, and San Buenaventura. These, with the five which previously existed, were often visited by the president, Junipero Serra, who in the year 1782 "finished his laborious life at the age of seventy years, nine months, and twenty-one days. He had passed fifty-three years, eleven months, and thirteen days in holy orders." 110 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER XI. State of the Converted Indians.— Selfishness of the Fathers.— "Wealth of the Missions. — The Native Calif ornians. — The Indians freed. — Loss of power by the Friars. — Arrival of Commodore Jones.— The American Flag raised over Monterey.— Fall of the Missions. The missionary cause lost in Junipero Serra, who had devoted to it over thirty years of his valuable life, one of its most earnest supporters. Indeed, from the date of his death we read of no very distinguished men in California, although missions were founded all along the coast, and supported by the labor of the converted Indians and the proceeds of the Pious Fund, which was constantly increased by gifts of money and lands. The Indians were very tractable, and perfectly sub- servient to the wishes of the Fathers, who exercised the same control over them as masters formerly held over slaves in the Southern States. In name, they were free, but in name only, as they were not permitted to follow their own pleasure when it in any degree differed from that of the Fathers. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. Ill They were forced to sow and reap, plant vineyards, and gather in the fruit ; yet they couhl make use of nothing except that which was doled out to them by the Fathers. Their j^roperty, their families, their own bodies and souls, were completely under the jurisdic- tion of the priests, who fancied they did all their duty by teaching those poor creatures the name of God and bestowing upon them the rite of baptism. Life at the missions must have been very wearisome to those who through all their lives had been accus- tomed to roam untrameled from one portion of the country to the other; to climb in quest of game the snowy peaks of mountains in summer, and in autumn to descend to the warm sequestered valleys to pluck the ripened fruits for their winter store ; and then, again, to stand by the rapids of a mountain stream and spear the fish that came leaping down, or to sit idly by the seashore and draw in their rude nets laden with finny treasures. This excess of freedom must often have been remembered with a sigh by these ap- parently thoughtless creatures, as they filed into the church at dawn, and listened, without understanding a word, to the monotonous tone of the priest as he said mass, or catechised them like so many children, and then dismissed them to their breakfast of atole (a sort 112 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. of gruel made of corn). After which they toiled in the fields until dinner, at which they were supplied with 2^ozoli. After partaking of this meal they at- tended mass, and then returned to the gardens or fields until vespers, when they were again served with atole^ and dismissed early to their little adohe huts, of each one of which the Fathers kept the key. 4^0 the missions were conducted for a long series of years — the Fathers gradually becoming more and more selfish, and the Indians slowly decreasing in num- bers under this foreign rule. In process of time the missions became wealthy ; each boasted a church gaily decorated, several adohe dwellings, all the rich lands in the vicinity, and thousands of cattle that roamed in security over the plains. The hides and tallow of these, and some wine, formed the chief exjDorts. Some idea of the wealth of these missions may be gained from the fact that at one time San Luis Obispo owned eighty-seven thousand head of grown cattle, two thousand tame horses, three thousand five hun- dred mares, three thousand seven hundred mules, and eight sheep farms averaging nine thousand sheep on each farm. This was one of the richest missions ; yet the others did not fall much short of this in the num- ber of their possessions. Many owned services of HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 113 plate of great value ; that of Santa Cruz was valued at twenty-five thousand dollars. It seems strange that the flourishing state of the missions did not induce immigration ; but the friars universally opposed the settlement of strangers in California for a period of more than a hundred years from the founding of the missions. Friars, Indians, a few soldiers and their families, with those of a small number of adventurers, formed the population. These were visited occasionally by trading vessels, which staid a few days in each port, exchanging articles of dress and finery for hides, tallow, and wine. Gradually the mixed people that inhabited the land became different from any other in America. They possessed the language and much of the appearance of the Mexicans, and also many of their customs ; but were distinguished from them by the many traits in- herited from the Indians and occasional settlers. As a people, they appear to have had but little religious fervor, though they regularly attended mass, and be- gan all their games and recreation with religious exer- cises. They were very fond of bull-fights and races. A native Californian was taught to ride before he could walk ; and they excelled in the management of their horses. 8 114 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. For many years the greatest prosperity and perfect peace reigned throughout the land. The Indians re- mained quietly in their state of servitude, and all other settlers yearly grew more wealthy in herds of cattle and stores of wine. In the year 1826, this order of things was first interfered with by the Federal Government of Mexico, which, having ad- mitted California as a Territory two years before, and given it a representation in Congress, began to look into its affairs. In the first place, all " Indians bearing good char- acters and able to support themselves by agriculture and trade " were ordered to be set free, and grants of lands were set apart for their use. After they were settled, curates were appointed to superintend them, the salaries of whom (four hundred dollars per annum) were to be paid from the product of the soil. Doubtless the friars were jealous of this innovation, which detracted so much from their own power, and would do nothing to favor it. From this and other causes, the plan was found to be unprofitable. The Indians had been placed in such a state of dependence by the friars that they could do nothing of them- selves. In a short time they lost or gambled away all the property that had been given them, and were HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 115 forced to beg or steal for a living. The respectable inhabitants begged the priests to receive the Indians back, and they did so, sending, hov^^ever, a com- plaint to the Mexican Congress, which induced them to pay all arrears and promise the payment of all fu- ture salaries. From that time, attention having been called to California, trade began to thrive there. The Fathers entered into commercial relations with the numerous traders who came to the coast ; and until the year 1833, they controlled the destinies of the country. Then the Mexican Government again interfered ; and although in the early part of the year it showed its good will by sending eleven Franciscan monks to the assistance of the missions, a few months later a law was passed ordering the immediate removal of all mis- sionaries. Great was their consternation when emis- saries from Mexico arrived to put this arbitrary de- cision into practice. The lands were to be divided among the Indians and settlers, and the funds of the monks to be used for state purposes. Although the Fathers knew that they must submit to the power of Mexico, they determined to give up nothing that they could destroy. However, before they could do anything, news 116 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. arrived from Mexico that the Democratic Government had been overturned, Santa Ana proclaimed Presi- dent, and that he would support the missions as before. But, from the continual change of government in Mexico, California was in a state of constant agitation for several years. In 1836, the first attempt of the Californians to institute a government for themelves was made. Aroused by repeated grievances, the people of Monterey, in that year, declared themselves independent of Mexico, unless the original form of government granted to California was adopted. This example was speedily followed throughout the coun- try — many of the towns and villages refusing to return to their allegiance on any terms. Sen or Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo was ap- pointed Commander-General by the disaffected ; and soon after, all the Mexican officials and soldiers were forcibly ejected from the country. Mexico, on her part, ordered General Urrea to subdue the rebels. But nothing was effected; and the press of other events so distracted the attention of Mexico, that the Californians were entirely overlooked ; and at last, tired of anarchy, they voluntarily accepted the new government of Mexico. Although for many succeeding years the Califor- HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 117 nians themselves lived in quietness, all foreigners were looked upon with a jealous eye by the Mexican officials. Several Americans were arrested on the most frivolous pretexts, imprisoned for some time, and then discharged, to find their way from the country without friends, money, passports, or any protection. This conduct, and also the reports given by occasional visitors, excited the interest of the United States ; and a project was formed of adding California to their own possessions. A ship of war was stationed on the coast, with a consul aboard, to whom all matters of grievance were reported. In 1842, Commodore Jones, who was then in the Pacific, being deceived by reports which reached him of the existence of war between Mexico and the United States, and knowing well the wishes of the latter regarding California, sailed with his two ships — the United States and the Cyane — to Monterey, where he arrived on the 19th of October. Immediately after, he hoisted the United States flag over the town, and declared California a part of the United States. He next day received news which convinced him that he had acted precipitately. He took down the flag, declared the whole proceeding a mistake, and apologized handsomely to the frightened 118 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. officials. The mass of the people were disappointed at his speedy withdrawal, as they were ready to wel- come any government that would better their condi- tion, by permitting them to develop the resources of their country. The missions, meanwhile, were falling to decay. The priests, perceiving that all of the administrations concurred in desiring their complete removal, grew disheartened and neglected their work, and soon left the country. In 1845, their final ruin came. Part of the missions were sold at public auction, and the others were rented. The proceeds of the latter were divided into three parts. The first paid the salaries of the remaining priests; the second' was given to the converted Indians ; and the third was set by as a Pious Fund for charitable purposes. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 119 CHAPTER XII. Captain John A. Sutter.— He joins tlie Forces of Micheltorena. — The Californians victorious.— Arrival of John C. Fremont. — Treachery of Castro.— Collision of the Americans with the Mexi- can Authorities.— The Flag of the United States raised at Monterey.— Arrival of Commodore Stockton.— Capture of Los Angeles.— Its Eecapture by the Mexicans. From that period, the dissensions which had long agitated the people of California became more and more complicated in their character. The civil wars, which for years had been conducted with much vio- lence of feeling though with little bloodshed, were participated in by both natives and foreigners, in the vain hope that order might be established. The set- tlers, who had almost imperceptibly made themselves a power in the land, fretted under the tyrannical and uncertain rule of Mexico ; yet many of them, having been awarded grants of land from that government, considered themselves bound in honor to support it. Of these, the most prominent was Captain John A. Sutter. Sutter was a native of Kandern, Baden, where he was born February 3, 1803. At the age of 120 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. twenty he graduated from the military academy of Berne, Switzerland, and subsequently served in the Swiss guard of the French army. In 1834, he emi- grated to the United States, settling first at St. Louis, and two years later at West Point, Missouri, where he engaged in the cattle trade. In 1838, he crossed the Rocky Mountains with a party of trappers, and from Fort Vancouver went to Honolulu, thence to Sitka, and finally to San Francisco, which he reached July 2, 1839. In 1841, Sutter obtained possession of a large tract of land in the Sacramento Valley, which he called New Helvetia. This tract he cultivated in wheat and stocked with horned cattle, sheep, horses, mules, and swine, giving employment to hundreds of domesticated Indians as laborers, and to a large num- ber of Americans and Europeans as overseers. Near the juncture of the American and Sacramento rivers he erected a fort, and in a short time made himself the most prominent of all the foreign settlers. Being Justice of the Peace, he held actual control over that region. As early as 1844, he joined Governor Michel- torena with over a hundred men, to aid in subduing a rebellion headed by Jose Castro, who for many years had held a prominent position among the disaffected. Hcj as well as Governor Micheltorena, had succeeded HISTORY OF CxVLIFORNIA. 121 in inducing a number of foreigners to join him. But when the rival armies met, these by mutual consent withdrew from the conflict, and left the Californians to decide it alone. This they did after a brief and almost bloodless engagement, which took place near Los Angeles. Castro's forces were victorious, and immediately ap- pointed Pio Pico (the senior member of the territorial legislature) governor, and Jos^ Castro general of the troops. Governor Micheltorena, his officers, and many soldiers were sent in an American bark to San Bias. During these contentions, an almost imperceptible tide of immigration had set in from the East to the verdant slopes of the Pacific. As early as 1826, a trapper named Jedediah Smith had found his way across the Rocky Mountains into California ; and in succeeding years his track was followed by numerous daring spirits, the most renowned of whom was John C. Fremont, who early in the year 1846 reached the borders of California with a force of sixty-two men, and by his unexpected appearance silenced the con- tentions which had already arisen between the newly elected Governor Pico and General Castro. Great was the distrust with which the young "Pathfinder" was viewed. The feeling of the United 122 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. States towards California was well known, and both the governor and general doubted not that the young officer had been sent, not only on his avowed duty — which was the discovery of a better route from the western base of the Eocky Mountains to the mouth of the Columbia Eiver — " but also to see what steps should be taken for the annexation of California to the United States." The Mexicans, remembering their recent loss of Texas, which had revolted in 1835, and ten years later was received into the Union, looked with much jeal- ousy upon the encroachments of Americans upon their territory. Accordingly, Castro, wishing to regain the confidence of the Mexican Government, after having granted Fremont permission to proceed to the valley of the San Joaquin, where the necessary supplies for his men and horses were to be found, aroused the Cal- if ornians to repel the invaders from their soil. An appeal to men to defend their homes from dan- ger, however slight the appearance of it may be, is never made in vain. In a few days Castro had col- lected a large force, and then, pleading fresh instruc- tions from Mexico, he sent word to Fremont to leave the country, or that his company would be attacked, and himself and his followers destroyed. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 123 Luckily, Colonel Fremont had not been deceived by the specious courtesy of Castro, or the " word of a Mexican soldier," which he had declared was as good as the " bond " which Fremont had desired him to give for his safety. Besides which, he had been warned of treachery by Thomas O. Larkin, the American consul at Monterey. lie therefore was not unprepared for Castro's message ; and, so far from being daunted by it, returned an oral reply, de- clining to take any notice of the orders of a man who had so shamefully broken his faith, and declaring that he should go when he was ready. That he did not intend to do so then, he showed by taking a position on a height overlooking Monterey, which was called the "Hawk's Peak," and intrench- ing him'self there. Though there were no soldiers an)ong them, this little party of "scientific explorers and rough path- finders " proved themselves worthy to fight under the " stars and stripes " they had raised above them ; for although Castro avoided an engagement, they suc- ceeded in showing him, by their undaunted front, that they were ready to close with him at any time. For four days Castro paraded his cavalry before their breastworks ; being careful, however, not to come 124 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. within rifle-shot, as they had no admiration for empty saddles — " and native Californians wisely held that it were a foolish thing for such good riders to be per- manently unhorsed." Castro was equally careful of his infantry and ar- tillery ; for although the latter were busily engaged in getting their field-pieces in place, they refrained from turning them upon the defiant Americans. At last, tired of this useless show, and mindful of his instructions not to provoke a quarrel with the Mexicans, Fremont broke up his camp and proceeded northward towards Oregon. Castro claimed this re- treat as a victory, and was careful not to endanger his easily won laurels by following the party, who met with no accident until they were within the borders of Oregon. There, upon the shores of the Greater Klam- ath Lake, Fremont heard that an officer with dispatches from the United States Government was seeking him. He turned back, with a few of his men, and encoun- tered Lieutenant Gillespie, who had crossed the conti- nent from Vera Cruz to Mazatlan, whence he had sailed to Monterey in a United States sloop of war. Thence he hastened after the explorers, bearing on his person but few documents save private letters ; no doubt giving Fremont orally much valuable imforma- tion. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 125 An In the camp were mucli excited by his arrival and the news he brought from their homes ; and for that night their vigilance was rehixed. Early in the morning they awoke from sleep to find Indians upon them ; and the death of four of their number was the penalty of a few hours' indiscretion. Knowing that war between Mexico and the United States was imminent, and conceiving it possible that the Indians might have been incited to violence by Castro, Fremont determined no longer to endeavor to maintain peace, or to withdraw quietly from the country. Eisking, therefore, the displeasure of his Govern- ment, or perhaps acting upon secret instructions, Fre- mont returned to the valley of the Sacramento, and prepared to strive with Castro for the possession of California. The daring officer was immediately surrounded by all the settlers upon the Sacramento and Feather rivers, a portion of whom, hearing that a large force was marching upon the Americans, advanced to re- pulse them. They found that the number of the enemy had been greatly exaggerated, as it was but a small party which had been sent by Castrx) to remove a large number of government horses from the Mis- 126 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. sion of San Rafael, on the north of the Bay of San Francisco, to Santa Clara on the south. This, the forces of Fremont prevented, capturing the horses and sending the men to Castro ; then marching on to Sonoma, where they took possession of the fort, one hundred and fifty stand of arms, and nine brass cannon. But their most important deed was the capture of General Yallejo, whom, with two other persons of distinction, they sent to Sutter's Fort at New Helvetia. William B. Ide was left at Sonoma, with eighteen men, to hold possession of the town, while Fremont was busy among the settlers organizing a battalion, which was soon called upon to hasten to Sonoma to support Ide, against whom, it was reported, Castro with a large force was advancing. Within thirty-six hours they had passed over the eighty intervening miles and were at Sonoma, where they found that, instead of being in jeopardy, Ide and his followers had routed a band of ruffians under Padilla, and a body of troops commanded by De la Torre, and the only enemy to be found in the country were fugitives from these bands. Part of these fell victims to the vigilance of Fremont's scouts, but the larger number fled to Saucelito, and finding a boat HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 127 there, crossed the bay, and left the northern shore to the undisputed rule of the Americans. The next conquest was that of San Francisco. First, the Captain of the Port, II. T. Eidley, was captured, and sent to Sutter's Fort; and next Fre- mont, Kit Carson, Lieutenant Gillespie, and a few others crossed the bay, spiked the guns of the Pre- sidio, and returned to Sonoma, where the following day, July 5, 1846, the victorious party raised the bear flag and declared the independence of California. Fremont's battalion then numbered one hundred and sixty mounted riflemen, part of whom started in pursuit of Castro, who was retreating towards Los Angeles. They were preparing to follow him when word came that the flag of the United States had been raised over Monterey, and that the naval forces resting there would unite with them in the capture of Castro. Great were the rejoicings upon receipt of this wel- come intelligence. The flag of Independence was torn down, and that of the United States raised in its stead ; and under its protection Colonel Fremont and his troop proceeded towards Los Angeles, while Commodore Sloat, of the frigate Savannah^ took 2)os- session of Monterey, and dispatched a messenger to 128 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. Commodore Montgomery, of the United States sloop of war Portsmouth^ to raise the flag over San Fran- cisco. This was done ; and in a few days many other towns were also in possession of the Americans. Colonel Fremont and Commodore Sloat, being igno- rant of the actual existence of war between Mexico and the United States, and having acted without direct instructions from Washington, were each in- clined, should any blame be attached to them, to throw the responsibility upon the other. Colonel Fremont claimed to have acted in self-defense ; Com- modore Sloat, from false ideas of Fremont's position, and also to guard the Californians from the English, who had placed a squadron upon the coast to seize any opportunity that might offer of adding the coun- try to the possessions of the crown. Unaware that orders were being forwarded to him from Washington to act precisely as he had done, Commodore Sloat was in fear of the consequences of his acts, and accordingly disposed to be severe to- wards the cause of them. Colonel Fremont, who had been engaged in the discovery of a number of arms and a quantity of ammunition which had been hidden by Governor Mlcheltorena during the visit of Commodore Jones HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 129 four years before, did not report to Commodore Sloat until six days after he was requested to do so ; and then, wlien questioned, he had only his " own author- ity " to offer for his actions. At this. Commodore Sloat was greatly alarmed and annoyed, and refused to have anything more to do in the matter. So Colonel Fremont, with his battalion, applied for aid to Commodore Stockton, who had just arrived in the United States frigate Congress, Although inferior in rank to Commodore Sloat, he determined at once to act for liimself, and to assist Fremont in the capture of Castro. He obtained per- mission from Sloat to take command of the land forces ; and, with Fremont and Gillespie in command under him, immediately proceeded to carry into effect a proclamation, in which he announced his determina- tion to rescue California from those who had treated his countrymen with such inhospitality, and who kept the land in a state of revolution and bloodshed. Colonel Fremont and his battalion having been sent to San Diego in the Cyane^ Commodore Stockton, a week later, proceeded in the Congress to join him, stopping on the way and taking peaceable possession of Santa Barbara and San Pedro. At the latter place he learned that Castro and Pico were at Los Angeles with about fifteen hundred men. 130 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. As Fremont, though safely arrived at San Diego, had no horses to mount his men, Stockton decided that he must make the capture of Castro without the aid of the battalion. He therefore drilled his marines for the march, and with six small guns, borrowed from the shipping, set out for Los Angeles. He was met on his way by messengers from Castro, who warned him that if he dared bring his forces into Los Angeles, it would prove their grave. Stockton returned word to Castro to have the bells tolled at eight in the morning, for at that time he should enter. Castro did not think it prudent to obey, but disbanded his forces and fled to Sonora. Immediately after obtaining possession of Los Angeles, Stockton garrisoned the surrounding towns with small numbers of troops, proclaimed California a Territory of the United States, and instituted a civil government, which, in its harmony and peacefulness, so greatly differed from that which had preceded it, that the people gladly accepted the new order of things, and Stockton was enthusiastically received as a public benefactor wherever he went. Learning, at this time, of the existence of war be- tween the United States and Mexico, and conceiving that he had established the power of his Government HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 131 on a firm basis in California, Stockton resolved to raise a number of volunteers among the American settlers, and hasten to the assistance of General Taylor, who was then supposed to be marching upon the City of Mexico. This bold project was never executed ; for no sooner had Stockton left Los Angeles in the com- mand of Captain Gillespie, and proceeded north in furtherance of his plans, than the city was unex- pectedly attacked and conquered by a party of Mexi- cans, who, ashamed of their previous cowardice, had placed themselves under General Flores, and sworn to redeem their honor and rescue California from foreign rule. 132 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER Xm. Stockton recommences the Subjugation of California.— He proceeds to San Pedro.— Meets General Kearny.— March to Los Angeles. — Battles on the Banks of the San Gabriel and the Plains of the Mesa.— Stockton enters Los Angeles. — Appoints Fremont Gov- ernor of California.— His Collision with General Kearny. No sooner was the news of the capitulation of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara conveyed to Stockton, than he resolved to abandon his greater schemes and return to the work of subjugation he had fancied completed. He soon discovered that the most difficult part of his task awaited him ; for the Mexicans, aroused by the proclamations of Flores, had thronged to his standard in great numbers. From San Francisco, Stockton immediately sent the frigate Savannah to San Pedro, to re-enforce that place ; Fremont was called from Sacramento to San Francisco, with all his force ; and shortly after, hav- ing raised one hundred and sixty volunteers, sailed for Santa Barbara, at which place he was ordered to obtain horses and join Stockton in his march upon Los Angeles. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 133 Having safely arrived at his destination, he found, to his chagrin, that all the horses had been driven from that 2)oint into the interior. He was therefore long delayed from joining Stockton, who had mean- while reached San Diego, having withdrawn from San Pedro, his first landing place, and where the enemy were intrenched to the number of eight hun- dred men. Near San Diego his ship — the Congress — grounded while attempting to cross the bar ; and while she lay helpless, the Californians attacked the town. Stock- ton, however, succeeded in landing a part of his troops, and defeated the enemy ; who, however, lay in great force at San Bernardino, and made repeated attacks upon San Diego. From that point, while suffering from a thousand discomforts — the most serious of which, want of food, was arrested at an early stage by the capture of a drove of cattle — Stockton made ready for his march upon Los Angeles. A few horses and some cattle had been procured by the exertions of Captain Gib- son and Captain Hensley ; and they were preparing to move forward, when word reached the Commodore that General Kearny, with a force of United States troops, was in the vicinity, and desired to open communication with him. 134 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. Commodore Stockton immediately dispatched Cap- tain Gillespie with a force of thirty-five men to meet Kearny ; and later, upon the receipt of intelligence that he had been attacked by the enemy at San Pas- qual, sent also Lieutenant Gray with two hundred and fifty men. This force induced the Mexicans to with- draw from the town, and secured the safe passage of Kearny to San Diego. There he found Stockton at the head of a work he had himself been sent by Government to perform, and which he had supposed, by the dispatches carried by Kit Carson, whom he had met near Santa F^ on his road from Mexico, was already successfully accom- plished — a belief which had been suddenly destroyed on his entrance to California by the attack of the in- surgents. As the person deputed by Congress to invade Cali- fornia, *' and should he conquer it " to establish a civil government there. General Kearny had undoubtedly the right to command the expedition. Commodore Stockton recognized the right; but General Kearny declined taking the command from him, and agreed to act as his second. However amicably this arrange- ment was made at the time, there has been great con- troversy concerning the position of the two officers HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 135 since, and to which the credit of the attack upon Los Angeles really belongs. To Commodore Stockton, who originated and provided the means for it, the ])ralse is almost universally given. On the 29th of December, in the midst of the rainy season, the march began. This march was rendered formidable by the heavy mud and sands which the marines, freshly drilled in military tactics, were forced to traverse. They entered upon the expedition with ardor, although they were for the most part wretch- edly clothed and shod with canvas. The draft- horses were so feeble that Captain Turner of the dragoons was obliged to put men in their places. Thus, over the almost impassable road, defended at every point by the enemy, the little army proceeded to battle, dragging their heavy guns and the carts laden with provisions and ammunition with their own handff. Still General Fremont, who had gone to Monterey to procure horses, had been unable to join the com- mander-in-chief. A courier was sent, advising him of the advancement of Stockton, and warning him not to risk an action with the enemy. Lieutenant Selden was sent with a small vessel to protect him during his expected march through the defile of Rincon. Meanwhile, the weary march towards Los Angeles 136 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. was steadily continued. Several propositions for the negotiation of peace, sent by Flores, were rejected; and on the 7th of January the opposing armies met on the banks of the Rio San Gabriel. On the next day an action took place. The Mexicans were posted upon heights on the opposite bank of the river, their guns commanding the ford. Commodore Stock- ton, however, notwithstanding the constant fire of the enemy, effected a crossing, helping with his own hands to draw the guns across the bed of the river, which General Kearny reported to be quicksand. As soon as the passage of the river was made, the battle besran in earnest. Commodore Stockton commanded the artillery, and himself pointed every gun, doing such execution that the cannon of the enemy were quickly silenced. General Kearny with his troops scaled the heights and captured them, while Commo- dore Stockton and Captain Gillespie repelled attacks of the enemy on every hand ; at last compelling them to retreat to the opposite bank of the river, whence they poured a brisk fire into the Americans, until driven from their position by Stockton's well-directed cruns. The loss of the Mexicans has never been'ascer- o tained ; that of the Americans was two killed and nine wounded. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 187 Although forced to retreat at this point, the Mexi- cans on the following day made a gallant charge upon the Americans, on the plains six miles distant. There a corps of cavalry, with banners flying, and their magnificent horses most gaily caparisoned, rap- idly and enthusiastically advanced towards the com- pact square in which Stockton had massed his entire force, and to whom he had given directions that their fire should be reserved until the eyes of the enemy could be seen. With dauntless courage the little band awaited the approach of the Californians, pouring into them at the first signal a deadly fire, which threw them into the wildest confusion. Again and again they advanced, and were met in the same way, with the same result ; and at last yielded to the unflinching prowess of the Americans, and fled in every direction. The leaders, General Flores and Andreas Pico, a few days afterwards fell into the hands of General Fremont, who, not knowing that Commodore Stockton had refused to treat with them for terms of peace, finally agreed upon articles by which they gave up all their arms, and yielded the country to the United States. These proceedings were afterwards approved by Stockton, who, having entered Los Angeles, ap- pointed Fremont Governor of California. 138 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. Then began the quarrel between Commodore Stockton and General Kearny, which detracted much from their usefulness in California. General Kearny denied the right of Commodore Stockton to appoint a governor, exhibiting a commission from Congress conferring that honor upon himself, should he " con- quer California." Commodore Stockton denied that he had done so, and therefore declared his commission useless. Congress afterwards approved this decision. On the 22nd of January, 1847, Commodore Shubrick arrived in California, and as senior in commission, superseded Commodore Stockton in command of the squadron. To him General Kearny applied to ratify his commission as Governor. This he did not be- lieve himself authorized to do ; and therefore Kearny was not recognized as Governor until the arrival of instructions from Congress, which were dated in November of the preceding year. Not being informed of the authority conferred upon General Kearny by Congress, General Fremont for some time continued to discharge his duties as Act- ing Governor, and hereby subjected himself to the charge of disobedience to his superior officer, for which he was tried by court-martial and suspended from the service. Although in consideration of his HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 139 many services he was immediately restored to his rank by the President, he withdrew from the army, and only returned to it when the cry of treason called every loyal soldier to the support of Liberty and Union. 140 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER XIV. California ceded to the United States by Mexico.— Immigration. — Sufferings of the Donner Party.— Discovery of Gold at Coloma. — Sutter's Mill. — The Cities deserted. — Rush of Gold-seekers into California.— Sudden Growth of Towns. Although no decided battle took place after the capture of Los Angeles, skirmishes were frequent during the following year between the Americans and the few unsubdued Californians. At last, more than a year after the actual conquest of California, it was, in November, 1848, formally ceded to the United States by tlie Mexican Congress. By the peace then concluded between the two nations, the United States gained Texas, New Mexico, and Upper California. Almost immediately the unimagined riches con- tained beneath the rugged surface of the latter were revealed, and the eyes not only of America but of the civilized world were turned upon this new El Dorado. A population was already there to develop its resources. The towns of Monterey, San Francisco (which had until this time been known as Yerba Buena), Los Angeles, and others contained several HISTORY OF CALIFOHNIA. 141 hundreds of inhabitants, who with characteristic energy engaged in commerce, warmly interested themselves in the politics of the day, and already dimly beholding the great future of the country, encourao^ed immisfration to its shores, assisting; with ready liberality all destitute persons. These unfortu- nately were many. The route across the plains was little known, and many who attempted it were sub- jected to privations of the most dreadful character. The most noted sufferers were a party of emigrants who left the East in the spring of 1846, and, attempt- ing a new route through the Great Basin which lies between the Kocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, were so long delayed on the journey that the winter came upon them and forced them to stay amid the impassable snows of the Sierra. Soon their provi- sions failed them, and there, in wretched huts, freezing and starving, the larger portion of the company re- mained, while a few pushed forward, and after endur- ing incredible hardships, a part reached a settlement on Bear Kiver, having preserved their lives by feed- ing on those who fell by the way. The news they brought soon spread from settlement to settlement, awakening the heartiest and most ener- getic sympathy. Captain Sutter, of New Helvetia, at 142 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. his own expense sent a party with provisions to the relief of the sufferers. The people of Yerba Buena raised fifteen hundred dollars at a public meeting and followed his example, while the naval command- ant also fitted out expeditions. The first of these reached Truckee Lake (now called Donner Lake) on the 19th of February. They found ten dead persons in the first camp — the sur- vivors having sustained life by feeding on bullocks* hides, of which they had but one left. Leaving a small supply of provisions with the twenty-nine which they could not take with them, the relief party started back with the rest. ^ Other parties reached the lake at different times, but on their return to California were overtaken by storms, in which they were obliged to leave the un- fortunate immigrants, who, like those behind them, were forced to resort to human flesli for support. Of this unnatural diet it is said they at last acquired a taste, some even preferring it to other food when it was to be obtained, and resorting to foul murders to satisfy their appetites. The last relief party reached the camp in April — too late to be of much service. One man alone re- mained alive ; and he, maddened by suffering, was HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 143 cowering over a fire in one of the wretched huts, watching a pot in which was cooking his horrid meal of human flesh. This man had witnessed all the horrors that had passed, and endured more suffering than can even be conceived. First had come the gradual approach of starvation ; then as they sat around the fire dreadful whisperings were made as to who should be the first sacrificed to the general need. Many died ravine- mad ; others forgot their love for father, mother, child — all that had been dearest to their hearts — and took their lives that they themselves might live. In all these horrors had this man participated, and at the last his nature was so changed that force was neces- sary to induce him to forsake the dead bodies that lay around him, and return with the relief party to Cali- fornia. One human feeling alone appeared to remain in the breasts of those poor creatures when discovered by the different relief parties, and that was the love of gold. Mrs. Donner, the last of the immigrants to die, was supposed to have been killed for her money, by the wretched man who could have had no hope of using it. Many of those first rescued sank upon the road, choosing to die rather than leave the money they were burdened with. 144 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. Of the eighty individuals who composed this party, thirty-six perished, eight being females. Their fear- ful story will never be forgotten in California, and cannot fail wherever read to thrill the heart with pain. At the time this event occurred it was supposed that it would materially check emigration to Califor- nia ; but almost immediately afterwards Colonel Jona- than D. Stevenson's regiment arrived from New York, having passed around the Horn. These supported Kearny as Governor of the country, until with Fre- mont he returned to the East, where the latter was subjected to trial for insubordination. Colonel Stevenson's regiment was a most valuable addition to the population of the country. Most of its members were artisans who remained in the country after their term of service had expired, finding em- ployment at their trades at high wages, until they and all others abandoned their usual pursuits and rushed to the banks of the American River, where, at Colo- ma, gold was discovered on January 19, 1848. The first piece of the precious metal was picked up by James W. Marshall, while at work in a race for a saw-mill which was being erected by himself and Captain Sutter. This yellow stuff, of the nature of which there was \ HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 145 at first some uncertainty, was given to a Mrs. Wimmer, to be boiled in saleratus water. She, however, being engaged, threw it into a kettle of boiling soap, and on the following morning found the lump brighter than ever. Thus being assured of its value, a search for more was quickly made — the first lump being left with Mrs. Wimmer. The frontispiece to this volume is an engraving of the scene of the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill. It has been copied from Nahl's famous painting of that his- toric spot. It is the only correct representation of the place in existence as it appeared at the time the discov- ery of gold was made by Marshall. It is quite different in appearance now. Mining operations have obliter- ated every landmark of that early period. The mill, which occupies the middle of the picture, was removed partly by miners for use in their operations, and partly by travelers in the form of mementos of the place and the event which brought it into world-wide notice. The mill was located on the left bank of the south fork of the American River, about one quarter of a mile below the present town of Coloma. Being assured of the wealtli of the surrounding land, Sutter and Marshall bought a large tract from the Indians for a lot of beads and a few cotton hand- le 146 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. kerchiefs, and under this title claimed one-third of the gold found. In the next month Marshall discovered gold lower down the river, and sent a party of Mormons, of which there were many in the country, to work there ; and in the following September, Peter L. Wimmer, who was with Marshall when the first discovery was made, found at the Middle Fork of the American River a gold deposit which yielded eight hundred and fifty-six dollars in one day. The fame of these discoveries spread from settle- ment to settlement, causing the greatest and most unaccountable excitement. People remembered the rumors of the existence of gold which had been whispered years before, and believing, as Governor Mason said, " that the land was full of gold," left all and rushed to the foothills of the mountains, west- ward and northward, leaving the usually busy towns silent and forsaken. What a revolution in the fortunes of California was caused by the discovery of gold ! The newly gained possession of the United States, which was at best looked upon as an encumbrance, within a month after the treaty with Mexico revealed a source of wealth which had been before almost unsuspected. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 147 For nearly a year the wondrous tales that reached the East were unbelieved ; but when proofs in the form of nuggets and gold-dust were exhibited, the most skeptical could doubt no longer, and thousands within the following year left their homes and rushed to " the dlf^^o^inors." The towns which had been deserted by their origi- nal inhabitants were suddenly filled with immigrants. San Francisco, in the space of a few months, grew from a village to a city. Tents sprung up on the hill- sides ; houses could not be erected quickly enough to shelter the eager multitude that came through the Golden Gate, paused a day or two in the city to look around them, and then, more excited than ever by the tales they heard and the gold they saw, pushed on to the mountains, erected rude rockers on the river banks, and pan in hand eagerly sought the precious particles washed from the mountain sides. Many were successful. Immense fortunes were sometimes made in a single day. Nuggets of gold varying from the size of a pea or a hazel-nut were found, and in some cases masses of two or three pounds in weight. For the first year or two these discoveries were frequent ; then, as the country be- came filled with men who thronged in, all forsak- 148 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. ing their former pursuits and becoming miners, the chances of making them became more rare, and thou- sands of men wandered from one part of the country to another, enduring the greatest hardships in their search for gold, returning at last in poverty to their native places, or, broken down in health and energy, settling upon lands freely offered by government to all that would take them. Others were employed at wages varying from twen- ty to thirty dollars per day in building up the city of San Francisco. Houses were brought in parts from the East and erected at immense cost ; the redwood trees upon the hills were hastily converted into planks for the walls of dwellings, while paper and cotton served for partitions ; hills were leveled, streets graded, and in fact a city improvised and filled with a great population almost with the quickness of magic. Strange to say, neither Marshall nor Sutter reaped any of the benefit of the discover}^ of gold. Marshall was of a thriftless, unsettled, and somewhat dissipated disposition. Most of his life, after the discovery, he spent in prospecting for new deposits of the precious metal. At the present writing (May, 1883), he is still engaged in that occupation, residing, in compara- tive poverty, in a rude cabin at Kelsey, a place sit miles from Placerville, El Dorado County. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 149 The discovery of gold ruined Sutter. It caused a stampede among his employees, most of whom fled into the mountains in search of gold, taking with them his horses, leaving his growing crops to ripen, wither, and rot for want of harvesters, and his cattle to the mercy of thieves. Sutter, also, caught the gold fever. He set those Indians who remained with him — about two hundred in number — to dig; for g-old in American Kiver. But the enterprise was unsuccessful. It cost more to supply implements and provisions than the value of the gold he obtained. Gold-hunters were gen- erously fed by him by the thousands, as they pushed on to the mines. His hospitality was, nevertheless, fright- fully abused. He was robbed again and again. It is said that in 1849-50, $60,000 worth of stock was stol- en from him by one party. The timber and grass on his lands were cut and carried off without compensa- tion to him. He was deprived of his land by claim- ants who seized it " under new laws and new circum- stances," and he was never able to recover it through the courts. In 1851 he ran for Governor on the Whig: ticket, but was defeated, and he then retired in com- parative poverty to his Hock fjwm, a small and undis- puted possession on the west bank of the Feather River, with the empty title of a General of Militia to comfort 160 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. him. Afterward Sutter became a pensioner on the State, receiving as such $250 a month, in recognition of his services and his sacrifices. But in 1868 the pension was stopped, and Sutter repaired to Washing- ton to push his claims for compensation for the loss of his property before Congress. For twelve years he continued in the role of an unsuccessful petitioner, and, overwhelmed by disappointment, died in poverty in June, 1880. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 161 CHAPTER XV. Gamblers and their Victims.— Speculations of Merchants.— Progress of Gold-Mining.— A Convention.— A State Government adopted. —California admitted into the Union. It naturally happened that in the great rush from the Atlantic States, it was not only laborers, mechan- ics, and eager speculators that came ; but also those who, by their vices, had rendered themselves odious in older communities, and had hastened to California to elude the law and to benefit by the toil of honest men. Thus it happened that, while San Francisco was still a city of tents, and while even the hulks of ves- sels lying in the bay were used as houses, it was filled by gamblers and villains of all descriptions. These rented the best houses in the town at enormous prices ; fitted them up handsomely, dispensed from the bar the finest liquors, and displayed upon their tables piles of gold, which rapidly changed hands from player to player. Night and day were these houses open ; and gam- bling was considered no vice, but merely a specula- 152 HISTORY OF. CALIFORNIA. tion, in which all engaged. Thus it happened that the greater portion of the gold washed from the crev- ices of the rock ; dug from holes in the beds of streams ; toiled for, suffered for by men who seemed to ignore, in their search, all sense of pain or danger; passed into the hands of gamblers, seldom reaching again the original possessor. Often it happened that a man who wore in his belt a fortune, and came to the city to embark for home, lost every dollar on a single card, and returned to the diggings, or, maddened by his folly, ended his life by the knife or pistol. This was the age of gambling. It was practiced in every way. Merchants freighted vessels at the East with the most useless articles, and sold them in the great mart of California (San Francisco) at most ex- travagant profits. Often, however, it happened that they were obliged to make the profits of one cargo cover the losses of a dozen others, as there was fre- quently such a profuse supply sent for a temporary demand, that the greater portion was left to rot in the harbor. Thus at one time the muddy streets of San Francisco were paved with unopened boxes of tobac- co; and at another tons of potatoes rotted on the wharves. These cargoes were brought by small vessels, which HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 153 were often almost wrecks before leaving the Eastern wharves ; and thousands of men, regardless of danger, took passage upon them, in the hope of finding com- pensation in the land of gold for all discomforts they might meet in reaching it. Many, in the narrow compartments of these vessels, or amid the forests and swamps of Panama, con- tracted fevers, and either died before reaching Cali- fornia, or found themselves totally unfit for the work before them. Yet, to the mines they hurried, being unable or unwilling to remain in San Francisco ; and thus the autumn after the discovery of the gold-beds, hundreds of graves lay within them, filled by those who, in their lust for gold, had sickened and died. Enough, however, returned laden with gold-dust to induce others to risk their lives in pursuit of the glit- tering treasure ; and by those eager adventurers, the hitherto almost unknown land was thoroughly ex- plored. Often it happened that a man who was making a fortune rapidly at one point would abandon it to seek one still richer ; and frequently disappointed, would return to his first station to find it impoverished by the toil of others. In those days, no gain, however great, contented a man : and as these adventurers were un- 164 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. trammeled by family or friends, they wandered from one place to another in eager search of wealth, and, in many cases, died in poverty. Soon, being scoured by such a multitude, the placer diggings failed to give such rich returns to the labor of the pan and rocker ; and gradually mining was conducted in a more scientific way. First, flumes and dams were constructed for conveying water to ele- vated points, and thus separating the gold from the sands ; then more efficient tools took the place of "jack-knives," picks, and pans; and later, when the surface of the earth had been despoiled of its aurifer- ous particles, the quartz veins — the deposits whence, by the rains of ages, these atoms had been washed — were opened. Crushing mills were then erected, and also various other kinds of machinery for the reduc- tion of the ores. California, however, passed through many changes before it reached this degree of skill in mining, or gained a political position which protected its rapidly increased population in their enterprises. Even before it had been ceded to the United States by Mexico, the mode in which it should be governed was contested in Congress. The Southerners con- tended that such a vast tract of barren land, offering HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 165 80 few encouragements to immigration, would only be rendered of service by slave labor. The Northerners denied this; and the most violent altercations ensued, which the discovery of gold served to increase ; so that, as late as the year 1849, Congress adjourned without establishing any government over California. True, the civil government, which at the end of the war succeeded the military one, still remained ; but it in no wise sufficed for the control of the increased population, or the protection of the widely extending commerce. In view of this, Governor Riley, by advice, it is said, of the President and Secretaries of War and State, issued a proclamation calling upon the people to elect State and town officials, and advising them to meet in convention and adopt a State or Territorial government. This call was immediately answered. Politicians were not scarce, even in this new country. Thirty- seven delegates were rapidly chosen to meet in con- vention at Monterey. Of these, San Francisco sent On the 1st of September, 1849, in Colton's Hall at Monterey, the first meeting was held. The people were generally represented by the pioneers of the 156 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. country ; John A. Sutter, Mariano de Guadalupe Val- lejo, and many others were present. The convention was soon permanently organized ; Robert Semple, of Sonoma, being appointed Presi- dent ; W. E. P. Hartnell, Interpreter ; W. G. Marcy, Secretary ; Caleb Lyon and J. G. Field, Assistant Secretaries ; and J. Ross Browne, Official Reporter. The great want, during the sitting of this conven- tion, was that of books of reference. Copies of the State Constitutions of Iowa and New York were the only ones that could be obtained ; and it was, per- haps, for that reason the old Constitution of Califor- nia, adopted by the convention, resembled so closely that of the latter State. The proceedings were conducted with the greatest harmony, the subject of slavery being the only one upon which there was any violent controversy. This, fortunately, was ended in its entire prohibition. On October 13th, the convention adjourned, having adopted unanimously a State Constitution and fixed the boundary lines, encompassing an area of one hun- dred and eighty-eight thousand, nine hundred and eighty-one square miles within the limits of Cal- ifornia. Pending admission into the Union, California pro- HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 157 ceeded to govern itself. Governor Riley surrendered the administration of civil affairs into the hands of the Governor chosen by the people, Peter H. Burnett. At the first meeting of the legislature, two United States Senators were chosen — John C. Fremont and William M. Gwin being the successful competitors against H. W. Halleck, T. J. Henley, T. Butler King, and J. W. Geary. Thus California was fairly started on its political career; and upon its admission in 1850, it took a prominent place among the States of the American Union. 158 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER XVI. Gtrowth of Towns— Floods and Fires— The Chinese— Arrival of Steamships from New York — Great Fires in San Francisco — Its rapid Growth. The years immediately succeeding this event were marked by the rapid growth of cities and towns that had sprung up throughout the country. That of San Francisco, as it was the chief sea-port, attracted most attention ; but not less remarkable was that of Sac- ramento and other long-establishe'd towns, and also those which the working of the mines called into ex- istence. Among the most prominent of these was Marys- ville, which was laid out in 1849, at the junction of the Yuba and Feather rivers. This place soon be- came the chief market for the miners throughout that region, who carried thither large quantities of gold in exchange for provisions, clothing, and tools. Within a year from the date of its foundation, the principal street of the town exhibited many handsome brick buildings, many of which were, however, unfortu- nately destroyed by fire in August, 1850.. The filling HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 159 up with mining debris of the beds of the Feather and Yuba rivers has since threatened the destruction of the city by flood, and the construction of high levees has been necessary to protect it. Takinjx warninj]: from this, the inhabitants of Sac- ramento City raised tlie grade of the streets four or five feet, thereby escaping any severe loss by floods, until as late as the year 1862, when the whole valley was under water. A flood quite as high occurred also in 1878, but the city that time escaped, owing to a superior system of levees protecting it. Not only floods but fires threatened the existence of these new towns ; yet still they struggled and flourished. Grass Valley, Nevada, Placerville, Stock- ton, and scores of villages that existed only for a few weeks, and whose sites are now forgotten, all suffered from the terrible destroyer. Millions of dollars' worth of property was often de- stroyed in a single night. A spark falling upon the roof of a wooden shanty would often, with lightning rapidity, clothe an entire village in flames ; and im- mediately, if the district were prosperous, as many houses as had been destroyed would rise like magic upon the smoldering ruins, perhaps in a few months to be removed by some still more terrible conflagra- tion. 160 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. The towns that suffered most from this cause were, of course, in the mining districts, where the chief material used in buildino; was wood; the villao^es of adobe — Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, and Monterey — remained intact, being far removed from the mines, their Spanish j)opulation presenting a striking contrast to the cosmopolitan throng that wandered up and down the river banks, and threaded the mountain paths of the north. Perhaps in no country upon earth beside could such a population be found. Gold cries with a voice of irresistible power ; and within a year from its first discovery it had drawn thousands of men from the Eastern States, from Europe, from Africa, from Asia. Indeed, the Chinese soon became an important ele- ment in the population of California. Unobtrusive and industrious, content to work where white men would starve, they were at first welcomed with pleasure ; and as cooks, laundrymen, and house-servants, became valuable aids to the slow march of civilization. Ever appearing in their national dress, quiet yet cheerful, they presented a pleasing addition to the quaint scenes of the newly settled land ; and for some years, in San Francisco and elsewhere, were looked upon as a valuable in- HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 161 dustrial acquisition. At last their very quietness awakened suspicion ; the miners took alarm at the vast numbers that settled upon and made money from their deserted gold-fields. Many persons pro- fessed to see great danger in this unlimited immi- gration of Asiatics; and Governor Bigler proposed that a tax should be levied upon all Chinese. This produced great consternation among them ; and the arrival of men and goods from China for some time ceased. A second proposal to tax foreigners succeeded bet- ter, but the Chinese only were affected by it. They were obliged to pay four dollars a month for working in the mines, it being thought that the poor districts in which white miners would allow them to work w^ould scarce yield that small sum. Yet, in spite of all, immigration from China in- creased. Few women, but thousands of men annually came, and all with the intention of returning to their native land, dead or alive. China only can be the final resting place of the true Chinaman. He may live and die far away ; but his bones must go back to his birthplace. Every year ships left, freighted with the bones of those who died, not one being allowed to have permanent burial on a foreign shore. In San 11 162 HISTOKY OF CALIFORNIA. Francisco a temple, consecrated to their idols, was erected ; certain quarters of the town became espe- cially their own, and they were soon as much at home as in the streets of Peking or Canton. The few Africans that entered the new State were less fortunate. Most of them were slaves brought by their Southern masters, and leaving them, to search for gold, they encountered not only the anger of their former owners but the distrust and contempt of all classes. South Americans, too, were regarded with sus- picion, and were early subjected to the insults and oppressions of the gangs of unruly spirits that from all quarters of the world met in California to carry on untrammeled their nefarious callings. In San Francisco, as early as the summer of 1849, many of these formed themselves into a society called "The Hounds." Ostensibly, the purpose of these was to protect themselves and American miners from foreigners of Spanish extraction, the cheap labor of whom interfered with their own prosperity. This gang, being duly organized, soon became a terror to society, especially to the poor Chileans, whose houses they destroyed or robbed upon the slightest provocation. Having, one Sunday, torn HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 1G3 down the entire Chilean quarter, and shamefully used the inhabitants, the respectable people took up the matter, and, rapidly forming a vigilance committee, first raised an ample sum for the benefit of the suffer- ers, and then arrested over twenty of the rioters, and confined them aboard the United States ship Warren. These were afterwards tried and sentenced to be hanged ; but were set free upon the discovery that " The Hounds " were as cowardly as vindictive, and had, upon the interference of the citizens, disbanded and disappeared from the city. That year was marked by events that can never be equaled in the history of San Francisco. The popu- lation increased from two to twenty thousand. The first steamships arrived from New York, and smaller craft from all parts of the world lay at her wharves. Houses sprung up on every hill, yet not fast enough to contain all that flocked to them. Fire spread ruins on every hand, only to make room for more safe and valuable buildings ; and within a few years, San Francisco rivaled the cities of the East in magnifi- cence and excelled them in wealth. Nowhere was business so active. Gold poured into its streets from the interior in seemingly endless plenty ; and passing thence, brought back men and 164 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. stores from every port. The round of eager toil and wild pleasure never ceased. Virtue and crime grew together, each untrammeled. Churches and school- houses sprung up alongside the gambling-house ; the voice of the street preacher mingled with the rattling of dice; the dead lay in one room, the living reveled wildly in the next. Such was life in San Francisco in early days : such in every town and hamlet through- out the State. These were years of mad excitement. Many awoke from their delirium ruined in health and pros- pects; others, more fortunate, still live to tell the marvelous tales of life in the early days of California. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 165 CHAPTER XVII. Indian Wars. — Indian Reservations. — The Scenery of California. — Description of tlie Yosemite Valley.— Of Napa and other Val- leys.— The Big Trees.— Mud Volcanoes.— Geysers or Hot Springs. —Caves and Rocks. Before the udmission of California into the Union, little or no trouble had been experienced from the Indians, who were remarkably peaceable in disposition, both among themselves and towards all others. In 1849, it is true, some real or fancied insults from a party of explo'rers had been resented, and several persons had been attacked and killed. Their fears were at that time greatly aroused by the rapid influx of whites occasioned by the discov- ery of gold, of the value or presence of which they had ever appeared ignorant. It has often been re- marked, that they never by any chance presented a piece of this precious ore to a white man. Curious stones, herbs, and fruits they constantly brought, but never a piece of gold. Perliaps some instinct led them to see in it the weapons for their destruction ; and it undoubtedly became so. Their lands, their 166 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. rivers, became a prey to the ruthless invaders, and they saw with horror every means of support passing from them. And what had become of the mission Indians ? In the south many remained at their old stations, engaged contentedly in labor. The vile among them refused to work, basked in the sun in hopeless poverty, beg- ging for food or a few pence, which would be gambled away as soon as won. Others returned to their tribes, renouncing their civilization with their slavery, content to live on the uncertain product of the chase or the nut of the mountain pine. These were foremost in their attacks upon settlers. The dainty taste of horseflesh they had learned years before, and theft and murder were wantonly committed to ob- tain it. Their depredations were severely punished by the whites, and soon a system of warfare was instituted and actively maintained. In 1850, two hundred men, under the command of William Kogers, were sent by the State Government against the Indians ; but this force being found insuffi- cient, a party of United States troops, under General Kearny, were called into service. These having se- verely chastised the Indians, no further trouble was HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 167 experienced from them for nearly a year, when they again became so dangerous that not only means were taken for the protection of the settlers, -but measures were considered for satisfying the demands of the Indians. In 1853, the Legislature set aside for their use lands in Los Angeles County, and later, in other parts of California; but it was found that faw Indians were willing to devote themselves to farming or fishing, and the reservations were almost untenanted, except in times of great scarcity. These reservations the Indians held in comparative peace until as late as 1858-59, -wiien the white settlers, finding gold becoming difficult to obtain, turned their attention to farming, and envied the Indians their few acres of fertile lands. Taking forcible possession of them, they roused the ire of the red men, who in re- venge slew their cattle, and brought upon their de- voted heads the wrath of the intruders. Terrible massacres were the result. Troops were called in, and by one means and another the remnant of the Califor- nia Indians was brought to a state of subjection ; an appropriation of fifty thousand dollars annually made to them, and peace once more restored. Gradually are the first inhabitants of California 168 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. passing away, and perhaps within another generation few . if any will be left to tell the story of their wrongs. The early Indian wars led perhaps as much to the exploration of the country as the search for gold. The miners followed the course of rivers, while the pursuers of Indians turned aside into barren moun- tain passes, traversed scorched plains, or waded through swamps of tule^ and discovered the thousand varied forms of nature that served to beautify the great land of the west. From the hills of the south they looked upon the ocean smiling beneath an almost tropical sun, its shores teeming with plenty. Fruitful vineyards, groves of oranges and figs, ripened their rich fruits in the same field with the hardy northern wheat and tasseled maize. Herds of cattle and flocks of sheep fed upon the hills where the timid deer still came to crop the tender grass. All this beautiful scene of art and nature was spread before them in one day ; next day nothing but barren wastes of sand would appear, and anon the great lakes of sedge, lying black beneath the mountain shadows, would rest in impenetrable gloom on every hand, appearing as if no living thing could harbor there. Yet travelers soon learned that HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 169 these darksome lakes were tlic favorite haunts of nu- merous water-birds. Wild geese, ducks, mud-hens, herons glided through the mesh of tules in countless flocks, or fearlessly flew above them. Another day's travel, and this scene would also be lost. The Indian-hunter would find himself so hio;h amono: the Sierra Nevadas that the fruitful vales, the lakes of tule^ the silver lines of rivers, would appear as mere specks in his eyes. Masses of rock would im- pede his way, precipices guard either side of his peril- ous path, mountain torrents deafen him with their roar, or the solemn grandeur of snow-clad peaks tow- ering to the deep blue skies fill his soul with awe. These things the Indian-hunters saw perhaps lightly and without special wonder, yet they brought tales of them to those who for the love of the beautiful alone hastened to these favorite haunts of nature and pro- claimed to the world the wonders they beheld. It was during the Indian wars that the famous Yosemite Vallc}^ was discovered. In the year 1851, a party of white men, pursuing the Indians into Mari- posa County, entered Into what had been considered by them their impenetrable retreat, and found in a single mountain gorge a scene of unparalleled beauty and magnificence. 170 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. Following the narrow trail that wound about the rough sides of the Sierra Nevada, and gazing upon scenery that each moment grew wilder, the adven- turers at last descried a narrow chasm parting the mountains of ojranite and inclosino^ a miniature world of beauty. A river, winding like a silver thread through the dell, watered groves of tall trees and meadows of luxuriant grass ; while masses of rocks in a thousand fantastic shapes stood on every hand, some half hidden by waters falling from heights so great that they were lost in spray before they could reach the bottom of the dell. Descending the precipitous path, only just j)assable for the surest-footed horses, they entered the vale itself, and in amazement looked upward to the mountain tops four thousand feet above. Looking northward, they beheld the great El Capitan Rock, rising upward nearly four thousand feet, gazing grandly upon the two spires of the Cathe- dral Rocks farther up the valley ; the mighty Sentinel on the east; the Three Brothers bending their heads to look upon the tranquil scene at their feet ; and the great Yosemite or Cholook Falls that, leaping from ledge to ledge of the rocky walls, descend two thou- sand six hundred and thirty-four feet. This fall, the greatest in the world, is almost eclipsed in beauty, HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 171 though not in magnificence, by the Bridal Yeil, which hangs like a silver mist at the south, and by the exquisitely graceful Vernal Fall, which falls four hundred feet over a ledge of rocks at the eastward. Again, the palm of beauty is disputed by the Nevada Fall, the first grand leap of the Merced River in its descent into the valley. Grand as were these objects, doubtless their first dis- coverers turned, as have their successors, with delight to the clear Mirror Lake, which reflects in its bosom the rocks and trees that border it. Nearly a mile in circumference, it lies like a tiny crystal in the laps of the great mountains it reflects, almost laving the feet of the most sublime object in the valley — a shaft of granite rising from a mass of shattered fragments to a height of nearly five thousand feet. Who can wonder, with all these grand and awe- inspiring objects, standing in the chasm of the moun- tains scarce three miles wide and but ten long, only to be entered at its extremities, and then only with •danger, the Indians believed this retreat secure ? But to their enemies they soon discovered nothing seemed impossible, and ere long the Yosemite became as open to the pleasure-seeker as were the fruitful coast val- leys to the herdsman and farmers. 172 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. Of these latter valleys, Napa is the largest and most noted. It is for the most part clear of timber, and possesses a soil of great fertility, and is watered throughout its length by the small but beautiful Napa River. Other small vales, Sunol, Sonoma, Amador, and San Ramon, nestling among the mountains, con- trast most vividly their luxuriance of herbage with the barren rocks surrounding them. But beautiful and productive as are these vales, they attract but few visitors in comparison with the numbers who yearly flock to the great trees of Mari- posa County. As nature has seemingly surpassed herself in the grandeur and magnitude of the rocks of the Yosemite Valley, so, a few miles distant, has she displayed the magic of her power in the growth of mammoth ever- greens, so vast that one tree alone presents in the dis- tance the appearance of a grove. Four hundred and twenty-seven of these trees stand together, towering nearly to the height of three hundred feet, and each measuring from twenty to thirty feet in circumference. It is difficult at a cursory glance to comprehend the immense size of these trees ; it is only by comparison that we can understand how far they surpass, if only HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 173 in magnitude, the works of man. J. S. Hittell re- marks, in his valuable book upon " The Resources of California," that " each tree fills him (the spectator) with wonder as he looks at it. A glance at one of these immense trunks conveys a new idea of the mag- nificence of nature ; ' glorious as the universe on creation's morn ' is this grove. The Titans and the gods fought with such tree-trunks as these for clubs, when the attempt was made to carry heaven by storm, as recorded in Grecian mythology. The trees are so high that you must look twice before you can see their tops, and then you must keep on looking before you can comprehend their height. The best way to see them is to lie down and look up, and remember that the spire of New York Trinity Church, which is the highest artificial structure in the United States, towering far above all the rest of the American me- tropolis, though two hundred and eighty-four feet high, would be entirely lost to distant view if set down among these trees." Another grove, the first discovered, is in Calaveras County. One of these trees has fallen to the ground, and may be ridden through by a man on horseback, to the length of seventy-five feet. The stump of another formed the floor upon which was printed for a short 174 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. time a paper called the Big Tree Bulletin^ and it is still used as a platform for dancing or for theatrical performances. Many of these trees have received names. " Uncle Tom's Cabin " was among the earliest christened ; and later, many fantastic appellations have been given others, while many serve as monuments to men of note. Strange does it appear to us, that the State of California, containing so many of these natural won- ders, should have been so long neglected; and that their existence should have remained unknown, or at least unheeded, by the early settlers ; for they were confined to no one portion of the country, but spread broad-cast throughout the land. Beautiful vales, mammoth trees, mountain cascades, boiling springs, and volcanoes of seething steam and mud, casting up jets of water and steam with a noise like thunder or the explosion of a cannon. These volcanoes are found on the Colorado Desert, in the southern part of the State, and are formed of vast areas of mud, through which the steam seethes in great bubbles, or finds its way in sulphurous jets to the open air. Lassen County, in the northern part of the State, contains illustrations of volcanic action even more wonderful. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 175 Another exhibition of the force of internal heat is found at the Geysers, in Sonoma County. These springs, of which there are hot and cokl within a few feet of each other, are said to possess valuable medici- nal qualities, as various as their hues and odors. These wonderful springs are situated in a canon or chasm of the mountains seventeen hundred feet above the level of the sea. Hundreds of other points of attraction are situated within the limits of California. There are masses of rocks so like the ruins of old cities that thousands of dollars were expended in excavations that it was hoped would reveal wealth equal to that of Pompeii. There are lakes of borax and sulphur lying thousands of feet above the level of the sea ; caves hung with crystals, and many of them strewn with the bones of men interred within them ages ago. Cataracts there are of matchless beauty, breaking the smooth flow of rivers once pure as crystal, now turbid with the washings of ores that for ages lay unsuspected within their depths. Mountains there are, from whose summits, covered and almost lost in clouds, may be seen the smiling vales, the crystal lakes, the seething springs, tlie jagged seams of quartz, the thousand sources of beauty and wealth which Nature has given to the State of Califor- nia. 176 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER XVIII. The first Quartz Mill erected.— Other Improvements in Mining.— Scheming Politicians.— Scenes in San Francisco.— The Vigi- lance Committee established.— Land Claims. Almost with regret we turn from the natural beauties of the State to chronicle again the deeds of those who have thus far made its history. After the Indian wars, in which, as we have said before, so much was done towards the exploration of the land, the attention of the settlers was once more centered upon the development of its mineral wealth. In 1851, the first quartz mill was erected, for the purpose of crushing the solid rock, and separating from it the gold it contained. At first, though much capital was expended, the attempt was unsuccessful ; and it was feared that the prosperity of California would cease with the exhaustion of the placer mines. Many of these were worked with increased profit by the introduction of the hydraulic hose by Edward E. Matheson, a native of Connecticut. By this means many placer deposits were worked and otherwise unobtainable gold secured. Hundreds of miles of niSTOIlY OF CALIFORNIA. 177 ditches were constructed, and water was carried almost to the mountain tops for the purpose of working the deep placer deposits by the hydraulic process. In 1855, the hitherto unsuccessful scheme of work- ing quartz was again attempted at Allison's ranch, near Grass Valley, where white quartz of great riches was discovered. This trial proving remunerative, several other mills were erected, those which had been built some years before began work in earnest, and a new era of mining dawned. Wealth still continued to pour down from the moun- tains in a resistless tide to the sea-port, where congre- gated an ever-increasing throng of adventurers. Most prominent among these were reckless politi- cians, who, discarded from their own States, attem^Dted to rule in California. As early as 1850 their unwarrantable proceedings had induced the citizens of San Francisco to assemble en masse, and protest against them. A committee of five hundred was at last appointed to present to the Mayor and Common Council of the city the will of the people ; and to advise or compel them to decrease the exorbitant salaries they had voted themselves ; but their proceedings were arrested by the third great fire which had visited the city within the year, and which 12 178 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. within a single night destroyed almost the entire business section, and reduced hundreds from wealth to penury. This calamity for a short time diverted the atten- tion of San Franciscans from public affairs, and theft and fraud ran riot. The rapid influx of immigrants, of which thirty-six thousand are estimated to have entered San Francisco in this single year ; the loose state of public morals and of government — rendered San Francisco a perfect pandemonium. The sun rose upon vessels from every port discharging their cargoes of miscellaneous wares and of people. All day it beheld the masses of hu- manity crowding the long wharves, filling the streets, struggling, battling, drinking, and gambling wildly ; looking with unpitying eyes on a corpse covered with blood, joking with the murderer, or hurrying him with frantic execrations to the jail. And at night the scene was scarcely less strange. Men wandered up and down the sand hills, eagerly seeking shelter; or gathered in the brilliantly lighted saloons, or, perhaps beggered and forlorn, lay apart thinking of home or breathing out their last sighs unheeded. This was the daily and nightly life of San Francis- co and of the distant mining camps. Still, withal HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 170 there was some good in California ; her treasures were not all squandered in vice. Among so many, it would have been strange if no men of wisdom and worth could be found. There were a few ; and these became the saviors of San Francisco. Early in 1851 the glaring abuses of the city govern- ment again attracted attention ; and not even the ex- citement occasioned by rumors of discoveries of great value at " Gold Bluffs " and elsewhere could turn the public from their local duties. Robberies and murders were far too frequent, and too openly winked at by those in authority, to admit of longer delay. Over five thousand people collected around the City Hall, declaring that murder should no longer go un- punished. For thirty-six hours the excitement con- tinued, and the mob continually increased in numbers* A jury was impaneled, and several men were arrest- ed, tried, and sentenced to be hanged. They were, however, suffered to escape. Two or three months later, the Vigilance Committee again took the power into their own hands. Daily murders, robberies, and incendiarisms they considered demanded their interference with the slow and lenient process of the law. 180 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. Nearly the entire number of respectable men in San Francisco were members of this committee. They have been universally declared public benefactors. So far from being an undisciplined mob thirsting for blood, they were a regularly organized band, and con- ducted their proceedings with a most wonderful de- gree of moderation. The first man executed by them was a hardened criminal named Jenkins ; the next, an escaped convict named Stewart ; and the two others who suffered at that time were of similar character. To show the laxity of government during this time, it is only necessary to say that nowhere was justice administered by the appointed authorities. Lynch- law prevailed throughout the State. In every mining camp were Vigilance Committees. Miners revenged the deaths of their comrades, who were shot or stabbed on the slightest provocation or in drunken affrays, by hanorinor the murderers to the nearest tree. The un- popular gambler, the stealer of gold-dust, and the in- cendiary were awarded the same fate. Necessary as were these extreme measures, they were no less terri- ble ; and contributed greatly to swell the list of those deeds of blood which have made this portion of the history of California almost odious. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 181 In the city of Sacramento and other towns many troubles arose from the disputes between new settlers, called squatters, and those who had received grants of land from the Mexican government — the former refusing to acknowledge the validity of Mexican titles, and the latter to renounce them. In August, 1850, serious riots occurred at Sacramento ; John A. Sutter claiming the site, it having been his fort, " New Helvetia," and the squatters refusing to leave the land or pay for it. The courts decided in favor of Sutter's claims ; but the squatters armed themselves and maintained their ground, and in the struggles that succeeded a num- ber of persons were killed and wounded. These disputed titles have ever been a source of litigation in the towns of California. Cabins were built upon land unvalued and unclaimed by the. orig- inal possessors, until the rapid growth of the town made it of consideration, when suddenly the title of its occupant would be disputed, often by four or five parties in succession. 182 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER XIX. Filibusterism.— Walker.— Improvements in SanPrancisco.— Murder of James King of William.— Second Reign of the Vigilance Committee. In 1853 a fresh cause for excitement found its way from the Atlantic States, and spread like wildfire along the Pacific slope. A project which had been set afloat by certain pol- iticians, for the annexation of a portion of Mexico to the United States, found among the reckless adven- turers in California many earnest supporters. These, ever craving excitement, needed but a slight pretext to induce them to undertake any daring enterprise. That there were mines in Sonora not owned by the American Government was considered by them suf- ficient reason for making a raid upon Mexican soil, and overthrowing a government of states and provinces. These views were hastily promulgated by William Walker, one of the editors of the San Francisco Herald. This man, whose ambition seemed to be to make himself famous at any cost, was born in Nash- ville, Tennessee, in the year 1824. He was well edu- HISTORY OF CALIFOKNIA. 183 cated, had graduated in medicine both at home and in Paris, had studied law, and had been a journalist; seemingly satisfied with no pursuit until the idea of conquering Sonora entered his mind. In a short time he raised money enough (on scrip which he issued, and which was to be redeemed as soon as the new government was established in Sonora) to fit out a small vessel, which was, however, seized by General Hitchcock, commanding the United States troops, and soon after released by other officials, who were delighted at ridding California, by any means, of the doubtful characters that infested it. Procuring a second vessel, Walker with forty-six companions proceeded to La Paz, in Lower California. This peninsula they declared an independent republic, fought a battle with the natives with no loss to them- selves, and then sailed up the coast to Ensenada, a short distance from the boundary line of California. Tales of the adventures of Walker and his men, proclaiming his success, flew like wildfire from town to town and from camp to camp. Hundreds of ad- venturers, disappointed at the mines and longing for excitement, hastened to join him. Many were rejected, and those who went suffered so severely from hunger, sickness, and other causes, that they relinquished the 184 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. project of conquering Sonora, and surrendered them- selves to the United States troops. The leaders were tried at the United States Dis- trict Court of San Francisco, but escaped by paying a slight fine ; and a few months later Walker was again ready for action, and in the spring of 1855 sailed with sixty or seventy followers to Nicaragua, to assist a revolutionary party. Being successful in his first battles, he appointed himself Dictator of the new republic, and carried measures with a high hand, until an insurrection among the natives, fomented by the Vanderbilt company, took place ; when Walker was forced to surrender, with sixteen of his officers, to the United States authorities. This noted filibuster en-^ joyed but a brief career. Three years later he v/as captured while attempting a raid into Honduras, and shot at Truxillo in 1860. Although some noted desperadoes left California with this man, yet, unfortunately, enough remained to keep society in a constant state of ferment in 1856, and by their deeds of murder and crime called into action again the powers of the Vilgilance Committee, which for five years had lain dormant. These five years had produced a great change in San Francisco. Many of the surrounding sand hills HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 185 had been leveled, portions of the bay had been filled up, and well-graded streets had taken the place of lanes of mud and filth. Handsome dwellings stood in the place of tents and shanties ; and ladies were often seen, giving an air of refinement to the still rough ex- periences of California life. But, unfortunately, these vast improvements were overshadowed by a certain class of the community, who openly frequented the gilded saloons, where gam- bling, drunkenness, and murder were wantonly and shamelessly carried on. Their reign was one of terror. In the year 1855, five hundred and thirty-eight persons died by their hands. The law was powerless, throttled in the grasp of the basest men, who, by controlling the political con- ventions, procuring false votes and destroying true ones, put many dishonest men in office. Upright citizens beheld these deeds with horror, and one man at last found courage to denounce them. This was James King of William, one of the editors of the Bulletin^ who having failed as a banker during the financial crisis of 1855, gave up to his creditors all his resources, and as a member of the Press set himself to the work of correcting public abuses. 186 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. By exposing them, he rendered himself a favorite with the better class of the community, and odious to the swindlers, thieves, and ballot-stuffers. By one of the latter, whom he had denounced, he was shot, in the most public part of the city. Terrible was the excitement that followed. Know- ing well that no justice could be expected from the court, a large number of the people formed themselves into a Vigilance Committee, and within thirty-six hours after King was shot twenty-five hundred of the best names in the city were enrolled in their books. King lingered six days, and his death was at last an- nounced by the tolling of bells and the appearance of crape on almost every door. Two days later he was buried, and before the mourners returned from the cemetery his murder was avenged — James P. Casey, and one Cora, of the same ilk, hanged side by side. Having once taken justice into their own hands, the Vigilance Committee determined on an entire reforma- tion of the depraved government. They arrested and confined at their headquarters several desperadoes. One of these, named " Yankee Sullivan," committed suicide, and two others were hanged. For three months the Vigilance Committee ruled the city, preserving order, and striking terror to evil- HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 187 doers. Two weeks after its organization, it was called upon by Governor Johnson to disband. San Francis- co was declared in a state of insurrection, and all men liable to military duty were called upon to report to Major-General William T. Sherman. The Committee still continued to act, and assumed many doubtful powers in appropriating to themselves army and navy stores ; and made decided resistance to the State authorities. Yet, withal, they acted with great moderation, and after banishing a number of the most prominent ruffians, quietly disbanded. Perhaps in no other place could an organization of the people — masses of men controlled by no laws, save the few rules hastily adopted by themselves without much consideration or care — have carried on for so Ions: a time so difficult a work with moderation and justice. True, all good influences obtaining in the place were brought to bear upon them. All the Pro- testant clergy save one approved the measures taken, and it was but in few cases that disapprobation was shown by respectable citizens. Even the Government, after the restoration of the State arms, said little about the matter ; and troubled only by a few suits brought against them by aggrieved parties, the Committee was left in peace to enjoy the reform they had wrought. 188 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER XX. Establishment of Schools and Churches.— Benevolent Societies. — Evidences of "Wealth.— Political Troubles.— Noted Duels.— The Loyalty of California. Strange does it seem, that while society throughout the State was ripening for the rule of Vigilance Com- mittees, schools and churches were everywhere spring- ing up. The former were not in great numbers, for children were scarce, few families having, even as late as 1856, settled permanently in California. There were, however, at that time in San Francisco church- es of all denominations — the proofs of the successful labors of the itinerant preachers whose voices, years before, rang in the streets in competition with the songs of the drunkard and the click of dice. Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and Buddhists had their temples within this cosmopolitan city ; and, better still, followed the precepts of their various forms of re- ligion by establishing societies for the relief of their poor and oppressed. Among the first and most noted of these was the Society of the California Pioneers, which was com- HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 189 posed of the earliest settlers, and devoted to the bene- fit of their descendants. Lodges of Free Masons and Odd Fellows were soon scattered throughout the coun- try, and these, with Bible societies and other Christian associations, and the Protestant and Catholic Orphan Asylums, early provided for indigent Christians ; while Jews maintained benevolent societies, and even the Chinese provided means for the support of their sick and the transportation of their dead to the land of their birth. Gradually the mad excitement of 1849 and 1850 gave way to better things. This was shown not only in the erection of churches and schools, and the estab- lishment of benevolent societies, but by the better class of public amusements which were introduced. First of all, a few concerts were given, and these being well attended, theatrical representations soon followed. Gambling, though openly continued, lost ground in the attractions of many excellent artistes^ and in 1853 a very handsome theater was erected in San Francisco ; and the drama took the place of de- praved amusements. Ten years from the date of the first discovery of gold, California exhibited many evidences of culture and refinement. The constant stream of wealth flow- 190 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. ing from her soil called hither the luxuries of the world, and induced her citizens to emulate their eastern rivals in sumptuous living. New-comers were astonished at the progress of civilization on the once barren coast. Not only was it shown in the growth of cities and towns, but in the hundreds of well-stocked farms that lay in the valleys, annually producing food enough to support the population of the State, and all the fruits of both tropical and temperate climes. The manu- facture of wines became an important branch of in- dustry in California, and many choice varieties are now exported. Mills for the manufacture of woolen goods have long been in successful operation ; while both silk and cotton are produced and woven with profit. The commercial career of California has ever been marked with most signal success. Unfortunately, po- litical troubles for many years lay heavily upon her ; though many good men attempted to battle with the gamesters and adventurers who ran for office and electioneered for votes. By these, life was held to be of little consequence, and duels were often the sequels of discussion. In 1859, one of the most notable duels on record took place. The combatants were Chief Justice Terry of HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 191 the Supreme Court, who had figured conspicuously in the doings of the Vigilance Committee three years before, and the Hon. David C. Broderick, who had for many years occupied a prominent place among the politicians of California. The latter was killed ; and a handsome monument has been erected to his honor at Lone Mountain, the principal cemetery of San Francisco. This deed created much attention and animadversion, and only one political duel has succeeded it ; and at present, for no reason is this horrible practice consid- ered admissible. In 1860 took place the most important political con- test in which California ever participated. The Democrats, who had long held the field, were beaten by the Eepublicans, and Abraham Lincoln received a plurality over Douglas and Breckenrldge, plainly dis- closing the fact, that though Southerners had long controlled the politics of California, they had not subverted the loyal hearts of her people. Triumphantly this was proven a few months later, when the cry "To arms 'gainst traitors," echoed like thunder from East to West. California's best men responded to the cry, and the names of Sherman and Halleck are enough to prove her loyalty, and the deeds of her regiments bravely seconded it. 192 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. Yet, at first, many fears were entertained that the " Golden State " would go with the Confederacy. Al- bert Sydney Johnson was her military commander, and his tendencies were toward secession. Early in 1861, he was relieved from duty, and immediately joined the Southern cause, as did many other public men. Notwithstanding this, the people were true, and during the four years of war contributed nobly, in men and money, to the national cause. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 193 CHAPTER XXI. The New Almaden.— The Mining Excitement of 1803.— The Silver Wines of Nevada.— Mining Speculation and its Effects.— Dis- covery of the Big Bonanza. — Decline in Mining. In the first year of the war dawned a new era in mining. Silver, copper, and coal divided attention with gold and quicksilver; ricli mines of the latter have long been successfully worked, that of the New Almaden being the most noted. For some years the workinjT^ of gold mines had been attended with such vast expense that its profits had sensibly declined. Hence the discoveries made of other ores produced a mania for speculation never equaled, even during the early years of gold-raining, when the slightest rumor caused men to wander hundreds of miles over moun- tain trails or sodden river-banks. In 1863, prospectors scoured the State, sending glow- ing accounts of their discoveries to the cities, and inducing thousands of credulous persons to invest their all in stocks which in the majority of cases never yielded an iota of profit to the luckless possessor. At that time the silver mines of Nevada attracted 13 194 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. great attention and absorbed much Californian capital. Idaho and Oregon, too, received a part. Yet, perhaps none was lost ; as all the treasure they produced passed through California, slightly increasing the amount of her exports over that of many preceding years, forty- six million, seventy-one thousand, nine hundred and twenty dollars' worth of treasure being shipped — al- most equaling the amount produced in the early and flush days of mining. The development of vein or lode mining, more es- pecially on the Comstock in Nevada, inaugurated an era of speculation in mining properties which central- ized in San Francisco. Stock boards were organized there, and mining shares systematically bought and sold. All classes in the community indulged in this mining speculation, which enabled some j^ersons to ac- cumulate colossal fortunes, while a great many were hopelessly ruined. Every new discovery of ore in the raining districts tributary to San Francisco gave new life to this spirit of stock-gambling. The discovery of an immense body of rich ore in the California and Consolidated mines on the Comstock Lode, in 1874, gave it an extraordinary impetus. This great ore body was pojmlarly called the " big bonanza " ; and the four men who owned the majority of the shares HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. l'.)5 represented in these two mines at the time of the dis- covery received the name of the "Bonanza firm.*' This firm consisted of James C. Flood, AVilliam S. O'Brien, J. W. Mackay, and J. G. Fair. The " big bonanza " made these fortunate men immensely wealthy. Flood and O'Brien soon afterward estab- lished the Bank of Nevada, in San Francisco, with a paid-up capital of ^10,000,000, which was at the time the largest amount of capital invested in any one bank in the United States. Speculation in mining stocks reached the climax in 1875, with the failure of the Bank of California, on August 25th of that year, and the death of its Presi- dent, William C. Ralston. The rapid decline in the yield of the mines on the Comstock Lode reduced the prices of mining shares to a nominal figure, and stock- gambling was practically at an end. Those persons who had capital sought other investments. Manufac- tures and other industries multiplied. More attention was given to the development of the agricultural re- sources of the State. The area of soil under cultiva- tion was increased. Co-operative colonies were estab- lished in the central and southern counties. The fame of some of these co-operative colonics has extended far and wide, owing to the rapidity of their growth and 196 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. the wonderful character of their horticultural products. New vineyards were planted. Wine-making was de- veloped. Fruit raising and canning grew into impor- tant industries. Raisin-making was introduced and made splendid progress. The great plains, Avhich gave pasturage only to droves of Spanish cattle during the earlier years of the State's history, were converted into wheat fields. Commerce with other countries was en- larged, and an era of great and enduring prosperity was opened. HISTORY OP CALIFORNIA. 197 CHAPTER XXII. steamship Lines to China and other Countries. - Transconti- nental Railroads. -The Chinese Question. -The Hoodlum Riots. -The Pick-handle Brigade.-The Kearney Anti-Chinese Agita- tion.-The Saud Lot.-Unsuccessful Efforts to Suppress the Agi- tation. -Kearney's Intluence.-Organization of the Working- men's Party.-Adoption of a New Constitution .-End of the Agitation. On the 1st of January, 1867, the pioneer of a line of steamships owned by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company sailed from San Francisco for Yokohama and Hongkong. Since then another company, known as the Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company, has been employing a similar line of large and swift steam- ers in the same trade. The Pacific Mail Company also maintains a line of steamers between San Francisco and Australia, touching at Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands. In the trade with the latter kingdom, a fleet of sailing vessels is also employed. Lines of fast- sailing packets also carry on commercial intercourse with the islands of the South Pacific. A line of steam- ships running to and from Panama, and one running to and from Guaymas, Mexico, are maintained ; and a 198 HISTORY OP CALIFORNIA. vast fleet of sailing^ and steam vessels is eno^ao-ed in the domestic coast trade, which includes the ports of Ore- gon, Washington Territory, British Columbia, Alaska, the Fur Seal Islands, the codfisheries of the Chouma- gin Islands, and the whale fisheries of the Arctic Ocean. In 1869, the Central Pacific and Union Pacific rail- roads were finished, and California enjoyed transcon- tinental communication with the Atlantic seaboard. Since then railroads have been extended through all the great valleys in the State, and from almost the Oregon border to the boundary line of Lower Califor- nia. In the early part of 1883 the Southern Pacific Railroad, which traverses the great Colorado desert, crosses Arizona, passes through New Mexico, and traverses the State of Texas, was completed to New Orleans, and trains now run direct to that place from San Francisco. The establishment of the steamship lines to China and the completion of the Central Pacific Railroad were not unmixed blessings. They brought with them unexpected evils. They were the direct means of a second crusade against the Chinese. The Central Pa- cific Railroad was built largely by Chinese laborers. When that great enterprise was finished, these labor- HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 199 ers sought other occupations. Tliey drifted naturally into the trades, many of which needed a species of cheap labor to give them a foothold, and enable them to compete with the products of tlie Eastern States, with which the railroad had brought them into direct competition. The immigration of Chinese was also maintained and encouraged by the Pacific Mail Steam- ship Company. It soon became excessive. White la- bor began to be crowded to the wall. The trades were practically closed against the rising generation of Californians. Chinese laundries and domestics threat- ened also two of the legitimate occupations of women. The first vigorous protest against the continuance of Chinese Immigration was in the outbreak of what was known as the " Hoodlum riots " in San Francisco, In July, 1877, which culminated in the burning of several laundries and one of the city's wharves. The majority of those engaged In these lawless proceedings were unemployed youths, led and Inspired by vicious and dangerous men. The community was greatly agitated over the outbreak. A sense of Insecurity pervaded it. To suppress the " Hoodlums," a " Citizens' Safety Committee" was organized, having as its leaders some of the men who had fin-ured in the Vio;Ilance Commlt- tee of 1856. Over six thousand persons were enrolled, 200 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. sworn in, and armed with firearms or clubs, as special policemen. The clubs consisted largely of shortened pick-handles, and the corps was popularly dubbed the " Pick-handle Brigade." One of the peculiarities of the " Hoodlum riots " was that nil the acts of lawless- ness were committed under the cover of niglit. The city was consequently districted by the leaders of the Citizens' Safety Committee, and the Pick-handle Brig- ade was detailed in companies to patrol it through the night. These vigorous measures soon restored order and quiet. Shortly after the suppression of the Hoodlum Riots, the anti-Chinese agitation was revived in San Francisco, under the leadership of a drayman named Denis Kearney. Kearney had served in the Pick- handle Brigade. He at once commanded attention as an agitator by the violence of his harangues, which seemed to suit the temper of the unemployed, and to meet the exigencies of the times. Thousands listened to his speeches. He selected as his stamping-ground an unoccupied area in front of the New City Hall. This area became famous as the "Sand Lot." At first, Kearney's " Sand Lot " speeches were directed against life and property. Those who employed Chinese in any capacity were his targets. The raih-oad mana- HISTORY OB^ CALIFORNIA. 201 gers and the Pacific Mail Steamship Company were the principal objects of his tirades. He was fre- quently arrested on charges of disturbing the peace and threats against persons and property. But the arm of justice seemed paralyzed. No jury would convict. Kearney figured in the role of a political martyr, and suddenly became a hero. He wielded absolute power with his followers; they yielded abso- lute submission to his dictum. He paraded the streets at the head of a procession of unemployed men. He invaded the mayor's office, and demanded work for his followers at $1 per day — a demand which was, in the following winter, complied with in a rather unusual way, namely, by the improvement of Golden Gate Park, with a " One-dollar-a-day Fund," organized by the voluntary contributions of generous citizens "for the employment of the unemployed." He broke up all public meetings held in opposition to him. He shaped the movement he had started Into an organized form. He formed a military company, called the Kearney Guards, which elected him a Lieutenant-Gen- eral ! He established ward clubs throughout the city, makino; and unmakinor their officers as it suited his pleasure. With these clubs he created a new polit- ical organization, to which he gave the name of the 202 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. " Workingmen's Party." Its motto was, '' The Chi- nese must go." The party spread over the State. It held a State Convention, with Denis Kearney as its president. It became powerful enough in a brief time to elect a Mayor in San Francisco, and to frame and adopt a new Constitution for the State, in which the suppression of Chinese cheap labor was the leading feature. But it failed to elect a Governor. The anti- Chinese provisions in the new Constitution were broken down by the Federal Courts ; the immigration of Chinese was greatly reduced; and the subject of Chinese restriction was taken up by Congress. There seemed to be no further use for the Workingmen's Party, and it was broken up. Denis Kearney was sent to jail ; he lost his influence, and after his release was compelled to return to his dray. The movement did some good, in so far as it was instrumental in bringing the Chinese-cheap-labor question into promi- nence, but the violent and communistic temper dis- played while it held sway materially retarded the progress of the State. Capitalists became timid and temporarily left; private improvements were discon- tinued ; there was no industrial growth ; and a feeling of feverish uncertainty prevailed. With the destruc- tion by the courts of the communistic principles which HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 203 had found a place in the new Constitution, and the expiration of the Kearney movement, public confi- dence was restored, trade revived, public and private improvements were renewed, and industrial prosperity and political quiet were restored. 204 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER XXIII. Calls to Arms.— The Amador War.— The Modoc War.— Massacre of the Peace Commissioners.— Captain Jack and his Confederates Captured and Hanged. After the Indian troubles of -1858-59, the State had a long era of peace. There was no call to arms until 1871, when a disagreement occurred between the owners of the Amador mine, at Sutter Creek, Amador County, and the Miners' Union. The mine is situated on the Mother Lode, has been always considered one of the most valuable gold quartz mines in the State, and gave employment at that period to a large num- ber of men. Being unable to obtain such redress to their grievances as they deemed just and reasonable, the Union men employed in the mine struck. Then followed a period of unrest in the community; intimida- tion was in the air, and it was deemed necessary that the non-Union men should receive military protection. The militia was consequently ordered to the scene of the strike. The First Regiment of the National Guard, Colonel W. H. L. Barnes commanding, of San Francisco, was for a time quartered at Sutter Creek, HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 205 preserving the peace of the community and protecting the property of the Amador Gold-mining Company. It is very probable that the gravity of the situation was greatly aggravated for stock-jobbing purposes. As a matter of fact, almost all the shares in the mine very soon found their way into the hands of a few persons. These shares had been previously held by a large number of persons, as one of the most reliable securities in the market. After many weeks, satisfac- tory arrangements were made between the mine owners and the Miners' Union, work in the mine was resumed, and the militia was withdrawn. "The Amador War," as it was facetiously called, was over; the troops marched up into the Sierra foothills and back again without firing a shot. The campaign was to the militia men a prolonged picnic. But shortly after the withdrawal of the militia, another rupture occurred between the mine owners and the Union men. This time two men who had figured prominently in these factional disturbances were killed. The shedding of blood brought both sides to their senses. A perma- nent peace was quickly made, and the beautiful foot- hill town of Sutter Creek was no more disturbed. The year 1873 witnessed another Indian, war. The scene was on the Oregon border, about fifty-three miles northeast of Yreka, Siskiyou County, and the 206 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. tribe engaged was known as Modocs. They were led by a chief known to the whites by the sobriquet of " Captain Jack," a renegade Link River Indian. The tribe seems to have been made up of renegades. Schon- chin John, Curly-head Doctor, Bogus Charley, Boston Charley, Hooker Jim, Scar-face Charley, Shacknasty Jim, Steamboat Frank, Rock Dave, Big Joe, and Curly Jack were names of some of the blood-thirsty villains then most influential in the tribe. They occu- pied a place on the Oregon and California border, known as the Lava Beds, owing to its volcanic origin. This desolate, rocky, and cavernous region was a nat- ural stronghold, and in it they intrenched. The Mo- docs claimed to have a grievance against the whites dating as far back as 1852, when Captain Ben Wright gathered the warriors of the tribe together, under the j^retense of holding a peace conference, and then mas- sacred them in cold blood. There were reservation disputes and other grievances against the United States Government, which were employed by Captain Jack and his associates as excuses for committing cold- blooded murders and depredations on the property of white settlers by the wholesale. It became necessary, in the beginning of 1873, to commence a war of retri- bution a«jainst these Modocs. The first enorajrement was held on the 17th of January, 1873. On that day HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 207 four hundred men, consisting of California and Oregon volunteers, and regulars of the United States Army, commanded by General Frank Wlicaton, entered tlie Lava Beds to storm the Modoc stronghold. They were opposed by fifty-three Modocs, according to one of the best authorities on the subject. Thirty-five re«2:ulars and volunteers fell in that eno^accement, but not a Modoc was slain or wounded. Subsequently, a Peace Commission was appointed by the authorities at Washington, which consisted of General Canby, Rev. Eleazer Thomas, D. D., a Methodist minister, and A. B. Meacham. The first-named two were treacherous- ly murdered by Captain Jack and other leading Mo- docs, and Mr. Meacham was left on the field for dead. He however subsequently recovered. For several months the Modocs carried on the war successfully, but it was finall}^ brought to a close by General Jef- ferson C. Davis, in May, 1873. Captain Jack, Schon- chin. Black Jim, and Boston Charley were hanged for their crimes at Fort Klamath, October 3, 1873. Barncho and Slo-lux were consigned to Fort Alcatraz for life, and the rest of the tribe, consisting of thirty- nine men, fifty-four women, and sixty children, were taken to Quaw Paw Agency, Indian Territory. Thus ended one of the most extraordinary Indian campaigns in the history of the country. 208 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER XXIV. Development of Wheat-growing.— Wlieat Exports.— Scenes in tlie Valleys and on the Rivers.— Present Insignificance of Mining.— Hydraulic Mining.— Effects on Valley Farms.— " Slickens."— Litigation. For many years after the discovery of gold, very little attention was given to agricultural pursuits in California. All of those who flocked to the State in those days were gold-hunters. No one had the time, if the inclination, to experiment in the cultiva- tion of the soil. In fact, there were very few persons, if any, who really believed then that the soil was capable of yielding profitable returns to the farmer. Stock-raising was practically the only pastoral pur- suit engaged in. And yet in the brief period of thir- ty years California developed into one of the most important wheat-growing regions in the world. The earliest exports of wheat took place in the year 1855, when a total of eighty-two thousand four hundred and thirteen bags was shipped from San Francisco. Near- ly one-half of it was shipped to New York. On December 2, 1860, the ship Winged Arrow took a cargo of wheat and flour to England. Since that HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 209 time the cultivation of wheat has been carried to so great an extent, that in the harvest year of 1881-82, 1,239,000 tons of wheat were sent out of the State, 659 vessels being employed in carrying it. This progress has not been uninterrupted. Seasons of drought, which have been, however, infrequent, have caused, in some years, short crops. But even then imperfect tillage had much to do with the failure of a harvest. It was the practice of the early California farmer to merely skim the surface of the rich soil with his gang-plows, scatter his seed broadcast, and imper- fectly harrow it. Even this was not done until the rainy season had well set in. If the rainfall was abundant, he harvested a large crop ; if light, he got none at all, the grain withering before it headed out. In later years, the soil has been more carefully cultivat- ed, and the California farmer looks forward each year with as absolute a certainty of harvesting a crop as does the farmer of the Eastern States. At the close of the harvest each year, it is an interesting sight to the traveler through the great wheat-growing valleys to behold the long rows of sacked wheat stacked alongside the railroad track at every station he passes ; while long trains laden w^th wheat are constantly seen moving toward the bay of San Francisco. x\nd on the waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin 14 210 HISTOKY OF CALIFORNIA. rivers, moving in the same direction, may be seen flotillas of wheat barges, towed by odd-looking stern- wheel steamers, which are likewise loaded down to their guards with grain. On the shores of the bay — at Benicia, Port Costa, Vallejo, Oakland, and San Francisco — deep-water ships are moored at all sea- sons of the year, taking wheat cargoes on board. Mining has dwindled into comparative insignificance. The total yield of the gold mines of California has of late years been under $20,000,000 per annum. Most of this is extracted from the auriferous gravel deposits of the Sierra, by the process of hydraulic mining — a process of gravel mining which has almost altogether substituted the old form of sluicino^ and drift mining. In hydraulic mining, immense bodies of water are used under great pressure to break down and wash off the deep gravel beds containing the precious metal. The water is conducted to the mines in long canals and flumes, from natural and artificial reservoirs in the heart of the Sierra. From these canals it is distrib- uted through the mines in great pipes, like the large water mains of a city. At the end of the pipe-line is a machine called a " monitor," resembling a large can- non, which moves on a socket-joint, and from the small end of which the water emerges like a solid shaft of phininnr pilver. Directed a^rainst a bank a hundred HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 211 yards off, this shaft of water will toss about immense bowlders as if they were so many pebbles. Perhaps a better idea of the capacity of these monitors may be obtained when it is said that six of them discharge a larger volume of water than it takes to supply the wants of the great city of London. And many of the larger hydraulic mines employ that number of moni- tors during that season of the year when water is most abundant. Hydraulic mining has been a source of great profit to those engaged in it. But the enormous quantity of earth swept into the river-beds from the hydraulic mines has been the cause of much damage to the farm- ers occupying the rich valley bottoms, owing to the de- posit of a great depth of unproductive sediment during periods of high flood. To this sediment has been giv- en the peculiar name of " slickens," which from the very sound is remarkably suggestive of its true charac- ter. Litigation, naturally enough, grew out of this unexpected and summary interference with the farmers' occupation. Lawsuits have been going on for many years between the valley farmers and the hydraulic miners, in which the former have been seeking com- pensation for the damage done to their farms, and the prevention of any further damage by the legal stop- page of the hydraulic system of mining. 212 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. CHAPTER XXV. Agricultural Progress. — Wiue-making. — Semi-tropical Fruit Cul- ture.— Earthquakes. — Prospects. — Industrial Development.— Settlement. — Tourists.— Climate. — Commerce. With the decadence of gold-mining, the cultivation of the soil progressed. In these later years, California has become best known as an agricultural State. The wheat crop of 1880 was worth over $50,000,000. Grape-growing, in the manufacture of wine and raisins, has developed into an imj^ortant industry. The an- nual vintage is nearly ten million gallons. New vine- yards are constantly springing into existence all over the State, for there are but few counties which are ap- parently unadapted to grape culture. The wines of California were at first considered inferior to imported wines. But experience in the culture of the vine, the importation of the best varieties of grape-vines from abroad, and the knowledge wrought of experience in the manufacture of wine have raised the standard, until it is now no uncommon thing to find California wines selling under the labels of the choicest of foreign products. HISTORY OJ' CALIFORNIA. 21^ Grape-growing dates back as far as the settlement of the missions by the Franciscan Fathers. So also does oranore culture. But neither of these industries made any material progress before 1870. Now, orange, lemon, and lime culture, like the cultivation of the vine, has been developed into a very profitable indus- try. Oranges form one of the chief products of Los Angeles County. There are several very flourishing settlements in the southern counties, where orange cul- ture is almost the sole occupation of the inhabitants. The cultivation of the olive is another industry begun by the founders of the missions, the first olive orchard being planted by them at San Diego, where it still flourishes adjacent to the crumbling ruins of the old Mission Church. The climate of the State is general- ly favorable to the cultivation of fruits such as belong to the semi-tropical and temperate zones. The seasons are practically divided into the rainy and dry, the former beginning ordinarily in Novem- ber and ending in April. Along the coast snow sel- dom falls, excepting on the summits of the Coast Ranges. But in the Sierra a heavy fall of snow usual- ly occurs every winter. On the 31st of December, 1882, an extraordinary snow-storm occurred all along the coast. At San Francisco tliere was over three 1214 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. inches of snow on the ground, something previously unknown in its history. But it lasted only one day, not a vestige of it remaining to be seen next morning. Most of those who had been born in the State had never before seen snow, and the unusual pastime of snow-balling was freely indulged in by all classes and both sexes in the public streets. The orange groves of the southern counties presented an extraordinary spectacle, the snow covering their deep green foliage. Frosts in the greater part of the State are rare and light. During the dry season the prevailing winds are from the west. Coming from the ocean, they temper the heat of the day and make the nights pleasantly cool. Along the coast fogs are prevalent during the summer season, coming in shore late in the afternoon, and dissipating with the rising of the sun next morning. At one time in the history of California earth- quakes were considered one of the startling phenom- ena of nature common to it. Such can scarcely be said any longer. The most severe earthquake ever experienced in San Francisco was in October, 1868, when several buildings, erected on insecure founda- tions, were shattered. In 1872 many of the adobe structures of the towns of Cerro Gordo, Independence, HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 215 and Lone Pine were destroyed, and some persons killed and injured, by an earthquake which occurred in the dead of night. Since then, what earthquakes have occurred have been light and infrequent. They have long ago ceased to excite any sense of insecurity among the inhabitants of the State. The prospects of California may be said to be unusually bright. It has enjoyed years of quiet and prosperity. Its railroad system is every year opening up new fields of wealth and industry. Set- tlers are flocking to it from abroad and taking up its vacant lands. Visitors swarm to it during the win- ter for health and recreation, and to avoid the vigor- ous climate of the East. The magnificent scenery of the Sierra, the gorgeousness of the State's semi-tropi- cal fruits and vegetation, the beauty of its water- ing-places, and the delightfulness of its genial climate are becoming more attractive to the tourists as they are becoming better known. Its industrial wealth is undergoing rapid development. Each year witnesses the establishment of some new industry, either in the cultivation of the soil or in the mechanical arts. It enjoys a vast and growing trade with China, Japan, British Columbia, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Mexico, Central and South America, the 210 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. islands of the South Pacific Ocean, Great Britain, and the Eastern States. The extension of the Southern Pacific Railroad through the Territories of Arizona and New Mexico, and the building of a system of railroads through the northern states of Mexico, has opened new markets and materially stimulated its commerce. The next generation will no doubt wit- ness a more wonderful industrial development in it than that which has been witnessed by the generation which is now passing away. THE END. IVew and Popular Books. ASfKRICil.N POlrlTICS.-Froin ilio lictrinning of the U. S. Covcrnaont to date. A cumplete llISTOliV ol ihe I'OLlj ICAL I'AIITIES, so presented that they laeo viuh oihir 7.00. COMMEItCIAI^ ntECEOESrTS.-Containing 1,300 questions, replies and decisions, pertaining to eyery-day matters of business, ^yhich cannot fail to be of the ^'rcatcst use to me .Merchant, I5anker, Manufacturer and to every man, Avhat- ey r his occupation may be. It is a safe and useful guide for dail3' reference, admirably meeting a ^vant felt by thousands of business men. 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Highly endorsed by the Eastern Press, and herewith see Notices of our Papers: Alta Califomia. Many works of many natures have been written about our late civil war, but none, we believe, w.ll be more popular or be more generally read than " Bullet and Shell." It is a well-told slory of an actual fighter. The reader cannot lail to be at once in- terested. Post. We doubt if there has been published a more eutertuining book on the war than this one. It is as engaging as a novel, as brightas romance. The style is crisp and graphic. Examinei'. "Bullet and Shell " is among the most entertaining contributions to the history of the late war. The incidents read as though they had been written on a drum-head in the held of battle. Bulletin. To the lovers of war stories it will be extremely fascinating. The volume is full of short anecdotes of soldiei's' experiences and graphic descriptions of the "pomp and circumstance " of war. Record- Onion. It is a connected story ofthe ventures of a soldier during the late war, which details in a narrative f jrm many of the minor incidents of camp and soldier life, which is so interestingin social recital, but doesnotappcarin tlie gcnurul history of such conflicts. Argonaut. " Bullet and Shell " is one of the most striking books descriptive of army life that has been published. It is excellently illustrated by spiritcu etchings from the hand of Edwin Forbes, a member of the French Etching Club, who was present at many of the battles described in the volume. Mr. Williams has a singularly vivid manner in describing the exciting and terrible scenes of battle, siege, and march. Chronicle. It combines the features of a strong and accurate description and of personal ad- venture, which l»^nd3 great interest to the story and makes it as readable as a novel. Inierspe'sed w;ih the record of battle and march arc many little anecdotes, pa'hctic and humorous, which prove that there was a strong fraternal tecling between North and .South, in spite of the bitter hostility. The book is lavishly illustrated. News Letter. Throughout the pages of his book Mr. Williams lias preserved a vigorously vivid style, and the stirring panorama of the soldier's life, as it passes betrire the reader's 63 e, never becomes wearisome or monotonous. San Jose Mercurif. For the first time we are permitted to look into'the camps of twenty years ago and get an inside view of war as ihe soldiers saw it. A. ROMAN. GENERAL AGENT FOR THE PACIFIC COAST, 120 Sutter Street, (up stairs,) Agents Wanted. san francisco, cal. ''^-M^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 017 064 071 81 ':!^;«':p;-^-i;li iiiliiii )'\A^ 'ifvJ'Ujfni^' s.y .r*'/