m
J^.^^5^^^z&^
THREE YEiARS
CALIFORNIA,
llEV. WALTER COLTON, U. S. N.
LATE ALCALDE OF MONTEREY ; AUTHOR OF " DECK AND PORT,'
ETC., ETC.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY A. S. BARNES & CO.
NO. 51 JOHN-STREET.
CINCINNATI:— H. W. DERBY & CO.
1850. .
Of*'
^
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year Eighteen Hundred and fifty,
Bv A. S. BARNES & COMPANY,
111 the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern
District of New York.
Stxrxottpxd dt
RICHARD C. VALENTINE.
N»w York.
F. C. GtJTlERREZ, Primer,
No. SI John-ilreel, comer of Dutch,
GEN. MARIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO,
ONE OF CALIFORNIA S DISTINGUISHED SONS,
TUE INTERESTS OF FREEDOM, HUMANITY, AND EDUCATION
HAVE FO0ND AN ABLE ADVOCATE AND MUNIFICENT BENEFACTOR,
iaiji© llolumc
IS HOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY HIS FRIEND
THE AUTHOR.
Grt /< o c a
PREFACE.
Many events of moment occurred in California during my
residence of three years in that country, and which were sketched
in a journal kept by me at the time. They are interspersed with
anecdotes and incidents of a less general concern, but which
may not be without some interest with the reader, as affording a
clue to the leading features of society, and traits of individual
character. The circle of engaging objects in a community, just
emerging into the refinements of civilization, is never broad ;
but every phase in the great change going on possesses an in-
tense individuality, and leaves its ineffaceable impression, like a
ship sweeping a solitary sea, or a bird scaling a sunset cloud.
California will be no more what she has been : the events of a
few years have carried her through the progressive changes of a
century. She has sprung at once from the shackles of colonial
servitude to all the advantages and dignities of a sovereign
state.
Her emigrants are rusliing from every continent and isle ; they
crest every mountain, they cover every sea ; they sweep in like
a cloud from the Pacific, they roll down like a torrent from the
slopes of the Sierra Nevada. They crowd to her bosom to
gather gold ; their hammers and drills, their mattocks and spades
divert the deep stream, and are echoed from a thousand caverned
hills ; the level plain, the soaring cliff and wombed mountain,
give up their glowing treasures. But the gifts of nature here
are not confined to her sparkling sands and veined rocks, they
extend to the productive forces of her soil ; they lie along her
water-courses, through her verdant valleys, and wave in her
golden grain ; tliey reel in her vintage, they blush in her fruits,
while her soft zephyrs, as they float the landscape, scatter per-
fume from their odorous wings.
But with all these gifts disease is here with its pale victuns,
and sorrow with its willovz-wove shrine. There is no hind Ic&s
1*
6 PREFACE.
relieved by the smiles and soothing cares of woman. If Eilen
witli its ambrosial fruits and <fuiltless joys was still sad till the
voice of woman mingled witli its melodies, California, with all
her treasured hills and streams, must be cheerless till she feels
the presence of the same enchantress. It is woman alone that
can make a home for the human heart, and evoke from the re-
cesses of nature the bright and beautiful : where her footsteps
light, the freshest flowers spring; where her voice swells, the
softest echoes wake : her smiles garland the domestic hearth ;
her sympathy melts through the deepest folds of grief; her love
clothes the earth with liglit. When night invests the heaven,
when the soft pleiads in their storm-rocked cradle sleep, and the
sentinel stars on tlieir watch-towers wane dim, her vigil flame
still pours its faithful beam, still struggles with the encroaching
darkness till tiie day-spring and the siiadows flee away. Of all
these sources of solace and hope multitudes in California are
now bereft; but the ties of kindred, the quick-winged ship, and
the steed of flame, on his iron-paved track, will soon secure them
these priceless gifts. The miner, returning from his toil, will j^et
half forget the labors of the day in tiie greetings of his home:
'• At Icnirtti liis lonely cot appears in view,
lieneath the shelter of an aged tree ;
« Til' expectant tcee tliing-s, toJdlin', stacher thro'
To meet Uieir dad, wi' flichterln noise an' glee.
His wee bit in^le, blinkin' bonnily,
His clean hearth-stane, his thriflie xcife's smile,
The lisping infant prattling on his knee,
Does a' his weary corking cares beguile,
An' makes him quite furgct his labor an' his toil."
PuiLADiLniiA, July, leSO. W. C.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER r.— The flag.— Meeting of citizens.— Disposition of forces.— CoL
Fremont's band. — Alcalde of Monterey. — Indian mother. — Military leaders. —
A California fai-m 13
CHAPTER II. — Fecundity of the Califomians. — First intelligence of the war. —
Wild Indians on board ship. — The chief. — First newspaper published in Cali-
fornia. — Raising the materials. — The rival suitors.— Flight of Gen. Castro«-
A Californian on horseback J 27
CHAPTER HI. — A thief obeying orders. — Game. — No penitentiary system. —
The California cart on a gala-day. — The runaway daughter. — Faith of the In-
dians. — Return from the war. — First trial by jury. — Indian and his squaw on
the hunt.— Whales in the bay. — The two gamblei-s. — Ladies on horseback. —
MeiTiment in death. — The Englishman and his mistress 39
CHAPTER IV.— Funeral ceremonies.— Elected alcalde.— Flight of Gen. Cas-
tro. — Los Angeles taken. — Oven-bath. — Grog in a chimney. — The flea. — First
rain. — Rising of the Califomians. — Measures of Com. Stockton. — Mormons . 54
CHAPTER V. — Fire on the mountains. — Emigi-ants. — Pistols and pillows. —
Leaders of the insurrection. — California plough. — Defeat at San Pedro. — Col.
Fremont's band. — The Malek Adhel. — Monterey threatened. — Soldier out-
witted. — Raising men. — Bridegroom. — Culprits 72
CHAPTER VI.— Santa Barbara taken.— Lieut. Talbot and his ten.— Gambling
in prison. — Recruits. — A funny culprit. — Movements of Com. Stockton. —
Beauty and the grave. — Battle on the Salinas. — The captain's daughter. —
Stolen pistols. — Indian behind a tree. — Nuptials in California 89
CHAPTER VII.— San Josi^ gai-risoned.— A California rain.— Escape of convicts.
—Shooting Edwards.— Two washerwomen.— Death of Mr. Sargent.— Indian
hens.— Hunting curlew.— The California horse.— An old emigrant.— The
grizzly bear 106
CHAPTER VIII.— Little Adelaida.— Col. Fremont's battalion.— Santiago in love.
—Sentiments of an old Californian.— The prize Julia.— Fandango.— Winter
climate —Patron Saint of California.— Habits of the natives.— Insuirection
in the north. — Drama in a church.— Position of Com. Stockton 121
8 CONTENTS.
Page
CHAPTER IX.— Dny of the Santos Innocentes.— Letting off a lake.— Arrival
of tlie Dale with home letters.— The dea<l year.— Kewly-arrived emigrants.—
FjrK-brenkini< festivities.— Concealment of Chaves. — Plot to capture the al-
CJildc ^34
CHAPTER X— Destruction of dogs.— The wnsh-tub mail.— The surrender in
the north.- Rdhhing the Californians. — Death-scene in a shanty. — The men
whotiMik up arms.- -Arrival of the Independence. — Destitutionof our troops.
— Capture of los Angeles H9
CHAPTER XI.— -Arrival of the Lexington.— The march to los Angeles, and
battle of San Gabriel. — ^The capitulation.— Mihtary characteristics of the Cali-
fornians. — Biu-ricades down 163
CILAPTER Xn.- Return of T. O. Larkin.— The tall partner in the Califomian.
— Mexican officers.— Tlie Cyane. — War mementoes. — Drama of Adam and
Eve. — Carnival. — Birth-<lay of Washington. — A California captain. — .Appli-
cation for a divorce.— .\rrival of the Columbus 173
CH.\PTF.R XIII.— The people of Monterey.— The guitar and runaway wife. —
Motfler nrderetl to Hot; her son. — Work of the prisoners. — Catching sailors.
— Court of Admiralty. — Gamblers ciught and fined. — Lifting land bounda-
ries 189
CH.\PTER XIV. — A convict who would not work. — Lawyers at Monterey. —
Who conquered California. — Ride to a rancho. — Leopaldo. — Party of Cali-
fornians. — A da-sh into the forests. — Chasing a deer. — Killing a bear. — Ladies
with firearms. — A mother and volunteer 199
CII.VPTER XV. — A California pic-nic. — Seventy and seventeen in the dance. —
Chililren in the grove. — .\ California bear-hunt. — The bear and bull baled.
— The Russian's cabbage head 210
CHAPTER XVI.— A Califomian jealous of his wife.— Hospitality of the na-
tives. — Honors to Guadalupe. — .Application from a Lothario for a divorce. —
Capture of Mazatlan. — Larceny of C.'uiton shawls. — .\n emigrant's wife
claiming to have taken the country. — A wild bullock in Main-street 220
CHAPTER XVII.— Rains in Califomia.— Fundionsof the alcalde of Monterey.
—Orphans in C;ilifornia.— Slip of the gallows rope.— Making a lather whip
his boy.— .4 convict as prison cook.— The knacka. — Thorn. Cole. — A man
robbing himself. — A blacksmith outwitted 230
CHAPTER XVIIT.— First discoverj- of gold.— Prison guard.— Incredulity about
the cold. — Santiago getting married.- Another lumpof gold. — Effects of the
gold fever. — The court of an alc;ilde. — Mosquitoes as constables. — Bob and
his bag of gold. — Return of citizens from the mines. — A man with the gold
cholic. — The mines on individual credit. 242
CH.4PTER XIX.— Tour to the gold-mines.— -Loss of horses.— First night in the
woods.- Arrival at San Juan.— Under way.— Camping out.— Bark of the
CONTENTS. 9
Page
■w-olves.— Watch-fires.— San Jos6.— A fresh start.— Camping on the slope of
a hill. — Wild features of the country. — Valley of the San Joaquin. — Band of
wild horses 257
CHAPTER XX. — ^The grave of a gold-hunter. — Mountain spurs.— A company
of Sonoranians. — A night alarm. — First view of the mines. — Character of
the deposits. — A woman and her pan. — Removal to other mines. — Wild In-
dians and their weapons. — Cost of provisions. — A plunge into a gold liver. —
Machines used by the gold-diggers 2(59
CHAPTER XXI. — Lump of gold lost. — Indians at their game of arrows. —
Camp of the gold-hunters. — A Sonoranian gold-digger. — Sabbath in the
mines. — The giant Welchman. — Nature of gold deposits. — Average per man.
— ^New discoveries 282
CHAPTER XXII. — Visit to the Sonoranian camp. — Festivities and gambling.
— The doctor and teamster. — An alcalde turned cook. — The miner's tattoo. —
The little Dutchman.— New deposits discovered. — A woman keeping a
monte table. — Up to the knee and nine-pence. — The volcanoes and gold. —
Arrival of a baiTel of rum 295
CHAPTER XXIII. — Natural amphitheatre. — No scientific clue to the deposits
of gold. — Soil of the mines. — Life among the gold-diggers. — Loss of our
caballada. — The old man and rock. — Departure from the mines. — Travelling
among gorges and pinnacles. — Instincts of the mule. — A mountain cabin 309
CHAPTER XXIV.— A lady in the moimtains.— Town of Stockton.— Crossing
the valley of the San Joaquin. — The robbed father and boy. — Ride to San
Jos6. — Rum in California.— Highwayman. — Woodland life. — Rachel at the
well. — Farewell to my camping-tree 324
CHAPTER XXV. — Cause of sickness in the mines. — The quicksilver mines. —
Heat and cold in the mines. — Traits in the Spanish character. — Health of
California ladies. — A word to mothers. — The pingrass and blackbird. — The
Redwood-tree.— Battle of the eggs 339
CHAPTER XXVI.— The public domain.— Sceneiy around Monterey.— Vine-
yards of los Angeles. — Beauty of San Diego. — The culprit hall. — The rush
for gold. — Land titles. — The Indian doctress. — Tufted paitridge. — Death of
Com. Biddle 351
CHAPTER XXVII.— The gold region.- Its locality, nature, and extent.— For-
eigners in the mines. — The Indians' discovery of gold. — Agi-icultural capa-
bilities of California. — Services of United States officers. — First decisive
movement for the organization of a civU government. — Intelligence of the
death of Gen. Kearny 365
CHAPTER XXVin.— Ride of Col. Fremont from los Angeles to Monterey and
back. — Character of the country. — The rincon.— Skeletons of dead horses. —
A stampede. — Gray bears. — ^The return. — The two horses rode by Col. Fre-
mont. — An experiment. — The result. — Characteristics of the California horse.
]0 CONTENTS.
Page
— Fomil remains.— The two classes of emigrants.— Life in California.— Heads
■gainst tails 3/7
CIIAPT?:R X.XI.X.— The trapedy at San Mieuel.— Court and culprits.— Age
BMil circumstanci-s of those who should come to California. — Condition of the
professions.— The wrongs of California.— Claims on the Christian commimi-
ly . — Journalists 391
CH.APTER XXX.— The gold-bearing quartz.— Their locality.— Richness and
extent. — Tlie suitable machinery to be used in the mountains.— The court of
adrniriUly at Monterey. — Its organization and jurisdiction. — The cases deter-
mined.— Aile of the prizes. — Convention and Constitution of California. —
Difllculties and compromises. — Spirit of the instrument 403
CHAPTER XXXI.— Glances at towns sprung and springing.— San Francisco.
—Benicia.— Sacramento City.— Sutler. — Vernon.— Boston. — Stockton. — New
York. — .Mvezo.— St:uiislaus. — Sonora. — Crescent City. — Trinidad 414
CH.\PTER XXXII. — Brief notices of persons, whose portraits embellish this
volume, and who are prominently connected with California affairs 435
Cn.\PTER XXXIII.— Tlio mission establishments in California.— Their origin,
objects, localities, lands, revenues, overthrow. — California Railroad 439
LIST OF PORTRAITS,
Captain John A. Suttek.
Thomas 0. Laekin, Esq.
Hon. J. C. Fremont.
Hon. Wm. M. G win.
Hon. G. W. "Wright.
Jacob R. Snyder, Esq.
11
A LIST
OF THE DELEGATES IN CONVENTION
ASSEMBLED AT MONTEREY, UPPER CALIFORNIA, SEPTEMBER
AND OCTOBER, A. D. 1849.
NAMES.
WHERE BORN.
RESIDENCE.
AGE.
Robert Semple.
Kentucky.
Benicia.
Forty-two.
John A. Sutter.
Switzerland.
New Helvetia.
Forty-seven.
Thomas O. Larkin.
Massachusetts.
Monterey.
Forty-seven.
M. G. Vallejo.
Calil'ornia.
Sonoma.
Forty-two.
Wm. M. Gwin.
Tennessee.
San Francisco.
Forty-four.
H. W. HalleeU.
New York.
Monterey.
Thirty-two.
Wm. M. Steuart.
Maryland.
San Francisco.
Forty-nine.
Joseph Hobson.
"Do.
Do.
Thirty-nine.
Thos. L. Vermeule.
New Jersey.
Loetown.
Thirty-five.
O. M. Wozencraft.
Ohio.
San Joafiuin.
Tliirty-four.
B. F. Moore.
Florida.
Do.
Twenty-nine.
Wm. E. Shannon.
New York.
Sacramento.
Twenty-seven,
Winfiold S. Sherwood.
Do.
Do.
Tliirty-two.
Elam Brown.
Do.
San Jos6.
Fifty-two.
Joseph Aram.
Do.
Do.
Thirty-nine.
J. D. Hoppe.
Maryland.
Do.
Thirty-five.
Jno. MiDougal.
Ohio.
Sntter.
Thirty-two.
Ehsha O. Crosby.
Tompkins Co., N. Y.
Vernon.
Thirty-four.
K. H. Dimmick.
New York.
Pueblo San Jos6.
Thirty-four.
Julian Hanks.
Connecticut.
Do.
Thirty-seven.
M. M. McCarver.
Kentucky.
Sacramento City.
Forty-two.
Francis J. Lippitt.
Rhode Island.
San Francisco.
Thirty-seven.
Rodman M. Price.
New York.
Do.
Thirty.
Lewis Dent.
Missouri.
Monterey.
Twenty-six.
Henrv Hill.
Virginia.
Do.
Thirty-three.
Oh. t. Bolts.
Do.
Do.
Forty.
Myron Norton.
Vermont.
San Francisco.
Twenty-seven.
J. M. Jones.
Kentucky.
San Joaquin.
Twenty-five.
P. Sainsevain.
Bordeaux.
San Jo.se.
Trente ans.
Jos6 M. Covarrubias.
France.
Santa Barbara.
Forty-one.
Antonio Ma. Pico.
California.
San Jose.
Forty.
Jacinto Rodriguez.
Do.
Monterey.
Thirty-six.
Stephen C. Foster.
Maine.
Los Angeles.
Twenty-eight.
Henry A. Tellt.
New York.
San Luis Obispo.
Twenty-si.\.
J. M. H. Hollingsworth.
Maryland.
San Joaquin.
Twenty-five.
Abel Stearns.
Massachusetts.
Los Angeles.
Fifty-one.
Hugh Reid.
Scotland.
San Gabriel.
Thirtv-eight.
Benj. S. Lippincott.
New York.
San Joaquin.
Thirty-four.
Joel P. Walker.
Virginia.
Sonoma.
Fifty-two.
Jacob R. Snyder.
Pennsylvania.
Sacramento City.
Thirty-four.
L. W. Hastings.
Mt. Vernon, Ohio.
Sacramento.
Tliirty.
Pablo de la Guerra.
California.
Santa Barbara.
Thirty.
Jose Ant". Carrillo.
Do.
Angeles.
Fifty-tliree.
Man! Doniinguez.
Do.
Do.
Forty-six.
P. Ord.
Maryland.
Monterey.
Thirty-three.
Edw. Gilbert.
New York.
San Francisco.
Twenty-seven
Miguel de Pedrorena.
Spain.
San Diego.
Forty-one.
A. J. Ellis.
New York.
San Francisco.
Tiiirty-three.
#
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
CHAPTER I.
THE FLAG. — MEETING OF CITIZENS. — DISPOSITION OF FORCES. — COL. FRE-
MONt's band. ALCALDE OF MONTEREY. INDIAN MOTHER. — MILITARY
LEADERS. A CALIFORNIA FARM.
A FEW words will place within the clear compre-
hension of the reader, the posture of public affairs in
California at the time my journal opens. The U.
S. flag was raised at Monterey and San Francisco
on the 10th of July, 1846. This event was wholly
unexpected by the Californians, and struck the pub-
lic heart with the deepest surprise ; other causes of
alarm and apprehension faded into shadow in the
presence of this decisive measure ; they were the ad-
monitory vibrations, but here was the earthquake it-
self The people were more astounded than indig-
nant, and quite as intent over problems of preserva-
tion as measures of resistance.
At a public meeting held at Monterey, in which
the patriotism, talents, and sagacity of the country
were largely represented, the question of throwing
the territory under the protection of England, through
2
11 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
the naval forces commanded by Admiral Seymour,
who was on the coast at the time, was excitingly dis-
cussed. But this proposition received its quietus un-
der the successful railery of Don Raphael, of Mon-
terey. " Our object," said this witty counsellor, " is
to preserve our country ; but she is gone, — California
is lost to us : and this proposal to invoke the protec-
tion of England, is only to seek another owner. The
redress is worthy of the market-woman : a dog had
robbed her hamper of a leg of mutton, and she sent
another dog more powerful after him to get it away ;
when asked what good that w'ould do her, she replied,
it would be some satisfaction to see i\\Q first dog de-
prived of the stolen leg. And so it is with us ; the
mutton is gone, and a choice of the dog only remains :
others may prefer the bull-dog, but I prefer the regu-
lar hound ; he has outstripped the other in the chase,
and so let him have the game." The convention
broke up without adopting any decisive measures ;
leaving each one to act as his impulses or convictions
of duty suggested.
The military forces of the country w^ere at this
time under the command of Gen. Jose Castro, an
officer of high pretensions, but utterly deficient in
strength and steadiness of purpose, and that capacity
which can work out important results with slender
and inapposite means. His followers had gathered
to him with as little discipline, sobriety, and order, as
would characterize a bear-hunt. Their prime im-
pulse lay in the excitement w-hich the camp present-
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 15
ed. It was the same thing to them whether their
weapon was a rifle or a guitar, — whether they were
going to a skirmish or a fandango. With six or
eight hundred of these waltzing warriors Gen. Castro
was now on his march into the southern department,
with the evident purpose of taking up his position
near the Pueblo de los Angeles.
Such was the posture of aflfairs when Com. Stock-
ton resolved to rest in no half-way measures. The
wave had been set in motion and must roll on,
or its returning force might sweep him and his tem-
porary garrisons into the Pacific. And yet aggres-
sive measures in the present condition of the squad-
ron seemed to border on rashness. The Portsmouth,
under Commander Montgomery, must be left at San
Francisco to garrison the posts occupied by the flag ;
the Savannah, commanded by Capt. Mervin, must
remain here to hold Monterey ; the Warren, under
Commander Hull, was at Mazatlan ; only the Con-
gress, Lieut. Livingston commanding, and the Cyane,
under Commander Du Pont, remained. With the
crews of these, and a hundred and sixty men under
Col. Fremont, California was to be conquered and
held, and this too in the presence or defeat of a
military force that had the entire resources of the
country at their command. But a gallant purpose
will often achieve what a questioning prudence would
relinquish. The mountain torrent, with its impetu-
osity, sweeps away the barrier which effectually ob-
structs the level stream.
10 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORXFA.
MoNDAV, July 27. The bustle of preparation is
active in the squadron. Commander Du Pont re-
ceived orders last evening to have the Cyane ready
for sea in twenty-four hours. She has tripped this
afternoon, and is off for San Diego, though it has been
given out on shore that she is bound elsewhere, but
this is a war stratagem. She has on board Col.
Fremont and a hundred and fifty of his riflemen.
The wind is fresh, and they are by this time cleverly
sea-sick, and lying about the deck in a spirit of resig-
nation that would satisfy the non-resistant principles
of a Quaker. Two or three resolute old women
might tumble the whole of them into the sea. But
they will rally before they reach their port, and see
that their rifles spring true to their trust.
The colonel is a man of small stature, of slender
but wiry formation, and with a countenance indica-
tive of decision and firmness. This is the fifth time
he has crossed the continent in connection with his
scientific purposes. His enterprises are full of hard-
ship, peril, and the wildest romance. To sleep under
the open heaven, and depend on one's rifle for food,
is coming about as near the primitive state of the
hunter as a civilized man can well get ; and yet this
life, in his case, is adorned with the triumphs of sci-
ence. The colonel and his band are to land at San
Diego, secure horses, and advance upon the position
of Gen. Castro,; at los Anjreles.
" War's great events lie so in Fortune's scale.
That oft a feather's weight may kick the beam."
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 17
Tuesday, July 28. Com. Stockton informed me
to-day that I had been appointed Alcalde of Mon-
terey and its jm-isdiction. I had dreamed in the
course of my life, as most people have, of the thou-
sand things I might become, but it never entered my
visions that I should succeed to the dignity of a
Spanish alcalde. I much preferred my beith on
board the Congress, and that the judicial functions in
question should continue to be discharged by the two
intelligent gentlemen, Purser R. M. Price and Dr.
Edward Gilchrist, upon whom they had been de-
volved. But the services of these officers were
deemed indispensable to the efficiency of the ships to
which they were attached. This leit me no alterna-
tive ; my trunks were packed, my books boxed, and
in an hour I was on shore, a guest in the house of
our consul,^ T. O. Larkin, Esq., whose munificent
hospitalities reach every officer of the squadron, and
every functionary in the interest of the flag. This is
the more appreciated from the fact that there is not
a public table or hotel in all California. High and
low, rich and poor, are thrown together on the pri-
vate liberality of the citizens. Though a quasi war -^
exists, all the amenities and courtesies of life are pre-
served ; your person, life, and liberty, are as sacred
at the hearth of the Californian as they would be at
your own fireside. He will never betray you ; the
rights of hospitality, in his generous judgment, re-
quire him to peril his own life in defence of yours.
He may fight you on the field, but in his family, you
18 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
may dance with his daughters, and he will himself
wake the waltzing string.
Wednesday, July 29. The sloop-of-war Levant,
under Commander Page, sailed to-day, with Com.
Sloat on board, for the United States. We gave
the commodore a parting salute. He has render-
ed the squadron under his command efficient, and
preserved harmony among the officers. The expe-
diency of his measures in California will be canvassed
elsewhere. He acted on the light and intelligence
within his reach. If war has been declared, the lau-
rel awaits him.
The Levant takes home in her my friend, Lieut,
T : he has resigned his commission in the navy,
and takes orders in the church. He is a pretty good
classical scholar, and has made himself familiar with
the principles of biblical exegesis. All this has been
accomplished during those few leisure hours which
the duties of a watch-officer leave one at sea. It is
seemingly reversing the order of things for the navy
to supply the church with spiritual teachers. But
few, however, have left the deck for the pulpit ; a
much larger number have reached it from the dia-
grams and drills of West Point. Among them are
some of our most eloquent and impressive preachers.
Of this class is the present Bishop of Ohio.
We have all been busy in writing letters home,
and shall inake up a pretty large mail, filled with ten-
der recollections, and overflowing with the California
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 19
news. How the intelligence of our proceedings here ^*
will strike our friends and the country at large, is
mere matter of conjecture. We are acting, however,
not only in view of the alleged collision between the
American and Mexican forces on the Rio Grande,
but in reference to the anarchy and confusion into
which this country has been thrown by a revolution
which did not originate with us.
Thursday, July 30. To-day I entered on the du-
ties of my office as alcalde of Monterey : my jurisdic-
tion extends over an immense extent of territory, and
over a most heterogeneous population. Almost every
nation has, in some emigrant, a representative here —
a representative of its peculiar habits, virtues, and
vices. Here is the reckless Californian, the half- wild
Indian, the roving trapper of the West, the lawless
Mexican, the licentious Spaniard, the scolding Eng-
lishman, the absconding Frenchman, the luckless
Irishman, the plodding German, the adventurous
Russian, and the discontented Mormon. All have
come here with the expectation of finding but little
work and less law. Through this discordant mass I
am to maintain order, punish crime, and redress in-
juries.
Friday, July 31. Nearly all the houses in Mon-
terey are of one story, with a corridor. The walls
are built of adobes, or sun-baked brick, with tiled
roofs. The centre is occupied by a large hall, to
20 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
which the dining-room and sleeping apartments seem
mere appurtenances. Every thing is in subordina-
tion to the hall, and this is designed and used for
dancing. It has a wood floor, and springs nightly to
the step of those who are often greeted in the whirl
of their amusements, by the risen sun. The dance
and a dashing horse are the two objects which over-
power all others in interest with the Californians.
The fiddle has been silent since our flag went up,
from the fact that many of the gentlemen have left
to join Gen. Castro. But if they return, though cov-
ered with disaster, the fiddle w'ill be called upon to
resume its fantastic functions. You misfht as well
attempt to extinguish a love of air in a life-preserver
as the dancing propensity in this people.
Saturday, Aug. 1. The Congress has sailed to-
day, with all her marines and full complement ot
men, for San Pedro. Com. Stockton intends to
land there with a force of some three hundred,
march to the Pueblo de los Angeles, capture that im-
portant place, and fall upon Gen. Castro, w ho, it is
now understood, has posted himself, with some eight
hundred soldiers, in a pass a few miles below. The
general will find his southern retreat cut off by Col.
Fremont's riflemen and the sailors of the Cyane, his
western route obstructed by the Colorado, while the
forces of the Congress will bear down upon him from
the north. He has seemingly no escape, and must
fight or capitulate. But his sagacity, his thorough
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 21
knowledge of the country, and his fleet horses, may-
extricate him. We shall know in a few days ; the
interest felt here in the result is most intense. Many
mothers have sons and many wives husbands involved
in the issue.
Sunday, Aug. 2. I officiated to-day on board the
Savannah. It is much to the credit of the officers of
this ship that though without a chaplain, they have
had, during a three years' cruise, their religious ser-
vices regularly on the Sabbath. Four of their num-
ber, two lieutenants, the surgeon, and master, are
professors of religion, and exert a deep influence
through their consistent piety. Their Sabbath exer-
cise has consisted in reading prayers, selections from
the Scriptures, and a brief, pertinent sermon. They
have had, also, their Sabbath-school. Such facts as
these will win for the navy a larger share of pubhc
confidence than the capture of forty barbaric for-
tresses. The American people love valor, but they
love religion also. They will confer their highest
honors only on him who combines them both.
Monday, Aug. 3. An Indian woman of good ap-
pearance came to our office to-day, stating that she
had been for two years past a domestic in a Mexican
family near Monterey ; that she had, during this time,
lost her husband, and now wished to marry again ;
but wished, before she did this, to recover her child,
which was forcibly detained in the family in which
22 TirEEE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
she had served. It appeared that the father of this
family had baptized her child, and claimed, according
to custom here, a sort of guardianship over it, as well
as a right to a portion of its services.
I asked her if her child would be kindly treated
where it now was : she said she thought so ; but
added, she was a mother, and wanted it with her.
We told her as she was going to marry again, she
had better perhaps leave the child for the present ;
and if she found her husband to be a good, indus-
trious man, and disposed to furnish her with a com-
fortable home, she might call again at our office, and
we would get her child. She went away with that mild
look of contentment which is as near a smile as any
expression which lights an Indian's face.
Tuesday, Aug. 4. The military chieftains, wh6
have successively usurped the government of Califor-
nia, have arbitrarily imposed such duties on foreign
imports as their avarice or exigency suggested. A
few examples will be sufficient to show the spirit and
character of these imposts. Unbleached cottons,
which cost in the United States six cents the yard,
cost here fifty, and shirtings cost seventy-five. Plain
knives and forks cost ten dollars the dozen ; coarse
cowhide shoes three dollars the pair ; the cheapest
tea three dollars the pound ; and a pair of common
truck-wheels seventy-five dollars. The duty alone
on the coarsest hat, even if made of straw, is three
dollars.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 23
The revenues derived from these enormous imposts
have passed into the pockets of a few individuals,
who have placed themselves, by violence or fraud, at
the head of the government, and have never reached
the public in any beneficial form. These exactions,
enforced by an irresponsible tyranny, have kept Cali-
fornia poor, have crushed all enterprise, and have
rolled back the tide of emigration from her soil as the
resisting rock the rushing stream. But the barriers
are now broken, and broken forever. California is
free, — free of Mexican rule and all domestic usurpers.
Wednesday, Aug. 5. We have in one apartment
of our prison two Californians, confined for having
robbed a United States courier, on his way from
Monterey to San Francisco, with public dispatches.
They have not yet been tried. Yesterday they ap-
plied to me for permission to have their guitars.
They stated that their situation was very lonely, and
they wanted something to cheer it. Their request
was complied with ; and last evening, when the
streets were still, and the soft moonlight melted
through the grates of their prison, their music
streamed out upon the quiet air with wonderful
sweetness and power. Their voices were in rich
harmony with their instruments, and their melodies
had a wild and melancholy tone. They were sing-
ing, for aught they knew, their own requiem.
Thursday, Aug. 6. It sounds strange to an Ameri-
24 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORXIA.
can, and much more so to an Englishman, to hear Cali-
Ibrnians talk of farms. They never speak of acres,
or even miles ; they deal only in leagues. A farm of
four or five leagues is considered quite small. It is not
so large, in the conception of this people, as was the
one-acre farm of Horace in the estimation of the Ro-
mans. Capt. Sutter's farm, in the valley of the Sac-
ramento, is sixty miles long. The Californians speak
in the same way of the stock on their farms. Two
thousand horses, fifteen thousand head of cattle, and
twenty thousand sheep, are only what a thrifty farmer
should have before he thinks of killing or selling.
They are to be his productive stock, on which he
should not encroach, except in an emergency. Only
fancy a farm covering sixty miles in length ! Why,
a man would want a railroad through it for his own
private use. Get out of the way, ye landlords of
England and patroons of Amsterdam, with your bor-
oughs and dykes, and give place to the Californian
with his sixty mile sweep!
Friday, Aug. 7. The Mormon ship Brooklyn,
which we left at Honolulu, has arrived at San Fran-
cisco, and her passengers have debarked on the
shores of that magnificent bay. They have not vet
selected their lands. The natives hold them in great
horror. They seem to think cannibalism among the
least of their enormities. They consider the term
Mormon the most branding epithet that can be ap-
plied to a man. A mother complained to me, a few
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 25
days since, that a gentleman in Monterey had struck
her son and called him a Mormon. She dwelt with
great earnestness on the opprobrious character of the
epithet, and appeared to consider its application to
her son a higher crime than that of his fist. I told
her what sort of people these Mormons were ; but it
was to her as if I had represented Satan as an angel
of light. I lectured the wrong-doer.
Saturday, Aug. 8. Capt. Fauntleroy, of the Sa-
vannah, and Maj. Snyder, with fifty mounted men
under their command, occupy San Juan, which lies
inland about thirty miles from Monterey. A report
reached them a few days since, that a hundred wild
Indians had descended upon the town of San Jose
and driven off over two hundred horses. They
started immediately with twenty men, well mounted,
got upon their trail, and came up with them at a dis-
tance of sixty miles. The Indians finding themselves
hotly pressed, left their horses and took to the bush,
throwing back upon their pursuers the most wild and
frantic imprecations. Three or four of their number
only were killed. The denseness of the forest and
the approach of night rendered further pursuit im-
practicable.
The horses were all recaptured and brought back
to their owners, who received them with acclama-
tions of surprise and gratitude. This was the first
time, they said, that their property had been rescued
from savages by the government, and they run up the
20 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
American flag. This prompt interference of Capt.
Fauntleroy and Maj. Snyder will do more to win the
confidence of the Californians than forty orations de-
livered in the most liquid Spanish that ever rolled
from a Castilian tongue. There is something in
action which the most simple can appreciate, and
which the most crafty cannot gainsay.
Sunday, Aug. 9. I officiated to-day on board the
Savannah. The weather was pleasant, and several
gentlemen from the shore attended. There was no
service in the Roman Catholic Church, owning to the
absence of one of the priests and the infirmities of the
other. But when there is service, only a few of the
people attend. It is sometimes, however, forced upon
them in the shape of penance. When a friend of
mine here was married, it was necessary that he
should confess. The penance imposed on him for his
previous negligences and transgressions was, that he
should attend church seven Sabbaths.
27
CHAPTER II.
FECUNDITY OF THE CALIFOENIANS. FIRST INTELLIGENCE OF THE WAR.
WILD INDIANS ON BOARD SHIP. THE CHIEF. — FIRST NEWSPAPER PUB-
LISHED IN CALIFORNIA. RAISING THE M.\TERIALS. THE RIVAL SUITORS.
— FLIGHT OF GEN. CASTRO. A C.\LIFORNIAN ON HORSEBACK.
Monday, Aug. 10. The fecundity of the Cahfor-
nians is remarkable, and must be attributed in no
small degree to the effects of the climate. It is no
uncommon sight to find from fourteen to eighteen
children at the same table, with their mother at their
head. There is a lady of some note in Monterey,
who is the mother of twenty-two living children.
The youngest is at the breast, and must soon, it is
said, relinquish his place to a new-comer, who will,
in all probability, be allowed only the same brevity of
bliss.
There is a lady in the department below who has
twenty-eight children, all living, in fine health, and
who may share the "envied kiss" with others yet
to come. What a family — what a wife — what a
mother! I have more respect for the shadow of that
woman than for the living presence of the mincing
being who raises a whole village if she has one child,
and then puts it to death with sugar-plums. A
woman with one child is like a hen with one chicken ;
there is an eternal scratch about nothing.
28 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORMA.
Tuesday, Aug. 11. A deserter from Gen. Castro's
camp presented himself at my office to-day and gave
himself up to the American authorities. He repre-
sents the general as in rather a forlorn condition.
His troops, it appears, are daily deserting him. His
present force is estimated at less than six hundred.
He is anxious to fly into Mexico, but is unable to
raise a sufficient number of volunteers. The ex-
pectation here is, that he will surrender to Com.
Stockton.
The British brig-of-war Spy anchored in the harbor
of Monterey this evening. She is from San Bias,
with dispatches for Admiral Seymour. Her officers
are perfectly silent as to news from the United States
and Mexico. She leaves in a few hours for the Col-
lingwood at the Sandwich Islands. She has, un-
doubtedly, news of moment, but will not reveal it.
Wednesday, Aug. 12. The U. S. ship Warren,
under Commander Hull, arrived this afternoon in
thirty days from Mazatlan, bringing the eventful in-
telligence that war had been declared between the
United States and Mexico. The mysterious silence of
the officers of the Spy is now explained. But their
secrecy has availed them for only twenty-four hours.
The war news produced a profound sensation here.
The whole population were instantly thrown into
groups in the corridors and at the corners of the
streets. The hum of voices continued late into the
night. It was an extinguisher on the hopes of those
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 29
who had looked to Mexico for aid, or who had clung
to the expectation that the American government
would repudiate our possession of California, and
order the squadron withdrawn. They now relinquish
all idea of a return to their old political connection, and
appear resigned to their fate, which seems inevitable.
These disappointed families compose but a part of the
population ; another portion has become thoroughly
wearied with revolutions, and are prepared to counte-
nance almost any government that promises stability.
Thursday, Aug. 13. The Warren sailed this
morning for San Pedro, to convey the war intelli-
gence to Com. Stockton. It will throw a new aspect
upon his operations in California. Expediency gives
place to moral necessity. We have now a double
motive for exertion — national honor, which looks at
home, and an enlarged philanthropy, which looks
here. It is of but little moment what the ultimate
action of our government may be in reference to
California. It cannot change her destiny. She is
severed forever from Mexico. Should our govern-
ment attempt to throw her back on that country, she
will not stay thrown back. The rebound will carry
her further off than ever. She is on a wave which
will not ebb till this generation have mouldered in
their graves.
Friday, Aug. 14. Sixty of a tribe of wild Indians,
who live in the mountains, about two hundred miles
3*
30 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
distant, made a descent a few days since upon a farm
within thirty miles of Monterey, and carried off a
hundred horses. Twenty of the tribe, with the chief,
remained behind to secure further booty. Intelli-
gence of this having reached Capt. Mervin, he dis-
patched a mounted force, apprehended them in their
ambush, and brought them to Monterey, and delivered
them over to our court for trial.
They were as wild a looking set of fellows as ever
entered a civil tribunal. The chief was over seven
feet high, with an enormous blanket wrapped round
him and thrown over the shoulder like a Spanish
cloak, which set forth his towering form to the best
advantage. His Ions; black hair streamed in dark-
ness down to his waist. His features strikingly
resembled those of Gen. Jackson. His, forehead was
high, his eye full of fire, and his mouth betrayed great
decision. His step was firm ; his age must have been
about fifty. He entered the court with a civil but
undaunted air. When asked why he permitted the
men of his tribe to steal horses, he replied that the
men who took the horses wei'e not properly members
of his tribe, that they had recently attached them-
selves to him, and now, that he had found them
horse-thieves, he should cut them. I could get at no
satisfactory evidence that he, or the twenty with him,
had actively assisted those who took off the horses. I
delivered them over to Capt. Mervin, who commanded
the military occupation of the town.
The United States troops were formed into a hollow
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 31
square, and they were marched into the centre where
they expected to be shot, and still not a muscle shook,
and the features of each were as set as if chiselled from
marble. What must have been their unbetrayed sur-
prise, when Capt. Mervin told them they were ac-
quitted by the tribunal ! He then told the chief he
should recognize him as king of the tribe — that he
must not permit any of his men to commit the slight-
est depredations on the citizens, that he should hold
him responsible for the conduct of his tribe, and that
he must come and report himself and the condition of
his tribe every two moons. To all this the chief fully
assented.
They were then taken on board the frigate, where
the crew had been mustered for the occasion. Here
they were told how many ships, men, and guns we
had at our command ; so much to inspire them with
awe : and now for their good will. The whole party
were rigged out with fresh blankets, and red handker-
chiefs for each, which they use as a turban. The
chief was attired in a uniform of one of our tallest
and stoutest officers : navy buttons, epauletts, sword,
cap with a gold band, boots, and spurs ; and a silver
chain was put about his neck, to which a medal was
attached, recognizing him as the high chief of the
tribe. He looked every inch a chief The band
struck up Hail Columbia, and they departed, vowing
eternal allegiance to the Americans. The sailors
were delighted with these savages, and half envied
them their wild life.
32 THREE YEARS IN' CALIFORNIA.
Saturday, Aug. 15. To-day the first newspaper
ever published in Cahfornia made its appearance.
The honor, if sucii it be, of \vriting its Prospectus,
fell to me. It is to be issued on every Saturday, and
h published by Semple and Colton. Little did I
think \vhen relinquishing the editorship of the A'^orth
American in Philadelphia, that my next feat in this
line would be ofl" here in California. My partner is
an emigrant from Kentucky, who stands six feet eight
in his stockings. lie is in a buckskin dress, a fox-
skin cap ; is true with his rifle, ready with his pen,
and quick at the type-case.
He created the materials of our office out of the
chaos of a small concern, \\hich had been used by a
Roman Catholic monk in printing a few sectarian
tracts. The press was old enough to be preserved
as a curiosity ; the mice had burrowed in the balls ;
there were no rules, no leads, and the types were
rusty and all in pi. It was only by scouring that the
letters could be made to show their faces. A sheet
or two of tin were procured, and these, with a jack-
knife, were cut into rules and leads. Luckily we
found, with the press, the greater part of a keg of ink ;
and now came the main scratch for paper. None
could be found, excefpt what is used to envelop the
tobacco of the cigar smoked here by the natives. A
coaster had a small supply of this on board, which we
procured. It is in sheets a little larger than the
common-sized foolscap. And this is the size of our
first paper, which we have christened the Californian.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 33
Though small in dimensions, our first number is as
full of news as a black-walnut is of meat. We have
received by couriers, during the week, intelligence
from all the important military posts through the ter-
ritory. Very little of this has transpired ; it reaches
the public for the first time through our sheet. We
have, also, the declaration of war between the United
States and Mexico, with an abstract of the debate in
the senate. A crowd was waiting when the first
sheet was thrown from the press. It produced quite
a little sensation. jVever was a bank run upon
harder ; not, however, by people with paper to get
specie, but exactly the reverse. One-half of the
paper is in English, the other in Spanish. The sub-
scription for a year is five dollars ; the price of a
single sheet is t%velve and a half cents ; and is con-
sidered cheap at that.
Sunday, Aug. 16. A brilliant day, and no sounds
to disturb its tranquillity save the moan of the pine-
grove as the wind sighs through it, and the thunder
of the breaking waves on the beach. We had divine
service on board the Savannah, — a much more grate-
ful occupation to me than the investigation of crimes
in the Alcaldean court.
Till the Americans took possession of Monterey,
the Sabbath was devoted to amusement. The Indians
gave themselves up to liquor, the Mexicans and Cali-
fornians to dancing. Whether the bottle or the fid-
dle had the most votaries it would be difficult to say.
34 THREE YEARS I\ CALIFORNIA.
But both had so many, that very few were left for the
church. Some, however, attended mass before they
dressed for the ball-room. But their worship and
their waltz came so close together, that a serious
thought had only time to dodge out of the way.
Monday, Aug. 17. A complaint was lodged in my
court this morning, involving the perplexities of a
love-matter. The complainant is a Californian mo-
ther, who has a daughter rather remarkable for her
personal attractions. She Kas two rival suitors, both
anxious to marry her, and each, of course, extremely
jealous of the attentions of the other, and anxious to
outdo him in the fervency and force of his own assi-
duities. The family are consequently annoyed, and
desire the court to interfere in some way for their re-
pose. I issued an order that neither of the rival
suitors should enter the house of the complainant,
unless invited by her, till the girl had made up her
mind which she would marry ; for it appeared she
was very much perplexed, being equally pleased with
both : and now, I suppose, roses and all the other si-
lent tokens of affection will pass plenty as protesta-
tions before.
" The course of true love never did run smooth."
Tuesday, Aug. 18. The ado made to reach the
hand of the undecided girl shows how very rare such
specimens of beauty are in these parts. She has
nothing lo recommend her as a sober, industrious,
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 35
frugal housekeeper. She knows how to dance, to
play on the guitar and sing, and that is all. She
would be as much lost in the kitchen as a dolphin on
dry land. She would do to dress flowers in the bal-
cony of a millionaire, but as the wife of a Californian,
her children would go without a stocking, and her
husband without a shirt. Her two suitors own, prob-
ably, the apparel which they have on and the gay
horses which they ride, but neither of them has a real
in his pocket. Yet they are quite ready to be mar-
ried : just as if the honey-moon had a horn of plenty
instead of a little urn of soft light, which gushes for a
few brief nights, and then leaves its devotee like one
of the foolish virgins, whose lamp had gone out !
Wednesday, Aug. 19. Several of Gen. Castro's
officers have just arrived in town, delivered them-
selves up, and been put upon parole. They state that
the general's camp, near the Pueblo de los Angeles,
broke up a few days since in the night ; that the gen-
eral and Gov. Pico had started for Sonora with fifty
men and two hundred horses ; that their flight was
hastened by the approach of Com. Stockton, with the
forces of the Congress, on the north, and Maj. Fre-
mont, with his riflemen, on the south. The commo-
dore had reached, it appears, within a few hours'
march of his camp. The general had taken the pre-
caution to send forward in advance a portion of his
horses, to serve as fresh relays on his arrival. He ex-
pects to leave Col. Fremont on the right, and will be
3t5 THREE YEARS IX CALIFORNIA.
obliged to cross an immense sandy plain, lying be-
tween the Pueblo and Red River, where his horses
will be for two days without water or food. He is to
cross Red River, a broad and rapid stream, on a raft,
the construction of which will detain him a day ; his
horses will swim, for California horses are trained to
rush over mountain-torrents. The only hope of his
capture lies in his detention at the river, unless Col.
Fremont, anticipating his flight, has thrown a force
south to intercept him. Once across the river he is
safe ; nothing but a tornado, or a far-striking thun-
derbolt, can overtake a Californian on horseback.
Thursday, Aug. 20. An Indian was brought be-
fore me to-day, charged with having stolen a horse.
He was on his way, it appears, to Monterey, and
when within thirty miles, his own horse having given
out, he turned him adrift, and lassoed one belonging
to another man, which he rode in, and then set him at
liberty as he had his own. The owner arrived soon
after, recovered his horse, and had the Indian arrest-
ed, who confessed the whole affair, and only plead in
excuse that his own horse had become teo tired to go
further. I sentenced the Indian to three months' la-
bor on the public works. He seemed at first very
much surprised at what he considered the severity of
the sentence ; but said he should work his time out
faithfully, and give me no further trouble. As he
was half-naked, I ordered him comfortable apparel,
and then deUvered him over to Capt. Mervin, to be
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 37
employed in excavating a trench around the newly-
erected fort.
Friday, Aug. 21. A Californian is most at home
in his saddle ; there he has some claims to originality,
if not in character then in costume. His hat, with
its conical crown and broad rim, throws back the
sun's rays from its dark, glazed surface. It is fast-
ened on by a band which passes under his chin, and
rests on a red handkerchief, which turbans his head,
from beneath which his black locks flow out upon the
wind.
The collar of his linen rolls over that of his blue
spencer, which is open under the chin, is fitted close-
ly to his waist, and often ornamented with double
rows of buttons and silk braid. His trowsers, which
are fastened around his loins by a red sash, are open
to the knee, to which his buckskin leggins ascend
over his white cotton drawers. His buckskin shoes
are armed with heavy spurs, which have a shaft some
ten inches long, at the end of which is a roller, which
bristles out into six points, three inches long, against
which steel plates rattle with a quick, sharp sound.
His feet rest in stirrups of wood, carved from the
solid oak, and which are extremely strong and heavy.
His saddle rises high fore and aft, and is broadly
skirted with leather, which is stamped into figures,
through the interstices of which red and green silk
flash out with gay effect. The reins of his bridle are
thick and narrow, and the headstall is profusely orna-
4
38 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
mented with silver plate. His horse, with his long
flowinff mane, arching neck, broad chest, full flanks,
and slender legs, is full of fire. He seldom trots, and
will gallop all day without seeming to be weary. On
his back is the Californian's home. Leave him this
home, and you may have the rest of the world.
Saturday, Aug. 22. Our little paper, the Califor-
nian, made its appearance again to-day. Many sub-
scribers have sent in their names since our last, and
all have paid in advance. It is not larger than a sheet
of foolscap ; but this foolscap parallel stops, I hope,
with the shape. Be this as it may, its appearance is
looked for with as much interest as was the arrival of
the mail by the New Yorkers and Bostonians in those
days when a moon waxed and waned over its transit.
Sunday, Aug. 23. Officiated to-day on board the
Savannah. There is no Protestant church here.
Emigrants have generally become Roman Catholics.
Policy, rather than persuasion or conviction, sug-
gested it. Men who make no pretensions to religion,
have nothing to give up in the shape of creeds or
conscientious scruples. They are like driftwood,
which runs into the eddy which is the strongest ; or
like migratory birds, which light where they can find
the best picking and the softest repose. The wood-
pecker never taps an undecayed tree ; and a world-
ling seldom embraces a thoroughlv sound faith.
39
CHAPTER III.
A THIEF OBEYING ORDERS. — GAME. — NO PENITENTIARY SYSTEM. — THK
CALIFORNIA CART ON A GALA-DAY. — THE RUNAWAY DAUGHTER. — FAITH
OF THE INDIANS. RETURN FROM THE WAR. FIR.ST TRIAL BY JURY.
INDIAN AND HIS SQUAW ON THE HUNT. WHALES IN THE BAY. THE TWO
GAMBLERS. LADIES ON HORSEBACK. MERRIMENT IN DEATH. — THE
ENGLISHMAN AND HIS MISTRESS.
Monday, Aug. 24. One of our officers, bound
with dispatches to San Juan, fell in with an Indian
to-day, on a horse, without saddle or bridle, save a
lasso ; and knowing from this circumstance that he
had stolen the animal, ordered him to come to Mon-
terey and deliver himself up to the alcalde, and then
passed on. So on the Indian came with the horse,
and presented himself at our office.
I asked him what he wanted ; he told me the order
he had received ; but I could not at first comprehend
its import, and inquired of him if he knew why the
order had been given him. He replied, that it was
in consequence of his having taken the horse of an-
other man. I asked him if he had stolen the animal ;
he said yes, he had taken him, but had brought him in
here and given himself up as ordered ; that he could
not escape, as the Americans were all over California.
I told him stealing a horse was a crime, and sentenced
him to three months' labor on the public works. He
was half naked. I ordered him comfortable clothes,
40 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
and gave him a plug of tobacco, and in an hour he
•svas at his task, chewing and cheerful. He is not
wanting in intelligence ; and if he only had as much
respect for the rights of property as he has for mili-
tary orders, he might be a useful member of the com-
munity.
Oats in California grow wild. The last crop plants
the next, without the aid of man. The yield is suffi-
cient to repay the labors of the husbandman, but is
gratuitously thrown at his feet. But the fecundity
of nature here is not confined to the vegetable king-
dom, it is characteristic of the animals that sport in
wild life over these hills and valleys. A sheep has
two lambs a year; and if twins, four: and one litter
of pigs follows another so fast that the squeelers and
grunters are often confounded.
Wednesday, Aug. 26. The Californians breakfast
at eight, dine at twelve, take tea at four, supper at
eight, and then go to bed — unless there is a fandango.
The supper is the most substantial meal of the three,
and would visit anybody but a Californian with the
nightmare. But their constant exercise in the open
air and on horseback, gives them the digestion of the
ostrich.
The only meat consumed here to any extent is
beef. It is beef for breakfast, beef for dinner, and
beef for supper. A pig is quite a rarity ; and as for
chickens, they are reserved for the sick. The woods
are full of partridges and hare ; the streams and la-
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA, 41
goons are covered with ducks and wild geese ; and the
harbor abounds witli the most delicious fish. But no
Californian will angle or hunt, while he has a horse
or saddle left. And as for the Indians, but very few
of them have any hunting gear beyond the bow and
arrow ; with these they can kill the deer and elk, but
a partridge and hare are too shy and too quick. They
spear a large salmon which frequents Carmel river,
three miles distant, and bring it in to market. This
fish is often three feet long, extremely fat, and of a
flavor that takes from Lent half the merit of its absti-
nence. Spearing them is high sport for the Indian,
and is another feature in California life.
Thursday, Aug. 27. Nothing puzzles me so much
as the absence of a penitentiary system. There are
no work-houses here ; no buildings adapted to the
purpose ; no tools, and no trades. The custom has
been to fine Spaniards, and whip Indians. The dis-
crimination is unjust, and the punishments ill suited
to the ends proposed. I have substituted labor ; and
have now eight Indians, three Californians, and one
Englishman at work making adobes. They have all
been sentenced for stealing horses or bullocks. I
have given them their task : each is to make fifty
adobes a day, and for all over this they are paid.
They make seventy-five, and for the additional twen-
ty-five each gets as many cents. This is paid to
them every Saturday night, and they are allowed to
get with it any thing but rum. They are comfort-
4*
42 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORXIA.
ably lodged and fed by the government. I have
appointed one of their number captain. They work
in the field ; require no other guard ; not one of them
has attempted to run away.
Friday, Aug. 28. The ox-cart of the Californian
is quite unique and primitive. The wheels are cut
transversely from the butt-end of a tree, and have
holes through the centre for a huge wood axle. The
tongue is a long, heavy beam, and the yoke resting
on the necks of the oxen, is lashed to their horns,
close down to the root ; from these they draw, in-
stead of the chest, as with us ; and they draw enor-
mous loads, but the animals are large and powerful.
But to return to the cart. On gala days it is swept
out, and covered with mats ; a deep body is put on,
which is arched with hoop-poles, and over these a
pair of sheets are extended for a covering. Into this
the ladies are tumbled, when three or four yoke of
oxen, with as many Indian drivers, and ten times as
manv dogs, start ahead. The hallooing of the dri-
vers, the barking of the dogs, and the loud laughter
of the girls make a common chorus. The quail takes
to the covert as the roaring establishment comes on,
and even the owl suspends his melancholy note.
What has his sad tone to do amid such noise and
mirth ? It is like the piping cry of an infant amid
the revelry and tumult of the carnival,
Saturday, Aug. 29. Four Californians — a girl, her
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 43
father, mother, and lover, all well clad and good-look-
ing — presented themselves before me to-day. The
old man said he had come to reclaim his daughter,
who had run away with the young Mexican, — that he
had no objection to his marrying her, but this run-
ning away with her didn't look decent. The rash
lover stated in his defence that he was ready to
marry her, had run away with her for that purpose,
had placed her immediately wnth his sister, and that
she was still as chaste and pure as the driven snow.
To all this the father and mother assented.
I now expected we should have a wedding at once,
and that I might be called upon to officiate. But to
my utter surprise, on asking the girl if she insisted on
marrying her lover, she declined. She said her es-
cape with him was a wild freak ; she had now got
over it, and wished to return with her father. This
fell like a death-knell on the ears of her lover, who
again protested his affection and her purity. Having
been once myself a disappointed suitor, I had a fel-
low feeling for him, and advised the girl to marry
him ; but she said no, that she had changed her mind :
so I delivered her to her father, and told my brother
in misfortune he must wait ; that a woman who had
changed her mind once on such a subject, would
change it again.
Sunday, Aug. 30. Several gentlemen and ladies
of Monterey were present to-day at our service on
board the Savannah. I have it in contemplation to
44 TIIEEE YEAKS I\ CALIFORXIA.
establish a service on shore. There are plenty of
halls, which are now used for dancing, and I should
have as little scruple in converting one of them into
a church, as Father Whitfield had in appropriating
to his use the popular airs of the day, when he said
he had no notion of letting the devil run away
with all the fine tunes. Blessings on the memory
of that devoted missionary ! , He has embalmed in
his church melodies that wdll live when the profane
lyres from which they flowed have long since been
silent.
The wild Indians here have a vague belief in the
soul's immortalit}-. They say, " as the moon dieth
and cometh to life again, so man, though he die, will
again live." But their future state is material ; the
wicked are to be bitten by serpents, scorched by
lightning, and plunged down cataracts ; while the
good are to hunt their game with bows that never
lose their vigor, with arrows that never miss their
aim, and in forests where the crystal streams roll
over golden sands. Immortal youth is to be the por-
tion of each ; and age, and pain, and death, are to be
known no more.
Monday, Aug. 31. I am at last forced into a
systematic arrangement of my time ; without it, I
could never get through with my duties. I rise with
the sun, read till eight o'clock, and then breakfast ;
at nine, enter on my duties as alcalde, which confine
me till three, r. .m., then dine ; and at four take my
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 45
gun and plunge into the woods for exercise and par-
tridges ; return at sunset, take tea, and in the
evening write up my journal, and an editorial for the
Californian.
When the Sabbath comes, I preach ; my sermons
are composed in the woods, in the court-room, or in
bed, just where I can snatch a half-hour. I often
plan them while some plaintiff is spinning a long
yarn about things and matters in general, or some
defendant is losing himself in a labyrinth of apolo-
getic circumstances. By this forbearance both are
greatly relieved ; one disburdens himself of his
grievances, the other lightens his guilt, and, in the
mean time, my sermon develops itself into a more
tangible arrangement. My text might often be —
" And he fell among thieves."
Tuesday, Sept. 1. It is singular how the Cal-
ifornians reckon distances. They will speak of a
place as only a short gallop off, when it is fifty or a
hundred miles distant. They think nothing of riding
a hundred and forty miles in a day, and breaking
down three or four horses in doing it, and following
this up by the week. They subsist almost exclu-
sively on meat, and when travelling, sleep under the
open sky. They drive their ox-carts, loaded with
lumber or provisions, two hundred miles to market.
Their conceptions seem to annihilate space.
Wednesday, Sept. 2. The officers of Gen. Castro
46 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
have been permitted to return to their homes, after
having taken an oath that they w^ill not, on pain of
death, be found in arms against the United States
during the existence of the present war. A few,
perhaps from national pride, refused at first the oath,
but were compelled to take it, or be treated as pris-
oners of war. They of course preferred the former.
The ladies don't seem to care much about these nice
points in military etiquette : they want their hus-
bands at home ; and their return, though on parole,
is the signal for getting up a ball. A Californian
would hardly pause in a dance for an earthquake, and
would be pretty sure to renew it, even before its vi-
brations had ceased. At a wedding they dance for
three days and nights, during which time the new-
married couple are kept on their feet. No compas-
sion is shown them, as they have so much bliss in
reserve.
Thursday, Sept. 3. Dispatches were received
this morning, by courier, froni Com. Stockton, dated
at the Pueblo de los Angeles. They contain his
second address to the people of California, which de-
fines the new attitude in which the country is placed
by the declaration of war between the United States
and Mexico. The address is humane in its tone,
expansive and vigorous in its spirit. It has had the
salutary effect to set the community at rest, by es-
tablishing in the minds of the wavering the full con-
viction that California is henceforth a part of the
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 47
United States. Ex-Gov. Pio Pico, it seems, did not
escape with Gen. Castro, but has surrendered to the
commodore. He is one of the few who commanded
the confidence and respect of the pubHc.
Friday, Sept. 4. I empannelled to-day the first
jury ever summoned in CaHfornia. The plaintiff and
defendant are among the principal citizens of the
country. The case was one involving property on
the one side, and integrity of character on the other.
Its merits had been pretty widely discussed, and had
called forth an unusual interest. One-third of the
jury were Mexicans, one-third Californians, and the
other third Americans. This mixture may have
the better answered the ends of justice, but I was
apprehensive at one time it would embarrass the
proceedings ; for the plaintiff spoke in English, the
defendant in French, the jury, save the Americans,
Spanish, and the witnesses all the languages known
to California. But through the silent attention which
prevailed, the tact of Mr. Hartnell, who acted as in-
terpreter, and the absence of young lawyers, we got
along very well.
The examination of the witnesses lasted five or six
hours ; I then gave the case to the jury, stating the
questions of fact upon which they were to render
their verdict. They retired for an hour, and then
returned, when the foreman handed in their verdict,
which was clear and explicit, though the case itself
was rather complicated. To this verdict, both parties
48 THREE YEARS IX CALIFORNIA.
bowed without a word of dissent. The inhabitants
who witnessed the trial, said it was what they liked —
that there could be no bribery in it — that the opinion
of twelve honest men should set the case forever at
rest. And so it did, though neither party completely
triumphed in the issue. One recovered his property,
which had been taken from him by mistake, the
other his character, which had been slandered by
design. If there is any thing on earth besides re-
ligion for which I would die, it is the right of trial
^y jury.
Saturday, Sept. 5. I encountered on my hunting
excursion to-day a wild Indian, with a squaw and
papoose. They were on horses, he carrying his bow,
with a large quiver of arrows hung at his side, and
she W'ith the child in the bunt of her blanket, at the
back. They w-ere dashing ahead in the wake of their
dogs, which were in hot chase of a deer. The squaw
stuck to her fleet animal as firmly as the saddle in
which she sat, and took but little heed of the bogs
and gullies over which she bounded. His glance
was directed to a ridge of rocks, over which he
seemed to expect the deer to fly from the field of
wild oats through which the chase lay. I w^atched
them till they disappeared in their whirlwind speed
over the ridge. Whether the deer fell into their
hands or escaped, I know not ; but certainly I would
not hazard my neck as they did theirs for all the
game even in the California forests. But this, to
TIUIEE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 49
them, is lile ; they seek no repose between the cradle
and the grave.
Sunday, Sept. 6. The bell of the Roman Catholic
chm'ch, which has been silent some weeks, rung out
loud and clear this morning. I directed the prisoners,
sentenced to the public works, to be taken to the ser-
vice. I had given them soap, and sufficient time to
clean their clothes, on Saturday ; though having but
one suit, they had only their blankets for covering
while these were washing and drying. With a ma-
rine at their head, armed and equipped, they made
quite a respectable appearance. Their conduct, du-
ring service, was reported to me as very becoming.
They may yet reform, and shape their lives after the
precepts of morality and religion. My own service
was on board the Savannah, where we had the offi-
cers of the Erie.
Monday, Sept. 7. We have been looking for a
whale-ship, or spouter, as she is called by our sailors,
to come in here, and take care of the whales which
are blowing around us. One belonging to the gen-
uine old Nantucket line, came to anchor last evening.
She had been on the northwest coast in pursuit of
the black whale ; but found them so wild, owing to
the havoc that has been made among them, that she
captured but very few.
This morning her boats were lowered, and their
crews put off in pursuit of one of these monsters,
o
50 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORMA.
The fellow plunged as they approached, and was out
of si^ht for some minutes, when he hove up at a dis-
tance. "There she blows!" was the cry, and off
they darted again ; but by the time they had gained
the spot another plunge was heard, and only a deep
foaming eddy remained. The next time she lifted
they were more successful, and lodged one of their
harpoons. The reel was soon out, and away the boat
flew, like a little car attached to a locomotive. But
the harpoon at last slipped its hold, and the whale
escaped. The loss seemed proportionate to the bulk
of the monster.
Tuesday, Sept. 8. We have had for the last five
days hardly an hour of sunshine, owing to the dense
fogs which prevail here at this season. These murky
vapors fill the whole atmosphere ; you seem to walk
in them alone, like one threading a mighty forest.
A transcendentalist might easily conceive himself a
ghost, wandering among the cypresses of a dead
world. But, being no ghost or transcendentalist, I
had a fire kindled, and found refuge from the fog in
its cheerful light and warmth.
Wednesday', Sept. 9. A Californian came into
my court in great haste last evening, and complained
that another Californian w^as running away with his
oxen. Suspecting the affliir had some connection
with a gambling transaction, Iiimmediately handed
him a warrant for the arrest of the fugitive, w'hen oflf
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA, 51
he started at the top of his speed to execute it. In
less than an hour he returned with his pinsoner.
I then asked the plaintiff if the oxen were his ; he
said they were. I asked him of whom he obtained
them ; he said of the man who attempted to run
away with them. I asked him what lie gave for
them ; this was a puzzler, but after hemming and
hawing for a minute, he said he had played for them,
and won them. I asked him what else he had won
of the man ; he replied, the poncho, and a thin jacket,
both of which he had on. I then ordered them both
into the calaboose for the night. The winner, who
had apprehended the other, and who, no doubt, ex-
pected to get the oxen at once, looked quite con-
founded.
This morning I had the two gamblers before me :
neither of them looked as if he had relished much his
prison-couch. I made the winner return all his ill-
gotten gains, oxen, poncho, and jacket, and then fined
them each five dollars. The one who had served the
warrant shrugged his shoulders, as if he had made
a great mistake. There was no escape from the
judgment, so they paid their fine and departed. The
next time they gamble, they will probably settle
matters between themselves, without a resort to the
alcalde.
Thursday, Sept. 10. My alcalde duties required
me to-day to preside at the executive sale of two
dwelling-houses and a store. I was about as au fait
52 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
at the business as Dr. Johnson at the auction of
widow Thraies' brewery, when he informed the bid-
ders, in his towering language, that he offered them,
not a few idle vats and worms, but the " potentiality
of becoming rich." The property sold well, forty
per cent, higher than it would under the Mexican
flag. All real estate has risen since our occupation
of the territory. This tells what the community
expects, in terms which none can mistake. A Cali-
fornian told me to-day that he considered his lands
worth forty thousand dollars more than they were
before our flag was hoisted. The old office-holders
may, perhaps, grumble at the change, but they whose
interest lies in the soil silently exult. They desire
no ebb in the present tide of political affairs.
Friday, Sept. 11. An express came in to-day,
bringing the intelligence that a thousand Wallawalla
Indians had reached the Sacramento from Oregon.
They have come, as the express states, to avenge the
death of a young chief, who was wantonly and wick-
edly kilied about a year since, by an American emi-
grant. They belong to a tribe remarkable for their
intelligence, hardihood, and valor. Their occupation
is that of trappers, and they are thoroughly used to
fire-arms. Capt. Mervin has sent a force from the
Savannah, and Capt. Montgomery another from the
Portsmouth, to arrest their progress. Capt. Ford,
with his company of California rangers, who under-
stand the bush-fight, will also be on the spot.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 53
Saturday, Sept. 12. My partner in the "Cali-
fornian" has been absent several weeks. All the
work of the office has devolved upon a sailor, who
has set the type for the whole paper, with fingers stiff
as the ropes around which they have coiled them-
selves into seeming fixtures. Yet the " Californian"
is out, and makes a good appearance. Who would
think, except in these uttermost ends of the earth, of
issuing a weekly journal, with only an old tar to set
the type, and without a solitary exchange paper ! By
good fortune, a hunter brought along a copy of the
"Oregon Spectator;" it was quite a windfall, though
the only intelligence it contained from the United
States, was that brought its editor by some overland
emigrant. The " Spectator" speaks of the institu-
tions of the "City of Oregon" with as much reverence
as if they had the antiquity of the Egyptian Pyra-
mids ; when there is scarce a crow's nest which does
not date further back. But age is no certain evi-
dence of merit, since folly runs to seed as fast as
wisdom.
5*
54
CHAPTER IV.
FUNERAL CEREMONIES. — ELECTED ALCALDE. FLIGHT OF GEN. CASTRO. — •
LOS ANGELES TAKEN. OVEN-BATH. GROG IN A CHIMNEY. — THE FLEA.
FIRST RAIN. RISING OF THE CALIFOKNIANS. MEASURES OF COM. STOCK-
TON. — MORMONS.
Sunday, Sept. 13. Officiated to-day on board the
Savannah, and called on my way to see a sick child,
whose mother seems at a loss whether to grieve or
rejoice in prospect of its death. If it dies, she says it
will at once become a little angel : if it lives, it will
l)e subject to sorrow and sin. She desires, for her
sake, that it may live; but, for its own, that it may
die. This balancing between life and death, is com-
mon here among mothers. Their full persuasion of
an infant's future bliss, forbids that they should mourn
its loss. They therefore put on no weeds, and utter
no lamentations. The child, when its pure spirit has
fled, is dressed in white, and stainless roses are strewn
upon its little shroud. It is borne to the grave as if
it were to be laid at the open portal of heaven, and
few are the tears which fall on that threshold of im-
mortal bhss.
Monday, Skpt. 14. A letter from the Sacramento,
received to-day, informs me of the arrival of two
thousand emigrants from the United States. They
are under the guidance of experienced men, and have
THREE YEARS IN' CALIFORNIA. 55
been but a little over four months on the way. The
Mormons are selecting the site of their city, which
they intend shall be the paradise of the west.
Tuesday, Sept. 15. The citizens of Monterey elect-
ed me to-day alcalde, or chief magistrate of this juris-
diction — a situation which I have been filling for two
months past, under a military commission. It has
now been restored to its civil character and func-
tions. Their election is undoubtedly the highest
compliment which they can confer ; but this token of
confidence brings with it a great deal of labor and
responsibility. It devolves upon me duties similar to
those of mayor of one of our cities, without any of those
judicial aids which he enjoys. It involves every
breach of the peace, every case of crime, every busi-
ness obligation, and every disputed land-title within a
space of three hundred miles. From every other al-
calde's court in this jurisdiction there is an appeal to
this, and none from this to any higher tribunal. Such
an absolute disposal of questions affecting property
and personal Hberty, never ought to be confided to
one man. There is not a judge on any bench in
England or the United States, whose power is so ab-
solute as that of the alcalde of Monterey.
Wednesday, Sept. 16. The Congress, bearing the
broad pennant of Com. Stockton, returned last even-
ing from her trip to the south. She has captured,
during her absence, Santa Barbara, San Pedro, and
56 THREE YEARS IS CALIFORNIA.
the Pueblo de los Angeles. Over these the American
flag is now flying.
Gen. Castro hud taken up his position just outside
the Pueblo, on an elevation which commands the
town and adjacent country. He was well supplied
with field-pieces, and had a force of seven hundred
men. Com. Stockton landed at San Pedro with three
hundred seamen and marines from the Congress, and
marched against him. His route, which extended
some thirty miles, lay through several narrow passes,
which Gen. Castro might easily have defended against
a much superior force. But the general kept in his
entrenched camp ; and informed the commodore by
a cou^rier, that if he marched upon the thwn he would
find it the grave of his men. "Then," said the com-
modore, " tell the general to have the bells ready to
toll in the morning at eight o'clock, as I shall be there
at that time." He was there ; but Castro, in the
mean time, had broken up his camp, mounted with
an armed band, and fled towards Sonora, in Mexico.
The town was taken, the American flag hoisted and
cheered.
Thursday, Sept. 17. The U. S. ship Cyane, under
Commander Du Pont, proceeded from this port to
San Diego, took that important place, and landed
Col. Fremont, with his riflemen, who hastened to cut
oflT the retreat of Castro. He would have done it
could he have anticipated his route ; but to overtake
him was impossible, as the general had taken the pre-
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 57
caution to send on in advance relays of fresh horses,
sufficient to take him and his band beyond the reach
of any pursuit.
Friday, Sept. 18. A bearer of dispatches from
Commodore Stockton to our government is to leave
to-morrow morning in the Erie, and we are all busy
in writing letters home by him. The Erie is to take
the dispatch-bearer to Panama, and then proceed to
the Sandwich Islands. We have not received any
letters from home since we sailed from Callao ; the
year has rolled from the buds of spring into the sear
leaf of autumn since any intelligence has reached us
from those we love. Death may have stricken them
into the grave, but the sad tidings is yet a melancholy
secret. We ought to have a regular mail between
the United States and California. We seem remark-
ably eager to possess ourselves of foreign territory,
and then leave the wild geese to convey all intelli-
gence. If the land is only ours, and those at home
can hear from it once in fifty or a hundred years, that
will do ; a more frequent communication would be
quite superfluous. Had we possessed Egypt in the
days of Cheops, all information would still be con-
sidered seasonable which should come when his pyra-
mid had crumbled.
Saturday, Sept. 19. I encountered to-day a com-
pany of Californians on horseback, bound to a pic-
nic, each with his lady love on the saddle before him.
58 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
He, as in duty bound, rides behind, throws his teet
forward into the stirrups, liis left hand holds the reins,
his riffht encircles and sustains her, and there she rides
safe as a robin in its nest ; sprigs of evergreen, with
wild flowers, wave in her little hat, and larger clusters
in his ; both are gayly attired, and smiles of light and
love kindle in their dark expressive eyes. Away they
gallop over hill and valley, waking the wild echoes of
the wood. One of my hunting dogs glanced at them
for a while, and seemed so tickled, he had to plunge
into the bushes to get rid of his mirth.
Sunday, Sept. 20. At the invitation of Captain
Richardson, I preached this afternoon on board the
Brooklyn. The crew assembled in the cabin, which
the captain had converted for the occasion into a
chapel. None attended by compulsion, but all were
present of their free will. The good order and re-
spectful attention which prevailed showed the spirit
which pervaded the ship, and conveyed a testimony
of the wise and Christian conduct of the captain
which none could mistake. I have never met with a
ship where a greater degree of harmony and alacrity
in duty were observable ; all this, too, without any re-
sort to physical force ; such is the result of moral in-
fluence when brought into full play. Give us more of
this in the navy.
Monday, Sept. 21. A Californian mother came to
me to-day to plead her son out of prison. He had
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 59
driven off a herd of cattle \Yhich had another owner,
and sold them, and I had sentenced him to the public
works for a year. She felt as a good mother must
feel for her son, and plead for his liberation with a
pathos that half shook my resolution. Nothing but
an iron sense of duty kept me firm. There is some-
thing in a mother's tears which is almost irresistible ;
she wept and trembled, and would have kneeled, but
I would not let her. I lifted her to her feet, and told
her I once had a mother, and knew what her sorrows
were. I told her I would liberate her son if I could,
but it was impossible ; law and justice were against
it. But if he behaved well, I would take off a few
months from the close of the year ; and in the mean
time she might see him as often as she desired. She
thanked me, lingered as if she would plead again, and
departed. What depths there are in a mother's soul !
Tuesday, Sept. 22. The frigate Savannah sailed
this morning for San Francisco. She left her berth,
where she has lain since our flag was raised here, and
with her royals set, glided gracefully out of the bay.
The Congress gave her three cheers as she passed, —
still she goes with a heavy heart. The time of her
crew is out ; they are almost half the circuit of the
globe from their home, and have now, seemingly, as
little prospect of reaching it as they had a year since.
Com. Stockton went on board a few days since and
addressed them, but even with his happy tact in in-
spiring enthusiasm, it was difficult to arouse their
GO THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
despondency, and make them cheerful in a resignation
to their lot. The war being against a power un-
armed at sea, is with them a mere bubble. To chase
or capture a privateer is a game not worth the candle.
Were an English or French squadron in this ocean,
in declared hostility, they would not murmur while
a tattered sail could be set, or a shot be found in
the locker. '
Wednesday, Sept. 23. I was waked this morning
by sounds of merriment in the street. Day had only
begun to glimmer, and its beam was contending with
the glare of rockets, flashino- over the lino-erinff shad-
ows of night. The child which I had visited a few
evenings since had died, and this was its attendant
ceremony to the grave. It had become, in the ap-
prehension of those who formed the procession, a
little angel — and they were expressing their joy over
the transformation. The disruption of ties which
bound it here — its untimely blight — and the darkness
of the grave — were all forgotten. Its little coffin
was draped in white, and garlanded with flowers ;
and voices of gladness, ringing out from childhood
and youth, heralded its flight to a better world.
Thursday, Sept. 24. An Englishman called at
the court to-day, and desired me to issue a warrant
for the apprehension of his mistress, who he said had
run away and carried off* a rich shawl and diamond
breastpin which did not belong to her. I told him.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 61
when he entered into a criminal compact of that
kind with a person, he might expect just such resuhs
as he had experienced, — and as for a warrant, I should
issue none, and would not if she had carried off every
thing in his house, and him too ; for I should consider
the community quit of two persons who could in no
way benefit its morals. He looked not a little sur-
prised at this decision, shrugged his shoulders, and
departed. The first thing a foreigner does here is to
provide himself with a horse ; the second, with a
mistress ; the third, with a pack of cards. These,
with a bottle of aguardiente, are his capital for this
world and the next. This is true of many, but not
all ; there are some high and honorable exceptions.
Friday, Sept. 25. The Congress left her moor-
ings last evening, and held her course majestically
out of the bay for San Francisco. Com. Stockton
proposes, while there, to construct batteries which
can command the entrance to the harbor, and afford
protection to our merchantmen in the absence of our
squadron. The new city will probably be located
before his return. It is the point towards which all
eyes are now turned. The tide of emigration is set-
ting there with as much steadiness and strength as
the rivers which roll into its capacious bosom. The
day is coming when the spires of a great city will be
mirrored in its waters.
Saturday, Sept. 2G. The Indians here are prac-
6
G2 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORMA.
tical Thomsonians or Hydropathists ; they sweat for
every kind of disease. Their bath is a large ground-
oven, to which you descend by a flight of narrow
steps, and which has a small aperture at the top for
the escape of the smoke. In the centre of this they
build a fire, close the entrance, and shut themselves
in till the temperature reaches an elevation which
throws them into a profuse perspiration. They then
rush out and plunge themselves into a stream of cold
water. This is repeated every day till the disease
leaves or death comes.
But many, without any ailment, resort to this bath
as a luxury. They will stay in the oven till they are
hardly able to crawl out and reach the stream. It is
great fun for the more sturdy ones to lift out the ex-
hausted and dash them in the flood. You hardly
expect to see them rise again, but up they come, and
regain the earth full of life and vigor. The reaction
is instantaneous, and the effect, I have no doubt, in
many cases beneficial. It, at least, gives them a good
washing, which they would hardly get without, and
which they too often need. The Indian also takes to
the water to quench the flames of rum. His poor
mortal tenement is often wrapped in such a confla-
gration. It would be a good thing if all the rum-
drinkers could be marched once a week under the
falls of Niagara.
Sunday, Sept. 27. There is no day in the week
in which mv feelings run homeward so stronglv as on
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. G3
the Sabbath. That day makes me feel indeed as an
exile. A vast moral desolation spreads around me :
only here and there a speck of verdure sprinkles the
mighty waste. All else is bleak and barren. You
turn your eyes to the hills where you were born, the
church where you were baptized, and would rush
back to them on the steep wave of time.
Monday, Sept. 28. When Monterey was taken by
our squadron, an order was issued by the commander-
in-chief that all the grog-shops should be closed. The
object of this was to prevent disorder among the pop-
ulace and among the sailors, whose duties as a patrol
confined them to the shore. It was with great diffi-
culty that this order could be enforced. All moder-
ate fines failed to secure its observance. The price of
aguardiente rose to four and five dollars the bottle,
more than ten times its original cost : for such a pre-
mium the shopkeeper would run the hazard of the
penalty.
We searched for it as for hid treasures, but only in
one instance found its hiding-place. This was in a
chimney, hanging about midway from the top. When
discovered, the shopkeeper laughed as loudly as they
who made the search. He was fined, not for having
grog in his chimney, for that is a very good place for
it, but for retailing it at his counter. An offer of four
or five dollars from a customer never failed to bring
down a bottle. He paid his fine of twenty-five dol-
lars, but begged hard for the liquor. I took it into
Gl THREE YEARS IX CALIFORNIA.
my custody, and told him to call for it when the last
American man-of-war had left port.
Tuesday, Sept. 29. A brother and sister of a
Mexican family applied to me to-day for permission
to leave their mother. On inquiring the cause of this
singular request, they stated that their father was
dead, and that their mother by her immoralities had
brought sore discredit on their house. I ascertained
from other sources the truth of their statement, and
then gave them permission to rent another dwelling.
They were both modest and genteel in their appear-
ance, but jealousy of a sister's fair reputation had pre-
vailed with the brother over filial affection. And yet
when he spoke of his mother his eyes filled with tears.
Wednesday, Sept. 30. An express amved last
night from the Pueblo below, bringing the startling
intelligence that the populace had risen upon the
small American force left there under command of
Capt. Gillespie — that the insurgents had entire pos-
session of the town — that the Americans were closely
besieged in their quarters, and it was doubtful if they
would be able to hold out much longer. The express
stated that he left the town under a volley of mus-
ketry, which he narrowly escaped, but whch took
such deadly effect on his horse, that he dropped under
him about two leagues out.
He had a permit from the American alcalde to
press horses wherever found. He rode the whole
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 65
distance — four hundred and sixty miles — in fifty-two
hours, during which time he had not slept. His in-
tellisience was for Com. Stockton, and in the nature
of the case was not committed to paper, except a few
words over the signature of the alcalde, rolled in a
cigar, which was fastened in his hair. But the com-
modore had sailed for San Francisco, and it was
necessary he should go on a hundred and forty miles
further. He was quite exhausted ; I ordered him
a bowl of strong coffee, which revived him, and a
hearty supper, which he eagerly devoured. He was
allowed to sleep three hours : in the mean time I pro-
cured fresh horses, and penned a permit for him to
press others when these should begin to flag. Before
the day glimmered he was up and away.
Thursday, Oct. 1. Com. Stockton, before the de-
parture of the Congress, appointed T. H. Green, Esq.,
collector of customs at this port. Mr. G. is a native
of Pennsylvania, has resided in this country several
years, and enjoys a wide reputation for business
habits, and sterling integrity of character. Mr. Hart-
y-jVell, an Englishman by birth, has been appointed in-
spector and translator. He is familiar with all the
languages spoken in California, and filled the same
office under the Mexican government to which he
has been appointed under this. But we are gratified
with his appointment for another reason. He has
some twenty children of his own, and in addition to
these, five adopted orphans.
G*
66 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORMA.
Friday, Oct. 2. A Spaniard of some note and
noise here, and consul of her Christian Majesty, at-
tempted in court to-day to flourish down the claim of
an humble Californian to \\hom he was indebted some
eight hundred dollars. He said this creditor was
once his servant, that he could neither read nor write,
and that he felt quite indignant that he should have
th» assurance to bring him into court. I told him the
first question was, whether he really owed the man
the amount claimed : this being settled, we could
very easily dispose of the belles-lettres part of the
matter. He at first recollected nothing, except that
the man had once been his servant, but on beinar
o
shown the account, reluctantly admitted that it might
be correct. I told him, if correct, and he had the
means, he must pay it, though the creditor were fresh
from Congo. Finding that we had in our court only
a horizontal justice, holding its level line alike over
kings and slaves, he signed an obligation for the pay-
ment in six months, and gave the security required.
So much for attempting to liquidate a debt by an
hidalgo flourish. Law which fails to protect the
humble, disgraces the name which it bears.
Saturday, Oct. 3. A heavy mist hung over the
landscape this morning till the sun was high in the
heavens, and many began to predict rain, a phenome-
non which I have not yet witnessed in California.
But towards noon the mist departed like a shadow
di.ssolved in liaht. The scorched hills hfted their
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 67
naked summits, and the deep ravines revealed their
irregular lines of lingering verdure. In these the
cattle still graze, though the streams which once
poured their waters through them exist now only in
little motionless pools, hardly sufficient to drift a duck.
A stranger looking at these hills might be excused if
he inquired the distance to Sodom. It would never
enter his most vagrant dreams that he had reached
that land towards which the tide of emigration was
rolling over the cliffs of the Rocky Mountains.
Sunday, Oct. 4. The presiding priest of this ju-
risdiction applied to me a few days since to protect
the property of the San Antonio Mission. A Span-
iard, it seems, who owns a neighboring rancho, had,
under color of some authority of the late administra-
tion, extended his claims over the grounds and build-
ings, and was appropriating the whole to his private
purposes. I summoned the Spaniard before me, and
asked for the evidence of his right and title to the es-
tablishment. He had no document to exhibit. His
sole claim evidently rested in some vague permission,
in which the lines of moral justice were wholly omit-
ted, or too faintly drawn to be seen.
I therefore ordered that the mission buildings and
grounds should be delivered back to the presiding
priest, and that the fixtures, which had been removed,
should at once be restored. The order was forthwith
carried into effect. This decision is of some moment,
as it will serve as a precedent in reference to other
08 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORXIA.
missions. These sacred domains are the patrimonial
inheritance of the Indian, and they once embraced
the wealth of California. But they have fallen a prey
to state exigencies and private rapacity. They ought
at once to be restored to their primitive objects, or
converted into a school-fund.
Monday, Oct. 5. A courier arrived to-day from
San Francisco, bringing the intelligence that the Sa-
vannah had sailed for San Pedro. They will there
land a large force, which will march at once to the
Pueblo de los Angeles, and, if possible, bring the in-
surgents to an engagement. But the probability is,
that they will instantly disband and fly to the forests.
If they declined battle, with Gen. Castro and his reg-
ular troops at their head, they will undoubtedly do it
when left to themselves, unless frantic passion has
entirely overcome inherent fickleness.
Tuesday, Oct. G. The usual rate of interest for
money loaned here on good security, is twenty-four
per cent. This is sufficient evidence of its scarcity,
and yet it is almost valueless when you come to the
question of labor. A foreigner may be induced to
work for money, but not a Californian, so long as he
has a pound of beef or a pint of beans left. Nor is it
much better willi the Indian : take from him the in-
ducements to labor which rum and gambling present,
and he will refuse to work for you. The blanket,
wliich he wore last year, will answer for this ; his
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 69
shirt and pants can easily be repaired ; his food is in
every field and forest, and he seems to have as little
scruple in taking it from the one as the other.
Hunger is unknown here ; the man who has not a
foot of land seems about as independent as he who
has his ten-league farm, and has vastly less trouble
and vexation. It is true he will now and then kill a
bullock that is not his, but the fact that there are vast
herds roaming about which never had an owner,
seems, in his estimation, greatly to diminish the pri-
vate trespass w^hich he commits. It is v/ith him only
as if he had taken a pickerel from a pond instead of
the ocean.
Wednesday, Oct. 7. The great Mormon compa-
ny, wdio came out in the Brooklyn, have had a split.
The volcano, it seems, has been rumbling for some
time, and has at last broke forth in flame. The ex-
plosion will undoubtedly throw them into different
parts of California, and defeat any attempts at a dis-
tinct political community. The difficulty lay in the
assumptions of the leader. He has all the ambition
of their lost prophet, without any of his affected meek-
ness. He attempted the iron rod, without first hav-
ing persuaded those who Avere to feel its force that it
had been put in his hands by a higher povver.
Thursday, Oct. 8. One of the rooms in the house
which I have rented, has been occupied by some of
the goods and chattels of the previous tenant. To-
70 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA,
day they were called for, and I observed among them
a large basket filled with egg-shells. They had been
perforated at both ends, and their contents blown
out. But to what use could any one put these empty
shells ? They had been prepared, it seems, for the
festivities of the carnival. On this occasion they
are to be filled with scented water or tinsel, the
apertures closed with wax, and then broken, in mer-
riment, over the heads of guests. This liberty with
caps and wigs is warranted only where some inti-
macy exists between the parties. Where this is
found, the eggs fall thick as hail. The young and
old float in lavender and cologne. This expensive
frolic is often indulged in by those who, perhaps,
have hardly money enough left to purchase one of
the forty hens that laid the eggs.
Friday, Oct. 9. The trouble of young and old
here is the flea. The native who is thorou2;hlv inured
to his habits may little heed him, but he keeps the
stranger in a constant nettle. One would suppose,
from his indiscriminate and unmitigated hostility, he
considered himself the proprietor of all California.
Indeed, he does seem to be the genuine owner of the
soil, instead of a tenant at will. It is true he may
construct no dwellings, but he will plant himself in
every nook and corner of. the one which you may
construct. He jumps into your cradle, jumps with
you all along tlnuugh life, and well would it be for
those who remain if he jumped with you out of it.
THREE YEARS IN CAMIOUNJA. 71
But no, he remains still ; and grief for your loss will
half forget its bereavement in parrying his assaults.
Saturday, Oct. 10. We are waiting with some
anxiety for news from the Pueblo de los Angeles. A
rumor reached here yesterday, that the small Ameri-
can force there would not be able to hold out much
longer against the overwhelming odds of the insur-
gents. But the Savannah must by this time have
reached San Pedro, and her crew be on their march
to the scene of action. They are a body of brave,
unflinching men, and are commanded by officers of
great firmness and force. A sailor on land never
thinks of running more than he would at sea. He
is trained to stand to his post, and will do so on the
field as well as the deck. The last man who left the
ground in that disreputable retreat from Bladensburg
was a sailor. When the rest were far out of sight he
remained at his gun, and was wadding home to give
the enemy another shot. In the fight of the Essex
many threw themselves out of the ports, determined
to drown sooner than surrender.
Sunday, Oct. 11. Another bright and beautiful
Sabbath has dawned ; but there is little here to re-
mind one of its sacredness. A few of the larger
stores are closed, but the smaller shops are all open.
More liquors are retailed on this day than any other
three. I have the power to close these shops, and
shall do it.
CHAPTER V.
FIKE OS THE MOUNTAINS. EMIGRANTS. — PISTOLS AND PILLOWS. — LEADERS
OK THE I.VSURRECTION. — CALIFORNIA PLOUGH. — DEFEAT AT SAX PEDRO.
— COL. Fremont's band. — the malek adhel. — monteret threatened.
soldier outwitted. — RAISING MEN. BRIDEGROOM. — CULPRITS.
Monday, Oct. 12. A wide conflagration is sweep-
ing over the hills. which encircle the bay of Monte-
rey. The forests, and the grass with which they are
feathered, are as dry as tinder, and the flame rolls on
with its line of fire clearly and fearfully defined.
This has become still more grand and awful since
the night set in. The clouds seem to float in an at-
mosphere of fire ; and the billows, as they roll to the
rock-bound shore, are crested with flame. The birds
are flying from their crackling covert, and the wolves
go howling over the hills. It is a t3pe of that final
conflagration in which the great frame of nature will
at last sink.
TuESD.w, Oct. 13. Emigrants from the United
States are still pouring into the rich valley of the
Sacramento. A letter from one of them says : — " It
may not be uninteresting to you to know that the
emigrants by land the present season far exceed the
expectation of the most sanguine. No less than two
thousand are now in the interior, and within a hun-
dred miles of the settlements. Thev brine: with them
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 73
a large amount of intelligence, wealth, and industry,
all of which are greatly needed in their new home.
The Mormons alone have a train of more than three
hundred wagons."
These emigrants will change the face of California.
We shall soon have not only the fruits of nature, but
of human industry. We shall soon be able to get a
ball of butter without churning it on the back of a
wild colt ; and a potatoe without weighing it as if it
were a doubloon. Were it possible for a man to live
without the trouble of drawing his breath, I should
look for this pleasing phenomenon in California.
Wednesday, Oct. 14. The success of the insur-
gents at the south has emboldened the reckless here.
Bands have been gathering in the vicinity to make a
night assault on Monterey. Their plan is to capture
or drive out the small American force here, and plun-
der the town. Those engaged in it are men of des-
perate fortunes. The streets to-day have been barri-
caded, and the true and trusty among the citizens
have been formed into a night patrol. I sleep with
my rifle at my bedside, and with two pistols under
my pillow. My servant, who is a brave little fellow,
is also armed to the teeth. He ought to be brave,
for he was born in St. Helena, close to the tomb of
Napoleon, and must have caught some fire from the
hero's ashes. My house has grated windows, and an
entrance that is easily defended against odds, so that
we shall probably make a pretty good fight of it.
7
74 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
One thing is certain, neither of us go out alive. I
will not be taken, tortured, and hacked to pieces, as
two of our countrymen were a few months since.
Thursday, Oct. 15. No assault yet ; but a com-
pany of horsemen have been seen to-day crossing the
southern plain, and winding off behind the hills at
the west. They have, as a messenger informs us,
joined another party much larger than their own, and
are now encamped in the woods. The citizens here
who have been true to our flag, feel deeply alarmed ;
and in truth they have some occasion, for if the town
is sacked they will be among the first sufferers. I
have sent an express to Com. Stockton, who is at
San Francisco, where he has been engaged in raising
and dispatching a heavy force for San Pedro. He
will be here with the Congress as fast as the winds
and waves can bring him.
Friday, Oct. 16. Our relief has come. The Con-
gress arrived to-day, and the commodore immediately
landed, under Capt. Maddox, U. S. marine corps, a
sufficient force to repel any attack that may be made.
Our friends now breathe more freely. They may go
outside the town without the fear of having their re-
treat cut off by a flying horseman, and sleep at night
without the apprehension of awaking under a flaming
roof. The noble tars of the Congress, when they saw
our flag still flying on the fort, hailed it with three
stout cheers, which were heard over all Monterey.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 75
They feared, and not without reason, that it had been
captured ; and when tliey saw it still streaming on the
wind, their enthusiasm and joy broke forth.
Saturday, Oct. 17. As soon as the intelligence
of the insurrection below reached Com. Stockton, he
dispatched the Savannah to San Pedro ; and sent
fast in her wake a quick coaster, with Col. Fremont
and two hundred riflemen on board, who are to land
in the night at Santa Barbara, and take the place by
surprise. This was managed with so much celerity
and secrecy, that the disaffected here are still ignorant
of the fact.
What will be the surprise of the insurgents at los
Angeles, if defeated by the forces of the Savannah, to
find their retreat cut off" by the riflemen of Col. Fre-
mont ! Between these two fires there will be little
chance of escape. Not a few of them have given
their parol of honor that they will not, on pain of
death, take up arms against the United States. They
are now in the field, and their treachery may cost
them their lives. It is painful, but may be necessary
to make examples of them. California will never
have any repose while they are in it. They have
headed every revolution that has taken place for
years, and they have now headed their last.
Sunday, Oct. 18. I issued, a few days since, an
ordinance against gambling — a vice which shows it-
self here more on the Sabbath than any other day of
76 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
the week. The effect of it has been to drive the
gamblers from the town into the bushes. I have been
informed this evening, that in a ravine, at a short dis-
tance, some thirty individuals have been engaged
through the day in this desperate play. They selected
a spot deeply embowered in shade, and escaped the
eye of mv constables. But there is an eye from the
glance of which the gloom of the forest and even the
recesses of night afford no refuge.
Monday, Oct. 19. Some twenty men left the pre-
cincts of Monterey, last night, to join the insurgents
at the south. They are all men of desperate fortunes,
and may find that they have started too late. They who
have been duped may perhaps be spared, but the ring-
leaders are doomed. There is only one resting-place
for them in California. He who breaks his solemnly
plighted faith, can claim no mercy for the past and
no confidence for the future.
Were this frantic insurrection sustained by the
slightest probability of success, it would relieve, per-
haps, its madness and atrocity. But they who insti-
gated it knew it must end in disaster and blood.
They knew its only trophies must be a little plunder,
cursed by the crimes through which it had been pro-
cured. They threw themselves down this cataract,
and will never again reascend its steep wave.
Tuesday, Oct. 20. The mode of cultivating land
in California is eminently primitive. In December or
<i ^
^•'*^-
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 77
January they take a piece of wood in the shape of a
ship's knee, dress it down a Uttle with a dull axe, and
spike a piece of iron to the lower point. A pole, by
which the oxen draw, runs from the inner bend of the
knee to the yoke. This pole has a mortise, about
eight inches long, made slanting, and about a foot
from the after end ; a piece of wood, about two inches
by six, runs up through the plough and pole, and is so
wedged into the mortise of the pole, as to make the
plough run shallow or deep as required. But if the
ground happens to be hard the plough will not enter
an inch, and if there are roots in the ground it must
be lifted over, or it will be invariably broken. Such
is a California plough ; such a fair specimen of the
arts here.
Wednesday, Oct. 21. If late in the season, the
Californian rarely prepares the ground by any furrow-
ing attempts. He scatters the seed about the field,
and then scratches it in with the thing which he calls
a plough. Should this scratching fail of yielding
him sixty bushels to the acre, he grumbles. In reap-
ing he cuts so high, to save a little trouble in thresh-
ing, which is done here by horses, that he loses one-
eighth of his crop ; but this eighth serves for seed the
next season ; and what to him is better still, saves the
trouble of sowing. So that his second crop plants it-
self from the first, and is often nearly as large as its
predecessor. Even the third self-planted crop is quite
respectable, and would satisfy a New England farmer
78 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
for his laborious toil ; but here it generally goes to the
blackbirds.
Thursday, Oct. 22. A mother came to me, to-day,
with a request that I would summon before me an-
other woman, who had slandered her daughter. 1
tried to dissuade her from it — told her that persevering
virtue would outlive all scandal. But she said she
was a poor widow, and the reputation of her family
was all she had to depend on. So I summoned the
woman, who confessed her injurious words, but said
they had been uttered in passion, and that she now
deeply regretted them. On her assurance that she
would repair as far as in her power any injury she had
done, I dismissed the parties.
Friday, Oct. 23. The merchant ship Vandalia is
just in from San Pedro, with intelligence from the
seat of war. Capt. Gillespie, it seems, had been obliged
to capitulate; but the terms were that he should leave
the Pueblo with all the honors of war. He marched
out of the town with his flag flying ; and, on arriving
at San Pedro, embarked on board the Vandalia.
The frigate Savannah soon hove in sight. Her
forces under Capt. Mervin, and those from the Van-
dalia under Capt. Gillespie, started at once for the
Pueblo. After a march of fifteen miles, they encamped
for the night. But their slumbers were soon disturbed
by a shot, which thundered its way into their midst.
They seized their arms, but in the darkness of the
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 79
nitrht nothincT could be seen, and nothins; heard save
the distant tramp of horses. At break of day they
renewed their march, but had not proceeded far be-
fore they were attacked by a CaUfornian force on
horseback, drawing a four-pounder. Their enemy
kept out of the range of their muskets, fled as fast
as they charged, and, having gained a safe dis-
tance, wheeled and played upon them with their
four-pounder, charged with grape. Capt. Mervin,
finding himself unable to bring the enemy to a gen-
eral engagement, and having five of his men killed,
and a greater number wounded, ordered a retreat,
and returned without further molestation on board
the Savannah. His defeat lay in the fact that his
men were all on foot, and without any artillery to
protect them against the longer range of the piece
which the enemy had brought into the field.
Saturday, Oct. 24. Col. Fremont having fallen in
with the Vandalia, and ascertained from her that no
horses could be procured for his men at Santa Bar-
bara, decided on returning in the Sterling to this port.
His arrival has been delayed by a succession of light
head winds, and dead calms. When within fifty miles
of the port, a boat was dispatched, which is just in.
Several of his men came in her, who are to start in
advance in quest of horses. They will probably have
to go as far as the Sacramento, for all the horses in
this immediate vicinity have been driven south by
the insurgents. I have lost both of mine ; but what
80 THREE YEAUcJ IN CALIFORNIA.
are two to the hundred and fifty which were driven
from the farm of one man. If misery loves company,
I have a plenty of that sort of consolation. But the
extent of a misfortune depends not so much on what
is taken, as what is left. The last surviving child in
a family is invested with the affections which en-
circled the whole.
Sunday, Oct. 25. With us the sound of the
church-going bell has been exchanged for the roll of
the drum. One of the moral miseries of war is the
profanation of the Sabbath which it involves. There
is something in military movements which seems to
cut the conscience adrift from its moorings on this
subject.
Monday, Oct. 26. We shall soon see what the
genius of Com. Stockton is equal to in a great emer-
gency. He will arrive at San Pedro without horses,
or any means of procuring them. They are all
driven off, or under men who seem as if born on the
saddle. He will encounter on his march to los
Angeles the same flying artillery which foiled the
forces under Capt. Mervin. But he will have several
well-mounted pieces ; they must be drawni, however,
by oxen over a deep sandy road. If the enemy
comes within range, he will open and give them a
volley of grape. In this way he will reach, recap-
ture the place, and unfurl the stars and stripes. But
how he Avill maintain himself — how he will procure
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 81
provisions with the country around in the hands of
a mounted enemy, remains to be seen. Mihtary
genius, however, asserts its fullest force in the greatest
emergency. It is like the eagle exulting in peril, and
throwing its strong pinions on the mountain storm.
Tuesday, Oct. 27. The prize brig Malek Adhel,
commanded by Lieut. W. B. Renshaw, arrived in
port this afternoon in thirty days from Mazatlan.
She brings the first intelligence of her own capture.
The U. S. ship Warren,, under Commander Hull,
anchored off Mazatlan on the sixth ult., and found
there the Malek Adhel, moored within a hundred and
fifty yards of the mole, with sails unbent, and running
rigging unrove. The next day her rudder was to
have been unshipped, and she was to have been hauled
up the creek for safe keeping. Commander Hull de-
termined immediately to cut her out ; hauled his ship
in close to the bar, and sent sixty men in the launch
and the three cutters, under charge of Lieuts. Rad-
ford and Renshaw, with orders to bring her out, or
finding that impracticable, to burn her. On their ap-
proach, the officer in charge escaped to the shore :
they boarded her without opposition, unmoored and
warped her outside the bar. While doing this, about
two hundred and fifty Mexican soldiers mustered on
the mole ; another party dragged a field-piece up the
hill abreast of the brig, commanding her and the channel
to the bar ; but upon a second thought the governor
determined to offer no resistance, alleging that the
82 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
Warren's guns would do more damage to the town
than the brig was worth. The Malek Adhel, however,
is a valuable prize, being a fine sailer and a good sea-
boat ; she was gallantly captured.
Wednesday, Oct. 28. The Sterling is just in with
Col. Fremont and his riflemen. They are in a half-
starved condition, having been for several days on
the very shortest commons. I never met with a more
famished crew. The call for meat and bread roused
up all the butchers and bakers in Monterey. What
an energy there is in downright hunger !
Thursday, Oct. 29. Our Indian scouts, who came
in yesterday, reported the discovery of a large band
of Californians in the cover of the hills within the
vicinity of Monterey. They probably purposed an
attack on the town last night, as the garrison had
been weakened by the absence of thirty men, who
had left, under the command of Capt. Maddox, for
San Juan. But the unexpected arrival of Col. Fre-
mont frustrated their plans. We might have a battle
with them were there horses here ; but to attempt it
on foot, would be like a man with a wooden les
chasing a hare.
Monterey has at present much the aspect of a mil-
itary garrison. The streets are barricaded ; a pa-
trol is kept up night and day ; no one is permitted
to leave without a written passport, and no one al-
lowed to enter without reporting himself to the police.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 83
No one can be in the streets after nine without the
countersign. Every thing, of course, in the shape
of amusement is at an end ; even ordinary business
is in a great measure suspended. You hear only the
roll of the drum at muster, and the toll of the bell
over some one going to his last rest.
Friday, Oct. 30. One of the guard in charge of
Col. Fremont's horses, in the vicinity of the town, was
approached, this afternoon, by two Californians on
horseback, who inquired if he had seen a buck break
from the woods near by. Having by this natural
question laid suspicion, they entered into conversa-
tion on other topics, watched their opportunity, seized
his rifle, shot him, and dashed off" at full speed. The
nefarious act produced a profound sensation in the
camp. The shot, however, proves not mortal, so that
the wounded man may yet haye an opportunity of
facing his foe in the field.
Saturday, Oct. 31. Enlistments are going on ac-
tively among the emigrants recently arrived on the
banks of the Sacramento. The women and children
are placed in the missions ; the men take the rifle
and start for the battle-field : such is their welcome
to California. The Israelites entered the land of
promise by arms, and established themselves by the
force of their military prowess. But this is not quite
the land of promise, nor are these Israelites who
stream over the Rocky Mountains. But they are a
84 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
sturdy band, whose enterprise will cover these fertile
hills with golden harvests. They have pitched their
tents by the water-courses, and those tents they will
never strike.
They are enlisted into the service mainly through
the activity of Capt. Montgomery, who commands
the Portsmouth, and is military commandant of the
northern department of California. His measures
have been judicious, his action prompt, and he has
rendered substantial service in supplying from the
emigrations the sinews of war. Every American in
California shows his entire stature ; no one is lost in
the crowd ; no voice is drowned by a general clamor ;
every action tells. It is a blow which thunders by
itself on the great anvil of time. It is another rock
rolled into the foundations of a mighty empire.
Sunday, Nov. 1. An Indian was taken up by one
of our scouts yesterday, who confessed that he was
the beai-er of a message from a Roman Catholic
priest to a party that were arming themselves to join
the insurrection. The message conveyed intelligence
of the approach of our forces. The Indian was sent
back to his master with the intelligence that if he at-
tempted any further correspondence w4th the enemy,
it would be at the peril of his life.
Monday, Nov. 2d. Our bay is full of the finest
fish, and yet it is rare to meet one on the table. There
is not a boat here in which one can safelv trust him-
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 85
self a cable's length from land. And if there were,
there would be no Californians to row it. Could
they go to sea on their horses, and fish from their
saddles, they would often be seen dashing through
the surf ; but to sit quietly in a boat and bob a line,
is entirely too tame a business. Put a fish on land,
and give him the speed of the buck, and he would have
a dozen Californians and forty hounds on his trail.
Tuesday, Nov. 3. A Californian in my employ
asked me to-day to pay him a small sum in advance
of his services, stating that he was on the eve of be-
ing married, and wanted this advance to enable him
to put silver mountings on his saddle and bridle.
Had he asked me for money with which to pay the
priest, I should have understood the propriety of the
request ; but the connection between a silver star on
the head-stall of his bridle and a marriage celebration,
surpassed my dim comprehension. However, as there
was a lady in the case, I let him have the money.
But it seems it is the custom here, for the bridegroom
to appear on his wedding-day upon a splendid horse,
elegantly caparisoned. It is then the silver star
shines out. The noble steed and glittering trappings
divide with the bride the admiration of the crowd.
Wednesday, Nov. 4. The Californians now in
arms number twelve or fourteen hundred. They are
from every section of the country. Their rallying
point is los Angeles They have made a clean
86 THREE YEARS IX CALIFORNIA.
sweep of all the horses along the coast. Natives as
well as foreigners are left to get along on foot. This
is not an easy task in a country where furlongs stretch
into leagues.
Of these twelve hundred in arms, probably not a
hundred have a foot of land. They drift about like
Arabs, stealing the horses on which they ride, and the
cattle on which they subsist. They are ready to join
any revolution, be its leaders whom they may. If
the tide of fortune turns against them, they disband
and scatter to the four winds. They never become
martyrs in any cause. They are too numerous to be
brought to punishment. No government has been
strong enough to set them at defiance, or dispense
with their venal aid. They have now, however, to
deal with a power too sagacious to be cajoled, and
too strong to be overawed. They will not be per-
mitted to spring a revolution, and leave its conse-
quences to others. The results will follow them into
every forest and fastness. They have but one es-
cape, and that leads into Mexico. Men of substance
will regret their loss about as much as the Egyptians
the disappearance of the locusts.
Thursday, Nov. 5. The second rain of the season
fell last night. It came down copiously for several
hours : multitudes forgot their dreams in listening to
its grateful patter on the roof The effects of the first
shower, which fell a few days since, are visible in the
landscape.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA, 87
From the moist meadow to the withered hill,
Led by the breeze, the vivid verdure runs,
And swells and deepens to the cherished eye.
Friday. Nov. 6. Two Californians were arrested
to-day by one of my constables, charged with having
broken open a shop and robbed it of many valuable
articles. The burglary was committed several nights
since, but no clue to the perpetrators could be ob-
tained. By keeping silent on the subject, one of them
had at last the imprudence to offer for sale one of the
stolen articles, which was immediately identified, and
led to the detection of both. Most of the property
was found in their possession, and restored to its
owners. The evidence of their guilt being conclu-
sive, and there being no young lawyer here to pick a
flaw in the indictment, or help them to an alibi, they
were sentenced each to the public works for one
year. The way of transgressors is hard.
Saturday, Nov. 7. In Monterey, as in all other
towns that I have ever seen, crimes are perpetrated
mostly at night. The Indian, however, steals when
the temptation pi'esents itself, and trusts luck for the
consequences. And in truth if any being has a right
to steal, it is the civilized Indian of California. All
the mission lands, with their delicious orchards, wav-
ing grain, flocks and herds, were once his, and were
stolen from him by the white man. He has only one
mode of retaliating these wrongs. But Californians
88 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORMA.
and foreigners, more wary, steal at night. It is as
true here as elsewhere —
" Tliat -wlien the searching eye of heaven is hid
Behind the globe, and lights the lower world.
Then thieves and robbers range abroad unseen,
In murders, and in outrage, bloody here ;
But when, from under this terrestrial baU,
He fires the proud tops of the eastern pines.
And darts his light through every guilty hole.
Then murders, treasons, and detested sins.
The cloak of night being plucked from off their backs,
Stand bare and naked, trembling at themselves."
Sunday, Nov. 8. There is not, except myself, a
Protestant clergyman in California. If the tide of
emigration continues, there will be thousands here
without a spiritual teacher. Years must elapse be-
fore any can be trained here for the sacred office.
The supply must come from abroad. The American
churches must wake up to their duty on this subject.
These emigrants are their children, and they should
extend to them their most jealous care.
'/^^'y':^-i^<^ (1^.
^^^
89
CHAPTER VI.
SANTA BARBARA TAKEN. — LIEUT. TALBOT AND HIS TEN. — GAMBLING IN
PRISON. RECRUITS. — A FUNNY CULPRIT. MOVEMENTS OF COM. STOCK-
TON. — BEAUTY AND THE GRAVE. — BATTLE ON THE SALINAS. — THE CAP-
TAIn's DAUGHTER. STOLEN PISTOLS. — INDIAN BEHIND A TREE. — NUP-
TIALS IN CALIFORNIA.
Monday, Nov. 9. The guard of ten, commanded
by Lieut. T. Talbot, and posted at Santa Barbara to
maintain the American flag, arrived here last evening.
When the insurrection broke out at the south, they
were summoned by some two hundred Californians to
surrender. They contrived, however, under cover of
night, to effect their escape. Their first halt was in
a thicket, to which they were pursued by some fifty
of the enemy on horseback. They waited, like lions
in their lair, till the foe was within good rifle shot,
and then discharged their pieces with terrific eflJect.
The surviving assailants left their dead, and rushed
back for reinforcements : but in the mean time, the
hardy ten had pushed their way several leagues to the
east, and gained a new ambush. An Indian might
perhaps have trailed them ; but their pursuers had
not this wild sagacity. They rode here and there,
penetrating every thicket, but the right one, and to
prevent their escape at night, set fire to the woods.
But one ravine, overhung with green pines, covered
them with its mantling shadows ; through this they
made their noiseless escape.
8*
90 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
To avoid the Californians, who were coming down
in ffreat numbers from the north to join iheir com-
rades in the south, the party of ten held their course
to the east. They spent several days in attempting
to find the pass which leads through the first range of
the Californian mountains to the valley of the San
Joaquin ; but being unacquainted with the topography
of the country, their utmost efforts were baflEled.
During this time they suffered greatly from hunger
and thirst : the rugged steeps, among which they were
straying, yielded neither streams nor game. At last,
they fell in w'ith a Cholo, the Arab of California, who
kindly offered to conduct them to the mountain pass,
and surrendered the use of his horse to carry their
knapsacks and blankets. The pass was gained ; but
their hospitable guide still continued with them till
they reached a tribe of Indians on the opposite side.
Here he took leave of them, declining all compensa-
tion for his pains, and started back for his wild moun-
tain home.
The Indians received them kindly, gave them their
best acorns to eat, and their purest water to drink.
These are the Indians who were brought before me a
few months since, charged with an attempt to steal a
drove of horses from Carmel. There being no posi-
tive proof of guilt, they were kindly treated, and
instead of being threatened with dungeons and death,
were dismissed with many beautiful presents. These
presents they still preserved, and exhibited them with
evident gratification and pride to their new guests.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 91
Lieut. Talbot and party, guided by these faithful
Indians, now held their course through the valley of
the San Joaquin. Their progress was delayed by the
sickness of one of their companions, whom they were
obliged to carry on a litter. They subsisted entirely
on the wild game which they killed. They were all
on foot ; and after travelling nearly five hundred miles
in this manner, reached Monterey, where they were
welcomed to the camp of Col. Fremont with three
hearty cheers.
Tuesday, Nov. 10. The merchant ship Euphemia
arrived to-day from the Sandwich Islands, bringing
the intelligence that the Columbus, bearing the broad
pennant of Com. Biddle, had sailed from Honolulu for
Valparaiso. We shall not then see that noble ship
on this coast ; she is bound homeward round the
Cape. Her eight hundred men, with Com. Biddle
at their head, would have been a great accession to
our strength. It is not, however, a naval force of
which we stand in greatest need. The war in Cali-
fornia can never be decided from the deck. We
want some five hundred horsemen, thoroughly accus-
tomed to the saddle and the rifle, and a few pieces
of flying-artillery. Without these we shall have con-
stant attempts at revolution. They will invariably
end in the defeat of those who get them up, but will
involve private property and the public tranquillity.
Wednesday, Nov. 11. I found one of our prison-
92 THREE YEARS IX CALIFORNIA.
ers at work to-day without a shirt, and supposed at
first that he was indulging in some whim ; but ascer-
tained, upon further inquiry, that he had gambled it
away to a fellow-prisoner. They had no cards or
dice, but had managed to substitute a bone, which
they whirled into the air, and which decided the game
by falling with this or that end into the ground.
I made the winner give back the shirt, which he
did with evident reluctance, as he had played his
own against it, and would have been, had he lost, as
naked as his neighbor. An Indian, and Californian
too, will gamble to the skin of their teeth, and even
part with their grinders were they articles of value to
others. But a tooth is much hke the principle of
life, which avails no one save its owner.
Thursday, Nov. 12. Capt. Grigsby arrived to-
day from Sonoma with thirty mounted riflemen and
sixty horses, and joined Col. Fremont's encampment.
Capt. Hastings is expected in every day from San
Jose with sixty men, well mounted, and twice that
number of horses. Every rider here, destined on an
arduous expedition, must have one or two spare
horses, especially at this season of the year, when no
feed can be procured except the slender grass which
has sprung up in the recent showers, and which con-
tains very little sustenance. It is easier to procure
provender for a thousand horses on a march in the
United States than ten here. And yet the table-lands
here are covered throus-h the summer with wild oats.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 93
But where are the reapers ? On horseback, galloping
about and carousing at this rancho and that. Their
sickles are the rein, their sheaves a pack of cards, their
flails a guitar.
" No cocks do them to rustic labor call,
From village on to village sounding clear ;
To tardy swain no shriU-voiced matron's squall,
Nor hammer's thiunp disturbs the vacant ear."
Friday, Nov. 13. Two fellows of Mexican origin
were brought before me to-day, charged with break-
ing open the money-chest of the eating-house where
they had transiently stopped, and taking from it about
five hundred dollars. The owner having immediate
occasion to go to his chest, dicovered his loss, and
suspected at once the persons concerned in it. They
were apprehended, and soon after the money was
found in the back yard, where it had been hastily
buried after having been tied up in a handkerchief,
which was identified as the neck-cloth of one of the
accused. One discovery led to another, till the evi-
dences of guilt, involving both, were fully established.
One of them then said there was no use in trying
to get rid of the business any longer, and he would
now tell the whole story straight as an arrow. He
said that he and Antonio had talked over the matter
the night before, and that he then attempted to reach
the chest, but that the person in whose room it lay,
and who had been asleep, suddenly stopped snoring,
and getting alarmed he ran down stairs. But this
94 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
morning, while Antonio was entertaining the rest, and
treating them to cocktails, he slipped up to the cham-
ber, broke the lock, and filled his pockets with the
coin. He had no time, he said, to pick out the gold,
which would have been a great convenience, but
scraped up silver and gold as they came, leaving in
the chest about as much as he took. It was very
vexatious, he said, to leave so much, but his pockets
would hold no more : he was really afraid they would
fetch away with what they had got. But he buoyed
them up with his hands, reached the back yard, where
he delivered the money over to Antonio, who received
it in his handkerchief and buried it; but buried it in ex-
actly the wrong spot, for he went off into a corner in-
stead of sinking it where everybody must step over it.
He told this story with a countenance which played
between a tragic and comic expression. Antonio,
who had been both diverted and alarmed by the narra-
tive of his accomplice, when it came his turn to speak,
said his companion was the funniest fellow alive ; he
believed he would joke on the scaffold, if he could
shake a kink out of the rope, and get breathing time
for it. They were both a strange compound of wit
and villany. They were sentenced to the public
works for three years.
Saturday, Nov. 14. The Savannah arrived here
to-day from the leeward, and reports the Congress on
her way to San Diego, where she had gone to re-
enforce the garrison. This important post had been
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA, 95
recaptured by the Americans, under the command of
Capt. Menit, an emigrant officer of undaunted cour-
age. He had been obhged to evacuate it a few weeks
before, and was fortunate in being able to get his men
on board a whale ship lying in the offing at the time.
But a portion of the force opposed to him having
been withdrawn to support the Mexican flag at los
Angeles, he landed again in the night, and took the
garrison by surprise. This being the most southern
post in California, Com. Stockton deemed it of the
first importance to make its possession secure. To
effect this object, he was obliged to postpone his pur-
pose of recapturing at once the capital of the prov-
ince. The best way to fight the Californians is to
hem them in. They never turn upon you as lions at
bay. The possibility of an escape is an element in
their courage. They never borrow resolution from
despair. They are so accustomed to range at free-
dom, to make their homes wherever adventure or
caprice may carry them, that the idea of being cooped
up to one place has almost as much privation and
misery in it as the slave-ship inflicts upon its cap-
tives.
They still might deem their scope too pent,
Though each had leave to pitch his tent
Where'er his mldest wish might urge,
Within creation's utmost verge.
Sunday, Nov. 15. One of the most beautiful ladies
in Monterey has this day been consigned to the silent
96 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
grave. She was in the bloom of life, and visions of
happiness threw their enchantments along the vista of
her future years. She had all that wealth and beauty
can bestow. Her personal charms were rivalled only
by those of her mind. Her heart trembled through
every fibre of her frame.
" ^Miene'er with soft serenity she smiled,
Or caught the orient blush of quick surprise,
How sweetly mutable, how brightly wild.
The liquid lustre darted from her eyes !
Each look, each motion, waked a new-born gi*ace,
That o'er her form a transient glory cast :
Some lovelier wonder soon usurped the place,
Chased by a charm still lovelier than the last."
But she is gone ! she has left us like the bird which
carolled in the morn, and departed upon its slanting
ray. But her virtues survive in a brighter sphere ;
her beauty is stamped with immortality ; her hand
strikes a harp that will pour its melodies when the
groves and streams of earth are silent.
Monday, Nov. 16. A Delaware Indian, quite out
of breath, entered Col. Fremont's camp this morning
with the intelligence that an irregular engagement
took place last evening between a party of forty
Americans, and a hundred and fifty Californians, on
the Salinas river, about fifteen miles from Monterey.
The Americans were coming down from San Juan,
and had with them three hundred fresh horses which
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORMA. 97
they had brought from the Sacramento. The intel-
hgence of their approach had reached the Californi-
ans, who had mustered all their force in this quarter,
more for the purpose of capturing the horses than
their riders. But the Americans, who were sixty
strong, anticipating the possibility of an attack in
crossing the river, left their horses, except those they
rode, in the rear with twenty of their number, while
forty came ahead to engage the Californians. They
were surprised at their numbers, but rushed at once
into the encounter. Capt. Foster was killed in the
first charge, and Capt. Burrows, who was wounded
in the first, fell in leading the second. Two Ameri-
can privates were killed, and a number of Californi-
ans. The encounter took place near sunset, and the
Americans remained in possession of the ground.
The Delaware Indian, when the firing had slack-
ened, left the field to bring the intelligence to Col,
Fremont ; but having to turn the enemy's line, he
was attacked by three Californians — one of whom he
shot with his rifle, another he killed with his toma-
hawk, and the third fled. His horse broke down be-
fore he got in, and he ran the rest of the way on foot.
He reports that Thomas O. Larkin, Esq., the Ameri-
can consul, had been captured the night before, while
at a rancho between this and San Juan. He had
left Monterey to visit a sick child at San Francisco,
and stopped for the night, when he was suddenly
pounced upon : nor wife nor child will in any proba-
* bility see him soon again. He will be closely guard-
9
98 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
ed ; his life will be considered good for that of several
prominent Californian officers who have broken their
parol ; and not unlikely some half-dozen may, in the
event of disaster, be redeemed through his liberation.
Tuesday, Nov. 17. Col. Fremont, w^ith his three
hundred riflemen, took his departure from Monterey
this morning. They presented a very formidable
line as they wound around the bay and disappeared
in the shadows of the hills.
Spur on my men ; the bugle peals
Its last and stern command, —
A charge ! a charge ! — an ocean burst
Upon a stormy strand.
The artillery is under the command of Capt.
McLain, an officer of much private worth and pro-
fessional merit. He has at present two beautiful
brass-pieces, well mounted, and will have two more
of the same description on leaving San Juan. With
these he will be able to do good execution. Nothing
alarms the Californians so much as a piece of flying-
artillery. They had rather see the very Evil One
come scracTorlincT over the hills.
'OO'
Wednesday, Nov. 18. The horses which the Cal-
ifornians were endeavoring to reach in their rencoun-
ter on the river, w^ere all preserved. Their loss
w^ould have been irretrievable in this campaign.
The twenty men with whom they were left, declared
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 99
they would perish to a man sooner than give them
up. Rash as this resolution may seem, it would, had
the emergency occurred, have been terribly realized.
The American engaged in this war puts his life on
the die. He must prevail or perish. If there shall
be a general engagement between the forces now in
the field, it will be one of the most frightful on record.
The Americans are outnumbered three to one, — still
they are determined to hazard the issue ; and would,
probably, were the odds much greater. As horse-
men, the Californians excel them ; but they are great-
ly their superiors in the use of the rifle and in ma-
neuvering artillery. And these, after all, are the
weapons and engines that must decide a hot engage-
ment. Neither party has any veteran cuirassiers to
hew their way to triumph through the cloven crests
of the foe. The most terrific encounters on the field
of Waterloo were between those who wielded the
glaive. With them, at least,
" An earthquake might have passed unhcededly away."
Thursday, Nov. 19. How strangely the lights and
shadows of life are blended ! As I passed this even-
ing the house of Capt. de la T , a light strain of
music came floating out from the corridor upon the
silent air. It was the daughter of the captain whose
hand swe-pt the guitar which accompanied the modu-
lations of her melodious voice. Her father and her
uncle are both in the ranks of the Californians, lead-
100 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
ing a forlorn hope, after having broken their parol
of honor, and forfeited their lives. And yet she is
gay as if her father were only out hunting the ga-
zelle. Just list the numbers as they break from her
thoughtless heart : — ■
Fly not yet, 'tis just the hour
When pleasure, like the midnight flower,
That scorns the eye of vulgar light.
Begins to bloom for sons of night.
And maids who love the moon !
And yet that moon before it wanes may gleam
upon her father's grave. But she knows it not. She
thinks this war will end as other Californian wars —
in smoke. But it is a tempest-cloud charged with
bolted thunder.
Friday, Nov. 20. A German complained to me
this morning that one of the volunteers, a country-
man of his, under Col. Fremont, had stolen from him
a pair of valuable pistols. He strongly suspected the
person who had taken them. I sent for him ; he
confessed the act, delivered up the pistols, and begged
me, as this was his first offence, not to' expose him.
He was a youth of eighteen or so, slightly built, and
with a fair and remarkably ingenuous countenance.
I told him he must take heed, as one offence often
paves the way to another ; but as he was in the cam-
paign, and might soon be on the field of peril and
death, his error should rest in silence with his own
conscience. The tears stood in his eyes.
THREE YEAilS iVcALlVoRIVlA. 101
Saturday, Nov. 21. Capt. Foster, it appears, was
not shot in the heat of the eno-ao-ement on the river.
He had. rushed forward in advance to reconnoiter,
and was suddenly surrounded from an ambush, and
fell, bravely fighting to the last. A Delaware Indian,
who was hastening to his rescue, finding himself hot-
pressed, jumped from his horse behind a tree, from
which he shot three of his antagonists, and then ef-
fected his escape. His living breastwork now shows
in its scathed rind, how well it served him. It looks
as if the auger- worm had bored there for an age.
There is something about a tree, with an Indian
behind it, armed with a rifle, pointing this way and
that, which awkwardly tests a man's nerves. You
seem to be shooting at the muzzle of his rifle instead
of him ; and that is not the worst of it, he is all the
while shooting at you. If partial concealment lends
a charm to beauty, it also lends terror to an Indian.
We think of the brake as much as the serpent coiled
in its shadows. Were lightning to fall without thun-
der, people would put conductors on their bean-poles ;
and yet the blazing bolt strikes and shivers while the
lagging thunder is yet unheard.
Sunday, Nov. 22. As soon as it will be prudent
to withdraw our men from their posts on the Sab-
bath, I intend to propose a religious service. We
shall soon be able to gather fifty or more. Every
house here has a ball-room where the gay may dance,
and a Madonna to whom the afflicted may kneel ;
9*
102r'''. • '■' ' .'TEfEfiE'VDAhs'ilV'crALIFORNIA.
but none have a chapel ; and if they had, the forms
of Protestant worship would be held a profanation.
There is only one way to get to heaven here, and
that is through the absolving power of the Papal See.
Every other path leads to purgatorial pangs and
penal fire.
Monday, Nov. 23. It is said the Californians are
born on horseback ; it may also be said they are mar-
ried on horseback. The day the marriage contract
is agreed on between the parties, the bridegroom's
first care is to buy or borrow the best horse to be
found in his vicinity. At the same time he has to
get, by one of these means, a silver-mounted bridle,
and a saddle with embroidered housings. This sad-
dle must have, also, at its stern, a bridal pillion, with
broad aprons flowing down the flanks of the horse.
These aprons are also embroidered with silk of differ-
ent colors, and with gold and silver thread. Around
the margin runs a string of little steel plates, alterna-
ted with slight pendants of the same metal. These,
as the horse moves, jingle like a thousand mimic
bells.
The bride, also, comes in for her share in these
nuptial preparations. The bridegroom must present
her with at least six entire changes of raiment, nor
forget, through any sentiment of delicacy, even the
chemise. Such an oversight might frustrate all his
hopes ; as it would be construed into a personal in-
difference, — the last kind of indifference which a
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 103
California lady will forgive. He therefore hunts this
article with as much solicitude as the Peri the gift
that was to unlock Paradise. Having found six
which are neither too full nor two slender, he packs
them in rose-leaves which seem to flutter Hke his
own heart, and sends them to the lady as his last bri-
dal present. She might naturally expect him to
come next.
The wedding-day having arrived, the two fine
horses, procured for the occasion, are led to the door,
saddled, bridled, and pillioned. The bridegroom takes
up before him the godmother, and the godfather the
bride, and thus they gallop away to church. The
priest, in his richest robes, receives them at the altar,
where they kneel, partake of the sacrament, and are
married. This over, they start on their return, — but
now the gentlemen change partners. The bride-
groom, still on the pillion, takes up before him his
bride. With his right arm he steadies her on the
saddle, and in his left hand holds the reins. They
return to the house of the parents of the bride, where
they are generally received with a discharge of mus-
ketry. Two persons, stationed at some convenient
place, now rush out and seize him by his legs, and,
before he has time to dismount, deprive him of his
spurs, which he is obliged to redeem with a bottle of
brandy.
The married couple then enter the house, where
the near relatives are all waiting in tears to receive
them. They kneel down before the parents of the
104 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
lady, and crave a blessing, which is bestowed with
patriarchal solemnity. On rising, the bridegroom
makes a signal for the guests to come in, and another
for the guitar and harp to strike up. Then com-
mences the dancing, which continues often for three
days, with only brief intervals for refreshment, but
none for slumber : the wedded pair must be on their
feet ; their dilemma furnishes food for good-humored
gibes and merriment. Thus commences married life
in California. This stream, it is to be hoped, is much
smoother than its fount.
Tuesday, Nov. 24. Monterey has been for the
last two days remarkably quiet. The excitement oc-
casioned by the battle on the Salinas has sunk into a
dead calm. They who fell have received Christian
burial ; and they who survived have departed, some
to find graves elsewhere. " The great tragedy of life
here is so filled with incident that it requires no stage
effect. It is the visionary sword which eluded the
grasp of Macbeth, turned into flashing steel.
Wednesday, Nov. 25. A Californian in trouble,
often disregards the suggestions of national pride and
personal resentment, and seeks succor where it can
best be had. One of them who had been danger-
ously wounded in the late engagement, came into
Monterey this morning, and applied to our surgeon
to have the ball extracted from his hip. He seemed
to think that as he had been disabled by one Amer-
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 105
ican, it was only right and proper he should be re-
stored by another. He will then probably be off to
fight us again. Nor does this in him argue a want
of gratitude. He seeks the field to encounter his
foes, much on the same principle that you do the
wood to hunt wild game. You level your rifle at the
hawk, not because he has injured you, but partly to
exercise your skill, and partly because he is a saucy
fellow, screeching about and frightening the other
birds. I never yet saw the little king-bird chase a
hawk, or the sword-fish pursue a whale, without a
sentiment of delight. Neither have harmed me ; but I
hate all tyrants, whether they are on wings, fins, or legs.
Thursday, Nov. 26. Some of the shopkeepers
here have been so long in the habit of smuggling
under the former high rate of duties, that now they
hardly know how to give up the trick, though there
is very Uttle motive for pursuing it. I caught a
Frenchman to-day endeavoring to evade the muni-
cipal duty on rum. He had a hundred subterfuges,
and flew from one to another, like a frightened cat-
bird in the bush. His words fell so thick and fast
that they quite covered up his falsehoods ; the leaves
of a wind-shaken tree in autumn conceal the nuts
which fall with them to the ground. It is idle to ex-
pect honesty in a man who resorts to it only in the
failure of his craft and cunning. His integrity is like
the religion of some sailors — breaking out in ship-
wreck.
lot)
CHAPTER VII.
SAN JOSE GARRISONED. — A CALIFORNIA RAIN. ESCAPE OF CONVICTS.
SHOOTING EDWARDS. TWO WASHERWOMEN. — DEATH OF MR. SARGENT.
— l.NDIAN HENS. — HUNTING CURLEW. THE CALIFORNIA HORSE. AN
OLD EMIGRANT. THE GRIZZLY BEAR.
Friday, Nov. 27. The prize brig Julia, Lieut.
Selden commanding, arrived here to-day from San
Francisco. She left there the Savannah and War-
ren. Fifty of the Savannah's men had been sent
by Capt. Mervin to San Jose, under command of
Lieut. Pinkney, where they will form a military post,
of sufficient strength, it is believed, to repel any hos-
tile attacks, and maintain the flag. The northern
half of California is now pretty safe ; the ranchos
may suffer from marauding parties of the enemy, and
some acts of violence be committed, but no import-
ant post can be wrenched from our possession. In
the south we hold San Diego, and have an enemy in
the field at los Angeles. They will probably break
covert at two or three different points ; some will fly
for Mexico, and some for the sheltered coves of the
San Joaquin. Let those catch them who can ; J
would as soon track a chamois among the clefts and
pinnacles of the Alps.
Saturday, Nov. 28. It is now near the close of
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 107
that month which in other climes is often one of the
most unpleasant in the year ; but here it has been
one of unrivalled brilliancy. The sky has been al-
most without a cloud, the winds have slept, and
the soft air has lain on the landscape like a golden
slumber. Such is the tranquil beauty in which the
vernal year here sinks to repose.
" Ah ! 'twere a lot too bless'd,
Forever in thy color'd shades to sti'ay ;
Amid the kisses of the soft southwest
To rove and dream for aye ;
And leave the vain low strife
That makes men mad ; the tug for wealth and power,
The passions and the cares that wither Ufe,
And waste its little hour."
BETANT.
Sunday, Nov. 29. Two Californians called upon
me to-day, to decide a difficulty which had arisen
between them in some money transactions. I told
them to call on some week-day — that I attended to
no business matters on the Sabbath. They apolo-
gized for interfering with my recreations ; I told them
I had no recreations to be disturbed, but I would not
open my office for business on the Sabbath. Had I
told them I was going to a cock-fight, their only won-
der would have been that they had not heard of the
sport ; and both would have forgotten their business
in hunting their cash for the ring. Such is the moral
obtuseness which a pei-version of the Sabbath in-
duces. The heart on w^hich the dews of this sacred
108 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
inorn have never melted, will be desolate of moral
verdure ; though here and there a leaf may spring
like flowers in the cleft of a rock.
Monday, Nov. 30. We have had at last a true
specimen of California showers. The wind blew a
gale from the south. Cloud on cloud was piled into
the zenith, till the whole dome of heaven was filled
with substantial darkness. The earth lay in an,
eclipse. A few heavy rolls of thunder, and the rain
fell in torrents ; it lasted twelve hours. Every roof
and frowning; cliff" became a cascade. Down each
ravine rolled an exulting tide. The aquatic bird
dashed onward in its foam to the sea. Suddenly the
wind veered into the west, and in a few moments the
sky was without a cloud. Field and forest flashed
out in the splendors of the sun ; and on the soft wind
came gushes of music from the wild-wood. Instead
of bleak November, you would have said :
" Fairer and brighter spreads the reign of May ;
The tresses of the woods
With the light dallying of the west wind play •
And the full briming floods,
As gladly to their goal they run, .
Hail the returning sun."
PERCIVAL.
Tuesday, Dec. 1. I was startled from my slum-
bers last night by the report of a musket under my
window ; and, seizing my rifle, rushed to the door,
but could perceive no one near, and only heard, in
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 109
the darkness, the sound of retreating footsteps. The
mystery was soon explained : the convicts had es-
caped from prison, and the sentry, posted near my
residence, had fired upon them as they rushed past.
Several of the guard went immediately in pursuit, and
succeeded in apprehending two ; but seven others,
favored by the darkness and storm of the night, had
cleared the town.
It appeared, on investigation, that the sentry, post-
ed at the prison, had stolen the keys from the guard-
room, where they were kept, unlocked the outer and
inner doors, and then run himself with the convicts.
Another sentry, by a preconcerted plan, had also
joined them. Only one prisoner remained in the
apartment which had been unlocked. When asked
by me why he did not run, he said he would not be
seen running from Tophet in such company. This
was the funny fellow who stole the money. One of
those who escaped, was a great overgrown Califor-
nian — a monstrous mass of flesh and bone. He had
been shot in the leg in a previous fray, and always
affected the cripple, hobbling about on huge crutches,
which fairly bent under him. But last night, when
his pursuers were close on his trail, he bounded for-
ward like a rabbit. Crutches, and all occasion for
them, had been left behind. You would have thought
some shape of air were flitting before you, but for the
heavy puffs which heaved, at brief intervals, from his
laboring trunk. An innocent man escaping from
violence has often a hard time of it, but a felon es-
10
110 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
caping from justice much harder ; his guilty con-
science will long keep the pursuer at his heels.
Wednesday, Dec. 2. A party, well mounted and
armed, started this morning in pursuit of the con-
victs. They overtook one of them and the two sen-
tries about twenty miles distant. The sentries still
had their arms, which they surrendered, and delivered
themselves up without resistance. The convict was
shot down through the impetuosity of one of the
party. There is a degree of ferocity in shooting
down an unarmed man at which humanity revolts.
We can hardly find an apology for it, even in the
brutal instincts of the savage. The fate of the two
sentries concerned in liberating the prisoners whom
they were posted to guard, is uncertain. If tried by
a court-martial, their sentence will be death ; if
delivered over to the civil authority, they will be
sentenced to the public works for a long term of
years.
Thursday, Dec. 3. The convict Edwards, found
with the two sentries, and who had been shot after he
had surrendered, was left in a dying condition on the
public road. My constable left this morning to find
him, but was unable to cross the Salinas river on ac-
count of the freshet, and its extreme rapidity. His horse
got frightened and refused to swim him over. He
fastened him on this side, and, divesting himself of
his hat, shoes, and coat, plunged in ; but the current,
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. Ill
after sweeping him down a mile or more, landed tiim
on the same side from which he had started.
He is a man of great humanity as well as courage
and resolution, and it was not with his consent that
Edwards was left at night-fall, wounded and dying,
exposed to a pitiless storm, and to be devoured by
wild beasts. It was inhuman to leave him in this con-
dition, when he might have been brought in, or taken
to some house in the neighborhood. Those in fault,
now that the wrong has been done, and is irretrieva-
ble, would gladly veil it from the public eye. There
is a tongue in cruelty, which those who inflict it can
never silence. It will speak out and awaken pangs
in the most callous conscience. If we have no mercy
on others, how can we expect it for ourselves in that
day when we most need it ?
" Teach me to feel another's woe,
To hide the faults I see ;
The mercy I to others show,
That mercy show to me."
Friday, Dec. 4. The moment a child is born on
a farm in California, and the nurse has had time to
dress it, it is given to a man on horseback, who, with
its future godfather and godmother, ride post-haste
w'ith it to some mission, and present it to a priest for
baptism. This ceremony concluded, the party, full
of glee, start on their return ; and the little new-
comer may now, perhaps, rest a week or two before
he starts on another excursion ; but after that, hardly
112 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
a day will elapse without his b^g on horseback.
He literally rides from his ci;adle wf^is grave. Thus,
by the time a boy is ten or twelve years of age, he
becomes an expert i^er, is devoted to the saddle, and
looks upon pedestrial motion as a contemptible w^ay
of getting through the world. He would sooner
travel a hundred miles on horseback than ten on
foot, and connect less fatigue and hardship with the
result. Most of his labors, too, are on the saddle. He
has a farm of twenty or thirty miles to ride over ;
vast wheat-fields to survey, and, perhaps, ten thou-
sand head of cattle to keep from straying. He would
have but little time for repose if he went by steam.
Saturday, Dec. 5. Of all the women I have had
to deal with here the washer-women are the most
unmanageable. Two of them entered my office to-
day as full of fight as the feline antagonists of Kil-
kenny. It seems they had been out w'ashing in one
of the little pools created by the recent showers,
when one had taken that part of the margin previous-
ly occupied by the other. War offensive and defen-
sive immediately commenced. One drew a knife,
which had a blade two mortal inches in length, and
the other a sharp ivory bodkin. But what their
weapons wanted in terror and strength their ungentle
anger supplied.
At last one cried out, " the alcalde ;" the other
echoed it, and so they both rushed down to the office
to have their difficulties settled. Both of course
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 113
commenced talking at the same time ; and their
stories ran together hke two conflicting rivulets
forced into the same channel. There was plenty of
tumult and bubble. When these had a httle sub-
sided, I began cautiously to angle for the truth — a
difficult trout to catch in such waters. But one
darter after another was captured, till I had enough
to form some opinion of those that had escaped.
These we discussed till bitter feelins;, like biting
hunger, became appeased. The rest was very easily
settled. Both went away declaring either margin of
the pool good enough, and each urging on the other
the first choice.
How gentle is forgiveness ! and liow sweet
To feel the severed heart flow back again
To one we loved, estranged by hasty words !
Sunday, Dec. 6. Mr. Sargent, who came out in
the Congress in the capacity of clerk to the purser,
and who had been left here several weeks since for
the restoration of his mind and health, was missed
from his quarters on Tuesday last. He has been la-
boring for some time under mental aberrations which
wear a reasoning show, and which alarm only the
close observer. His amiable disposition and exem-
plary life exempted him from all reproach, and have
excited a general sympathy and concern for his un-
certain fate. He was last seen winding his way
through the forest which skirts Monterey, towards a
ledge of rocks which overhangs the boiling surf of
10*
114 THREE YEARS I\ CALIFORNIA.
the bay. I have traversed the beach for miles, and
watched each swell as it rolled in, to see if it bore
on its crest aught like a human form. But nothing
came to the shore or eddied in the surge, to resolve
mystery and give a painful certainty to doubt. The
sea itself is an awful mystery, and becomes doubly so
when the fate of one we loved is locked in the
tongueless silence of its unfathomed depths.
The vraves tell not the fate of those
On whom their hasty waters close ;
But deeper still their secrets spread.
That travel with their drifting dead.
Monday, Dec. 7. The simplest article for the
table is often beyond the reach of your money here.
I have found it so difficult to procure a few eggs,
when required, that I have at last gone to keeping
hens. I purchased six of an Indian woman for six
dollars, and a rooster for fifty cents. On asking the
woman why she charged only half price for the
rooster, she replied that the fellow laid no eggs,
and as for his cro.ving that did nobody any good.
Sounder reasons than these could not be furnished in
a much higher place than a hencoop. The habits of
these hens are a little singular. They are perfectly
tame, and are as much at home in the kitchen as the
cook. They never trouble themselves much about
a nest, but deposite their eggs where they find it
most convenient ; one takes the tea-tray, another the
ironinor-table, a third the oven, and there is one that
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 115
always gets into the cradle. She is not at all dis-
turbed by the tossing of the little fellow on whose
premises she is obtruding. Neither she nor any of
her feathered sisters cackle when they leave the nest.
They don't seem to think that any thing worth ma-
king an ado about has come to pass. The rooster, it
is true, perks up a little, and perhaps feels a feather
taller. But this is the vanity of his sex. There
are a great many who crow over what others have
done.
Tuesday, Dec. 8. The banditti, that have hov-
ered for some weeks past in the vicinity of Monte-
rey, have made it unsafe to venture out on our hunt-
ing excursions, unless in sufficient numbers to repel
an attack. But last evening, the want of exercise,
and of something to relieve the endless monotony of
beef on the table, induced me forth. I took my boy,
and put into his hands one of Colt's revolving rifles,
and took myself the fowling-piece. We had hardly
got a mile from town, when two horsemen broke
from the covert of the woods, and dashed down in our
direction. 1 had but little more than time to exchange
pieces with my boy, when they were within rifle-shot.
Their garb showed them to be Californians. My
heart beat a great deal louder than usual. But they
suddenly wheeled, and soon disappeared behind one
of the hills which look out on the bay. They had no
arms, except pistols at the saddle-bow. Whether
they had hostile intentions, I know not : their move-
116 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
ments had very much that appearance ; and I must
say I never before experienced so fully those feelings
men describe in going into battle. They are not fear
so much as an intensity of excitement, which seems
as if it would suffocate life : it is dispelled with the
first gun. I had once occasion to repel an exaspe-
rated Spaniard with a pistol, and though I had antici-
pated his attack, was prepared for it, and believed
that the aim of the pistol would make him sheath his
knife ; still there was for a moment an intensity of
feeling that would, if prolonged, destroy one. We
continued our hunting, but changed our ground to the
vicinity of the sea, and brought home a dozen curlew,
which almost rival in flavor the canvas-back duck.
Wednesday, Dec. 9. The horses of California are
of a hardy nature ; and it is well for them that they
are, considering the inhuman manner in which they
are generally treated by the natives. If a man
wants to ride forty or fifty miles from his residence,
he mounts his horse, and spurs off upon the gallop.
On arriving at the place of his destination, he ties
him to a post, where he stands two or three days,
waiting for his master. During this time he is not
once fed, and is quite fortunate if he gets a swallow
of water. At last, his rider comes, mounts him, and
he takes him back again at the same free and easy
gait with which he first started. This, of course, is
confined to the summer season, when the grass has
the most substance and nutriment : still it is almost
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 117
incredible. Besides the weight of his heavy rider, the
horse generally carries fifty or sixty pounds in the
gear of his saddle, and double this in a soaking rain.
It requires two large tanned ox hides to fit out a Cali-
fornian saddle ; then add to this, the wooden stiiTups,
three inches thick, the saddle-tree, with its stout iron
rings and buckles, a pair of goat-skins across the
pommel, holsters and pistols, and spurs at the heels of
the rider, weighing from four to six pounds, and we
have some idea of what aCalifornian horse has to carry.
Still he is cheerful and spirited, and never flags till
nature sinks with exhaustion. A man who can abuse
such an animal, ought to be bitted and saddled
himself.
Thursday, Dec. 10. The old as well as the young
are coming over the mountains. I had an emigrant
to dine with me to-day, who has recently arrived,
and who is seventy-six years of age. His locks are
as free of gray hairs as those of a child, and his eye
still flashes with the fires of youth. He is among the
volunteers, and you may see him every day on a spir-
ited horse, with a rifle at his saddle-bow. He has
four sons with Col. Fremont. They enlisted before
they had time to unpack their saddles, and have with
them the remnants of the biscuit and cheese which
they brought from the United States. I asked the
old man what could induce him at his age to come
to California. He said his children were coming,
and so he determined to come too. I asked him if he
118 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
had no compunction in taking up arms against the
inhabitants the moment of his arrival. He said he
had Scripture example for it. The Israelites took the
promised land of the East by arms, and the Ameri-
cans must take the promised land of the West in the
same way. I told him that would do, if he could
show the same high commission. But I find this kind
of parallel running in the imagination of all the emi-
grants. They seem to look upon this beautiful land
as their own Canaan, and the motley race around
them as the Hittites, the Hivites, and Jebusites,
whom they are to drive out. But they have gone at
it with other weapons than ram's horns, except as
powder-flasks.
Friday, Dec. 11. The grizzly bear is the most
formidable and ferocious animal in California ; and
yet, with all this ferocity of disposition, rarely attacks
a man unless surprised or molested. The fellow never
lies in wait for his victim. If the hunter invades his
retreat or disputes his path he wdll fight, but other-
wise contents himself with the immunity which he
finds in the wildness of his home and the savage
grandeur of his nature. It is never safe to attack
him with one rifle ; for if you fail to hit him in a vital
part, he is on you in the twinkling of an eye. Your
only possibility of escape is up a near tree, too slen-
der for his giant grasp ; and then there is something
extremely awkward in being on the top of a tree with
such a savage monster at its root. How Ions: he wiJl
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 119
remain there you cannot tell ; it may be a day, and it
may be a week. Yom' antagonist is too shrewd to
hand you up your rifle, or let you come down to get
it. You are his prisoner, more safely lodged than in
a dungeon, and he will set you at liberty when it
suits him. He sleeps not himself at his post ; day and
night his great flashing eyes are fastened upon you.
The lyre of Orpheus may have lulled to sleep the sen-
tinel of Hades, but its magic tones have never charmed
to slumber the sentinel of the California forest.
The full-grown Califoi-nia bear measures from eight
to ten feet in length, and four or five in girth. His
strength is tremendous, his embrace death. Had the
priest of Apollo failen into his folds, he would have
perished without any of those protracted agonies
which the sympathetic muse has wailed round the
world. Nature has thrown over him a coat of mail,
soft indeed, but impervious to the storm and the ar-
row of the Indian. The fur, which is of a dark brown
color, is nearly a span long, and when the animal
is enraged each particular hair stands on end. His
food in the summer is chiefly berries, but he will now
and then, on some of his feast days, slaughter a bull-
ock. In winter he lives on acorns, which abound in
these forests. He is an excellent climber, and will
ascend a large oak with the rapidity of a tar up the
shrouds of his ship. In procuring his acorns, when on
the tree, he does not manifest his usual cunning.
Instead of threshing them down like the Indian, he
selects a well-stocked limb, throws himself upon its
120 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
extremity, and there hangs swinging and jerking till
the limb sives way, and down thev come, branch,
acorns, and bear together. On these acorns he be-
comes extremely fat, yielding ten or fifteen gallons of
oil, which is said to be sufficiently pungent and nu-
tritive as a tonic to tuft a statue's marble head.
The she bear has one peculiarity that must puzzle
even the philosophical inquirer. As soon as she dis-
covers herself wdth young, she ceases to roam the
forest, and modestly retires from the presence of
others, to some secluded grotto. There she remains,
while her male companion, with a consideration that
does honor to his sex, brings her food. She reap-
pears at length with her twin cubs, and woe to the
luckless wight who should attempt to injure or molest
them. They are guarded by an affection and ferocity
with which it would be madness to trifle. For them
she hunts the berries, and dislodges the acorns. Her
maternal care is a beautiful trait in her savage na-
ture, and
" Sliiues like a good deed in a naughty world."
i
.*?%", X
^^^i-2^ A-i^ \^—
121
CHAPTER VIII.
LITTLE ADELAIDA. COL. FREMONX's BATALLION. SANTIAGO IN LOVE.
SENTIMENTS OF AN OLD CALIFORNIAN. THE PRIZE JULIA. FANDANGO.
■WINTER CLIMATE. — PATRON SAINT OF CALIFORNIA. HABITS OF THE NA-
TIVES. INSURRECTION IN THE NORTH. DRAMA IN A CHURCH. POSITION
OF COM. STOCKTON.
Saturday, Dec. 12. Our paper, the only one pub-
lished in California, made its hebdomadal appearance
again to-day. It is a little fellow, but is half filled or
more with original matter. A paper is much like an
infant ; the smaller it is, the more anxious the atten-
tions which it requires. My partner promised to
stick by me, but has been the greater part of the time
since its commencement on the bay of San Fi'an-
cisco. He went there to locate a city, but if rumor
speaks truly, has gone off in quest of his Aphrodite
before he builds her shrine. I suppose he thinks there
is but little use in a cage without a bird, but there is
still less in a bird without a cage. Birds, however,
always pair before they rear their nests. So that my
partner is after all in nature's great line, however
wide it may run from the columns of the Californian.
Sunday, Dec. 13. I miss very much the light step
and laughing eye of my little friend Adelaida, the
infant daughter of our consul, Mr. Larkin. She was
a sweet child, and beguiled with her gladness, many
11
122 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
a moment that had else passed less lightly. But a
change came over her briehtness, an eclipse whose
shadow passes not. We watched its dim veil, and idly
dreamed it might still pass, when its faint, inwoven
light was lost in spreading darkness. She passed
away like a bird from its clouded bower ; and though
her flight lay over dark waters, she now sings in the
purple land of the blest. There no shadows fall, and
death has no trophies. One eternal spring, with its
sparkling founts and fragrant blossoms, reigns through
the vernal year. The soft airs as they stir, wake the
strings of invisible lyres ; and the tender leaves
whisper in music. There walk the pure ; there sur-
vive the meek who wept with us here. They wait
to welcome our flight to their joys and sinless repose.
O that I had wings like the dove that I might fly
away and be at rest!
Monday, Dec. 14. It is now two weeks since Col.
Fremont broke up his encampment in the vicinity of
San Juan, and commenced his march south. His
progress has been retarded by a succession of heavy
rains, and it is feared that some of the rivers which he
must cross, swollen by torrents from the mountains,
have been rendered impassable. His horses may
perhaps swim them, but his artillery and ammunition
must be floated over on rafts. The construction of
these, especially where the material is not at hand,
will occasion long and impatient detentions. The
condition of the roads, soaked as they are with rain,
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 123
will Still further delay his progress ; still, with all
these drawbacks, we believe he will reach his desti-
nation.
He moves upon no idle or vague object. The
great body of the Californians now in arms are at the
capital of the southern department, waiting his hos-
tile arrival. They intend to give him battle, and re-
deem, if possible, some of the laurels which they lost
in their precipitate retreat before Com. Stockton.
Their forces outnumber his two or three to one ; they
excel them as horsemen, but fall far short of them in
the dexterous use of the rifle. They want that cool-
ness, deliberation, self-reliance, and resolute firmness
which appertain to the character of the Americans.
We wait the issue of the encounter with a profound
interest. Com. Stockton may, perhaps, march from
San Pedro and capture los Angeles, as he has done
once before ; but with the country around in the pos-
session of the enemy, and the cattle driven off" upon
distant plains, and the wheat and flour removed into
the gorges of the mountains, he could not subsist his
forces. So at least it would seem ; but we shall see.
It was the prospect of famine that drove Napoleon
from Moscow.
Wednesday, Dec. 16. An old Californian, much
respected for his intelligence and patriotic virtues,
sent, a few days since, a communication to our paper,
written in good, vigorous Castilian, and which will
find an echo in the heart of all the considerate por-
124 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
tion of the community. He opens his article in these
words : —
" The political aspirants in California have inflicted
upon her since 1836, only a continued succession of
evils. They have seized all the national property
and all the missions, as though they were their own
patrimony. These riches they have distributed with
a prodigal hand among their satellites ; a multitude of
officers were created, for whom there was no employ-
ment ; and military grades established more abun-
dantly than in Paraguay, though with this difference
in the result. Doctor Francia, when he died, left
eight millions of dollars in the public coffers ; while
the military chieftains in this country, at the close of
their brief career, have left the country overwhelmed
in debt. And now, to gratify their infatuated ambi-
tion, and secure further plunder, have again hoisted
the Mexican flag, which they have long hated and
cursed. The rash step taken by these men at the
town of the Angeles has only compromised their
brethren, and ruined many families. The wealth of
this country consists in cattle and agriculture ; to
maintain the one and carry on the other, horses are in-
dispensable ; but these frantic men have driven off" the
horses and cattle to meet the exigencies of war. They
have given their afflicted country her death-stroke,
merely because they are not permitted to retain those
offices which they are not capable of filling. And
such outrageous ambition is called by them, love of
country ! If there ever existed a spark of patriotism
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 125
in their hearts, they would never have attempted the
shghtest revolutionary act. They would have seen
and felt that it could end only in general disaster and
ruin."
Thus writes an old Californian, with the frosts of
seventy winters on his head. He understands the
condition of this country, and the character of her
military chieftains, and has the moral courage to tell
the world what he thinks.
Thursday, Dec. 17. The United States brig Julia,
a prize to the Cyane, left our harbor this morning for
the southern coast. She is a beautiful vessel, rides
the water like a duck, and sails with the speed of the
wind. Her masts rake to an angle that might almost
startle a Baltimore clipper. She is commanded by
Lieut. Selden, an officer to whose professional attain-
ments she may be safely confided. She goes south
to communicate with Col. Fremont at the Rincon,
a narrow pass below Santa Barbara. The colonel's
route will lead him through this pass, which lies
hemmed in between the bluff of a mountain ransre
and the dashing surge of the sea. A small force can
defend it against immense odds. Its advantages are
well knoAvn to the Californians. They have often
in their previous revolutions made a stand here,
though they have never made it quite a Thermopylae.
Should they post themselves in this pass, the well-
trained gun of the Julia may dislodge them, or, at
least, act in concert with Col. Fremont on his arri-
11*
126 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
val. A man wants the eyes of Argus in this Cali-
fornia war.
Friday, Dec. 18. The ladies of Monterey have
so many relatives, near and remote, involved in the
issue of the war, that they have had but little heart
for their customary amusements. But time, which
assuages grief, has slowly quelled a sense of peril, and
they are gradually coming back into their more gay
and social element. The lively tones of their gui-
tars salute you from their corridors, and often the
fandango shakes its hght slipper in the saloon. It has
been customary here for a person giving a dance to
apply to the alcalde for a permit, which was never
refused, and which always brought to the purse of
this functionary three dollars in the shape of a fee.
A similar application was made to me a few days
since. To grant it would be to sanction the fan-
dango ; to refuse it would be an arbitrary exercise of
power. Tack which way I would, I must run on a
rock, so I determined not to tack at all, and told the
applicant I had nothing to do with his fiddles, fandan-
goes, or fees, so long as the public peace was not dis-
turbed.
Saturday, Dec. 19. The season is now verc-ing
towards mid-winter, and we have not yet experienced
the first wrinkling frost. The hills and valleys, since
the recent rains, are mantled with fresh verdure, and
here and there the violet opens its purple eye to the
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 127
sun. The children are out at play, as in June ; their
glancing feet are unshod, and their muslin slips but
half conceal their pulsing limbs. Even the old men,
from whom the ethereal fires have escaped, are abroad
in the same garments which covered them in mid-
summer. Such is the climate of a California winter,
or, at least, its interludes, and these will continue to
visit us like sunbows between the showering clouds.
Monday, Dec. 21. The house of the humbler Cali-
fornian has often but one apartment, and is without
fireplace or floor. Here a family of ten or fifteen
tumble in and sleep on the ground. If they have
guests, which is often the case, they turn in among
the rest. The thicker they lie, of course the less
covering they need. The walls of this promiscuous
dormitory are formed of rough piles, driven in the
ground, just sufficiently to support a roof that is
thatched with flag. Through the chinked piles the
night-wind whistles in gusty glee ; through the roof
the star-light falls in broken flakes. The shower-
cloud often pauses over it, and, as if in wanton mis-
chief, empties its floating cistern. But Httle heed the
sleepers these freaks of the elements : they have been
familiar with them from their birth. The only beings
that seem at all disturbed are the fleas ; but they still
manage to dodge the shower-drops and secure their
nocturnal repast. Those on whom they commit their
depredations spring no .rattle, raise no cry of alarm.
The thief is there, but they know it not. Habit has
128 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
exempted them from even a perception of their
wrongs. Happy flea of CaHfornia !
When nigLt-birds fill with waking numbers
The star-lit pauses in the storm,
He deftly springs where Beauty slumbers,
And feasts on her seraphic form.
She httle knows who shares her pallet,
Has heard no lover lift the latch,
And, waking, only hears the ballet
Danced by rain-drops on her thatch.
"Were all om* ills which others tell us.
And all that darken fancy's dream.
Confined to those we knew befell us.
How few our real woes would seem.
Tuesday, Dec. 22. A com'ier arrived last evening
from the north, with the starthng intelligence that
forty or fifty mounted Californians had sallied from
the hills in the vicinity of San Francisco, and cap-
tured several Americans ; among them Mr. Bartlett,
chief magistrate of that jurisdiction. Capt. Weber,
as soon as the news reached him on his station at
San Jose, started with fifty mounted volunteers in
pursuit ; and fifty more have left Monterey this morn-
ing under the command of Capt. Maddox. One party
is to come down upon them from the north, and the
other is to cut off their retreat to the south. The
plan is well laid, and we shall know in a few days if
it has been executed with any decisive results.
Wednesday, Dec. 23. It becomes us to keep a
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 129
pretty sharp look-out here, or another hostile party-
may take advantage of the absence of the forces
under Capt. Maddox, and pay us a flying visit. No
one here can tell when these visits are to be expected ;
when you feel most secure, they are, perhaps, nearest
the door. In all other lands, war bears on its front
such a flaring banner that you see its terrific insignia
long before you feel its presence ; but here, it comes
like the descent of the eagle from his mountain eyrie
— you hear not his pinions till they beat the air in his
reascending : you look for the milk-white lamb that
frolicked in your flock, and it is gone. Peril here,
like death, borrows half its terrors from the secrecy
in which it wraps its footsteps.
Thursday, Dec. 24. As soon as the sun had gone
down, and twilight had spread its sable shadows over
the hills and habitations of Monterey, the festivities
of Christmas Eve commenced. The bells rang out a
merry chime ; the windows were filled with stream-
ing light ; bonfires on plain and steep sent up their
pyramids of flame ; and the sky-rocket burst high
over all in showering fire. Children shouted ; the
young were filled with smiles and gladness ; and the
aged looked as if some dark cloud had been lifted from
the world.
While the bonfires still blazed high, the crowd
moved towards the church ; the ample nave was soon
filled. Before the high altar bent the Virgin Mother,
in wonder and love, over her new-born babe ; a com-
130 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
pany of shepherds entered in flowing robes, with
high wands garnished with silken streamers, in which
floated all the colors of the rainbow, and surmounted
with coronals of flowers. In their wake followed a
hermit, with his long white beard, tattered missal,
and his sin-chastising lash. Near him figured a wild
hunter, in the skins of the forest, bearing a huge trun-
cheon, surmounted by an iron rim, from which hung
in jingling chime fragments of all sonorous metals.
Then came, last of all, the Evil One, with horned
frontlet, disguised hoof, and robe of crimson flame.
The shepherds were led on by the angel Gabriel, in
purple wings and garments of light. They ap-
proached the manger, and, kneeling, hymned their
wonder and worship in a sweet chant, w^hich was
sustained by the rich tones of exulting harps. The
hermit and hunter were not among them ; they had
been beguiled by the Tempter, and were lingering at
a game of dice. The hermit seemed to suspect that
all was not right, and read his missal vehemently in
the pauses of the game ; but the hunter was troubled
by none of these scruples, staked his soul, and lost !
Emboldened by his success, the Tempter shoved him-
self among the shepherds ; but here he encountered
Gabriel, w^ho knew him of old. He quailed under
the eye of that invincible angel, and fled his presence.
The hermit and hunter, once more disenthralled, paid
their penitential homage. The shepherds departed,
singing their hosannas, while the voices of the whole
assembly rose in the choral strain.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 131
Friday, Dec. 25. At our last advices, Com. Stock-
ton was at San Diego ; the Congress and Cyane
had been warped into the harbor, and a large portion
of the officers and crews were in camp near the town.
The Californians were in possession of the country,
and often presented a formidable force on the sur-
rounding hills. They were well mounted, and had it
in their power to dash down at night on the camp of
the commodore. Still, it was of the utmost impor-
tance to maintain this position ; but aggressive move-
ments were deemed here impracticable. The idea
has never been seriously entertained here, that the
commander-in-chief could march a body of seamen
and marines, drilled into an infantry, to los Angeles,
in the face of the flying-artillery of the Californians ;
and still less that he could subsist his forces there
with all the resources of the country in the hands of
the enemy. The war here is not on a great scale,
but it impinges, at certain points, with terrific energy.
It is not always the magnitude of the field and of the
interests at issue, which test most severely the re-
sources of the general. This California war has to
be carried on by means which requires consummate
tact, coolness, and courage. A few weeks more will
decide the fate of the southern department, and with
that, the whole tide of affairs here. That department
lost in the pending engagement, our northern posi-
tions will be put in imminent peril. It is an idle
dream to suppose the Californians will not fight ; give
them faithful and competent leaders, and they evince
132 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
a dashing bravery which lifts them immeasurably
above contempt. He who presumes on their timidi-
ty will learn his error when it may be too late. •'
Saturday, Dec. 26. It is an old custom here for
the shepherds, when they have performed their sacred
drama in the church, to repeat it, during the holy-
days, in the residences of some of the citizens. One
of the first personages to whom they pay their re-
spects is the chief magistrate of the jurisdiction ; I
was accordingly saluted this evening with their fes-
tive compliment.
The large hall, occupying the centre of the build-
ing, was sufficiently ample to accommodate them, and
some fifty gentlemen and ladies as spectators. They
brought their own orchestral accompaniment, which
consisted entirely of violins and guitars. Their pre-
lude had so many sweet harmonies that the listener
determined to listen on. The dialogue and chant of
the shepherds would have awakened their appropriate
associations, but for the obtrusions of the hermit, hun-
ter, and devil, who now gave much freer scope to
their characteristic peculiarities than they did in
church. The hermit forgot that his lash was intend-
ed for himself, and began to use it on others. The
hunter left off snaring birds, and commenced setting
springes to catch Satan ; but his intended victim not
only managed to escape, but to decoy the hunter
himself into his own net. The hermit tried to disen-
chant him through the power of his missal ; but this
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 133
having no effect, he threatened to chastise the subtle
author of the mischief, but wanted some one to seize
and hold him, for fear his horn, hoof, or tail might
come in conflict with the life-glass. During this
side-acting, the dialogue and chant of the shepherds
went on, though it would be difficult to conceive of
any two things more wide asunder in their spirit and
effect. The whole was concluded with the riata-
dance, by the shepherds, who executed its airy move-
ments with a lightness and precision of step that
would have thrown enchantment on any occasion
less sacred in its associations than the present.
12
134
CHAPTER IX.
DAT OF THE SANTOS INNOCENTES. LETTING OFF A LAKE. — ARRIVAL OF THE
DALE WITH HOME LETTERS. THE DEAD TEAR. NEWLT -ARRIVED EMI-
GRANTS. EGG-BREAKING FESTIVITIES. — CONCEALMENT OF CHAVES.
PLOT TO CAPTURE THE ALCALDE.
Sunday, Dec. 27. The dramatic shepherds have
just passed my door on their way to the mansion of
Gen. Castro, where they are to perform their pas-
torals. Their drama is ill suited to the sacredness of
the Sabbath : its grotesque appendages, in the person
of the wild hunter and apocalyptic dragon, are but ht-
tle short of a burlesque on the devotional chant of the
shepherds. Indeed, there is not a truth connected
with man's redemption which can derive any force
from scenic representation. Every passage in the
life of the Redeemer, eveiy act that he performed, and
every precept that he inculcated, are invested with a
solemnity which should exempt them from the attempts
of dramatic art. They have a significancy and force
which transcend the evanescent triumphs of the stage.
The tragedy of the Cross stands alone ; no human
passion can approach it ; it is shielded in its sorrows
by the divinity of the sufferer ; its love overwhelmed
angels ; its agony awoke the dead.
Monday, Dec. 28. This is the festival day of the
Santos Innocentes, and is devoted by the lovers of
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 135
fun to every kind of harmless imposition on the sim-
plicity of others. The utmost ingenuity is exercised in
borrowing, for every article lent has to be redeemed.
Although aware of this, still, in a moment of forget-
fulness, one succeeded in borrowing my spurs. A
gentleman, who has lived here from his boyhood, lent
his cloak, another his saddle- and bridle, and a third
his guitar. Two ladies performed feats that would
have been difficult on any day. One borrowed mo-
ney of a broker, and the other a rosary of a priest.
It is rumored, but not credited, that a client has in-
duced his lawyer to allow his case to be amicably
adjusted ; that a patient has actually persuaded his
physician to permit the aid of nature in throwing off
his disease ; and that a customer has made a shop-
keeper confess an imperfection in his wares. It is said,
but doubtecf, than an old Spanish hidalgo, after being
told that his -son is engaged in marriage to a peasant
girl, will probably sleep before he disinherits him. It
is also said, thousfh few believe it, that a wife, whose
husband is going to sea, has consented that he shall
take the family breeches with him. It is further
stated, but on no good authority, that a political par-
tizan has hesitated about voting for his candidate on
account of his having been once sentenced to the
penitentiary for sheep-stealing. Several other ru-
mors are afloat, but they are not credited. One is,
that a disappointed lover has persuaded himself that
his suit has-been rejected without any parental inter-
ference ; another is, that a young collegian has writ-
13G THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
ten a letter to his grandmother without quoting a
word of Greek ; another is, that a young clergy-
man has composed an entire sermon without anything
about
" Fixed fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute."
Another is, that a man of giant intellect and protound
erudition has selected as his life-partner a woman of
sense ; another, that a lady who has had an offer of mar-
riage and rejected it, has kept it to herself; another,
that an old bachelor has come to the conclusion that
he is less captivating with the girls than he was when
younger ; another, that a young military officer has
taken tea with his aunt without having on his regi-
mentals ; that a midshipman has entertained a lady
fifteen minutes without a gale or disaster ; that a sex-
ton had been seen shedding a tear ; that a Mormon
has confessed Joe Smith's Bible a little less authentic,
from the absence of the original plates ; that a Mil-
lerite has forgiven a debt, on account of the nearness
of the last conflagration ; that a mesmerite,on account
of the death-intelligence conveyed by his clairvoyant,
has gone into mourning ; that an Englishman has been
seen with a smile on his countenance without a plum-
pudding in his stomach ; that an American has said
grace at his table without stopping to expectorate ;
that a Frenchman has stopped his prattle before death
had stopped his breath ; and, finally, that a new moon,
with a drooping horn, has been followed by a dry
month.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 137
While these incredible rumors were afloat, the
public ear was startled with the intelligence that a
large ship had been driven on the rocks, just behind
Point Pinos. The whole population rushed at once
in that direction, — the women to see her go to pieces,
the men to seize her cargo, and a widow, who has a
son at sea, to save the sailors. But the ship proved
to be the " Flying Dutchman," with phantom hull and
masts, and sails through whose gossamer the setting
sun poured its effulgent beam. Some laughed as the
spectral fabric dissolved, some grieved in silence over
their loss, and one old wrecker hung himself with
disappointment. Thus ended the day of the Santos
Innocentes.
Tuesday, Dec. 29. During the rains which pre-
vail at this season of the year, a multitude of small
streams rush from the hills which encircle Monterey
into the lagoon which lies in the vicinity of the town.
This natural basin, replenished by these foaming rivu-
lets, presented this week quite a deep and spacious
lake, and began to threaten with inundation the
buildings upon its margin. As it lay several feet
above the level of the sea, with only an intervening
ridge of sand, it occurred to me that it would be a
good scheme to cut a channel between the two.
The work was easily accomplished ; but my channel
of two feet soon widened to forty, and the whole
lake came rushing down in a tremendous torrent.
It swept every thing before it, and carried two boats,
12*
138 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
which lay on the beach, so far out to sea that tliey
have not been seen or heard of since. Even the
sea-birds, that have dashed about here among the
breakers ever since they got out of their eggs, seemed
frightened, and took wing. Their screams came
back on the wind like the howling of wild beasts on
a sinking Avreck. The lake disappeared ; its waters,
where the stars had mirrored themselves in tranquil
beauty, went otf to join the roaring ocean, and left
on its sandy bottom only a few floundering fish. How
tame is a lake when its bottom is laid bare ! It is
like the heart of a coquette when the illusions of love
have fled.
Wednesday, Dec. 30. The phantom ship, which
rounded into our harbor a few weeks since, and de-
parted without token or sign, turns out to be a good
sound oak reality, in the shape of a sloop-of-war, hon-
ored with the name of Dale, bearing the stars and
stripes, and commanded by Wm. W. M'Kean. She
sailed from New York on the Gth of June, and has
stopped on her way out at Rio de Janeiro, Valparaiso,
Callao, Payta, and Mazatlan. She has brought a
large mail for the Pacific squadron. What an eager
breaking of seals there will be !
I am indebted to her for a large package of letters,
and for the receipt of one which was written several
weeks after she sailed. It was dispatched alone to
Jamaica, thence by the mail steamer to Chagres,
thence over the Isthmus to Panama, and thence by
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 139
the steamer to Callao, and then to Lima. Here it
came into the care of my esteemed friend, Mr. M'Call,
who forwarded it by the Dale. It brings me the in-
telHgence of the birth of a son, and of the safety and
happiness of a young mother over her first-born.
Had this letter, in one of the many mischances to
which it was exposed, failed of reaching me, months
might have passed away without any inteUigence to
relieve my solicitude. There is a Providence, whose
care extends to the condition of each one. Not a spar-
row falls to the ground without his notice. But a long
interval of waning moons must pass, and half the
earth's circuit be traversed, before I can see that infant
being whose dawning light has shed a gladness on my
hearth. In this slow lapse of time what changes may
betide, what fearful shadows may fall !
" My child, my child ! when I shall reach my door,
If heavy looks should tell me thou art dead,
It seems as I should struggle to believe
Thou wert a spirit, to this nether sphere
Sentenced for some more venial crime to grieve ;
Didst sigh, then spring to meet Heaven's quick reprieve,
While we wept idly o'er thy little bier !" Coleridge.
Thursday, Dec, 31. Com. Stockton is still en-
camped near San Diego, expecting to march in a few
days for the town of the Angels. He has under his
command detachments from the crews of the Con-
gress, Cyane, and Portsmouth, with some thirty vol-
unteers, and has with him several pieces of artillery.
His plan evidently is, to attack the position of the
140 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
Californians from the south at the same time that
Col. Fremont comes down upon them from the north.
Hemmed in by these encountering forces, they will
be obliged to surrender, or attempt a disastrous flight.
Public expectation is on the tip-toe to learn the re-
sult ; but several days must elapse before it can be
known here. / , A
Friday, Jan. 1. Last night, while the sentinel
stars were on their mid-watch, the old year resigned
its sceptre, and departed amid the wailing hours to
join the pale shadows of the mighty past. The strong
winds, awaking in grief, shook the forest leaves from
their slumbers, and poured from cloud and cliff their
stormy dirge.
" As an earthquake rocks a corse
In its coffin in the clay,
So white Winter, that rough nurse,
Rocks the death-cold year to-day :
Solemn hours ! wail aloud,
For your mother in her shroud." Shelley.
But nature never leaves the throne of time vacant.
An heir to her wide domain was invested at once
with the imperial purple, while woods and water-falls,
the organ cloud and the sounding sea, sung his coro-
nation hymn. The great tide of time moved on as
before, rolling in events pregnant with the fate of
nations. But men, blind to these momentous issues,
hail the eventful year — in which perhaps their own
coffins swing — with egg-nog ! Out on their frivolity !
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 141
Their mirth is the bubble that paints the rainbow on
Niagara's thundering verge.
Sunday, Jan. 3. The deceased year is in its grave,
but its deeds remain. But few of them, it is true, are
to be found in the archives of earth ; they have been
sealed up and transmitted, by invisible hands, to'
Heaven's high chancery. There they will remain,
above the ranges of time and the wreck of worlds.
When the sun's last ray has expired, every line and
letter will flash out in characters of living light. It
will then be seen that our minutest action here
touches a string that will vibrate forever in the soul ;
and that issues of happiness or woe, vast as eternity,
take their rise in the silent pulses of a hidden thought.
We live between two worlds ; every impulse we take
from this throws an action into the infinitude of the
next ; we follow it ourselves soon and fast : once be-
yond the dim veil, we return no more ; not a whisper
comes back to those we love. We have gone like a
shooting- star over the steep verge of night.
Monday, Jan, 4. It is mid- winter, and yet the
robins are all out, singing as if the buds of May were
bursting around them. You miss none of your fa-
vorites in meadow or grove. Hill and vale are echo-
ing with their wild numbers. This is not a gush of
music that is to be followed soon by silence ; it is
not an interval of sun-light that is to be succeeded
bv cloud and hail. All these charms belono; to the
142 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
season, and make you forget that it is winter. You
look to the sun, and see that he circles indeed far to
the south ; but you look around you and find the spark-
ling streams unfettered by frost, and hear the whistle
of the ploughman as he breaks the glebe. You say
to yourself, there is no winter in California.
Tuesday, Jan. 5. Many of the emigrants who
have recently arrived, are now with Col. Fremont at
the south. By enlisting in this campaign, they will
have an opportunity of seeing every important part
of California, jand will be able to locate themselves
with some confidence in their selection of grounds.
This will compensate them in some degree in fore-
going their first year's tillage. Besides, they generally
arrive here with very little means beyond their own
enterprise. They are now receiving twenty-five
dollars a month, and have but few temptations for
spending it ; they will consequently find themselves
in funds, small to be sure ; but there is a period in
almost every man's life when a penny takes the im-
portance of a pound. " It is more difficult," said the
late Stephen Girard, " to make the first hundred dol-
lars, than the next thousand." But with all due defer-
ence to that eminent economist, I have found it
extremely difficult to make either, and when made,
still more difficult to keep it. It has slipped out of
my hands like a squirming eel in its slime. But this
has very little to do with the emigrants. They will,
it is hoped, soon be able to return to their families.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 143
who are now scattered about in the missions, and in
shanties oa the Sacramento, without the comforts of
hfe. Thev liave suffered greatly from being massed
together in these temporary lodgments ; and have
often, no doubt, wished themselves where they came
from. The pioneers of civilization have always a
rough path. They force the bear from his covert,
not to make room for a palace, but that they may
themselves take his jungle.
Wednesday, Jan. 6. As I was sitting in the
house of an old Californian to-day, conversing very
quietly about the condition of the country, I felt some-
thing break on my head, and, starting around, dis-
covered two large black eyes, lighted with their
triumph. It flashed upon me, that the annual egg-
breaking festival here had commenced. The rules of
this frolic do not allow you to take offence, whatever
may be your age or the gravity of your profession :
you have only one alternative, and that is, to retaliate
if you can. You have not to encounter the natural
contents of the egg — these are blown out ; and the
shell is filled with water, scented with cologne, or la-
vender ; or more often, with gold tinsel, and flashing
paper, cut into ten thousand minute particles. The
tinsel is rubbed by a dash of the hand into your hair,
and requires no little combing and brushing to get it
out. Ladies will work at it for hours, and find some
of the spangles still remaining. When a liquid is
used, the apertures are closed with wax, so that the
144 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
belligerent may carry it about his person. The an-
tagonist is always of the opposite sex. You must
return these shots, or encounter a railery, which is
even worse. Having finished my chat, I bade my
good old Californian friend, and his daughter, my
egg-shell opponent, good morning ; but turned into a
shop, procured an egg or two, and re-entered the
mansion of my friend by a side door, where I watched
for my victim. A few moments brought her along,
all-unconscious of her danger. I slipped from my
covert, and, unperceived, dashed the showering egg
on her head. Her locks floated in cologne. I was
avenged, and now stood square with the world, so far
as egg-breaking is concerned. This seems like chil-
dren's play ; but here you are forced into it in self-
defence.
Thursday, Jan. 7. Two or three of the Califor-
nians who w^ere engaged against the Americans on
the Salinas, have since been in town ; among these,
the leader, Chaves, who was wounded on that occa-
sion. Many attempts have been made to take him,
but he has always managed to elude the search.
Last night, however, he had an extremely narrow es-
cape. The officer in command of the garrison, hav-
ing been informed that he was in a particular house,
silently posted his sentinels around it, and at about
eight o'clock in the evening unceremoniously entered.
Quick footsteps were heard here and there, and only
a part of the ladies were found in the parlor ; but
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 145
these were calm as moonshine, and extremely polite
and amiable.
The officers apologized foi; their abrupt intrusion,
and stated, very frankly, what their object was : the
ladies assured them that they were quite right, and
they should afford them every facility and aid that
might lead to the discovery of the obnoxious person.
They took lights and piloted them through every
apartment of the house, opening every closet, and
lifting every bed-curtain. There was no place in
garret, cellar, kitchen or out-house on which their
tapers did not shed their light ; but in none could a
trace of the officer whom they sought be found : sa
they renewed their apologies to the ladies and de-
parted — when out slipped Chaves from between two
ladies, who had jumped into a bed for the purpose of
conceaUng him. They had lain there while the
officers were in the chamber ; their dark locks float-
ing over the pillows, and their large eyes closed in
seeming slumber. Between them
" He had been hid — I don't pretend to say
How, nor can I, indeed, describe the where ;
Young, slender, and pack'd easily, he lay,
No doubt, in little compass, round or Square."
Friday, Jan. 8. We have as yet no further in-
telligence in reference to the party of Californians
who carried off Mr. Bartlett, of San Francisco. He
had gone into the country, it seems, to attend to some
of his official duties, when he was captured, and is
Ij
146 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
now detained as a hostage. I came very near falling
into a similar trap, a few weeks since. A farmer in
Santa Cruze had extended his improvements over the
lands of another, which lay contiguous to his own,
and it became necessary to go and define the bound-
aries by the original titles. The day was fixed when
I was to be there, and the parties interested were
summoned to appear on the spot. But the night be-
fore I was to leave, intellisrence reached me that an
armed party of Californians were encamped close to
the road which T should have taken. But for this
inforrtiation, brought in by a citizen of Monterey, I
should now be sleeping here and there, under the open
heaven, without a change of apparel, and with ban-
dits for bed-fellows : on such slender threads hangs
security here. I have been told by Calilbrnians, who
are my friends, that plans have been laid by their
countrymen to slip me quietly out of my house at
night, or entrap me in my hunting excursions, on the
outskirts of the town. I began to think, last night,
that this attempt was to be realized. Quick footsteps
and a loud rap came to my door, followed by an ex-
cited call for the alcalde. My boy went out, with
his pistols swung at his side ; but the call proved to
be an honest one. A shop had been robbed, and a
warrant was wanted for the arrest of the supposed
felons.
Saturday, Jan. 9. How many inventions a
Californian lady has ! One who was harboring a
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 147
Mexican officer that had broken his parol, wishing
to do away with all possible suspicion, got up a fan-
dango, to which she took special pains to invite all
the American officers. Such open-door hospitality —
such challenging of the public eye — threw an air of
freedom and frankness over her whole house. Every-
body acquitted her at once of the least shadow of sus-
picion. But while the violins and guitars were trem-
bling and thrilling in concert, and the floor of the old
hall was springing to the bounding measures of the
fandango, and bright eyes
" Were looking love to eyes that spake again,"
the Mexican officer was snugly taking a nap in the
great oven, which, near the cook-house, silently
loomed into the moonlight. It must have been a long
nap, for the stars that kept the mid-watch were re-
lieved before the company broke up. The officer was
then at liberty to leave his oval dormitory to the
baker ; and creeping forth, had, no doubt, a good
laugh with his ingenious hostess over the success of
the fandango. There is no disguise so deep as that
which seems to seek none.
Sunday, Jan. 10. I held service to-day on board
the U. S. ship Dale. Though on deck, no inconve-
nience was experienced from the weather. The air
was soft, and hardly a ripple disturbed the mirror of
the sea. Capt. McKean, in the absence of a chap-
lain, reads the service himself. He appreciates the
148 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
force of moral influences in the government of his
crew, and is well sustained in its exertion by his in-
telligent officers. It is rarely that you meet with a
commander in the service who is indifferent to the
religious character of his crew. If he has no rehgion
himself, still he respects it in others, and places his
greatest reliance w^here it exerts a controlling influ--
ence. Religion, wherever possessed, vindicates its
celestial origin.
The captain of a whale-ship applied to Mr. Damon,
of Honolulu, to preach on board his vessel, stating
very frankly that he had no religion himself, but then
he wanted his ship to appear " a little decent." Now
when a captain applies for a religious service to give
an air of respectability to his vessel, it shows that
moral truth is in the ascendancy, at least in the dig-
nity of its claims. There was a time when no such
expedient was deemed necessary ; but a higher light
has struck the mariners who float the great Pacific.
Their hosannas will yet be rolled to heaven in con-
cert with the loud anthem of her many- voiced waves.
^^
149
CHAPTER X.
DESTRUCTION OF DOGS. TUE ■WASH-TUB MAIL. — THE SURRENDER IN THE
NORTH. — ROBBING THE CALIFORNIANS. — DEATH-SCENT: IN A SHANTY.
THE MEN WHO TOOK UP ARMS. ARRIVAL OF THE INDEPENDENCE.
DESTITUTION OF OUR TROOPS. — C.UTURE OF LOS ANGELES.
Monday, Jan. 11. I never expected, when thread-
ing the streets of Constantinople, where dogs inherit
the rights of citizenship, to encounter such multitudes
of them in any other part of the world. But Cali-
fornia is more than a match for the Ottoman capital.
Here you will find in every littlp village a thousand
dogs, who never had a master : every farm-house has
some sixty or eighty ; and every Indian drives his cart
with thirty or forty on its trail. They had become
so troublesome, that an order was given a few days
since to thin their ranks. The marines, with their
muskets, were to be the executioners. The order, of
course, very naturally runs into dog-erels.
The dogs, the dogs ! my gallant lads —
Let each one seize his gun,
And lead the battle's fiery van,
Though Mars himself should rua
Remember Lodi's blazing bridge,
Marengo's shaking plain,
And Borodino's thundei--clouds,
Where Cossacks fell like rain.
13*
150 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA,
Now hurl their howling squadrons down
To Lethe's silent shore ;
They bark so loud, we scarce can hear
Our sleeping sentries snore.
Lay low the watch-dog first of all ;
For he's a saucy loon,
That bays all night the modest man
Who figures in the moon.
Then down the pointer : he it is
That threads the leaves and grass-
To train the sportman's ready fire
At some poor luckless ass.
Then wing the lap-dog, that pert imp
Befondled by the fair,
And catching all the tender looks
Old bachelors should share.
O'er him, who falls in this dread strife,
The thunder-clouds shall roll.
Through shaking cliffs and caverned hills,
A requiem to his souL
And dewy stars shall softly bend
From their celestial bowers,
To greet the meek-eyed spring, that comes
To strew ^s grave with flowers.
Tuesday, Jan. 12. After three weeks, in which we
had a cloudless sky and balmy air, the wind has
hauled into the southeast, and a gentle rain has com-
menced falling. Its having crept upon us so softly,
is a symptom that it will continue with us some time.
The first break of sunshine may be a week hence.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 151
Wednesday, Jan. 13. We have no intelligence,
as yet, from the seat of war. The solicitude of the
public to know the result is at the highest pitch. No
one doubts that the issue has been very decisive. A
report reached us to-day that the town of los Angeles
had been taken by our troops, and that a large por-
tion of the Californians had laid down their arms.
This rumor comes through the washerwomen of this
place. They get their intelligence from the Indians,
who cross the streams in which they wash their
clothes. Singular as this sort of mail may seem, it
very often conveys news, not only with wonderful
dispatch, but with extraordinary accuracy.
The first capture of los Angeles, by Com. Stockton,
was announced here by these washerwomen ; they were
also the first to spread the intelligence of the breaking
out of the insurrection at the same place, and knew of
the retreat of the Americans at San Pedro before any
other class of people in Monterey. So much for a
wash-tub mail. You may think lightly of it as of the
soap-bubbles that break over its rim ; but if you are
wise you will heed its intelligence. It is an old mail
that has long been run in California ; and has an-
nounced more revolutions, plots, and counterplots,
than there are mummies in Memphis. Who, in other
lands, would dream of going to an old woman, wash-
ing her clothes in a mountain stream, for the first
tidings of events in which the destinies of nations
tremble ? Mr. Morse need hardly come here with his
magnetic machine. One of these women would snap
152 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
the news from a napkin or shirt before his lightning-
mail had got under way.
Thursday, Jan. 14. The small party of Califor-
nians who recently took up arms on the bay of San
Francisco, soon increased to two hundred. They
were, with few exceptions, men of the better stamp —
men who had a permanent interest in the soil, and
who had refused to join the rash spirits at the south.
They had captured Mr. Bartlett, the chief magistrate of
the jurisdiction, and several other Americans, whom
they held as hostages.
Capt. Marston, with fifty men from the Savannah,
and Capt. Maddox, with a company of mounted vol-
unteers, and Capt. Weber, with another band of reso-
lute spirits, met them. A general and decisive en-
gagement was anticipated ; but after a few hours of
pretty sharp fighting, the Californians withdrew from
Santa Clara, which was entered by our forces. A
flag of truce was sent in, and the leading spirits on
both sides assembled under the shadows of a great
native oak. The Californians stated that they had
taken up arms, not to make war on the American
flag, but to protect themselves from the depredations
of those who, under color of that fiag, were plunder-
ing them of their cattle, horses, and grain ; and that
on assurance being given that these acts of lawless
violence should cease, they were ready to return
quietly to their homes. These demands were not en-
forced in a spirit of menace, but with that moral
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 153
firmness which belongs to a deep sense of wrong.
They were acceded to, and the parties separated,
never again, I hope, to meet as belligerents.
This is a much better mode of settling differences
than through the arbitrament of the bayonet. It is
an easy thing to dislodge a man's argument by dis-
lodging his life ; but this summary process of getting
rid of an opponent will generally be followed by
something worse. There is terror even in the ghost %
of a misdeed. "
Friday, Jan. 15. We have further intelligence
from the seat of war. General Kearny, with his staff
and a guard of one hundred dragoons, arrived on the
6th ult. from New Mexico at San Pasqual, about
thirty miles from San Diego. Here he encountered
a hundred and sixty Californians, under Andres Pico,
well mounted, and armed with rifles and lances. A
sanguinary engagement ensued, marked by the most
daring, determined conduct on both sides. Captain
Johnson, with twelve dragoons, led the charge, and
was shot dead in the furious onset. Captain Moore,
with fifty dragoons, rushed to the front : the enemy
wavered — retreated ; when this gallant officer, with a
few of his men who were better mounted than the
the rest, rushed on in pursuit. The enemy suddenly
wheeled ; and now it was hand to hand between
the heavy sword and lance. Captain Moore, on
his white charger, was a mark which none could
mistake. Lance after lance was shivered by his
154 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
flashing steel, till, at last, he sunk overpowered. All
this lasted but a few minutes, but long enough to reach
its tragic results before the remainder of the guard
could come up.
The Californians at last retreated, and Gen. Kearny
encamped on the disputed field. But what a night it
must have been ! The camp fire threw its pale fight
on the countenances of nineteen, who sprung to their
saddles at the break of day, but who were now locked
in the still embrace of death. The burial rites per-
formed, and another sun in the heavens, the general
was again on his way. But another hill bristling with
lances obstructs his march ; it is stormed, carried,
and here again the weary and the wounded require
repose. Through the energies of Lieut. Beale, who
seems ever to be where the hardiest enterprise de-
mands, a message is conveyed through the beleaguering
lines of the enemy to the camp of Com. Stockton,
and a detachment of seamen and marines, under
Lieut. Gray, of the Congress, is sent out. This fresh
force obliged the Californians to relinquish their pur-
pose of another engagement. Had they not arrived,
it was the intention of Gen. Kearny to cut his way
to San Diego, be the odds against him what they
might. His gallant guard had shown the reliance
which might be reposed in them, by the desperate
valor which they had already evinced. The conduct
of Capt. Turner, of Lieut. Emory, and Capt. Gillespie
might give a feature to any field where life is perilled
and laurels won; while the muse of history would
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 155
inscribe her glowing eulogy on the tombs of a John-
son, a Moore, and a Hammond. They sleep in the
soil of CaUfornia, where the undying year
" Garlands with fragrant flowers their place of rest."
Saturday, Jan. 16. The depredations complained
of by those who took up arms in the neighborhood of
San Francisco, were committed by some of the volun-
teers, previous to their joining Col^ Fremont on his
present campaign. They are a class^of pers ons w ho
have drifted overjhfi-mountains into this country from
the boi'ders of some of our western stateg. It is a
prime feature in their policy to keep in advance of ^ i^^
law and order, and to migrate as often as these trench
on their irresponsible privileges. Their connection
with our military operations here is a calamity that
can only find a relief in the exigencies of war.
Were their lawless proceedings directed against
those who are active participators in this revolution,
the evils which they inflict would have some pallia-
tion. But the principal sufferers are men who have
remained quietly on their farms, and whom we are
bound in honor, as well as sound policy, to protect.
To permit such men to be plundered under the filched
authority of our flag is a national reproach. No tem-
porary triumph can redeem the injuries inflicted, or
obliterate their stain. But the rash acts committed
by one portion of the Californians, and the wrongs
endured by another, are fast drawing to a close.
156 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
Sunday, Jan. 17. As I was passing this morning
one of the Uttle huts sprinkled around the skirts of
Monterey, my steps were arrested by the low moans
which issued from its narrow door. On entering, I
found on a straw pallet a mother whom disease had
wasted to a mere shadow, but whose sufferings were
now nearly over. She did not notice my entrance,
or any thing around ; her eyes were lifted, fixed, and
glassed in death. A slia-ht motion drew mv attention
to another corner of the hut, w'here I discovered, in
the dim twilight of the place, a little boy lying on a
mat, whom I supposed asleep ; his young sister was
near him, and trying to cross his hands on his breast.
She did not seem to notice me, spake not a word, but
went on with her baffled task, for the hand which she
had adjusted would roll off while she was attempting
to recover the other. Now and then she stopped for
a moment and kissed the lips which could return
none, while her tears fell silently on the face of her
dead brother. In a few minutes two women entered,
who, it seems, had gone out to call their clergyman
to administer the last rites to the mother. He was
too late : her spirit had fled. He spoke to her, called
her by name — but there was no answer ; he turned
to the little boy, whispered Raphael, but all was silent
and still. Directing the women where to procure
grave-clothes at the expense of the alcalde's office, I
w^ended my way home. How little heeds the great
stream of life the silent rivulets of sorrow which min-
gle with its noisy tide !
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 157
Monday, Jan. 18. It is deeply to be regretted that
the military operations in California should prevent,
at this time, an experimental proof of the fertility of
her soil. The rain that has already fallen is so abun-
dant, that all the arable land will retain its moisture
sufficiently to enable the crops to come to maturity.
But this war has broken up every agricultural arrange-
ment, and defeated every possibility of a generous
harvest. The calamity will be felt most severely by_
the^migrant^. They arrive here with very slender
means ; and the idea of paying twenty dollars ajjarrgl
for flour covers them with dismay. Instead of having
reached a land of plenty, they hastily conclude that
they are to suffer the miseries of destitution, and yield
to a despondency deeper than that which shook the
faith of the Israelites before their wants were miracu-
lously supplied. But there is no manna here, and no
quails, except those which are secured by the hunter's
skill. The day of miracles is over, even in California.
Tuesday, Jan. 19. One of my boys caught a dove,
a few days since, clipped his wing, and placed him in
our yard, which has a high wall around it. He looked
very lonely at first, but his mate soon came, hovered
around on the wall, and finally preferring captivity
wdth him to freedom without, flew down to his side.
How beautiful is that affection which never forsakes
in adversity, but becomes deeper and stronger as the
waves of affliction roll higher over the object of its
sympathy and trust !
14
158 THREE YEAKS IN CALIFORNIA.
Wednesday, Jan. 20. There is one feature in our
military operations here which is far asunder from
that system of order which appertains to a well-dis-
ciplined army. V Every one who can raise among the
emigrants thirty or forty men, becomes a captain, and
starts off to fight pretty much on his own hook. »Nor
is he very scrupulous as to the mode in which he ob-
tains his horses, saddles, and other equipments. He
takes them wherever he can find them, and very often
without leaving behind the slightest evidence by which
the owner can recover the value of his property. He
plunders the Californian to procure the means of
fighting him. Public exigency is the plea which is
made to cover all the culpable features in the trans-
action. This may justify, perhaps, taking the prop-
erty, but it never can excuse the refusal or neglect
to give receipts. It is due to Com. Stockton and
Col. Fremont to say, that this has been done without
their sanction. Still, it reflects reproach on our
cause, and is a source of vast irritation in the com-
munity. No man who has any possible means of re-
dress left will tamely submit to such outrages ; and
yet we expect the Californians to hug this chain of
degradation, and help to rivet its links. Let foreign-
ers land on our own coast, and do among us what
Americans have done here, and every farmer, in the
absence of a musket, would shoulder his pitchfork
and flail. Human nature is the same here as there,
and a sense of w'rong will burn as deeply in the one
place as the other. I utter, for one, my note of re-
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 159
monstrance, though it be as little heeded as the whis-
pers of a leaf in the roar of a storm-swept forest.
Thursday, Jan. 21. The scarcity of provisions in
Monterey continues. Flour is twenty-five dollars
the barrel, and there is hardly a barrel in the place
at that. We have in our garrison about a hundred
and fifty men, and all are on a short allowance of
bread. There is wheat in the interior, but the mules
which should be there to grind it have gone to the
wars. Even that sorry animal seems here not wholly
insensible to military glory. The trump of fame finds
an echo even in his long ears.
Friday, Jan. 22. The flag on the fort informed us
this afternoon of the approach of a ship within the
rim of our bay. As she neared, the signals on the
Dale told her to be an American man-of-war. We
conjectured at once that she must be the Congress ;
but as she rounded into her berth we could not re-
cognize, in her majestic form, the features of our old
friend. She proved to be the Independence, com-
manded by Capt. Lavellette, and bearing the broad
pennant of Com. Shubrick. She sailed from the U.
States on the twenty-ninth of August, and arrived at
Rio de Janeiro in fifty-three days ; remained there
ten days ; doubled the Cape and reached Valparaiso
in thirty-four days ; stopped there seven, and reached
here in thirty-eight. This is splendid sailing ; but
the Independence is one of the fastest, as well as one
100 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
of the most powerful ships in our service. Though
razeed of her carronades, all her effective force re-
mains. Her battery is a frowning mass of thunder.
Her officers are men of enterprise and professional
merit. They have brought a mail, well filled with
letters and papers, from the United States. If you
would know the value of a single letter, let an ocean
roll between you and your home.
Saturday, Jan. 23. The Independence left the
Columbus at Valparaiso, under the broad pennant of
Com. Biddle, who has instructions to favor us here
with a visit. The Columbus was in want of supplies,
and would be detained several days in procuring
them. She had better lay in all she will require, for
there is nothing here. Unless a transport arrives
soon, there will not be salt provisions enough on the
coast to enable our squadron to go to sea two wrecks.
There has not been a transport here for six months ;
our sailors have been Uving on fresh meat till they
hanker for the salt more than they ever did for the
fresh. As for clothing, they can hardly muster a shirt
a piece, and one pair of shoes among half a dozen is
becoming rather a rare sight. This is a hard case,
when our markets at home are glutted with these ar-
ticles. The sailor is required to be faithful to the
government, and the government should be faithful
to him. He should not be left here barefooted to
patter about like a duck in shallow water. It is well
for him that it is a California winter through which
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 161
he is obliged to pass in his destitution ; in the same
latitude on the Atlantic he would nearly have per-
ished.
Sunday, Jan. 24. It is difficult to make the Cali-
fornians understand why you will not attend to office
duties on the Sabbath. The apology that you want it
as a day of recreation, would be appreciated ; but the
plea of its sanctity is with many wholly unintelligi-
ble. If you would make a person respect the Sab-
bath, you must rear him in its sacred observance.
Monday, Jan. 25. The wash-tub mail is still fur-
ther establishing its claims to confidence. Its intelli-
gence is no bubble breaking over its rim, and evapora-
ting into thin air ; but a chain of facts carrying with
them the destinies of a nation. All that has reached
us through this singular mail is confirmed this morn-
ing by a California youth who has arrived from
below.
He left los Angeles some fourteen days since, and
states that previous to his departure, Com. Stockton
had entered the town at the head of the American
forces from San Diego. He says there had been
some pretty hard fighting, in which the Californians
had suffered severely. Col. Fremont, he states, was
within two days' march of the Pueblo, and in a posi-
tion to cut off the retreat of the Californians to the
north. He believes that most of them have surren-
dered. This intelligence is, in every essential partic-
14*
1G2 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORXIA.
ular, identical with that which reached us several days
since through the washerwomen of this town. They
must have obtained it from those who swept through
to the north when the rout below first commenced.
Tuesday, Jan. . 26. A Californian made me a
present to-day of a wild goose which he had just
killed. I value the gift for the giver, rather than any
benefit it may be to me. I live mostly on mush ;
such a thing as a wild goose never floats within the
shadows of my domestic dreams. Even the drum of
the partridge is rarely heard there. Wild geese pre-
vail here in the greatest abundance ; every lagoon,
lake, and river is filled with them. They fly in
squadrons, which, for the moment, shut out the sun ;
a chance shot will often bring two or three to the
ground. The boys will often lasso them in the air.
This is done by fastening two lead balls, several yards
from each other, to a long line, which is whirled into
the air to a great heisrht. In its descent the balls fall
on opposite sides of the neck of some luckless goose,
and down he comes into the hands of the urchin
hunter ; sometimes a pair are brought down, but one
generally manages to effect his escape. The boy
little heeds the domestic relation that may have sub-
sisted between them ; and yet there is something in
killing the mate of even a goose that might be re-
lieved in the thought that no other goose loved him.
li'
'^//^J^-y.l
^^C-(^~Zyp-J
i^'^^
163
CHAPTER XI.
ARRIVAL OF THE LEXINGTON. — THE MARCH TO LOS ANGELES, AND BATTLE
OF SAN GABRIEL. THE CAPITULATION. MILITARY CHARACTERISTICS OF
THE CALIFORNIANS. — BARRICADES DOWN.
Thursday, Jan. 28. Our harbor has been en-
Uvened to-day by the arrival of the U. S. ship
Lexington, commanded by Lieut. Theodorus Bailey,
an officer that might well have been promoted years
ago. Capt. Tompkins and his company of one hun-
dred and forty men, and field train of artillery, are on
board. She brings out also Capt. Halleck, U. S. En-
gineer, vv^ho is intrusted with the erection of fortifi-
cations at this place and San Francisco. The Lex-
ington is laden with heavy battery guns, mortars,
shot, shells, muskets, pistols, swords, fixed ammunition,
and several hundred barrels of powder. She has also
a quantity of shovels, spades, ploughs, pickaxes, saws,
hammers, forges, and all the necessary utensils for
building fortifications of the first class ; and what is
better still, she brings with her a saw-mill and a
good grist-mill.
Friday, Jan. 29. The U. S. ship Dale, W. W.
McKean commander, sailed to-day for Panama.
She takes the mail which is to cross the isthmus, and
reach the United States by the West India steamers.
As soon as her destination was known, a hundred pens
1G4 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
were at work, transferring to paper affections, fond
remembrances, kind wishes, and a tiiousand tender,
anxious inquiries. How absence melts the heart !
The cold is kindled, the indifferent clothed with in-
terest, antipathies melt away, and endearments re-
vive with undying power. I love the very stones
over which my truant footsteps ran, and could kiss
the birch rod that chastised my youthful follies.
What language, then, can portray the love which
clings to one who throws sunlight through the shad-
ows of this dark world, or paint the cherished hope
that buds into being with —
MY INFANT BOY.
I have not seen thy face, my child ;
Tliey say each look and line,
Which o'er thy father's aspect plays,
Is miniatured in thine.
They tell me that thy infant voice —
Its wildly warbled tone,
Seems to thy mother's listening ear
Tlie echo of my own.
I know it not, but fondly deem
Tliat such a thing may be,
And trust tliy fatlier's better hopes
May long survive in thee.
I have not seen thy face, my child,
Thougli weary moons have set
Since mine and thy glad mother's eyes
In tender transport met : —
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 165
For ere thy being dawned to light,
Or knew what life might mean,
Our ship had earth's mid circuit swept,
And oceans rolled between.
I waft thee back a father's kiss —
A pledge of that wild joy,
Which o'er his yearning heart will rush, /J -^»
To clasp his infant boy. -» fj ^jm V *^-
/gM'l -t4^>C- ^^^^.JO. '
Saturday, Jan. 30. The long-looked for intelli-
gence has come at last in an authentic shape. The )f
American forces, commanded by Com. Stockton,
aided by Gen. Kearny, broke camp at San Diego on
the 29th ult., and took up the line of march for los
Angeles. Their route lay through a rugged country
of one hundred and forty miles, drenched with the
winter rains, and bristling with the lances of the ene-
my. Through this the commodore led our seamen
and marines, sharing himself, with the general at his
side, all the hardships of the common sailor. The
stern engagements with the enemy derive their he-
roic features from the contrast existing in the condi-
tion of the two. The Californians were well mount-
ed, are the most expert horsemen in the world, and
whirled their flying-artillery to the most commanding
positions. Our troops were on foot, mired to the an-
kle, and with no resource except in their own in-
domitable resolution and courage. Their exploits
may be lost in the shadow of the clouds which roll
up from the plains of Mexico, but they are realities
here, which impress themselves with a force which
IGO THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
reaches the very foundations of social order. The
march of the American forces from San Diego to
the Pueblo below, and their engagements with the
enemy, are vividly described in a letter to me from
one of the officers attached to the expedition. This
writer says :
" Com. St^kton, at^the head of a force amounting to about six
liundred men, including a detachment of the 1st regiment of U. S.
dragoons, under Gen. Kearny, left San Diego on the morning of the
29th of December, for los Angeles. Our line of march lay through a
rough and mountainous country of nearly one hundred and fifty
miles, with impediments on every side, and constant apprehensions
of an attack from the enemy : our progress was nevertheless rapid ;
and though performed mostly by sailor troops, would have done
credit to the best disciplined army.
" On the moruiug of the 8th of January, we found om-selves, after
several days' hard marching and fatigue, in the vicinity of the river
San Gabriel ; on the north side of which the enemy had fortified
themselves to the number of five hundred mounted men, with four
pieces of artillery, under Gen. Flores, and in a position so command-
ing, that it seemed impossible to gain any point by which our troops
could be protected from their galling fire. They presented their
forces in three divisions — one on our right, another on our left, and a
third in front, with the artillery. On reaching the south side of the
river, the commodore dismounted, forded the stream, and commanded
the troops to pass over, which they did promptly under the brisk fire of
the enemy's artillery. He ordered the artillery not to unhmber till
the opposite bank should be gained ; as soon as this was effected, he
ordered a charge directly in the teeth of the enemy's guns, which
soon resulted in the possession of the commanding position they had
just occupied. The first gun fired was aimed by the commodore before
the charge was made up the hill ; this overthrew the enemy's gun,
which had just poured forth its thunder in our midst. Having
gained this important position, a brisk cannonading was kept up for
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORX-IA. 167
some time. AVe encamped on the spot for the night. The next day
■we met the enemy again on the plains of the Mesa, near the city.
They made a bold and resolute stand ; tried our lines on every side ;
and manoeuvred their artillery with much skill. But the firm and
steady courage with which our troops continued to defend them-
selves, repelled their attempts at a general charge, and we found
ourselves again victorious. We encamped again near the battle-
ground, and on the morning of the tenth marched into the city, while
the adjacent hills were glistening with the lances of the enemy."
Sunday, Jan. 31. It is sweet in a land of tumult
and strife to see the Sabbath sun come up. Its
sacred light melts over the rough aspects of war
like melting dew down the frontlet of the crouched .
lion. May the spirit of devotion, in its ascending
flight, bear into a serener element the aspirations of
the human heart! There let faith, and hope, and im-
mortal love build their tabernacle. It shall be a
dwelling for the soul when the palaces, temples, and
towers of earth are in ruins. Over its gem-inwoven
roof shall stream the light of stars that never set ;
flowers that cannot die shall wreath its colonnade, and
hang in fragrant festoons from its walls ; while the
voices of streamlets, as they flash over their golden
sands, shall pour unceasing music on the wandering air.
Monday, Feb. 1. The forces under Col. Fremont
were within a few leagues of the town of the Angels
when Com. Stockton entered it. Their approach cut
off the retreat of the Californians to the north. The
forces of the commodore were on foot, and of course
1G8 THREE YEARS I\ CALIFORNIA.
unable to follow up their brilliant successes. The
enemy were mounted, and might have held the
country around. If attacked, they had only to re-
treat, and return again on the retiring footsteps of
their foes. But at this critical juncture, Col. Fre-
mont, with his battalion, came down upon them, leav-
ing them no alternative but to capitulate or attempt
a disastrous flight into Mexico. They wisely, with
the exception of a few, determined to abide the con-
ditions of a treaty. The terms of capitulation are
couched in a spirit of great libea'ality and justice.
One would hardly think that men so amiable and
confiding in their terms of peace, could have just been
on the eve of taking each others lives. But this is
one of those exhibitions of forbearance and generosi-
ty which not unfrequently relieve the calamities of
war.
The articles of capitulation, in substance, were,
that the Californians shall surrender their arms to
Col. Fremont, return peaceably to their homes, and
not resume hostilities during the continuance of the
war with Mexico ; — that they shall be guarantied the
protection of life and property, and equal rights and
privileges with the citizens of the United States.
These terms were duly subscribed by the commis-
sioners appointed by the parties to the compact, and
ratified by Col. Fremont. They were liberal in their
spirit, wise in their purpose, and just in their applica-
tion. More rigorous terms would have involved a
sense of humiliation in one party, without any advan-
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 169
tage to the other. The CaUfornians were defeated,
but not crushed. They have those salient energies
which rebound from misfortune, as their native
forests sweep back into the face of heaven, when the
tempest has passed. They never took the field out of
reverence for the Mexican flag : it was a wild im-
pulse, deriving its life from a love of adventure, and
the excitements of the camp. They had had their
tragedy, acted their part, and were now willing the
dim curtain should drop ; and Col. Fremont very
wisely clenched it to the stage. A few in the orches-
tra still piped ; but the actors were away, the side-
scenes vacant, and the spectators at their homes ;
and there may they remain, till the sword shall be
beaten into the ploughshare, and the spear into the
pruning-hook, and the art of war be known no
more.
V
Thursday, Feb. 4. The Californians who left
Monterey to join the outbreak at the south are now
returning to their homes. Every day brings back
two or three to their firesides. They look like men
who have been out on a hunt, and returned with very
little game. Still, it must be confessed that they have
materially strengthened their claims to military skill
and courage. They have been defeated, it is true,
but it has cost their victors many sanguinary strug-
gles, and many valuable lives. They have raised
themselves above that contemptuous estimation in
which they were erroneously held by many, and se-
15
170 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
cured a degree of respect, which will contribute to
mutual forbearance. This result is to be ascribed to
the prowess of the few, rather than the conduct of
the many. The mass were governed by impulse and
the pressure of circumstances. It was not that calm,
heroic spirit which disregards personal safety, and
exults in the hour of peril ; nor was it that deep sense
of patriotic duty which makes a man firm in disaster
and death. It was rather that recklessness which
springs from wounded pride, but which often crowns
with laurels a forlorn hope.
Friday, Feb. 5. The outbreak at the north has
passed away, and the last wave of commotion per-
ished with it. This result is to be ascribed to the
energy of Capt. Mervin, to the moderation and firm-
ness of Capt. Marston and his associates, and to the
good conduct of the forces under their command.
Nor should it be forgotten that the Californians
evinced, on this occasion, a disposition well suited to
bring about an amicable treaty. They took up arms,
not to make war on the American flag, but in vindi-
cation of their rights as citizens of California, and in
defence of their property. They had been promised
protection — they had been assured that they should
not be molested, if they remained quietly at their
homes — and these pledges had been glaringly violated.
Their horses and cattle had been taken from them,
under cover of public exigency, and no receipts given,
to secure them indemnification, till at last they deter-
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 171
mined to have their rights respected, or to die Uke
men. Still, it was necessary to meet them in arms,
and in sufficient force to inspire respect. They were,
however, well mounted, and might, had they so hsted,
have prolonged the struggle. But this was not their
object, and they sent in a flag of truce. The condi-
tions of the treaty were, that they should lay down
their arms, release their prisoners, and that their prop-
erty should be restored, or such vouchers given as
would enable them ultimately to recover its value.
This was a reasonable requirement on their part, and
the American officers had the good sense to appreci-
ate its force. We must be just before we attempt to
be brave. Laurels won through wrong are a dis-
honor.
Saturday, Feb. 6. We have another rain ; not a
cloud is to be seen ; but the whole atmosphere is filled
with a thick mist, which dissolves in a soft perpetual
shower. It seems as if nature had relinquished
every other occupation, and given herself up to this
moist business. She calls up no thunder, throws out
no lightning ; she only squeezes her great sponge, and
that as quietly as a mermaid smooths her dripping
locks,
Sunday, Feb. 7. Com. Shubrick has ordered the
barricades removed. Thank God ! we are at last
relieved of martial law. It is one of the greatest
calamities that can fall on a civilized nation. It tram-
172 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
pics on private rights, trifles with responsibility, and
cuts the conscience adrift from its moorings. Men
are thrown into this eddy of excess, and then act
like rudderless ships in a tempest- tost sea. Years will
elapse before the moral sentiments which have been
unhinged by military violence can be restored. Even
California, where revolutions come and go like the
shadows of passing clouds, will long show the traces
of the one which has now passed over her. Its light-
ning has shivered the tree before the fruit was ripe,
and blasted a thousand buds that might have bloomed
into fragrant beauty.
Monday, Feb. 8. Much to the relief of the citi-
zens. Com. Shubrick has given orders that the volun-
teers on service here shall be paid off" and discharged.
They are principally sea-beachers and mountain-
combers, and some of them are very good men ; but
others seem to have no idea of the proprietorship of
property. They help themselves to it as canvas-back
ducks the grass that grows in the Potomac, or mi-
gratory birds the berries which bloom in the forests
through which they wander. They hardly left fowls
enough here on which to keep Christmas. Could dis-
membered hens lay eggs, they would have more
chickens in their stomachs than they ever had dollars
in their pockets.
173
CHAPTER XII.
RETURN OF T. O. LARKIN. — THE TALL PARTNER IN THE CALIFORNIAN. — MEX-
ICAN OFFICERS. — THE CYANE. WAR MEMENTOES. — DRAMA OF ADAM AND
EVE. — CARNIVAL. — BIRTH-DAY OF WASHINGTON. — A CALIFORNIA CAPTAIN.
— APPLICATION FOR A DIVORCE. — ARRIVAL OF THE COLUMBUS.
Tuesday, Feb. 9. The U. S. ship Cyane, S. F.
Duponl commander, is just in from San Diego. She
was dispatched to bring up General Kearny and
suit, and our consul, T. O. Larkin, Esq. The arrival
of the Independence was not known at San Diego
when the Cyane sailed. The return of Mr. Larkin
was warmly greeted by our citizens. Even the old
Californians left their corridors to welcome him back.
He was captured by those engaged in the outbreak
some three months since, and has been closely guarded
as a prisoner of war. Still, in the irregularities of the
campaign, and the easy fidelity of those who kept
watch, he has had many opportunities of effecting his
escape, but declined them all. He was on the eve,
at one time, of being taken to Mexico, and got ready
for the long and wearisome journey ; but some of his
captors relented, and he was allowed to remain at the
town of the Angels, when the success of the Ameri-
can arms relieved him. He experienced during his
captivity many acts of kindness. Even the ladies,
who in California are always on the side of those who
suffer, sent him many gifts, which contributed essen-
15*
174 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
tially to liis comfort. But he is once more with his
family, and long may it be before he takes another
such trip as his last.
Wednesday, Feb. 10. My tall partner in the Cali-
fornian is back at last from his three months' trip to
San Francisco. I excused his long absence, and
cheerfully endured all the toil of getting out the paper,
with only the assistance of a type-setting sailor,
under the vague impression that he was hunting up a
wife. But he has come back as single as he came into
the world. Whether his solitude is a thing of choice
or necessity I have not inquired. A man's celibacy
is a misfortune, with which it seems wicked to trifle.
It is too selfish for pity and too serious for mirth. But
let my partner go ; he will get a wife in due time ;
indeed he has had one already ; and that is about the
number which nature provides. Some, it is true,
take a second, and a few totter on to a third, seemingly
that they may have company when they totter into
the grave. Go down to your narrow house alone in
the majesty of an unshaken faith, and trust to meet
the partner of your youth in heaven. She waits there
to beckon you to the hills of light. Meet her not with
a harem of spirits at your side, but singly, as on
earth.
When first beneath the ha\rthorn's shade,
The love slie long had veiled from view,
Her soft, uplifted eyes betrayed,
As fell their broad, bright glance on yovL
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 175
Thursday, Feb. 11. Two of the officers of Gen. Cas-
tro sent through me to-day to Com. Shubrick, appUca-
tions for permission to return to Mexico. They are
very poor, having received no pay since our flag was
raised. There are many more in the same situation.
They are entitled to our sympathy. They have
tried, it is true, to retake the country ; but they are
not to blame for that : who would not have done the
same, situated as they have been ? We may call
their courage sheer rashness ; but even that has
higher claims to respect than pusillanimity. They
fought for their places, it is true, but I do not see why
there is not quite as much honor in a man's fighting
for bread with which to feed his children, as for a
feather with which to plume his ambition. Very few
in these days fight from pure patriotism. Some hope
of profit or preferment lights their path and lures them
on. There has been, I apprehend, quite as much
love of country in the Californian as the American,
in the storm of battle which has swept over this
land.
Friday, Feb. 12. The Cyane sailed to-day for
San Francisco, where she will be allowed a short re-
pose. And truly she merits this indulgence ; she has
been, under her indefatigable commander, for six
months incessantly on duty, and has performed some
exploits that will figure in history. All our ships
on this coast have been extremely active, and their
crews more active still. Wherever they have let go
17G THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
their anchors, it has been for service on shore. They
have furled their sails only to unfun eir flags, and
have relinquished the rope only to handle the carbine.
Not a man of them has been missed in the hour of
peril ; not a murmur has escaped their lips in priva-
tion and fatigue. They have done the duty of sol-
diers as well as sailors. They have conquered Cali-
fornia.
Saturday, Feb. 13. The great scarcity of provis-
ions here, and the difficulty experienced in subsisting
.our forces, has induced Com. Shubrick to issue a cir-
cular, throwing the ports open for six months to all
necessary articles of food. This step is characterized
by sound policy as well as humanity. It will have
the efiect of lowering the exorbitant prices which we
are now paying for these articles, and go far to secure
the good will of the citizens. Every measure which
relieves the present exigency, will be fully appre-
ciated. The scarcity is the result, in some measure,
of the war ; in this we have a responsibility, and the
least we can do is to relieve, so far as it lies in our
power, the calamity which it has entailed.
Sunday, Feb. 14. The bones which bleach on
the battle-field, and the groans which load the re-
luctant winds, are not the saddest memorials of war.
They lie deeper ; they are coffined in decayed virtue,
and in the convulsions of outraged humanity. They
convert the heart of a nation into a charnel-house,
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 177
where the gloomy twilight only serves to betray the
corruption whx .'festers within. Flowers may bloom
over it, and garlands be woven of their fragrant
leaves, but within is death. We shudder at a recol-
lection of the Deluge, and still gaze with wonder and
fear at its ghastly memorials : that catastrophe, how-
ever, swept the earth but once, and then departed ;
but war has for ages trampled over it in blood, fol-
lowed by the shrieks of fatherless children, and the
wail of ruined nations.
Where'er the blood-stained monster trod
Fell deep and wide the curse of God.
Monday, Feb. 15. We have had the drama of
Adam and Eve as a phase in the amusements, which
have been crowded into the last days of the carnival.
It was got up by one of our most respectable citizens,
who for the purpose converted his ample saloon into
a mimic opera-house. The actors were his own
children, and those near akin. They sustained their
parts well except the one who impersonated Satan ;
he was of too mild and frank a nature to represent
such a daring, subtle character. It was as if the
lark were to close his eyes to the touch of day, or
the moon to invest herself with thunder. But Eve
was beautiful, and full of nature as an unweaned
child. She rose at once into full bloom, like the
Aphrodite of Phidias from the sparkling wave. Every
sound and sight struck on her wondering sense, as
that of a being just waked to life. Her untaught
178 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
motions melted into flowing lines, soft and graceful
as those of a bird circling among flowers.
" Her eyes as stars of twilight fair ;
Like twilight's too her dusky hair :
But all things else about her drawn,
From May-time and the cheerful dawn."
The features of Adam betrayed his affinity to Eve.
It was a brother's pride hovering over a sister's love-
liness. This imparted the highest moral charm to
the association. No unhallowed thought cast an am-
biguous shadow on the purity of their bliss. It was
dashed by the evil one while yet untouched by sor-
row. When all was lost, Adam sustained himself in
his irreparable calamity with majestic resignation.
In a moment of fofgetfulness he cast the blame on
his companion, but her silent tears instantly subdued
him, and he clasped her to his heart. There is no
affection so deep as that which springs from sympathy
in sorrow. Tears fell here and there among the
spectators, as the exiled pair left forever their own
sweet Eden. The birds became silent as if they had
sung only for the ear of Eve ; the flow^ers would not
lift themselves from the light pressure of her depart-
ing footstep ; and the streamlet trembled in its flow,
as if afraid it might lose the image, which her disap-
pearing form had cast upon its crystal mirror.
Tuesday, Feb. 16. It is past midnight, and I have
just come from the house of T. O. Larkin, Esq.,
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 179
where I left the youth, the beauty, the wisdom, and
worth of Monterey. There are more happy hearts
there than I have met with in any other assemblage
since I came to California. This is the sunshine that
has followed the war-cloud. This being the last night
of the carnival, every one has broken his last egg-
shells. But few of them contained cologne or laven-
der ; nearly all were filled with golden tinsel. Ladies
and gentlemen too are covered with the sparkling
shower, and the lights of the chandeliers are thrown
back in millions of mimic rays. Two of the young
ladies, remarkable for their sprightliness and beauty,
broke their eggs on the head of our commodore, and
got kissed by way of retaliation. They blushed, but
still enjoyed their triumph. I did not venture the lex
tnliones in this form, but I had eggs, and came off
pretty even in the battle. The hens will now have a
little peace, and be allowed to hatch their chickens.
The origin of this egg-breaking custom I have not
been able to learn. It seems lost in the twilight of
antiquity. I must leave it to those walking mum-
mies, who love to grope among the catacombs of per-
ished nations : should they discover it, their shouts
will almost shake down the Egyptian pyramids.
Wednesday, Feb. 17. A convict on our public
works managed to escape to-day, carrying off his ball
and chain. Well, if he only will stop stealing, he may
run to earth's utmost verge. I always like to see a
fellow get out of trouble, and sometimes half forget
180 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORXIA.
his crimes in his misfortunes. This is not right, per-
haps, in one situated as I am ; but I cannot help it ;
it is as much beyond my will as the pulses which
throb in my veins.
Friday, Feb. 19. The volunteers, who accompa-
nied Col. Fremont to the south, are beginning to re-
turn to their homes on the Sacramento. Several of
them have stopped here on their way up, 'and report
every thing tranquil below. They murmur in deep
undertones over their failure to reach the Pueblo
before the forces under Com. Stockton, and ascribe
their disappointment to a want of confidence in their
courage and skill. I know not how this may be ; but,
certainly, many and most of them could have had but
very little experience in California modes of warfare.
They may have been as brave as Caesar, and their
very daring have contributed to their defeat. The
secret of success here, where lances are used, lies in
a commander's keeping his troops compact ; but this
is almost a moral impossibility where men are well
mounted and as full of enthusiasm as a Cape Horn
cloud of storms ; without the severest discipline, they
will dash ahead, and take consequences however
fatal. It was this error which cost Capt. Burrows
and his brave companions their lives.
Saturday, Feb. 20. We have had a fresh stir to-
day, in the arrival of Lieut. Watson, of the navy, with
dispatches for Com. Shubrick and Gen. Kearny, and
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 181
with private letters to many of the officers. I have
one dated quite into November, and from my own
hearth and home. I ruslied into the middle of it,
then to each end, to ascertain that all were well ;
and felt there was still one spot of earth covered with
golden light.
Mr. Watson sailed from New York, November
twelfth, in the brig Sylvan, landed at Chagres, and
reached Panama on the twenty-seventh of the same?
month ; was detained there waiting for a convey-
ance till December the twenty-fifth, when he took
passage in an English steamer for Callao, fell in with
the U. S. storeship Erie, at Payta, on January third,
went on board of her, and arrived at San Francisco
in thirty-nine days. But for the detention in Panama,
he would have reached here from New York in sixty-
seven days. But even this passage may be still fur-
ther abridged by a line of steamers. The day is not
distant when a trip to California will be regarded
rather as a diversion than a serious undertaking. It
will be quite worth the while to come out here merely
to enjoy this climate for a few months. It is unri-
valled, perhaps, in the world.
Sunday, Feb. 21. The American Tract Society
has sent me out, by the Lexington, a large box of
their publications. Nothing could be more timely. I
have not seen a tract circulating in California. Em-
igrants are arriving, settling here and there, without
bringing even their Bibles with them. The same is
16
J 82 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
true of the United States troops. All these are to be
suppHed from home, and by those two great insti-
tutions which are now throwing the light of life over
continents and isles. It remains for the Missionary
Society to do its duty, and dispatch to this shore the
self-denying heralds of the Cross.
Monday, Feb. 22. This is the birth-day of Wash-
fngton. Th^ Independence and Lexington are bril-
Irantly dressed ; the flags of all nations stream over
them in a gorgeous arch. A salute of twenty-eight
guns from the Independence has expressed the hom-
age of each state to the occasion. Even here, and
among the native population, Washington is known,
and his virtues are revered. People speak of him as
a being exempted from the weaknesses of our nature
— as one commissioned of Heaven for a great and
glorious purpose, and endowed with the amazing
powers requisite for its accomplishment. It is the
character of Washington that will never die. His
achievements will long survive on the page of history,
but his character is embalmed in the human heart.
It is not a man's deeds that of themselves render him
immortal. There must be some high consecrating
motive. He who reared the most gigantic of the
pyramids has perished. He sought an eternal remem-
brance in his monument, and not in any virtues which
it was to perpetuate. The monument remains, but
where is its builder ?
" Gone, glimmeriDg through the twilight of the past"
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 183
Tuesday, Feb. 23. We are eagerly looking for
the arrival of store-ships from the United States.
Our squadron is without provisions, except fresh grub
from the shore. Our ships, as far as sea-service is
concerned, are of about as much use as so many nau-
tical pictures. They look stately and brave, as they ride
at anchor in our bay ; but let them go to sea, and
they would carry famine with them. It is a strange
policy that keeps a squadron on this coast in such a
disabled condition. One would suppose the Department
had concluded men could live at sea on moonshine.
Wednesday, Feb. 24. A Californian woman com-
plained to me, several months since, of very ill-treat-
ment from her husband. He was thoroughly indo-
lent, cross, and abusive. She had him and the chil-
dren to feed and clothe, while he did nothing but
lounge about, find fault, and abuse her. She asked
for a divorce ; but I told her she must be satisfied, for
the present, with a separation. So I called him be-
fore me, and ordered him to gather up his traps, and
leave the house for six months. He grumbled a little,
but obeyed the order.
To-day, the woman returned, and said she would
try to live with her husband again ; that he often
now walked past the house, and looked very lonely
and dejected ; that she felt sorry for him, and, if I was
willing, she would try him again. I told her, with all
my heart ; that this was good Christian conduct in
her, and much better than a divorce. She seemed
184 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
gratified with this warm commendation ; so did her
husband with the permission to return. How the
restoration will turn out, remains to be seen. But
how forgiving is the heart of woman ! Where she
has once loved, the affection never dies. Neglect
may chill it, but it will bud again, as plants, over
which the snows of winter have been spread.
Thursday, Feb. 25. A courier arrived to-day from
los Angeles. Every thing continues quiet there.
The Californians had entirely dispersed, and retired
to their ranchos, with the exception of those few who
had gone upon a forlorn hope to Sonora. They will
never be able to raise a force there sufficient to make
any impression here. Mexico has enough to do in
her own borders, without an attempt to retake Cali-
fornia.
Friday, Feb. 26. A captain of artillery in the
Californian army, said to me a few days since, that
his military career was now over, that he had a nu-
merous family to maintain, and he thought of engag-
ing in making adobes, if I would sell him a small
patch of ground for that purpose, belonging to the
municipality ; but stated that he had no money, and
was not a little puzzled to know how he was to pay
for it, unless I would suggest some method by which
he could work it out with his boys and team. I told
him I was drawing stone for a prison ; that he could
engage in this, and should be allowed the highest
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 185
cash price. To-day I found him, with his boys, at
the quarry, hfting the stone into his cart. To show
him that I connected no idea of degradation with the
work, I turned to and assisted in heaving in one of
the hugest in the pile. He wanted to know if the
people in the United States generally worked. I told
him all, except a few loafers and dandies, who were
regarded as a public nuisance. He said he was glad
to hear it ; for he must now work himself, and it
would be an easier lot with others to share it with
him. I assured him he would have company enough,
as the emigration poured in over the mountains. 1
must say, I have more respect for this working cap-
tain of artillery, than for forty of his rank clinging
to the shreds of office, and shrinking from honest
labor.
Saturday, Feb. 27. The weather continues bright
and beautiful. The air is soft, the sky clear, the
trees are in bud, and the fields are medallioned with
flowers. A bouquet of these floral offerings was sent
me to-day by a California lady, with a little note in
liquid Castiiian, that I would accept them as emblems
of those hopes, which were timidly expanding into
life for California. Long may those hopes remain,
and long the gentle being who has sent these tokens
live to walk in their light. She is one, over whom
adversity has swept ; but she breaks from its gloomy
veil, bright as a star from the shadow of the departed
cloud.
IG*
186 THREE i'EARS IN CALIFORXIA,
Sunday, Feb. 28. It is Lent ; and the family that
live the next door to mine, are at their evening
prayers. They were merry as a marriage- bell dm-ing
carnival, and now they are in sackcloth and ashes.
Religion has a wide vibration to reach these extremes
of mirth and melancholy. But life itself is made up
of vicissitudes ; wealth disappears in poverty ; smiles
dissolve in tears ; and the light of our mortal being
goes out in the night of the grave. But there is a
higher life that is never overcast — a spirit-home,
where sorrow and change come not. Thither let the
weary lift the eye of faith, and forget the cares which
environ their pilgrimage here.
Monday, Feb. 29. Our harbor has been thrown
into some commotion again by another of the great
leviathans of the deep. The U. S. ship of the line
Columbus, commanded by Capt. Wyman, and bear-
ing the broad pennant of Com. Biddle, entered our
bay in stately majesty this morning. She came in
before a light breeze, under a vast cloud of canvas,
and rounded to in splendid style, near the Indepen-
dence. She is the largest ship that has ever been on
this coast. Ladies and gentlemen watched from
hill-top and balcony her approach. She is last from
Callao ; her crew have recovered from the effects of
the East India climate, and her officers are all in ex-
cellent spirits. They preferred, of course, a more
immediate return home, but evinced no want of
alacrity in obeying the mandate that has brought
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 187
them here. I find among them my esteemed friend,
the Rev. Mr. Newton, highly and justly respected in
the service. We separated in Philadelphia to meet
in California! After this we may expect to encounter
each other at the North Pole !
Tuesday, March 3. The U. S. ship Warren, under
Commander Hull, is in from San Francisco. She is
now in the fourth year of her cruise, and has hardly
copper enough on her to make a warming-pan.
Some say she will tumble to pieces if an attempt is
made to get her around Cape Horn. But she has
weathered many stormy headlands, and would un-
doubtedly weather that. Still, she may be detained
here as a harbor-ship ; but wiser heads than mine will
determine that question. Her crew ought to be per-
mitted to return ; it is cruel to keep men out as they
have been. The sailor's lot is hard enough, indeed,
when every suitable effort is made to relieve it.
There are but few drops of real happiness in his cup
of sorrow. He has his pastimes, it is true, but they
partake more of insanity than sober gladness. He is
cradled in adversity, reared in neglect, and dies in
the midst of his days ; and over his floating bier the
ocean thunders its dirge.
Wednesday, March 4. The convict that escaped
a short time since was overtaken by my constable
ninety miles distant, and brought back to-day. He
looked like one whose last desperate hope had been
188 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
baffled. I asked what he attempted to run away for.
He said the devil put it into his head. I told him the
poor old devil had enough to answer for without being
charged with his offences, and doubled the time of
his sentence, which was only for six months, and sent
him back to the public works. He is rather a hai--
dened character, but if he has got a good vein in him,
I will try to find it. And in the mean time I shall
set the prisoners quarrying stone for a school-house,
and have already laid the foundations. The building
is to be sixty feet by thirt}' — two stories, suitably pro-
portioned, with a handsome portico. The labor of
the convicts, the taxes on rum, and the banks of the
gamblers, must put it up. Some think my project
impracticable ; we shall see.
189
CHAPTER XIII.
THE PEOPLE OF MOXTERET. — THE GUITAR AND RUNAWAY ■WIFE. — MOTHER
ORDERED TO FLOG HER SON. WORK OF THE PRISONERS. CATCHING
S.^ILORS. — COURT OF ADMIRALTY. — GAMBLERS CAUGHT AND FINED.
LIFTING LAND BOUNDARIES.
Saturday, March 6. I have never been in a
community that rivals Monterey in its spirit of hos-
pitality and generous regard. Such is the welcome
to the privileges of the private hearth, that a public
hotel has never been able to maintain itself. You
are not expected to wait .for a particular invitation,
but to come without the slightest ceremony, make
yourself entirely at home, and tarry as long as it
suits your inclination, be it for a day or for a month.
You create no flutter in the family, awaken no apolo-
gies, and are greeted every morning with the same
bright smile. It is not a smile which flits over the
countenance, and passes away like a flake of moon-
light over a marble tablet. It is the steady sunshine
of the soul within.
If a stranger, you are not expected to bring a for-
mal letter of introduction. No one here thinks any
the better of a man who carries the credentials of his
character and standing in his pocket. A word or an
allusion to recognized persons or places is sufficient.
If you turn out to be different from what your first
190 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
impressions and fair speech promised, still you meet
with no frowning looks, no impatience for your de-
parture. You still enjoy in full that charity which
suffereth long, and is kind. The children are never
told that you are a burden; you enjoy their glad
greetings and unsuspecting confidence to the last.
And when you finally depart, it will not be without a
benison ; not perhaps that you are worthy of it ; but
you belong to the great human family, where faults
often spring from misfortune, and the force of un-
toward circumstances. Generous, forbearing people
of Monterey ! there is more true hospitality in one
throb of your heart, than circulates for years through
the courts and capitals of kings.
Tuesday, March 16. Met Com. Biddle and Gen.
Kearny to-day by appointment, and gave them a
history of California affairs from the time the flag
w^as raised. Both expressed a little surprise at some
of the events that had occurred, but neither called in
question the wisdom of the policy which had been
pursued. The report of a disposition on the part of
these distinguished officers to cast reproach on events
in California, are without a shadow of foundation.
Com. Biddle has not come, it is true, to prosecute the
measures of his predecessors, nor has he come to re-
pudiate them. He desires, so far as his instructions
wall permit, to let them remain as he found them, and
leave to time, that moral touchstone of wisdom and
folly, the tests of their expediency.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 191
WedpJesday, March 17. I met a Californian to-
day with a guitar, from which he was reeling off a
merry strain, and asked him how it was possible he
could be so light-hearted while the flag of his country
was passing to the hands of the stranger. Oh, said
the Californian. give us the guitar and a fandango,
and the devil take the flag. This reveals a fact
deeper than what meets the eye. The Californians
as a community never had any profound reverence
for their nominal flag. They have regarded it only
as an evidence of their colonial relation to Mexico ;
a relation for which they have felt neither affection
nor pride.
Thursday, March 18. A poor fellow came to me
to-day, and complained that his wife had run away
with another man, and wanted I should advise him
what to do. 1 asked him if he desired her to come
back ; he said he did, for he had five children who re-
quired her care. I told him he must then keep still :
the harder he chased a deer, the faster it would run;
that if he kept quiet she would soon circle back again
to him.
He hardly seemed to understand the philosophy of
inaction : I told him there was hardly an animal in the
world that might not be won by doing nothing ; that
the hare ran from us simply because we had chased
it ; that a woman ran for the same reason, though
generally with a different motive : the one ran to
escape, the other to be overtaken. He consented to
192 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
try the do-nothing plan, and in the mean time I shall
try to catch the villain who has covered an humble
family with disaster.
Thursday, March 25. A California mother com-
plained to me to-day, that her son, a full grown
youth, had struck her. Usage here allows a mother
to chastise her son as long as he remains unmarried
and lives at home, whatever may be his age, and re-
gards a blow inflicted on a parent as a high offence.
I sent for the culprit ; laid his crime before him, for
which he seemed to care but little ; and ordered him
to take off his jacket, which was done. Then putting
a riata into the hands of his mother, whom nature
had endowed with strong arms, directed her to flog
him. Every cut of the riata made the fellow jump
from the floor. Twelve lashes were enough ; the
mother did her duty, and as I had done mine, the
parties were dismissed. No further complaint from
that quarter.
Monday, April 12. The old prison being too
confined and frail for the safe custody of convicts, I
have given orders for the erection of a new one.
The work is to be done by the prisoners themselves ;
they render the building necessary, and it is but right
they should put it up. Every bird builds its own
nest. The old one will hold an uninventive Indian,
but a veteran from Sidney or Sing Sing would
work his way out like a badger from his hole, which
THREE YEARS i:V CALIFORNIA. 193
the school urchin had obstructed. 1 had an experi-
ment with one a few nights since, and he went
through the roof with ball and chain. How he ever
reached the rafters, unless the man in the moon mag-
netized him, I cannot conjecture. But out he got,
and it cost me a California chase to catch him.
Thursday, April 16. Six of tlie crew of the
Columbus ran from one of her boats this morning.
They cleared the town in a few minutes, and plunged
into a forest which shadows a mountain gorge. The
officer of the boat came with a request from Capt.
Wyman that I would have them caught and brought
back. My constables were both absent, and I ordered
three Californians who were well mounted to go in
pursuit. The native people are always inclined to
aid a sailor in his attempt to escape ; they seem to
think he is of course running from oppression or
wronar, when in nine cases out of ten he is runnins;
upon some sudden impulse, and continues the race
because he has begun it.
In this instance an order was given and it was
obeyed ; the sailors were promptly apprehended and
brought back. But had I offered a reward of fifty
dollars each for them, and left the Californians to
pursue or not as they preferred, not one of them
would have been apprehended. I have never known
a Californian to molest a runaway sailor or soldier to
secure the reward offered. He will obey my order
to arrest him, and he would do the same if ordered to
17
194 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
arrest his own brother, but he will not do it to secure
any pecuniary consideration. He seems to look upon
it as a breach of national hospitality. Were the
De'il himself to call for a night's lodging, the Califor-
nian would hardly find it in his heart to bolt the door.
He would think they could manage against his horn
hoof and tail in some way.
Saturday, April 18. The Pacific squadron having
captured several prizes not in a condition to be sent
round the cape for adjudication in the United States,
the necessity of a court of admiralty here to deter-
mine upon them, has induced Com. Biddle and Gen.
Kearny to take the responsibility of its organization.
They have installed me in this new office, invested
with the authority which emanates through them from
the national executive, and the still higher sanctions
derived ex necessitatt rei. And now comes the
task of looking up those legal authorities which may
serve as guiding lights and safe precedents. But
even here, on this dim confine of civilization, loom to
light all the bright particular stars which have shed
their rays on the intricacies of national law and ad-
miralty jurisprudence. We have the eloquent com-
mentaries of Kent, the able dissertations of Wheaton,
the lucid expositions of Chitiy, and the authoritative
decisions of Sir William Scott. These, with half a
dozen young lawyers ready to throw in their own
effulgent beam, as the glow-worm turns the sparkle
in its tail to the sun. will enable us perhaps to escape
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 195
the breakers, where much richer argosies than ours
have been wrecked. But one thing is pretty certain,
my journal in the midst of all these perplexing duties
will find some breaks in it. I must hunt my rabbits,
quail, and curlew, or stagnate on beef; a sirloin may
regale the hungry for a time, but even that, if con-
fined to it, palls on the appetite worse than a one-
stringed fiddle on the ear, or the low, wordless, mo-
notonous grumble of a discontented wife.
Wednesday, May 12. A nest of gamblers arrived
in town yesterday, and last evening opened a monte
at the hotel honored with the name of the Astor
House. I took a file of soldiers, and under cover of
night reached the hotel unsuspected, where I stationed
them at the two doors which afforded the only
egresses from the building. In a moment I was on
the stairs which lead to the apartment where the
gamesters were congregated. I heard a whistle,
and then footsteps flying into every part of the edi-
fice. On entering the great chamber, not a being
was visible save one Sonoranian reclining against a
large table, and composedly smoking his cigarito. I
passed the compliments of the evening with him, and
desired the honor of an introduction to his compan-
ions.
At this moment a feigned snore broke on my ear
from a bed in the corner of the apartment. — " Ha !
Dutre, is that you ? Come, tumble up, and aid me
in stirring out the rest." He pointed under the bed,
lf>G THREE YEARS IX CALIFORXIA.
where I discovered, just within the drop of the val-
ance a multitude of feet and legs radiating as from a
common centre. " Hallo there, friends — turn out I"
and out came some half-dozen or more, covered with
dust and feathers, and odorous as the nameless
furniture left behind. Their plight and discovery
threw them into a laugh at each other. From this
apartment, accompanied by my secretary, I pro-
ceeded to others, where I found the slopers stowed
away in every imaginable position — some in the beds,
some under them, several in closets, tw^o in a hogs-
head, and one up a chimney. Mr. R , from
Missouri — known here under the soubriquet of " the
prairie-w^olf" — I found between two bed-ticks, with
his coat and boots on, and half smothered with the
feathers. He was the ringleader, and raises a monte
table wherever he sfoes as regularlv as a whale comes
to the surface to blow. All shouted as he tumbled
out from his ticks. Among the rest I found the
alcalde of San Francisco, a gentleman of education
and refinement, who never plays himself, but who, on
this occasion, had come to witness the excitement.
I gathered them all, some fifty in number, into the
large saloon, and told them the only speech I had to
make was in the shape of a fine of twenty dollars
each. The more astute began to demur on the plea
of not guilty, as no cards and no money had been
discovered ; and as for the beds, a man had as good
a right to sleep under one as in it. I told them that
was a matter of taste, misfortune often made strange
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 197
bedfellows, and the only way to get out of the scrape
was to pay up. Dr. S was the first to plank down.
"Come, my good fellows," said the doctor, "pay up,
and no grumbling ; this money goes to build a school-
house, where I hope our children will be taught bet-
ter principles than they gather from the example of
their fathers." The "prairie-wolf" planked down next,
and in ten minutes the whole, Chillanos, Sonoranians,
Oregonians, Californians, Englices, Americanos, de-
livered in their fines. These, with the hundred dol-
lar fine of the keeper of the hotel, filled quite a bag.
With this I bade them good night, and took my de-
parture. I hope the doctor's prediction will prove
true ; certainly it shall not be my fault if it turns out
a failure. In all this there was not an angry look or
petulant remark ; they knew I was doing my duty,
and they felt that they atoned in part for a violation
of theirs through their fines. If you must hold office
be an alcalde, be absolute, but be upright, impartial,
and humane.
Thursday, May 27. A ranchero, living some forty
miles distant, not liking his own land, had lifted his
boundary line, and projected it some six miles over
that of his neighbor. Quite a lap this would be
among farmers in the United States, but a small slice
here. I was called upon to decide the difficulty.
Taking with me from the public archives a certified
copy of the original grant to each of the rancheros,
I proceeded to the spot, where I found some twenty
17*
198 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
men under the shadow of a great oak-tree, and each
ready to locate the boundaries agreeably to the in-
terests of the party that had summoned him. I
listened to the stories of each, and then asked the
raiichero, who had lifted his line, to show me his
grant. He drew it from his pocket — a document
signed, sealed, and delivered with all the formalities
of law. I then drew out the original, and found their
topographical lines as much alike as the here and
there of an unresting squatter. The fact was, the
man had two grants ; but the last one being a palpa-
ble invasion of his neighbor's domain, as secured to
him under the seal of the state, he must of course
retreat within the limits of the first. A township of
land being thus judicially and justly disposed of, I
started on my return ; fell in with a grizzly bear —
levelled and fired — but without waiting to see if the
ball took effect, dashed on. A loadless rifle, with an
enraged bear at your heels, makes you value a fleet
horse in California.
199
CHAPTER XIV.
A CONVICT WHO WOULD NOT WORK. — LAWYERS AT MONTEREY. WHO CON-
QUERED CALIFORNIA. — RIDE TO A RANCHO. LEOPALDO. PARTY OF
CALIFORNIANS. A DASH INTO THE FORESTS. CHASING A DEER. KILLING
A BEAR. LADIES WITH FIREARMS. A MOTHER AND VOLUNTEER.
Friday, June 18. One of the prisoners, who is an
Englishman, ventured a criticism on the stonework
of another prisoner, which revealed the fact of his
being a stonecutter himself. I immediately sat him
at work at his old trade. But he feigned utter igno-
rance of it, and spoiled several blocks in making his
feint good. I then ordered him into a deep well,
where the water had given out, to drill and blast
rocks. He drove his drills here for several days, and
finding that the well was to be sunk some twenty or
thirty feet deeper, concluded it was better for him to
work in the upper air, and requested that he might
be permitted to try his chisel again. Permission was
given, and he is now shaping stones fit to be laid in
the walls of a cathedral. He was taken up for dis-
orderly conduct, and he is now at work on a school-
house, where the principles of good order are the first
things to be taught.
Saturday, June 19. We have at this time three
young lawyers in Monterey, as full of legal acuteness
200 TIIRKE YEARS I\ CALIFORNIA.
as the lancet cup of a jtlilebotoniist. All want clients,
and fees, and the privilege of a practice in this
court. Mexican statutes, which prevail here, permit
lawyers as counsel, but preclude their pleas. They
may examine witnesses, sift evidence, but not build
arguments. This spoils the whole business, and every
effort has been made to have the impediment removed,
and the floodgate of eloquence lifted. I should be
glad to gratify their ambition, but it is impossible. I
should never get through with the business pressing
on mv hands in every variety of shape which civil
and criminal jurisprudence ever assumed. I tell them
after the evidence has been submitted, the verdict or
decision must follow, and then if any in the court-
room desire to hear the arguments, they can adjourn
to another apartment, and plead as long as they like.
In this way justice will go ahead, and eloquence too,
and the great globe still turn on its axle.
Saturday, July 17. Com. Stockton has left us
on his return home over the continent. His mea-
sures in California have been bold and vigorous, and
have been followed by decisive results. He found
the country in anarchy and confusion, and the greater
part under the Mexican flag, and has left it in peace
and quietness beneath the stars and stripes. His po-
sition in the march of the American forces from San
Diego, and in the battle of San Gabriel, has not been
changed by any subsequent information in the judg-
ment of the candid and impartial. He tendered the
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 201
command of the expedition to Gen. Kearny, which
that gallant officer deferred to the commodore, out of
regard to his position at the head of the naval forces
upon which the success of the enterprise must de-
pend. The propriety of this arrangement is seen in
the fact that the general had but sixty dragoons at
his command, and those on foot, while the Pacific
squadron poured six hundred seamen and marines
upon the field. There was no confusion of orders or
evolutions on the route ; every general movement
emanated from Com. Stockton, with the good under-
standing and harmonious action of Gen. Kearny.
It is deeply to be regretted that any thing subse-
quently occurred to disturb this spirit of mutual defer-
ence and generous devotion to the crisis which
pressed upon our ams. It is not my purpose to com-
ment on this feature in the affairs of California ; but
it is due to truth that history should be set right ;
that facts warped from their true position should be
reinstated on their own pedestals. The army has
covered itself with laurels on the plains of Mexico,
and might have won honors here with an adequate
force ; but to rely on sixty dragoons in the face of a
thousand Californians, armed with the rifle and lance,
and accustomed to the saddle from their birth, is to
trifle with the stern solemnities of war. It is requir-
ing too much of us, who have lived here through the
war, and are conversant with its history, to claim our
assent to the allegation, that California has been con-
quered through the achievements of the army. That
202 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
unshrinking arm of the nation has done its work well
and fast elsewhere, but only the vibrations of its
blows have trembled across the confines of California.
For matter of these the Mexican flag would still be
flying over these hills and valleys. The seamen of
the Pacific squadron, as reliable on land as faithful on
the deck, and the emigrants, who have come here to
find a home, have wrenched this land of wealth
and promise from the grasp of Mexico, and unfurled
the stars and stripes, where they will wave evermore.
Let the laurel light where it belongs.
Tuesday, Aug. 10. An Indian galloped to my
door this morning, having in lead a splendid pied
horse, richly caparisoned, and with an invitation from
a ranchero, forty miles distant, that I would come
and spend a few days with him at his country-seat ;
so I placed the office in the hands of Don Davido,
well competent to its duties, and with my secretary,
Mr. G , mounted on another noble animal, started
for the mansion of my old friend from the mountains
of Spain, now in the winter of age, but with a heart
warm as a sunbeam. The town, with its white
dwellings, soon vanished behind the pine and ever-
green oak, which crown the hills, that throw around
it their arms of waving shade. The little lakes, na-
velled in the breaks of the forest, flashed on the eye ;
the water-fowl, in clouds, took wing ; the quail
whirled into the bushes ; and the deer bounded off" to
their woodland retreats. A grizzly bear, with a storm
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 203
of darkness in his face, stood his ground, and never
even bhnked at the crack of our pistols.
We were now on the bank of the Sahnas, through
which we dashed, allowing our horses a taste of its
yellow waters, then up the opposite bank, and away-
over the broad plain, which stretches in vernal beauty
beyond. Our horses required no spur, were in fine
condition, high spirits, never broke their gallop, and
swept ahead, like a fawn to its covert. Mine be-
longed to the daughter of the Don, to whose hearth
we were bound, and had often rattled about among
these hills beneath his fair owner, whose equestrian
graces and achievements might throw a fresh en-
chantment on the chase that had gathered to its
rivalries the beauty and bravery of Old England.
Another mountain stream — a dash through its foam-
ing tide, and away again through a broad ravine, which
bent its ample track to the steep hills, which threw
the shadows of thear waving trees over a thousand
echoing caverns. Where the forests broke, the wild
oats waved, like golden lakes, and mirrored the pass-
ing cloud ; while the swaying pines rolled out their
music on the wind, like the dirge of ocean. And now
another luxuriant plain, where cattle, and horses, and
sheep gambolled and grazed by thousands ; and on
the opposite side the white mansion of our host,
crowning the headland, and glimmering through the
waving shade, like the columns which consecrate
Colonna. Here we alighted without weariness to our-
selves or our spirited animals, though we had swept
204 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORMA.
through the forty miles in three hours and a half.
The senorita, who had sent me her horse, vaulted
into the saddle, which I had just relinquished, and
patting the noble fellow, whom she called Leopaldo,
induced him to exhibit a variety of his cunning evo-
lutions. He knew his rider as well as a Newfound-
lander his mistiess, or an eagle his mountain mate.
It was a festive eve at the Don's ; youth and beau-
ty were there ; and as the sable hues of night sunk
on silent tree and tower, the harp and guitar woke
into melodious action ; the hour was late when the
waltz and song resigned their votaries to the calmer
claims of slumber. My apartment betrayed the rural
diversions of some fairy, one whose floral trophies
threw their fragrance from every variety of vase.
The air was loaded with perfume, and could hardly
be relieved by the visits of the night- wind through
the lifted window. My dreams ran on tulips and
roses. Morn blazed again in the east ; the soaring
lark sung from its cloud ; the guests were up, glad
voices were heard in the hall ; light forms glanced
through the corridors, and a huenos dios rolled in
sweet accents from lips circled with smiles. Coffee
and tortillas went round, mingled with salutations and
those first fresh thoughts which spring from the heart
like early birds from the tree, which the sunlight has
touched, while the dew yet sparkles on its leaves.
The horses of the Don were now driven to the door —
a sprightly band — vieing in their hues with the flow-
ers that sprinkled the meadows where they gambolled,
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 205
and the guests were invited to make their selection.
My choice fell, of course, on Leopaldo, who had
brougiit me from Monterey ; but his fair owner would
want him ; no, he was delivered to me, as the seno-
rita took another quite as full of fire.
The ladies were now tost into their saddles, and
the gentlemen, belted and spurred, vaulted into theirs.
We all struck at once into a hand gallop, and swept
over the broad plain which stretches from the acrop-
olis of the Don, to the broken line of a mountain
range. Here we spurred into a broad shadowy ra-
vine, overhung with toppling crags, and breaking
through the bold ranges of rock, which threw their
steep faces in wild fantastic forms on the eye. " A
coyote !" shouted those in the van, and started in
chase ; but this prairie-wolf had his den near at hand,
and soon vanished from sight. Another, and a third,
but the chasm yielded its instant refuge. A fourth
was started, who gave us a longer pursuit ; but he
soon doubled from sight around a bold bluff into a
jungle. Here the horse of seilorita S dashed
ahead of the whole caballada, with his dilated eye
fastened on a noble buck, and swept up the sloping
side of the ravine to gain the ridge, and cut oft" his es-
cape in that direction, while the whole troop spurred
hot and fast upon his retreat below. We were now
in for a chase, brief though it might be. The buck
seemed confused; and no wonder, with such a shout-
ing bevy at his heels, and with the senorita streaming
along the ridge, and dashing over chasm and cliff like
18
206 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
the storm-swept cloud where " leaps the live thunder."
But the proud buck was not be captured in this way ;
and as soon as the other side of the ravine began to
slope from its steep line, up its bank he sprung, and
bounded along its ridge as if in exulting rivalry at the
rattling chase of the senorita. " Two deers," shouted
one of the caballeros, " and neither of them to be
caught."
We here wheeled into another mountain gorge,
which opened into a long irregular vista of savage
wildness. A gallop of two or three miles brought us
to a spot where the rocky barriers retreated on either
hand, shaping out a bowl, in the centre of which
stood a cluster of oaks. On the lower limb of one,
which threw its giant arm boldly from the rough
trunk, a dark object was descried, half lost in the
leaves. " A bear, a bear !" shouted our leader, and
dashed up to the tree, which was instantly surround-
ed by the whole troop, " Give us pistols," exclaimed
the senoritas, as bravely in for the sport as the rest.
Click, crack ! and a storm of balls went through the
tree-top. Down came old bruin with one bound into
the midst, full of wrath and revenge. The horses in-
stinctively wheeled into a circle, and as bruin sprung
for a death-grapple, the lasso of our baccaros, thrown
with unerring aim, brought him up all standing. He
now turned upon the horse of his new assailant ; but
that sagacious animal evaded each plunge, and seemed
to play in transport about his antagonist. The pis-
tols were out again, and a fresh volley fell thick as hail
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 207
around the bear. In the smoke and confusion no
one could tell where his next spring might be ; but
the horse of the baccaro knew his duty and kept the
lasso taught. Bruin was wounded, but resolute and
undaunted ; the fire rolled from his red eyes like a
flash of lightning out of a forked cloud. Foiled in
his plunges at the horse, he seized the lasso in his
paws, and in a moment more would have been at his
side, but the horse sprung and tripped him, rolling
him over and over till he lost his desperate hold on
the lasso. The pistols were reloaded, and senoritas
and caballeros all dashed up for another shower of
fire and lead. As the smoke cleared, bruin was found
with the lasso slack, a sure evidence that the hoirse
who managed it knew his antagonist was dead.
This was sport enough for one day ; we galloped
on through the defile, which wound round a moun-
tain spur, till it struck a precipitous stream, which
sent into the green nooks the wild echoes of its cas-
cades. Following the ravine through which it poured
its more tranquil tide, we debouched at length upon
the plain, crowned with the hospitable mansion of
our host. The feats of the morning astonished even
the old Don, who offered his favorite roan to the one
whose bullet had killed the bear. The meed was
challenged by each and all, but no one could make
good and exclusive claim. The gentlemen relinquished
their claim, but that only made the matter worse, as
it narrowed the contest to the circle of the senoritas.
Dinner was announced; then came the siesta, fol-
208 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
lowed by the soft twilight, with the harp, guitar, aiid
song, which mehed away into sweet sleep. In the
morning Mr. G. and myself, with the glorious Leo-
paldo, waved our adieu, and returned to Monterey.
Monday, Sept. 6. A mother, who lives with a man
out of wedlock, applied to me this morning to take
her two daughters from an aunt, with whom they
w^ere living, and place them in another family. When
asked for her reasons, she stated that this aunt had
not a good reputation, and though bad herself, she
did not want to see her daughters so. I told her she
could hardly expect me to make her daughters better
than their mother; that parental example was stronger
than law ; that if she wanted to keep her daughters
pure, she must be so herself. She shed tears : I said
no more ; but ordered her daughters into the family
where she desired.
Tuesday, Sept. 7. One of the volunteers broke
into my coral last night, with the intention of reach-
ing the hen-roost, but was frightened nearly to death
by a discharge of mustard-seed from an old fowling-
piece, with which my servant had armed himself for
the protection of his poultry. Some of the volun-
teers, and I hope much the larger portion, are upright,
honest men, but there are others who will steal any
thing and every thing, from a horse to a hen. One of
the evils of a soldier's lot is, that the good are often
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 209
confounded with the bad. But every profession suf-
fers in the same way.
Tuesday, Sept. 10. Our bay is full of sardines ;
an Indian jumped into the surf and scooped up for
me, with his blanket, half a peck in a few minutes.
The pelican follows these small fish, and pounces
down upon them with a savage ferocity. There is
something in such a sudden destruction of life, even
in a minnow, which you don't like. I have often
wished the bird just shot again on the wing.
We are looking every moment for the return of
the Cyane, under Commander Du Pont, from the
Sandwich Islands, where she has been on important
service. She is the water-witch of the Pacific — if
ceaseless motion can claim that honor. Her com-
mander enjoys so thoroughly the confidence and
aifection of his officers and crew, they go with him
through all this exhausting service without a mur-
mur. It is a happy tact that can maintain discipline
and w ield at any moment the whole moral ^nd physi-
cal power of such a ship.
18*
210
CHAPTER XV.
A CALIFORNIA PIC-NIC. SEVENTY AND SEVENTEEN IN THE DANCE. — CHIL-
DREN IN THE GROVE. A CALIFORNIA BEAR-HUNT. THE BEAR AND
BULL BATED. THE RUSSIAN'S CABBAGE HEAD.
Wednesday, Sept. 22. The lovers of rural pas-
times were on an early stir this morning with their
pic-nic preparations. Basket after basket, freighted
with ham, poultry, game, pies, and all kinds of pastry,
took their course in the dn-ection of a wood which
stands three miles from town, and shades a sloping
cove in the strand of the sea. The sky was without
a cloud, and the brooding fog had lifted its dusky
wings from the face of the bright waters. At every
door the impatient steed, gayly caparisoned, was wait-
ing his rider. Into the saddle youth and age vaulted
together, while the araba rolled forward with its liv-
ing freight of laughing childhood. The dogs swept
on before, barking in chorus, and flaring the gay
ribbon which some happy child had fastened round
the neck.
This mingled tide of health and social gladness
flowed on to the grove of pine and birch, which threw
their branching arms in a verdant canopy over a plat
of green grass, which had been shorn close to the
level earth. Around this arena strayed every variety
of twig-inwoven seat, where matron and maiden, in
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 211
the flow of the heart, forgot their disparity of years.
The children wreathed each other's locks with coronals
of flowers, the soft breeze whispered in the pines, and
the little billo-w murmured its music on the strand.
And now the violin, the harp, and guitar woke the
bounding dance. Forth upon the green the man of
seventy, still erect and tall, led the blooming girl of
sixteen. Age had whitened his locks, but the light
of an unclouded spirit still rolled in his eye, and the
salient bound of youth still dwelt in his limbs. His
young partner, with her tresses of raven darkness,
inwoven with snow-white flowers, — with a cheek,
where the mantling tide of health was curbed into a
blush — and a step light and elastic as that of the
gazelle, seemed as one of Flora's train, just lighted
there to swim in youth and beauty in the wild wood-
land merriment. By the side of these, others, in
mingled youth and age, lead down the double files,
and balance and whirl in the mazy measures which
roll from the orchestral band. As these retire, others
still spring to the arena, and the dance goes on, ever
changing, and still the same. No faltering step
delays its feathered feet, no glance of envy disturbs
its love-lit smiles, no look of clouded care over-
shadows its real mirth :
" The garlands, the rose-odors, and the flowers.
The sparkling eyes, and flashing ornaments,
The white arms and the raven hair, the braids
And bracelets, swan-like bosoms, the tliin robes
Floating like hght clouds 'twixt our gaze and heaven."
i>r2 TIIKKE YEARS I\ CALIFORMA.
And now they glide to the tables, which stretch
away under the embowering trees, and where the
rich larder has emptied its choicest stores. Thei'e
the savory venison scents the still air; and the wild
strawberries blush between the green leaves. There
the domestic fowl, the swift-footed hare, and the timid
quail have met in strange brotherhood. There the
juice of the native grape, and the cool wave of the
gushing rock, sparkle in the flowing goblet. These
were discussed, and the festive board was relinquished
to the children, who were too full of glee to note if
aught more than the fruit and confectionery remained.
The ripe berry sought in vain to add color to their
lips, or rival the bloom which lent its rosy hue to the
round cheek. Golden locks floated around e3'es w^hich
sparkled with light and love, and the accents of glad-
ness rung out in joyous peals, like the song of birds
when the storm-cloud has passed.
"Theirs was the shout! the song! the burst of jov !
'Wliich sweet from childhood's rosy hp resouudeth;
Tlieirs was the eager spirit naught could cloy,
And the glad heart from which all grief reboundetL"
The music from the harp and guitar streamed out
again, and the green plat was full of glancing forms,
where youth and age, maternal dignity and maiden
charms, led down the merry dance. As these glided
to their seats, childhood crowned with wild-flowers
sprung to the arena, with motions light as the meas-
ures through which it whirled its infantile forms. A
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 213
sylvan Pan might have fancied his fays had left their
green- wood covert to frolic on the green beneath the
soft light of the dying day. But ere the evening star
ascended its watchtower the merry groups were on
their fleet steeds, bounding over hill and valley to
their homes. The shadows of the moonlit trees fell
in softness and silence where all this mirth had been ;
only the silver tones of the streamlets were heard as
they murmured their music in the ear of night. The
echoes of our voices will all cease in the places
that have known us as we glide at last to the " dim
bourn," nor will a leaflet tremble long in the breath
of memory. The myriads who people the past are
still, the stir of their existence is over, the great ocean
of their being is at rest. The wandering wind only
sighs over their tombless repose.
Friday, Oct. 10. Captain Hull, who has been out
here nearly four years in command of the Warren,
left us to-day for the United States. He has ren-
dered good service to the country during his long
exile. May prosperous breezes waft him safely to
his distant home. Lieut. J. B. Lanman succeeds
to the command of the WaiTen ; an oflicer justly
esteemed for his gentlemanly deportment and pro-
fessional intelligence. It is this foreign duty that
puts the competency and fidelity of an officer to the
test. It is easy to carry on duty at a navy yard, but
duty on board ship with a heterogeneous crew, is an-
other thing ; it calls for the last resources of the officer,
214 TIIEEE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
in the maintenance of discipline, harmony, and ef-
ficiency.
For a person who has been but a few months in a
man-of-war, and never been at sea in any other situ-
ation, to attempt to enhghten the public on the dis-
cipline of the navy, or any of the duties which belong
on board ship, is an exhibition of impertinent vanity.
He has no practical knowledge of the subjects upon
which he is delivering his sage lecture. He has a
certain theory with which he proposes to test the
wisdom or folly, the humanity or cruelty, of every
thing in the service ; and when this theory gets
snagged, which is often the case, he is for rooting out
the whole concern. He don't reflect that his land
theory is as much out of its element at sea as a
stranded porpoise would be out of his. All the habits
and usages of a man-of-war, are heaven wide of
those which obtain on land. They require rules and
regulations suited to their genius. Reforms must
necessarily be of slow growth ; they must take root
in the service itself, and not in the novelties of any
land theory.
Thursday, Oct. 28. The king of all field-sports in
California is the bear-hunt: I determined to witness
one, and for this purpose joined a company of native
gentlemen bound out on this \\M amusement. All
were well mounted, armed with rifles and pistols, and
provided with lassoes. A ride of fifteen miles among
the mountain crags, which frown in stern wildness
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 215
over the tranquil beauty of Monterey, brought us to a
deserted shanty, in the midst of a gloomy forest of
cypress and oak. In a break of this swinging gloom
lay a natural pasture, isled in the centre by a copse
of willows and birch, and on which the sunlight fell.
This, it was decided, should be the arena of the sport :
a wild bullock w'as now shot, and the quarters, after
being trailed around the copse, to scent the bear,
were deposited in its shade. The party now retired
to the shanty, where our henchman tumbled from his
panniers several rolls of bread, a boiled ham, and a
few bottles of London porter. These discussed, and
our horses tethered, each wrapped himself in his
blanket, and with his saddle for his pillow, rolled down
for repose.
At about twelve o'clock of the night our watch
came into camp and informed us that a bear had just
entered the copse. In an instant each sprung to his
feet and into the saddle. It was a still, cloudless
night, and the moonlight lay in sheets on rivulet,
rock, and plain. We proceeded with a cautious,
noiseless step, through the moist grass of the pasture
to the copse in its centre, where each one took his
station, forming a cordon around the little grove.
The horse was the first to discover, through the glim-
mering shade, the stealthful inovements of his antago-
nist. His ears were thrown forward, his nostrils
distended, his breathing became heavy and oppressed,
and his large eye was fixed immovably on the dim
form of the savage animal. Each rider now uncoiled
210 THREE YEARS I\ CALIFORNIA.
his lasso from its loggerhead, and held it ready to
sj)ri!inr fVom his hand, like a hooped serpent from the
hrake. The bear soon discovered the trap that had
been laid for him ; plunged from the thicket, broke
through the cordon, and was leaping, with giant
bounds, over the cleared plot for the dark covert of
the forest beyond. A shout arose — a hot pursuit fol-
lowed, and lasso after lasso fell in curving lines
around the bear, till at last one looped him around
the neck and brought him to a momentary stand.
As soon as bruin felt the lasso, he growled his de-
fiant thunder, and sprung in rage at the horse. Here
came in the sagacity of that noble animal. He knew,
as well as his rider, that the safety of both depended
on his keeping the lasso taugl>t, and without the ad-
monitions of rein or spur, bounded this way and that,
to the front or rear, to accomplish his object, never
once taking his eye from the ferocious foe, and ever
in an attitude to foil his assaults. The bear, in des-
peration, seized the lasso in his griping paws, and
hand over hand drew it into his teeth : a moment
more and he would have been within leaping distance
of his victim ; but the horse sprung at the instant,
and, with a sudden whirl, tripped the bear and extri-
cated the lasso. At this crowning feat the horse
fairly danced with delight. A shout went up which
seemed to shake the wild-wood with its echoes. The
bear plunged again, when the lasso slipped from its
loggerhead, and bruin was instantly leaping over the
field to reach his junde. The horse, without sour c
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 217
rein, dashed after him. While his rider, throwing
himself over his side, and hanging there like a lamp-
ereel to a flying stm'geon, recovered his lasso, bruin
was brought up again all standing, more frantic and
furious than before ; while the horse pranced and
curveted around him like a savage in his death-dance
over his doomed captive. In all this no overpower-
ing torture was inflicted on old bruin, unless it were
through his own rage, — which sometimes towers so
high he drops dead at your feet. He was now lassoed
to a sturdy oak, and wound so closely to its body by
riata over riata, as to leave him no scope for break-
ing or grinding off his clankless chain ; though his
struffsles wei'e often terrific as those of Laocoon, in
the resistless folds of the serpent.
This accomplished, the company retired again to
the shanty, but in spirits too high and noisy for sleep.
Day glimmered, and four of the baccaros started off
for a wild bull, which they lassoed out of a roving
herd, and in a few hours brought into camp, as full of
fury as the bear. Bruin was now cautiously un-
wound, and stood front to front with his horned antag-
onist. We retreated on our horses to the rim of a
large circle, leaving the arena to the two monarchs of
the forest and field. Conjectures went wildly round
on the issue, and the excitement became momently
more intense. They stood motionless, as if lost in
wonder and indignant astonishment at this strange
encounter. Neither turned from the other his blaz-
ing^ eyes ; while menace and defiance began to lower
19
218 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORMA.
in the looks of each. Gathering their full strength,
the terrific rush was made : the bull missed, when the
bear, with one enormous bound, dashed his teeth into
his back to break the spine ; the bull fell, but whirled
his huge horn deep into the side of his antagonist.
There they lay, grappled and gored, in their convul-
sive struggles and death-throes. We spurred up, and
with our rifles and pistols closed the tragedy ; and it
was time : this last scene was too full of blind rage
and madness even for the wild sports of a California
bear-hunt.
Tuesday, Nov. 2. Byron says, a hog in a high
wind is a poetical object. Had he lived here, he
might have put a mischievous boy on the top of that
grotesque animal, and it would have helped out the
poetical image immensely. The boys here begin
their equestrianism on the back of a hog or bullock,
and end it on the saddle, to which they seem to grow,
like a muscle to a rock.
Wednesday, Nov. 3. A Russian, who carries on
a farm at Santa Cruz, called at my office a few days
since, and presented me with a cabbage-head. I was
sure from this garden gift, the old Cossack had some-
thing in tow yet out of sight ; but it soon came in the
shape of a request that 1 would summon a debtor of
his, and order payment.
The creditor of the Russian proved to be a young
Frenchman, who had run away Avith the old man's
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 219
daughter, married her, and then quartered himself
and wife on her father. I told the Frenchman he
must pay board, or run away again with his wife ;
but if he came back he must satisfy arrears : so he
concluded to run. This running before the honey-
moon is pleasant enough ; but running after that
sweet orb has waned, is rather a dismal business.
Col. Burton, with his command, is in Lower Cali-
fornia, where he has maintained the flag against des-
perate odds. His officers and men have acquitted
themselves with honor. The powder and ball of the
enemy were stnuggled in by an American — a wretch
who ought to be shot himself.
Monday, Nov. 8. After being six months without
rain, the first shower of the season fell this evening.
Its approach had been announced for several days by
a dim atmosphere, which was filled with a soft, thick
vapor, that swung about, like a limitless cloud.
The rain itself was warm, and sunk into the earth,
like flattery into the heart of a fool.
220
CHAPTER XVI.
A CALIFOUNIAN JEALOUS OF HIS WIFE. HOSPITALITY OF THE NATIVES.
HONOKS TO GUADALUPE. — APPLICATION FROM A LOTHARIO FOR A DI-
VORCE. CAPTURE OF MAZATLAN. LARCENV OF CANTON SHAWLS.
AN emigrant's WIFE CLAIMING TO HAVE TAKEN THE COUNTRY. A
WILD BULLOCK IN MAIN-STREET.
Saturday, Nov. 20. I was tumbled out of my
dreams last night by a succession of rapid and heavy
knocks at my office door. Unbarring it, I found
Giuseppe, a townsman, who stated, under an excite-
ment that almost choked his voice, that he had just
returned from the Salinas ; that on entering his
house he had discovered, through the window in the
door leading to his bedroom, by the clear light of the
moon, which shone into the apartment, a man re-
posing on his pillow by the side of his faithless spouse,
and desired me to come and arrest him. I had
understood that the sposa had not the reputation of
the " icicle that hung on Dian's temple," and had no
great confidence in Giuseppe's domestic virtues
either ; but that was no valid reason why he should
be so unceremoniously ousted of his domestic claims.
I therefore ordered the constable, whom this mid-
night noise had now awoke, to go with him and bring
the culprit before me.
Oir they started, well armed with batons and re-
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 221
volvers. On reaching the premises the house was
carefully reconnoitred, and every egress from the build-
ing securely bolted. They were now inside, and had
conducted their operations so silently they were un-
suspected. The door leading to the bedroom was at
the other end of the hall ; they crept over the floor
with steps so low and soft, each heard his heart beat,
and the clock seemed to strike instead of ticking its
seconds. Giuseppe's thoughts ran —
" I'll see before I doubt ; when I doubt, prove ;
And, on the proof, there is no more but this."
Through the panes of glass which relieved the
panels of the door, they saw in the faint moonlight,
which fell through the opposite window, the dark locks
of the guilty intruder flowing over the husband's pil-
low. " I have a mind," whispered Giuseppe, " to rush
in and plunge my knife at once to his cursed heart."
" No, no ;" returned my faithful constable, " we are
here to execute the orders of the alcalde, and if you
. are going to take the law into your own hands I will
leave you. Hush ! hark ! he stirs ! No ; it was the
shadow of the tree that frecks the moonlight." All
was still and waveless again. The door was on the
jar, and drawing one good long relieving breath, in
they rushed, and seized what ? A muff"! The
husband could not believe his own eyes, and mussed
the muff" up, jerking it this way and that, as if to
ascertain if there was not a man inside of it. " You
return late, Giuseppe," murmured his wife, scarce yet
19*
2-3'2 TIIKEC YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
awake. "Oh, yes, yes, my dear, late, late," stammered
the husband. " You have a friend with you," con-
tinued the unsuspecting s])osa. " Yes, my darling ; a
friend from the Salinas, whom I have invited to take
a night's lodging," replied Giuseppe. " Well, you
will find a bed for him in the opposite room, and a
candle and matches on the table," rejoined the sposa.
So the twain went out, and having disturbed the bed
assigned the friend sufficiently to give it the appear-
ance of having been slept in, my constable slipped
out and came home, denouncing all jealous husbands
and ladies' muffs. This fluster cost me two hours'
sleep, and Giuseppe a fee of three dollars to the con-
stable. He would have paid forty times that sum to
get free of the joke. Nothing so completely con-
founds a Californian as to find himself the dupe of his
suspicions. It is more vexatious than the wrong
which his mistaken ansrer soujrht to avenge. Mu-
tual confidence is the basis of all domestic endear-
ment, and the cause which is allowed to disturb it,
should be as weighty as the happiness it wrecks. So
reads my homily.
Tuesday, Dec. 7. There are no people that I have
ever been among who enjoy life so thoroughly as the
Californians. Their habits are simple ; their wants
few ; nature rolls almost every thing spontaneously
into their lap. Their cattle, horses, and sheep roam
at large— ^not a blade of grass is cut, and none is rCv
quired. The harvest weaves wherever the plough and
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 223
harrow have been ; and the grain which the wind
scatters this year, serves as seed for the next. The
slight labor required is more a diversion than a toil ;
and even this is shared by the Indian. They attach
no value to money, except as it administers to their
pleasures. A fortune, without the facilities of enjoy-
ing it, is with them no object of emulation or envy.
Their happiness flows from a fount that has very httle
connection with their outward circumstances.
There is hardly a shanty among them which does
not contain more true contentment, more genuine glad-
ness of the heart, than you will meet with in the most
princely palace. ' Their hospitality knows no bounds ;
they are always glad to see you, come when you
may ; take a pleasure in entertaining you while you
remain ; and only regret that your business calls you
away. If you are sick, there is nothing which sym-
pathy and care can devise or perform which is not
done for you. No sister ever hung over the throb-
bing brain or fluttering pulse of a brother with more
tenderness and fidelity. This is as true of the lady
whose hand has only figured her embroidery or swept
her guitar, as of the cottage-girl wringing from her
laundry the foam of the mountain stream ; and all
this from the heart ! If I must be cast in sickness or
destitution on the care of the stranger, let it be in
California ; but let it be before American avarice has
hardened the heart and made a god of gold.
Monday, Dec. 13. A Californian, who had been
221 TIIREi; VUAIlri IN CALIFORNIA.
absent some two years in Mexico, where he had led
a gav irregular life, finding or fancying on his return
grounds for suspecting the regularityof his wife, applied
to me for a decree of divorce, a vinculo matrvnonii. I
told him that it was necessary, that on so grave a sub-
ject, he should come into court with clean hands ;
that if he would swear on the Cross, at the peril of
his soul, that he had been faithful himself during his
long absence, I would then see what could be done
with his wife. V He wanted to know if that was Uni-
ted States law ; I told him it was the law by which I
was governed — thejaw o f the Bible — and a good law,
too — let him that is without sin cast the first stone. K
" Then I cannot cast any stone at all, sir," was the
candid reply. " Then go and live with your wife ;
she is as good as you are, and you cannot require her
to be any better." He took my advice, is now living
with his wife, and difficulties seem to have ceased.
Nothing disarms a man like the conscious guilt of the
offence for which he would arraign another.
Tuesday, Dec. 21. The old church bell has been
ringing out all the morning in honor of Guadalupe,
the patron saint of California. Her festivities com-
menced last evening in illuminated windows, bon-
fires, the flight of rockets, and the loud mirth of
children. I wonder if Guadalupe knows or cares
much about these exhibitions of devotional glee. Can
the shout of boyhood around the crackling bonfire
reach to her celestial pavillion ? can the flambeau
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 225
throw its tremulous ray so far ? will she bend her
ear from the golden lyres of heaven to catch the
sound of a torpedo vibrating up over the cloud-
cataracts which thunder between ? If Guadalupe be
in heaven, where I hope she is, she has done with
the crackers and bonfires of earth, and heeds them as
little as the glow-worm that glimmers on her grave.
But let the old bell peaj on ; it matters but little
whether it be for this saint or that ; it is only a
metallic hosanna to either. There is more true
homage in one silent prayer, breathed from the
depths of a meek confiding heart, than in all the peals
ever rung from cathedral towers. The only worship
which approaches that of a resigned heart is the hymn
of the forest, as its leaves in the fading twilight
softly tremble to rest. He who can listen unmoved
to these vesper melodies, can have no sensibility in
his soul, and no God in his creed. When this fevered
being shall sink to rest, let me be laid beneath some
green tree, whose vernal leaves shall whisper their
music over my sleep. And yet it would be lonely
were there none beloved in life to linger there in
death.
When the bright sun upon that spot is shining
With purest ray,
And the small shrubs their buds and blossoms twining,
Burst through that clay,
Will there be one still on that spot refining
Lost hopes away ?
Wednesday, Dec. 22. We are now carrying the
\S
226 THREE YEARS I\ CALIFORNIA.
\var into the enemy's camp ; the Pacific squadron,
under the broad pennant of Com. Shubrick, is in
front of Mazatlan. That important position was cap-
tured on the twelfth ult., and is now garrisoned by
three hundred and fifty seamen and marines. Capt.
Lavelette, well qualified by his intelligence, urbanity,
and moral firmness for the post, is governor of the
town. The country around, and all the great ave-
nues leading through it, are in the hands of the
enemy, who can, at any moment, bring two thousand
horsemen into the field. They only want a leader of
sufficient resolution, and they might force our garrison
upon the last resource of their courage and strength.
But Gen. Telles is weak and vacillating, and has
not the confidence even of the troops which he com-
mands ; while many of the citizens, who have pro-
perty at issue, prefer the protection extended to them
under the flag, to the anarchy and confusion into
which they might be thrown by the success of their
own arms. It was a bold and decisive movement on
the part of our commodore, and executed with a
vigor that has impressed itself on the apprehensions
of Mexico. Our flag now waves from ocean to ocean,
through the plains and mountain fastnesses of that
^ dismayed country.
NX."
Friday, Jan. 7. The captain of a merchant ship
complained to me this mornino:, that one of his crew
had taken a package of rich Canton shawls on shore,
and clandestinely disposed of them. I had the sailor
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 227
before me, and wormed out of him the name of every
person, as he alleged, with whom he had communi-
cated ; but he omitted the name of one suspicious
character. I took the constable, and went imme-
diately to her house, and demanded the shawls : she
seemed shocked, and denied all knowledge of them.
Her manner half staggered me ; but I told the con-
stable to take her to prison, not intending, however,
to put her in without some evidence of her guilt ;
but she had not gone many steps from her door be-
fore her resolution, which had been as firm as ada-
mant, broke down, and she told where the shawls
might be found. They were secreted in the mattress
of her bed ; and the whole fifteen were recovered.
Had the sailor mentioned her name among the rest,
I should have been extremely puzzled. A seeming
frankness is often the deepest disguise.
Saturday, Jan. 8. An assistant alcalde, residing
at San Juan, in reporting a case that came before
him, states that one of the witnesses, not having a
good reputation for veracity, he thought it best to
swear him pretty strongly ; so he swore him on the
Bible, on the cross, by the holy angels, by the blessed
Virgin, and on the twelve Evangelists. I have
written him for some information about eight of his
evangelists, as I have no recollection of having met
with but four in my biblical readings.
Monday, Jan. 10. A woman, from our western
228 THREE YEARS 1\ CALIFORNIA.
border, ^vho had drifted into California over the
mountains, and looking as if she had well survived
the hardships of the way, walked into my office this
morning, and rather denian^ed, than invoked, a de-
cree, that her hus band might cut jimb er on the lands
of Senor M . I asked her if her husband had rented
the land. "No." If he had any contract or agreement
with the owner. " No." " Why then, my woman, do
you claim the right of cutting the timber ?" " Right,
sir!" she exclaimed ; " why , have jve nojJLaJven the
country ?" I told her it was true, we had taken the
country ; but we had not taken the private land titles
with it : she seemed to think that was a distinction
without a difference. This anecdote will furnish a
clue to the spirit with which the patient Californians
have had to contend.
Tuesday, Jan. 18. Main-street was thrown into
confusion this morning by a wild bullock, who had
broken the lasso of his keeper. He plunged down the
peopled avenue in foaming fury, clothed with all the
terrors of the Apocalyptic beast : men, women, and
children fled in every direction. I was standing at
the moment in the portico of our Navy Agent, and
before I could clear it, he swept through a corner,
dashing to the earth a huge stanchion. His next ren-
counter was with the high paling which protected a
shade-tree, and which he carried off" as Samson the
gates of Gaza. Something attracted his flashing
eyes to the door of a small dwelling ; in an instant it
THREE YEAES IN CALIFORNIA. 229
flew into fragments before his impetuous strength ;
fortunately it contained no tenant except* the wild
monster himself, who soon issued from the door, and
seemed for a moment lost in his phrensy. A caballero,
mounted on a spirited horse, and with his lasso whirl-
ing high in air, now rushed up ; I erspected for a
moment to see a desperate plunge from the beast at
the courser's side, but the rider and his steed under-
stood their occupation too well ; the lasso fell over
his horn, and in an instant he was tumbling in the
sand. He recovered himself, but it was only to be
thrown again, till a second lasso secured his flying
heels, and the knife of the Indian finished the rest.
A wave of lava let loose from its crater, an avalanch
that has slipped from its Alpine steep, and a wild bull
that has broken his lasso, are among the most terrific
objects that dash on human vision.
20
v^^
230
CHAPTER XVII.
E.UXS IN CALIFORNIA. — FUXCTIONS OF THE ALCALDE OF MONTEEET. OR-
PHANS IN CALIFORNIA. SLIP OF THE GALLOWS ROPE. — M.\KING A FATHER
WHIP HIS BOY. — A CONVICT AS PRISON COOK. THE KANACKA. THOM.
COLE. — A MAN ROBBING HIMSELF. — A BLACKSMITH OUTWITTED.
Mo\D.\Y, Feb. 7. The rains in California are mostly
confined to the three winter months — a few showers
may come before, or a few occur after, but the body
of the rain falls within that period. The rain is re-
lieved of nearly all the chilling discomforts of a
winter's storm in other climes ; it falls only when the
wind is from a southern quarter, and is consequently
warm and refreshing. It is by no means continu-
ous ; it pays its visits like a judicious lover — with
intervals sufficient to keep up the affection ; and like
the suitor, brings with it flowers, and leads the fair
one by the side of streamlets never wrinkled with
frost, and into groves where the leaf never withers,
and where the songs of birds ever fill the warbling air.
Thursd.w, Feb. 10. By the laws and usages of the
country, the judicial functions of the Alcalde of Mon-
terey extend to all cases, civil and criminal, arising
within the middle department of California. He is
also the guardian of the public peace, and is charged
with the maintenance of law and order, whenever
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 231
\ and wherever threatened, or violated ; he must arrest,
fin^ imprison, or sentence to the public works, the law-
l less and refractory, and he must enforce, through his
executive powers, the decisions and sentences which
he has pronounced in his judicial capacity. His pre-
\ rogatives and official duties extend over all the multi-
plied interests and concerns of his department, and
. reach to every grievance and crime, from the jar that
j trembles around the domestic hearth, to the guilt
which throws its gloom on the gallows and the grave.
Thursday, Feb. 17. There is no need of an Or- -
phan Asylum in California. The amiable and benev- /^
olent spirit of the people hovers like a shield over
the helpless. The question is not, who shall be bur-
dened with the care of an orphan, but who shall
have the privilege of rearing it. Nor do numbers or
circumstances seem to shake this spirit ; it is trium-
phant over both. A plain, industrious man, of rather
limited means, applied to me to-day for the care of
six orphan children. I asked him how many he had
of his own ; he said fourteen as yet. " Well, my friend,"
I observed, " are not fourteen enough for one table,
and especially with the prospect of more ?" " Ah," said
the Californian, " the hen that has twenty chickens
scratches no harder than the hen that has one." So
I told him I would inquire into the present condition
of the children, and then decide on his application.
His claim lay in the fact that his wife was the god-
mother of the orphans.
232 THREE YEARS I\ CALIFORNIA.
Wednesday, Feb. 23. One of my Indian prisoners,
sentenced to the works for theft, managed this morn-
in<T to effect his escape, but was overtaken by the
constable on the Salinas, and brought back. When
asked by me what he ran for, he said the devil put it
into his head. I asked him if he thought a ball and
chain would keep the evil one off; he said it might,
but then if he once got at him, he should stand no
chance with one of his legs chained. I told him I
should let his leg go for the present, but if he at-
tempted to run again, I should chain both of them. ■*
" And my hands too," said the Indian, to assure me
of his good conduct.
Friday, March 3. There is an old Mexican law,
or usage, here, which has sometimes exempted from
death the murderer who has reached the sanctuary
of the church, or been favored with some accident, in
the execution of the extreme sentence. Two des-
peradoes, of Mexican and Indian blood, were brought
before me, charged with a wilful, deliberate murder.
A jury of twelve citizens, the largest scope of chal-
lenge having been allowed, was empanneled. The
prisoners were convicted and sentenced to be hung.
But by some strange accident, or design, both knots
slipped, and down they came, half imagining them-
selves still swinging in the air. The priest who
confessed them, and who was present among the
great crowd, immediately declared the penalty paid
and the criminals absolved, and started post-haste to
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 233
Gen. Mason for his mandate to that effect. The
general told him the prisoners were sentenced to be
hung by the neck till dead, and when this sentence
had been executed, the knot-slipping business might
perhaps be considered. This may seem to have
been dictated by a want of humanity, but had the
accident or stratagem in question rescued the crimi-
nals, not a noose in California would have held.
The murderers were executed, and the crime for
which they suffered vanished from the future records
of the court.
Wednesday, March 15. A lad of fourteen years
was brought before me to-day charged with stealing
a horse. The evidence of the larceny was conclu-
sive ; but what punishment to inflict was the ques-
tion. We have no house of correction, and to sen-
tence him to the ball and chain on the public works,
among hardened culprits, was to cut off all hope of
amendment, and inflict an indelible stigma on the
youth ; so I sent for his father, who had no good repu-
tation himself, and placing a riata in his hand, direct-
ed him to inflict twenty-four lashes on his thieving
boy. He proceeded as far as twelve, when I stopped
him ; they were enough.- They seemed inflicted by
one attempting to atone in this form for his own
transgressions. " Inflict the rest, Soto, on your own
evil example ; if you had been upright yourself, you
might expect truth and honesty in your boy ; you
are more responsible than this lad for his crimes ;
20*
234 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
you can never chastise him into the right path, and
continue yourself to travel in the wrong." With
these remarks I dismissed the parties.
Saturday, March 18. Horse-stealing has given
me more trouble than any other species of offence in
California. It has grown out of a loose habit of
using the horses of other people without their con-
sent, at a time when they were of very little account ;
and what was once a venial trespass has become a
crime. It is very difficult to arrest it ; much must
be left to time, the higher influences of moral
sentiments, and the administration of more specific
laws. Nor are the Americans here a whit better
than the natives ; they have a facility of conscience
which easily suits itself to any prevailing vice.
Many of them appear to have left their good prin-
ciples on the other side of Cape Horn, or over the
Rocky Mountains. They slide into gambling, drink-
ing, and cheating, as easily as a frog into its native
pond. They seem only the worse for the restraints,
which law at home partially exerted. They are like
a froward urchin who retaliates the wholesome visits
of the birch by some act of fresh audacity the mo-
ment he is beyond its reach. But they will find a
little law even in California, and this little enforced
with some steadiness of purpose. It is not the law
which threatens loudest that always exerts the great-
est restraint. Thunder, with all its uproar, don't
strike ; it is the lightning that cleaves the gnarled oak.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 235
Thursday, March 23. A clergyman, who had
just arrived in Cahfornia, called on me to-day, with
letters of introduction from several of the first rectors
in New York. They spoke of him in high terms of
commendation, and invited that confidence and re-
gard which might secure him success in his foreign
adventure ; while they knew him to be a loquacious
shallow booby. They had probably been so much
annoyed by him in one shape and another, that they
had taken this method of getting rid of him, thinking
that the afflictions of Providence, like his blessings,
should be more equally distributed.
Saturday, March 25. To-day I remitted the sen-
tence of my prison cook. He is a Mulatto, a native
of San Domingo ; had drifted into California ; was
attached, in a subordinate capacity, to Col. Fre-
mont's battalion ; and while the troops were quar-
tered in town, had robbed the drawer of a liquor
shop of two hundred dollars. For this offence, I had
sentenced him to two years on the public works.
Discovering early some reliable traits about the fel-
low, I began to confide in him, soon made him cook
to the rest of the prisoners, and allowed him the pri-
vileges of the town, so far as his duties in that capa-
city required. He has never betrayed my trust, and
has always been the first to communicate to me any
stratagem on the part of the prisoners to effect their
escape. I have trusted him with money to purchase
provisions, and he has faithfully accounted for every
230 THREE YEARS I\ CALIFORMA,
shillintj. He has always been kind and attentive to
the sick. For these faithful services, I have remitted
the remainder of his sentence, which would have con-
fined him nine months longer, and have put him on
a pay of thirty dollars per month as cook. There is
a string in every man's breast, which, if you can
rightly touch, will '' discourse music."'
Thursday, April 6. I met a little California boy
to-day in tattered garments, and without hat or shoes.
He had a small fish in his hand, which he had just
hooked up from the end of the wharf. I offered him
half a dollar for it ; he said no, he wanted it him-
self I offered him a dollar ; he still said no, he was
going to make a dinner on it. The result would pro-
bably have been the same had I offered him five
dollars. No one here is going to catch fish for you
or any one else while he wants them himself
Saturday, April 15. I made another pounce this
evening on the gamblers, and captured their bank ;
but most of the players had slipped their money into
their pockets before I could reach the table. No one
rescued a dollar after my cane, with its alcalde in-
signia, had been laid on the boards. The authority
of that baton they always respect. How comfortable
it is for one to carry his moral powder on the top of
his cane. It almost justifies the Roman Catholic
exegesis — and Jacob worshipped the top of his staff.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 237
Monday, April 17. I had sent one of my con-
stables to the SaHnas river, and the other to San
Juan, and retired to rest ; but about midnight was
startled from my dreams, by a loud rap at my office
door. Throwing my cloak around me, I unbolted
the portal, and there stood, in the clear moonlight, a
tall Kanacka, who reverently lifted his hat, and ob-
served, " The town, sir, is perfectly quiet." I thanked
him for the information, and closed the door. The
fellow had been drinking, and in the importance
which liquor sometimes imparts, had imagined him-
self at the head of the police.
Thursday, April 27. Thorn. Cole, whose moral
vision could never yet discover any difference between
possession and ownership, where a horse was concerned,
was brought before me this morning, mounted on a fleet
steed belonging to a citizen of the town. He had re-
moved the brand of the rightful owner and substituted
his own ; but the disguise was easily penetrated, and
the horse identified. Thom. averred the horse was
found on his rancho; but he was ordered to deliver him
to his proper owner, who stood by to receive him. At
this moment Thom. sprung into his saddle and was off,
horse and all, in the twinkling of an eye. I applied
to Gen. Mason for a file of soldiers ; they were
promptly ordered, and stationed on the three streets,
through one of which Thom. must make his egress
from town. He soon came sweeping on at the top
of his speed, when he suddenly found three muskets
238 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
levelled at him, with an order to dismount. There
was no discharge in that war, and down he jumped, and
was soon delivered over to me. How changed ! a
moment before setting the whole world at defiance ;
and now praying to be saved from the fleas of the
prison. As the flea could only punish him without
benefiting the town, I determined to reach him
through another channel, by which both purposes
should be answered ; and fined him fifty dollars for
contempt of court. So Thom. lost his horse and fifty
dollars, and got a lesson of humiliation which quelled
his spirit like a wet blanket thrown on a flaxen flame.
Tuesday, May 2. I was roused from my sleep
last night by a loud, hurried knocking at my door,
and a voice exclaiming, " Alcalde, alcalde !" On
reaching the door I found there a young Mexican,
the clerk of a store near by, without hat or shoes, and
only a blanket wrapped around him. He told me the
volunteers had broken into his store, and were rob-
bing the money-chest. By this time my constable
was up, and, throwing on our clothes, we hastened
with the clerk to his store ; but not a human being
was to be seen. He showed us the bolt that had been
forced, the chest that had been broken, the pistol that
he had snapped, and the wound that he had received
on the head. I sent the constable to the captain of
the volunteers, who immediately searched his quar-
ters, where he found every man in his berth, except
those on guard. With these unsatisfactory results I
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 239
returned to my office and bed, and directed the con-
stable to keep an eye on the clerk.
Wednesday, May 3. This morning I examined
into all the circumstances connected with the rob-
bery. The wound of the clerk, which he says he re-
ceived from a cudgel, is a slight cut, apparently made
by some sharp instrument. The chisel, with which
the chest was forced, corresponds in width to one for
sale on the shelf Of the thousand dollars locked up
in the chest and drawers, not one, it seems, escaped ;
not a quarter or fip fell to the floor ; all went into the
sack of the robbers, though they worked in the dark.
And then, as he alleges, the robbers were volunteers
without their uniform, and with their faces blacked.
If so thoroughly disguised, how could he know they
were volunteers ? From these circumstances I have
no doubt the rogue robbed himself, and raised the
hue and cry to cover the transaction. But we shall
see; the thing will out yet.
Sunday, May 9. This is my birth-day. I am on
the shaded side of that hill which swells midway be-
tween the extremities of life. The past seems but a
dream, and the future will soon be so. To what has
been and to what may be, I seem to myself almost
indifferent. I know the vanities in which human
hopes end ; I know that life itself is only a bubble
that has caught the hues of some falling star. And
yet this airy phantom is not all such as it would
240 THREE VEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
seem ; there is something besides shadow in its eva-
nescent form. Our visions of happiness may prove
an illusion, but our sorrows are real. It is no fancied
knell that shakes the bier; no imaginary pall that
wraps the loved and the lost. The grave is invested
with the awful majesty of the real.
Monday, May 10. I had directed the constable to
get a pair of iron hinges made for one of the doors of
the prison. He gave the order to a blacksmith, a
crabbed old fellow, who charged eight dollars for his
coarse work. As the charge was an imposition, I
told the constable not to take the hinges ; when up
came the blacksmith with them to the office, and, in
a fit of passion, hurled them at my feet, as I stood in
the piazza. I handed the constable eight dollars, and
told him to call on the blacksmith, pay him for the
hinges, take his receipt, and then bring him before
me. All which was done, and before me stood. the
smith, with his choler yet up. I told him' that his
violence and indignity would not be passed over ;
that I should fine him ten dollars for the benefit of
the town, which he might pay or go to prison. After
a few moments' hesitation, he laid the ten dollars on
the table, and took his departure without uttering a
word. When clear of the office he grumbled out to
the constable, " For once in my life I have been out-
witted ; that Yankee alcalde has not onlv got mv
hinges for nothing, but two dollars besides. I don't
wonder he can swing his prison doors at that rate ; I
THREE YEAKS IN OAT.IFORNIA. 241
would have tried the calaboose but for the infernal
fleas." The constable told him the next time he
made hinges he must charge what they were worth,
and curb his towering temper.
Wednesday, May 17. The ire of a Californian of
hidalgo extraction flashes from his dark eyes like
heat-lightning on a July cloud — you see the blaze,
but hear no thunder ; while the wit of a California
lady glances here and there like the sun-rays through
the fluttering leaves of a wind-stirred forest. We
have several ladies here celebrated for their brilliant
sallies, but Donna Jimeno carries off" the palm. A
friend showed her this morning a picture of the Is-
raelites gathering manna. " Ah ! they are the Cali-
fornians," said the Donna, " they pick up what heaven-
rains down." He showed her Moses smiting the
rock. " And there," said the Donna, " is a Yankee ;
he can bring water out of a rock." But humor and
wit are not the highest characteristics of this lady.
She possesses a refinement and intelligence that
might grace any court in Europe ; and withal, a be-
nevolence that never wearies in reaching and reliev-
ing the sick. Her care of Lieut. Miner, one of the
officers attached to this post, will long live in grateful
remembrance. She hovered over him till his spirit
fled, and wept as she thought of his mother.
21
24 '>
CHAPTER XVIII.
FIRST DISCOVERY OF GOLD. PRISON GUARD. INCREDULITY ABOUT THE
GOLD. SANTIAGO GETTING MARRIED. ANOTHER LUMP OF GOLD.
EFFECTS OF THE GOLD FEVER. — THE COURT OF AN ALCALDE. MOS-
QUITOES AS CONSTABLES. — BOB AND HIS BAG OF GOLD. — RETURN OF
CITIZENS FROM THE MINES. A MAN WITH THE GOLD CHOLIC. THE
MINES ON INDIVIDUAL CREDIT.
Monday, May 29. ^Our town was startled out of
its quiet dreams to-day, by the announcement that
gold had been discovered on the American Fork.
The men wondered and talked, and the women too ;
but ndther believed. The sibyls were less skeptical ;
they said the moon had, for several nights, appeared
not more than a cable's length from the earth ; that
a white raven had been seen playing with an infant ;
and that an owl had rung the church bells.
Saturday, June 3. The most faithful and reliable
guard that I have ever had over the prisoners, is him-
self a prisoner. He had been a lieutenant in the
Mexican army, and was sentenced, for a flagrant
breach of the peace, to the public works for the term
of one year. Being hard up for funds, I determined
to make an experiment with this lieutenant; had him
brought before me ; ordered the ball and chain to be
taken from his leg, and placed a double-barrelled gun,
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 243
loaded and primed, in his hands. " Take that musket,
and proceed with the prisoners to the stone quarry ;
return them to their cells before sunset, and report to
me." " Your order, Sehor Alcalde, shall be faith-
fully obeyed," was the reply. I then ordered one of
the constables, well mounted and armed, to recon-
noitre the quarry, and, unseen by the prisoners or
guard, ascertain how things went on. He returned,
and reported well of their regularity. At sunset, the
lieutenant entered the office, and reported the pris-
oners in their cells, and all safe. " Very well, Jose ;
now make yourself safe, and that will do." He
accordingly returned to his prison, and from that day
to this, has been my most faithful and reliable guard.
^ Monday, June"5. Another report reached us this
morning from the American Fork". The rumor ran,
that several workmen, while excavating for a mill-
race, had thrown up little shining scales of a yellow
ore, that provedjto be gold ; that an old Sonoranian,
A\lio had spent his life in gold mines, pronounced it
the genuine thing. Still the public incredyJily re-^
mained, save here and there a glimmer of faith, like
the flash of a fire-fly at night. One good old lady,
however, declared that she had been dreaming of
gold every night for several weeks, and that it had
so frustrated her simple household economy, that she
had relieved her conscience, by confessing to her
priest —
" Absolve me, father, of that sinful di'eam^"
i>-It TFIREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
Tuesday, June 6. Being troubled with the golden
dream almost as much as the good lady, I determined
to put an end to the suspense, and dispatched a mes-
senger this morning to the American Fork. He will
have to ride, going and returning, some four hundred
miles, but his report will be reliable. We shall then
know whether this gold is a fact or a fiction — a tan-
gible reality on the earth, or a fanciful treasure at the
base of some rainbow, retreating over hill and water-
fall, to lure pursuit and disappoint hope.
Saturday, June 10. My boy Santiago has taken
it into his head to get married ; and being a Protes-
tant, finds it extremely difficult to get through the
ecclesiastical hopper. Were the person whom he
wishes to wed of the same faith with himself, there
would be but little impediment ; but as she is a Ro-
man Catholic, it is necessary that he should become
one too. He has been to the presiding priest to see
if he could not get his permission to retain a few ar-
ticles of his own religion, just enough to save his con-
science. But his reverence told him he must give it up
in toto, renounce it as a heresy, and come without a
scruple into the mother church. lago is not much of
a theologian, but has sense enough to know that con-
scientious scruples are not things of which a man can
free himself at will. His love, none the less deep and
sincere for his humble condition, urges him to a com-
pliance with the canonical requirement, but these
very scruples hold him back. How he will extricate
/
r-
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 2 15
himself I know not. He will probably compound the
matter with his conscience by some mental reserva-
tions, as Galileo did when awed into the indignant
confession that the earth was flat. Verily, if a man
cannot marry in this world without becoming a hyjxv
crite or apostate from the faith of his lathers, the
sooner Miller's conflagrating dream becomes a i-eality
the better. Perhaps some shape of flame might
emerge from its drifting embers, that would dare
glimmer towards heaven without the leave of a prag-
matic priest. I wonder if Adam asked Eve if she
were a Roman Catholic before they celebrated their
nuptials. This is an important question, and ought
to be looked into, though now rather late in the day.
I commend it to my venerable friend, the Bishop of
New York, who has recently issued an edict that no
Protestant shall marry a Roman Catholic without
first passing his children. prosj)ectively, through his
baptismal font.
]MoNDAV, JrxE 1*2. A straggler came in to-dnv
froni the American Fork, bringing a piece o( yellow
ore weighing an ounce. The young dashed the dirt
from their eyes, and the old from their spectacles.
One brought a spyglass, another an iron ladle ; some
wanted to melt it. others to hammer it, and a few
were satisfied with smelling it. All were full of
tests; and many, who could not be gratitii>il in ma-
king their ex[>eriments. declared it a humbug. One
lady sent me a huge gold ring, in the hope of reach-
'21*
210 THREE YEARS I\ CALIFORNIA.
iiifT the truth by comparison ; while a gentleman
placed the specimen on the top of his gold-headed
cane and held it up, challenging the sharpest eyes to
detect a difference. But doubts still hovered on the
minds of the great mass. They could not conceive
tliat such a treasure could have lain there so long
undiscovered. The idea seemed to convict them of
stupidity. There is~nothing of which a man is more
tenacious than his claims to sagacity. He sticks to
them like an old bachelor to the idea of his personal
attractions, or a toper to the strength of his temper-
ance ability, whenever he shall wish to call it into
play.
Thursday, June 15. Found an Indian to-day per-
fectly sober, who is generally drunk, and questioned
him of the cause of his sobriety. He stated that he
wished to marry an Indian girl, and she would not
have him unless he would keep sober a month ; that
this was but his third day, and he should never be
able to stand it unless I would put him beyond the
reach of liquor. So I sentenced him to the public
works for a month ; this will pay off old scores, and
help him to a wife, who may perhaps keep him sober,
though I fear there is little hope of that.
Tuesday, June 20. My messenger sent to the
mines, has returned with specimens of the gold ; he
dismounted in a sea of upturned faces. As he drew
forth the yello.w lumps from his pockets, and passed
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 247
them around among the eager crowd, the doubts,
which had Hngered till now, fled. All admitted they
were gold, except one old man, who still persisted
they were some Yankee invention, got up to reconcile
the people to the change of flag. The e xcite ment
produced was intense ; and many were soon busy in
their hasty preparations for a departure to the mi nes.
The family who had kept house for me caught the mov-
ing infection. Husband and wife were both packing
up ; the blacksmith dropped his hammer, the carpen-
ter his plane, the mason his trowel, the farmer his
sickle, the baker his loaf, and the tapster his bottle.
VAll were off" for the mines, some on horses, some on
carts, and some on crutches, and one went in a
litter. An American woman, who had recently es-
tablished a boarding-house here, pulled up stakes, and
was off before her lodgers had even time to pay their
bills. Debtors ra_n^of course. I have only a com-
munity of women left, and a gang of prisoners, with
here and thei'e a soldier, who will give his captain
the slip at the first chance. I don't blame the fellow
a whit ; seven dollars a month, while others are mak-
ing two or three hundred a day ! that is too much
for human nature to stand.
Saturday, July 15. The gold fever has reached
every servant in Monterey ; none are to be trusted
in their engagement beyond a week, and as for com-
pulsion, it is like attempting to drive fish into a net
with the ocean before them. Gen. Mason, Lieut.
213 THREE YEARS IN CALIFOKXIA.
Lanman, and myself, form a mess ; we have a house.
and all the table furniture and culinaiy apparatus re
quisite ; but our servants have run, one after another,
till we are almost in despair : even Sambo, who we
thought would stick by from laziness, if no other
cause, ran last night ; and this morning, for the forti-
eth time, we had to take to the kitchen, and cook our
own breakfast. A general of the United States Army,
the commander of a man-of-war, and the Alcalde of
Monterey, in a smoking kitchen, grinding coffee,
toasting a herring, and pealing onions ! These gold
mines are going to upset all the domestic arrange-
ments of society, turning the h^ad to the tail,-and the
tail to the head._^ Well, it is an ill wind that blows no-
body any good : the nabobs have had their time, and
now comes that of the "niggers." We shall all live
just as long, and be quite as fit to die.
Tuesday, July 18. Another bag; of gold from the
mines, and another spasm in the community. It was
brought down by a sailor from Yuba river, and con-
tains a hundred and thirty-six ounces. It is the most
beautiful gold that has appeared in the market ; it
looks like the yellow scales of the dolphin, passing
through his rainbow hues at death. My carpenters,
at work on the school-house, on seeing it, threw down
their saws and planes, shouldered their picks, and
are off for the Yuba. Three seamen ran from the
Warren, forfeiting their four years' pay ; and a
w hole platoon of soldiers from the fort left only their
THRKE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 219
colors behind. One old woman declared she would
never again break an egg or kill a chicken, without
examining yolk and gizzard.
Saturday, July 22. The laws by which an al-
calde here is governed, in the administration of jus-
tice, are the Mexican code as compiled in Frebrero
and Alverez — works of remarkable comprehensive-
ness, clearness, and facility of application. They
embody all the leading principles of the civil law, de-
rived from the institutes of Justinian, The common
law of England is hardly known here, though its
rules and maxims have more or less influenced local
legislation. But with all these legal provisions a vast
many questions arise which have to be determined
ex cathedra. In minor matters the alcalde is often
himself the law ; and the records of his court might
reveal some very exquisite specimens of judicial pre-
rogative ; such as shaving a rogue's head — lex talio-
nis — who had shaved the tail of his neighbor's horse ;
or making a busybody, who had slandered a worthy
citizen, promenade the streets with a gag in his
mouth ; or obliging a man who had recklessly caused
a premature birth, to compensate the bereaved father
for the loss of that happiness which he might have
derived from his embryo hope, had it budded into
life. This last has rather too many contingencies
about it ; but the principle, which reaches it and
meets the offender, does very well out here in Cali-
fornia, and would not be misapplied in some of those
2o0 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
pill-shops which slope the path to crime in the United
States,
Thursday, July 27. I never knew mosquitoes
turned to anv good account save in California ; and
here it seems they are sometimes ministers of justice.
A rogue had stolen a bag of gold from a digger in the
mines, and hid it. Neither threats nor persuasions
could induce him to reveal the place of its conceal-
ment. He was at last sentenced to a hundred lashes,
and then informed that he would be let off with thirty,
provided he would tell what he had done with the
gold ; but he refused. The thirty lashes were in-
flicted, but he was still stubborn as a mule.
He was then stripped naked and tied to a tree.
The mosquitoes with their long bills went at him,
and in less than three hours he was covered with
blood. Writhing and trembling from head to foot
with exquisite torture, he exclaimed, " Untie me, un-
tie me, and I will tell where it is." " Tell first," w^as
the reply. So he told where it might be found.
Some of the party then, with wisps, kept off the still
hungry mosquitoes, while others went where the cul-
prit had directed, and recovered the bag of gold. He
was then untied, washed with cold water, and helped
to his clothes, while he muttered, as if talking to him-
self, " I couldn't stand that anyhow."
Friday, July 28. A little laughing girl tripped
into the office to-dav, and handed me a bunch of
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 251
flowers, which she said her mother sent me. " And
who is your mother, my sweet one?" I inquired. She
told me, and I then remembered that I had recovered
for her a silver cup, which an Indian had stolen ; and
these flowers had now come as a memento.
" Fee me with flowers, they hold no sordid bribe."
Saturday, Aug. 12. My man Bob, who is of Irish
extraction, and who had been in the mines about two
months, returned to Monterey four weeks since,
bringing with him over two thousand dollars, as the
proceeds of his labor. Bob, while in my employ, re-
quired me to pay him every Saturday night, in gold,
which he put into a little leather bag and sewed into
the lining of his coat, after taking out just twelve and
a half cents, his weekly allowance for tobacco. But
now he took rooms and began to branch out ; he had
the best horses, the richest viands, and the choicest
wines in the place. He never drank himself, but it
filled him with delight to brim the sparkling goblet for
others. I met Bob to-day, and asked him how he got
on. " Oh, very well," he replied, " but I am off" again
for the mines." "How is that. Bob? you brought
down with you over two thousand dollars ; I hope
you have not spent all that : you used to be very
saving ; twelve and a half cents a week for tobacco,
and the rest you sewed into the lining of your coat."
" Oh, yes," replied Bob, " and I have got that money
yet ; I worked hard for it ; and the diel can't get it
252 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORMA.
awav ; but the two thousand dollars came asily by
good luck, and has gone as asily as it came." Now
Bob's story is only one of a thousand like it in Cali-
fornia, and has a deeper philosophy in it than meets
the eye. Multitudes here are none the richer for the
mines. He who can shake chestnuts from an ex-
haustless tree, won't stickle about the quantity he
roasts.
Thursday, Aug. 16. Four citizens of Monterey
are just in from the gold mines on Feather River,
where they worked in company with three others.
They employed about thirty wild Indians, who are at-
tached to the rancho owned by one of the party. They
worked precisely seven weeks and three days, and
have divided seventy-six thousand eight hundred and
forty-four dollars, — nearly eleven thousand dollars to
each. Make a dot there, and let me introduce a man,
well known to me, who has worked on the Yuba
river sixty-four days, and brought back, as the result
of his individual labor, five thousand three hundred
and fifty-six dollars. Make a dot there, and let me
introduce another townsman, who has worked on the
North Fork fifty-seven days, and brought back four
thousand five hundred and thirty-four dollars. Make
a dot there, and let me introduce a boy, fourteen years
of age, who has worked on the Mokelumne fifty- four
days, and brought back three thousand four hundred
and sixty-seven dollars. Make another dot there, and
let me introduce a woman, of Sonoranian birth, who
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 253-
has worked in the dry diggings forty-six days, and
brought back two thousand one hundred and twenty-
five dollars. Is not this enough to make a man
throw down his leger and shoulder a pick ? But the
deposits which yielded these harvests were now
opened for the first time ; they were the accumula-
tion of ages ; only the foot-prints of the elk and wild
savage had passed over them. Their slumber was
broken for the first time by the sturdy arms of the
American emigrant. v-
K
Tuesday, Aug. 28. The gold mines have upset all
social and domestic arrangements in Monterey ; the
master has become his own servant, and the servant
his own lord. The millionaire is obliged to groom
his own horse, and roll his wheelbarrovi^ ; and the
hidalgo — in whose veins flows the blood of all the
Cortes — to clean his own boots K Here is lady L ,
who has lived here seventeen years, the pride and
ornament of the place, with a broomstick in her
jewelled hand ! And here is lady B with her
daughter — all the way from " old Virginia," where
they graced society with their varied accomplish-
ments — now floating between the parlor and kitchen,
and as much at home in the one as the other ! And
here is lady S , whose cattle are on a thousand
hills, lifting, like Rachel of old, her bucket of water
from the deep well ! And here is lady M. L ,
whose honeymoon is still full of soft seraphic light,
unhouseling a potatoe, and hunting the hen that laid
22
254 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
the last egg. And here am I, who have been a man
of some note in my day, loafing on the hospitality of
the good citizens, and grateful for a meal, though in
an Indian's wigwam. Why, is not this enough to
make one wish the gold mines were in the earth's
flaming centre, from which they sprung? Out on this
yellow dust! it is worse than the cinders which
buried Pompeii, for there, high and low shared the
same fate !
Saturday, Sept. 9. I met a Scotchman this morn-
ing bent half double, and evidently in pain. On in-
quiring the cause, he informed me that he had just seen
a lump of gold from the Mokelumne as big as his
double fist, and it had given him the cholic. The
diagnosis of the complaint struck me as a new feature
in human maladies, and one for which it would be
difficult to find a suitable medicament in the thera-
peutics known to the profession ; especially in the
allopathic practice, which has stood still for three
thousand years, except in the discovery of quinine
for ague, and sulphur for itch. The gentlemen of
this embalmed school must wake up ; their antedilu-
vian owl may do on an Egyptian obelisk, but we must
have a more wide-awake bird in these days of pro-
gress. Here is a man bent double with a new and
strange disease, taken from looking at gold : your
bleeding, blistering, and purging won't free him of it.
What is to be done ? shall he be left to die, or be de-
livered over to the homoeopathies ? They hjave a
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 255
medicament that acts as a specific, on the principle
that the hair of the dog is good for the bite. If you
burn your hand, what do you do — clasp a piece of
ice ? — no, seize a warm poker ; if you freeze your foot,
do you put it to the fire? — no, dash it into the snow ;
and so if you take the gold-chohc, the remedy is,
aurum — similia similihus curantur.
Saturday, Sept. 16. The gold mines are pro-
ducing one good result ; every creditor who has
gone there is paying his debts. Claims not deemed
worth a farthing are now cashed on presentation at
nature's great bank. This has rendered the credit
of every man here good for almost any amount.
Orders for merchandise are honored which six
months ago would have been thrown into the fire.
There is none so poor, who has two stout arms and
a pickaxe left, but he can empty any store in Monte-
rey. Nor has the first instance yet occurred, in
which the creditor has suffered. All distinctions in-
dicative of means have vanished ; the only capital
required is muscle and an honest purpose. I met a
man to-day from the mines in patched buckskins,
rough as a badger from his hole, who had fifteen
thousand dollars in yellow dust, swung at his back.
Talk to him of brooches, gold-headed canes, and Car-
penter's coats ! Why he can unpack a lump of gold
that would throw all Chesnut-street into spasms.
And there is more where this came from. His rights
in the great domain are equal to yours, and his
O.lfi THREE YEARS IN CALIFORMA.
prospects of getting it out vastly better. With these
advantages, he bends the knee to no man, but
strides along in his buckskins, a lord of earth by a
hi'^her prescriptive privilege than what emanates
from the partiality of kings. His patent is medallion-
ed with rivers which roll over golden sands, and
embossed with mountains which have Hfted for ages
their golden coronets to heaven. Clear out of the
way with your crests, and crowns, and pedigree trees,
and let this democrat pass. Every drop of blood in
his veins tells that it flows from a great heart, which
God has made and which man shall never enslave.
Such are the genuine sons of California ; such may
they live and die.
" They will not be the tyrant's slaves,
While heaven has light, or earth has graves."
977772
257
CHAPTER XIX.
TOUR TO THE GOLD-MIXES. — LOSS OF HORSES. FIRST KIGUT IN THE WOODS.
ARRIVAL AT SAN JUAN. UNDER WAT. CAMPING OUT. BARK OF THE
■WOLVES. WATCH-FIRES. SAN JOSE. A FRESH START. CAMPING ON
THE SLOPE OF A HILL. WILD FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY. VALLEY OF
THE SAN JOAQUIN. BAND OF WILD HORSES.
Wednesday, Sept. 20. A servant of James
McKinley, Esq., led to my door this morning a beau-
tiful saddle-horse, with a message from his master,
desiring me to accept the animal as a token of his
regard. The gift was most opportune, as I was on
the eve of a trip to the gold-mines. To guard against
contingencies I purchased another, and, to prevent
their being stolen, placed them both in the govern-
ment coral, where a watch is posted night and day.
My companions on the trip were to be Capt. Marcy,
son of the late secretary of war, Mr. Botts, naval
storekeeper, and Mr. Wilkinson, son of our ex-
minister to Russia.
Having procured a suitable wagon, we freighted it
lightly with provisions, articles of Indian traffic, tools
for working in the mines, cooking utensils, and blank-
ets to sleep in. To this we attached four mules, but
little used to the harness, and of no great power, but
they were the best that could be got at the time.
The whole was put under the charge of a man who
was half sailor and half teamster, and not much of
22*
•J.-,S THREE YEAUS IV CAI.IFOR^'l A.
fth.-r. Thus accoutred, the team was sent ahead,
and we were to follow the next day.
Thursday, Sept. 21. The hour for starting having
arrived, I sent my man to the government coral for
my horses. He returned in a few moments with the
intelligence that a i)arty of the volunteers had broken
into the coral during the night, and carried off ten
liorsrs, and among them both of mine ! There was no
time now for ferreting out thieves, or hunting stolen
animals. Our wagon was on the way, and my com-
panions were mounted and waiting. I hurried to Mr.
S , who I knew had a fine horse in his yard, and
ollered him two hundred dollars for the animal, but
he declined parting with him. My only resource
now was with Mr. T , who had three horses in
his coral, but they were otf a long journey the night
before. I struck a bargain at a hundred dollars for
one of them, and throwing on my saddle, was under
way in a few minutes.
My horse held out pretty well for twenty miles,
and then suddenly broke down. We were on the
plain of the Salinas, and there was but little prospect
of my being able to procure a substitute. But just at
this crisis the mail rider hove in sight, with a horse
in lead. I arranged with him for the spare animal,
transferred my saddle to him. and with a farewell to
my wearied steed, started again. We had directed
our wagoner to proceed to San Juan, and expected
to overtake him at that place before dark. But niwht
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 259
set in while we were eight or ten miles distant,, and it
was a night of Egyptian darkness. We lost our way,
and brought up in the woods. To proceed was im-
possible ; so we dismounted, tied our horses together,
felt for some dry leaves, and fired them with a lucifer
which had been given us by a traveller an hour be-
fore.
With brush and bits of bark we managed to sustain
our fire, but our prospect for the night was rather
gloomy — without a drop of water, without any food,
without an overcoat or blanket to cover us, with
heavy thunder over head, and the wolves barking
around. But we divided ourselves into four watches ;
one was to keep up the fire while the other three
slept, and each take his turn in feeding the flame.
My watch came first, and it was the longest two
hours I ever experienced. Every old snag I drew to
the fire seemed to exhaust the httle strength that re-
mained. My eyelids would fall, and it seemed im-
possible to lift them. I heai-d the wolves bark, but it
was like a noise in one's dream. But my relief came
at last, and throwing myself down close to the fire, I
slept too sound even for the thunder. It was the cold
dim gray of advancing morn when I awoke. A ride
of an hour brought us to San Juan, where we found
our baggage-wagon at a stream, the mules tethered,
and whistling a piteous welcome to our steeds, and
the driver blowing into a bundle of reeds and straw,
from which a slender thread of smoke was rising into
the chill atmosphere.
260 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
San Juan is thirty-four miles from Monterey ; the
..Illy buildings are a gigantic church and the contig-
uous dwelling— once occupied l^y the priests and their
Indian neophytes. The sanctuary remains ; but the
priests arc gone, and the Indians are on the four
winds, save those over whom the pine sings its re-
(juiem. We broke our long fast on hard bread,
broiled pork, and coffee without milk. The sun was
high when our mules were harnessed, and the crack
of the driver's whip told that we were on the way.
A few miles brought us to the foot of a hill ; when
half-way up our mules balked, and the wagon began
to travel backward. We blocked the wheels, and
trie.l to cheer and force them on ; but a mule has
that peculiar virtue which is insensible alike to flat-
teries and frowns. Still we coaxed, and whipped, and
cheered, but in vain — there stuck our old wagon, fast
as a thunder-cloud on a mountain's bluff. We had
to turn lighters, and carry the greater part of the
load, by hand, to the top of the hill. One of the
mules whistled out in seeming derision ; while his
fallow looked sorry, as if smitten with compunction.
This delay consumed several hours, and the sun w^as
far down his western slope when we reached a few
shanties on a plain covered in spots with the surviv-
ing verdure of the year : here we camped for the
night. One tethered the animals; two brought wood
and water ; and one turned cook. We made our
supper by the light of our watch-fire, smoked our
cigars, and turned down upon the earth, with our
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 261
saddles for our pillows. A blanket served to protect
each from the dews and the night air. How little
man wants here ! His palace seems to tower in idle
grandeur, between a cradle and a coffin.
Friday, Sept. 22. Day glimmered over the hills
and we were up ; the gathered brands of our watch-
fire kindled again under our camp-kettle. Our break-
fast was soon dispatched, our mules in harness, our
blankets stowed, and we were on the way. Ten
miles farther, and my third horse, which I had pro-
cured at San Juan, began to give out, and I was
thrown upon my feet, till relieved by the opportune
arrival of a gentleman with a spare horse, which I
purchased at his own price, leaving my own to shift
for himself "When on my feet, my thoughts ran bit-
terly back to the two fine horses with which I had
expected to leave Monterey. We are the least for-
giving when we feel most the need of that of which
we have been robbed.
Our road lay through a level plain, into which the
spur of a mountain range had thrown its bold ter-
minus. Doubling this, we wound into a deep cove,
where wild oats waved, and a copious spring gushed
from a cleft of the rock. It was yet two hours to
sunset ; but the next stream lay ten miles ahead, and
we decided to camp where we were. Our horses
and mules were turned into the ample cove unte-
thered ; and in half an hour we had gathered suffi-
cient wood for a strong fire through the night. We
I
0(..» TIIRKK YEARS IN' CALIFORNIA.
were near the rancho of Mr. Murphy, and the kind
old gentleman called, and invited us to his house ;
but we deemed it more prudent to stay by our ani-
mals. Our supper of hard bread, broiled pork, and
coffee was quickly prepared, and as quickly disposed
of The shadows of eve fell fast ; we arranged our
watches for the night ; and each, in his blanket
wound, cooiposed himself to sleep. Mine was the
mid-watch: I found the camp-fire bright, and the
clitfs around lit with its rays. I numbered the ani-
mals to see that none had strayed, and then sat down
to watch the motions of a wolf, who was reconnoiter-
ing our camp, with step as soft and low —
" As that of man on guilty errand bent."
Saturday, Sept. 23. We broke camp, were Up
and away while the dew was yet fresh on the grass.
Ten miles brought us to Fisher's rancho, where w^e
procured soft bread and fresh milk. But our animals
fared hard ; the grasshoppers had been there before
them. We had yet three hours of sun when we
reached the lagoon near San Jose, but camped there
on account of the grass. A shanty stood near by,
where we procured a few potatoes and onions, and a
piece of fresh meat, with which we made a stew —
t]uite a luxury on a California road. The owner of
the shanty invited me to a night's lodging, which I
accepted, but found my host much more hospitable
llian his fleas, for I was driven back to my camp be-
THREE YEARS IN CAMFORNIA. 263
fore midnight. A California flea is not be trifled
with ; his nippers drive you into spasms. ■
Sunday, Sept. 24. This is the Sabbath, and we
are in San Jose, in the house of Dr. Stokes, to whose
hospitahty we are indebted for a good table and quiet
apartments. I must here relate a domestic incident
in the doctor's family, which fell under my eye while
he resided at Monterey, and which pictured itself
strongly on my mind. It was evening, and the hour
for rest with the children, when six little boys and
girls knelt around the chair of their father, repeating
the Lord's prayer, and closing with the invocation —
" God bless our dear parents, and brothers, and sis-
ters, and grant that we meet in heaven at last."
Then came the good-night, and the cheerful foot-
steps to the chamber of soft sleep. What are gold
mines to this ? A glow-worm's light beneath a star
that shall never set !
Monday, Sept. 25. San Jose is sixty-five miles
from Monterey, and stands in the centre of a spacious
valley which opens on the great bay of San Francis-
co. It is cultivated only in spots, but the immense
yield in these is sufficient evidence of what the valley
is capable. A plough and harrow, at which a New
England crow would laugh, are followed by fields of
waving grain. Within this valley lie the rich lands
of Com. Stockton, and they will yet feel the force of
his vivifying enterprise. The mission buildings of
201 THREE TEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
Santa Clara lift their huge proportions on the eye.
The bells that swing in their towers are silent, but
thev will yet find a tongue and fill the cliffs with their
glad echoes. The Anglo-Saxon blood will yet roll
here as if in its first leap.
Such are the representations of the roads between
this and the mines, that we have concluded to part
with our wagon and pack our mules. Mr. Botts, one
of our companions, has received intelligence which
requires his return to Monterey. We must proceed
without his agreeable society. Wm. Stewart, Esq.,
secretary of Com. Jones, and Lieut. Simmons, of the
Ohio, have just arrived, on their way to the mines.
Two of our mules were now packed, the third mount-
ed by our wagoner, and the fourth driven, to guard
against contingencies. Thus equipped, we started
again for the mines ; but we had hardly cleared the
town when one of our mules took fright, plunged over
the plain, burst his girth, and scattered on the winds
the contents of his pack. Capt. Marcy and Mr. Wil-
kinson, with the mules and their driver, returned into
town to repack, and I proceeded on in the company
of Mr. Stewart and Lieut. Simmons.
We passed the mission of San Jose, which stands
three leagues from the town. The massive propor-
tions of the church lay in shadow, but the crowning
cross was lit with the rays of the descending sun.
No hum of busy streets or jocund voice of childhood
saluted the ear. No eye regarded us but that of the
owl gazing in wise wonder from his ivy tower. He
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 265
seemed to marvel at the vanity that had brought us
here ; and as we hurried past on our gold destination,
sent after us an ominous hoot ! The purple twilight
was settling fast when we reached a stream singing
along between the slopes of two hills. Here we
camped for the night. The grass was scanty and the
ground uneven, but it was now too late to look for
other spots. The dry willows, which skirted the
stream, furnished us with fuel. The lid of our coffee
kettle was soon trembling over the steam, while the
fresh steaks, curling on the coals, scented the evening
air. Our supper over, we talked of friends far away,
and spread our blankets for the night. The ground
was so descending I put a stone at my feet to keep
from slipping down, but must have rolled from my
pedestal, for on awaking at daybreak, I found myself
at the foot of the slope, and close on the verge of the
bubbling stream. My ground-blanket remained where
it had been spread, though it seemed higher up the
hill, as I clambered back to it from my somnambulic
roll.
Tuesday, Sept. 26. My companions, who had re-
turned to San Jose to repack the mules, arrived at
our camp about mid-day, accompanied by W. R.
Garner, so long my secretary in the office of alcalde.
Our own horses were soon saddled, and we were off.
all the more light-hearted for this accession to our
numbers. Our road lay through a rolling country
covered with live-oak and pine, and through small
23
0(50 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
l-rairies, cradled in emerald repose among the hills. It
was quite dark when we reached the small farm-
house of Mr. Livermore. Here we camped. A snag-
fence supi)lied us with fuel, and Mr. L. furnished us
with a sheep ready dressed. Our large camp-fire
sent up its waving flame, which threw its red light
over a group gathered around in every attitude which
hunger and culinary care could assume. What was
the howl of the wolves on the hills to us, engaged in
jiicking the bones of that sheep ? A camp-life teaches
vou the value of three things — meat, salt, and fire ;
with these you can travel the globe round.
Wednesday, Sept. 27. The night had been dark,
the wind bleak, and the rack was driving on the sky,
when the first rays of the sun kindled the soaring
clilfs. We had the great Tulare plain to pass, and
lost no time in finishing our breakfast and effecting
an early start. Crossing the plain attached to the
rancho, wiiich we had left, our road lay among steep
conical hills feathered with pine, and pyramids of
rock piled in naked majesty. From these we opened
on the great plain of the San Joaquin, stretching
awiiy like a Sahara, and without an object on which
the eye could rest. The sun was hot, and not a
breath of wind crept over the cheerless expanse. A
column of cloud, soaring on the distant horizon,
showed where the fearful flame was at work.
We were now in the midst of the plain, when a
moving object, dim and distant, rapidly advanced
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 267
into more distinct vision. It was a band of wild
horses, rushing down the plain like a foaming torrent
to the sea.
" With flowing tail and flying mane,
With nostrils never stretched by pain,
Mouths bloodless to the bit or rein ;
And feet that iron never shod,
And flanks unscarred by spur or rod,
A thousand horse — the wild, the free —
Like waves that follow o'er the sea —
Came thickly thundering on."
We instantly seized the halters of our pack-mules,
and not knowing whether to advance or retreat,
waited the issue where we stood. They swept past
us but a short distance ahead, heeding us as little as
the Niagara the reeds that tremble on its bank. The
very ground shook with the thunder of their hoofs.
Their arching necks and flowing mane, their glossy
flanks and sinewy bound made you begrudge them
their freedom. You thought what a flight you might
make on them into the mines. It seeme I a pity that
so much celerity and strength should be thrown
away upon a stampede.
As we advanced the line of the horizon began to
lift itself into irregular shapes, like a broken coast
at sea. These emerging forms proved to be the
broad tops of a belt of trees, which seemed not more
than half a league distant, but which retreated as
we advanced, like the bow which childhood pursues.
It was a weary ride before we reached them, but
ocq THREE YEARS IN CALIFOKXIA.
ihe tedium of the way was relieved by several ad-
ventures among the wild geese, which hovered near
our path in immense flocks. Mr. Stewart, who is an
excellent shot, brought several to the ground : with
these trophies we camped for the night. Some water-
ed and tethered the animals, others gathered wood,
and others ground the coflee and picked the geese.
Having in our panniers a few onions and potatoes,
with a piece of pork, we prepared for a stew. But
our geese must have been the goslins of those that
went into the ark, for neither fire nor steam could
make an impression on their sinewy forms. We
tried them with the puncture of our long knives ;
found them tough as ever, and then swung off the
pot. There was enough, with bread and coffee, with-
out the geese, and as we threw the legs and wings
this way and that, an owl watched the flying frag-
ments, as much as to say, it is an ill wind that blows
nobody any good.
269
CHAPTER XX.
THE GRAVE OF A GOLD-HUNTER. MOUNTAIN SPURS. A COMPANY OF SONO-
RANIANS. A NIGHT ALARM. FIRST VIEW OF THE MINES. CHARACTER
OF THE DEPOSITS. A WOMAN AND HER PAN. REMOVAL TO OTHER
MINES. WILD INDIANS AND THEIR WEAPONS. COST OF PROVISIONS.
A PLUNGE INTO A GOLD RIVER. MACHINES USED BY THE GOLD-DIGGERS.
Thursday, Sept. 28. We slept soundly last night.
The sun had been up an hour before we finished our
coffee and vaulted into our saddles. A short ride
brought us to the San Joaquin river, which we
crossed in the primitive way. We threw our sad-
dles and packs into a boat, and then getting in our-
selves, rowed off, leading at the stern one of our
little mules, called Nina. The horses being driven
in, followed in her wake and swam to the opposite
bank. The moment they reached the shore, every
one lay down and rolled, covering himself with a
layer of sand. My own for once seemed to have
caught the mine fever, and without waiting for the
saddle, much less his rider, went snorting up the
bank.
A mile or two further on, and we passed the grave
of one whom I had known well in Monterey. He
was a young man of many amiable and excellent
qualities ; was on his way to the mines ; but in
crossing a gulch, now entirely dry, but through
which a freshet then swept, became entangled with
23*
270 TiinnE vkar.> i\ California.
the gearing of liis horses, and was drowned. An
evergreen tree throws its perpetual shadows on the
mound where he rests, and the wild birds sing his
reciuicMi. His widowed mother, who dwells by the
rushing tide of the Missouri, will long look for his re-
turn, and still doubt in her grief the story of his
death. But never will her eyes again rest on his.
Till the heavens be no more he shall not awake, nor
be raised out of his sleep.
Our road for ten miles lay through a level plain
corresponding in its cheerless aspect to that we had
passed on the other side of the San Joaquin. We
encountered a drove of wild elk with their forest of
branching horns, but they kept beyond the range of
our rides, and our horses were too tired to be put on
the pursuit. We had only the satisfaction of venting,
in words, our spleen on their speed, but little cared
they for that. They run away at times, as it would
seem, from their own horns, for our road was strewn
with these cast-off coronets.
Leaving the plain we ascended into a rolling coun-
try lightly timbered with oak, pine, and birch. We
wound rapidly forward, till we encountered a stream,
and a plot of green grass which had escaped the fire
that had been straggling about among the hills. We
were without a guide, and on a trail which at times
became rather faint and difficult, and no one knew
where we might next meet with water, so we teth-
ered, collected our wood for the night, and lit our
camp-fire. We had no more potatoes or onions for
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 271
a stew, and made our supper on broiled pork, hard
bread, and coffee. We had our saddles for our pil-
lows, the green earth for our couch, and the bright
stars to light us to our rest.
Friday, Sept. 29. One of our company discov-
ered near our camp this morning a little lake, with
fish darting about in its lucid waters. Our twine
was soon out and hooked, the alder supplied us with
poles, and we answered exactly to Dr. Johnson's defi-
nition of angling — " Line and rod, with a worm at
one end and a fool at the other," for not a fish would
bite ; they were not to be caught with a poor wrig-
gling worm, when golden flies were floating about.
They were fish of a better taste ; and we had to
breakfast as we had done before, on broiled pork,
hard bread, and coffee. A famished crow, as if in
sympathy with our wants, rattled his bones near by
on a dry limb.
The trail which we were following accommodated
itself to the wild country through which it lay. The
bold bluff" and deep chasm bent it into a constant
succession of quick circles and sharp angles. The
head of our train was never in sight of those who
occupied the rear, except when we wound over those
more gradual slopes which here and there relieved
the ruggedness of the landscape. We met a com-
pany of Californians about mid-day, on their return
from the mines, and a more forlorn looking group
rj7t> THREE YEARS I\ CALIFOEXIA.
never knocked at the gate of a pauper asylum. They
were most of them dismounted, with rags fastened
round their bhstered feet, and with clubs in their
hands, with which they were trying to force on their
skeleton animals. They inquired for bread and
meat : we had but little of either, but shared it with
them. They took from one of their packs a large
bag of gold, and began to shell out a pound or two in
payment. We told them they were welcome ; still
they seemed anxious to pay, and we were obliged to
be positive in our refusal. This company, as I after-
wards ascertained, had with them over a hundred
thousand dollars in grain gold. One of them had the
largest lump that had yet been found ; it weighed
over twenty pounds ; and he seemed almost ready to
part with it for a mess of pottage. What is gold
where there is nothing to eat ? — the gilded fly of the
angler in a troutless stream.
Saturday, Sept. 30. We camped last night in a
forest, where a small opening let in the sun's rays
upon a plot of green grass and a sparkling spring.
Our slumbers were broken in the night by the dis-
charge of a pistol by one of our company, who saw,
or thought he saw, a wolf snuffling about his blanket.
We seized our arms, thinking the wild Indians were
u{»on u.s, but found no enemy. It was probably the
phantom of a disturbed dream. We scolded the
young man soundly who gave the alarm, and turned
down on the earth again to finish our night's repose.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 273
The scenery, as we advanced, became more wild
and pictm-esque. The hills lost their gentle slopes,
and took the form of steep and rugged cones : the
mountain ranges were broken by dark and rugged
gorges ; over crags that toppled high in air, the soar-
ing pine threw its wild music on the wind ; while
merry streams dashed down the precipitous rocks, as
if in haste to greet the green vale below. A short
distance beyond us lay the richest gold mines that had
yet been discovered ; and nature, as if to guard her
treasures, had thrown around them a steep mountain
barrier. This frowning wall seemed as if riven in
some great convulsion. The broad chasm, like a
break in a huge Roman aqueduct, dropped to the
level plain ; while the bold bluffs of the severed bar-
rier gazed at each other in savage grandeur. Beyond
this gateway, a valley wandered for some distance,
and then expanded into a plain, in the midst of which
stood a beautiful grove of oak and pine. Crossing
this, we wound over a rough, rocky elevation, and
turned suddenly into a ravine, up which we discov-
ered a line of tents glittering in the sun's rays. We
were in the gold mines ! I jumped from my horse,
took a pick, and in five minutes found a piece of gold
large enough to make a signet-ring.
We had the unexpected pleasure of meeting here
Gov. Mason and Capt. Sherman, who had arrived the
evening before in their tour of observation ; and Dr.
Ord, recently of the army, and Mr. Taylor, of Mon-
terey. They invited us to their camp and a supper
271 Timr.E years i\ California.
which we enjoyed with a keen relish. If you want
to know what it is to have an appetite, which scruples
at nothing and enjoys every thing, travel on horse-
hack and sleep in the open air. Railroads and hotels
are the graves of invalids. But I forgot our horses :
we could find no grass ; there was a poor pasture
several miles distant ; but it was now near sunset ;
we gathered acorns for them, which a horse will eat
when pinched with hunger. Our camp-fire was kin-
dled, and we rolled down for the night.
Sunday, Oct. 1. Another Sabbath, and our first
in the mines. But here and there a digger has re-
sumed his work. With most it is a day of rest, not
so much perhaps from religious scruples, as a convic-
tion that the system requires and must have repose.
He is a blind philosopher, as w^ell as a stupid Chris-
tian, who cannot see, even in the physical benefits of
the Sabbath, motives sufficient to sanctify its observ-
ance. He must be a callous soul, who, wdth the hope
of heaven in his dreams, can wantonly profane its
spirit.
Monday, Oct. 2. I went among the gold-diggers ;
found half a dozen at the bottom of the ravine, tear-
ing up the bogs, and up to their knees in mud. Be-
neath these bogs lay a bed of clay, sprinkled in spots
with gold. These deposits, and the earth mixed with
them, were shovelled into bowls, taken to a pool near
by, and washed out. The bowl, in working, is held
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 275
in both hands, whirled violently back and forth
through half a circle, and pitched this way and that
sufficiently to throw off the earth and water, while
the gold settles to th^ bottom. The process is ex-
tremely laborious, and taxes the entire muscles of the
frame. In its effect it is more like swinging a scythe
than any work I ever attempted.
Not having much relish for the bogs and mud, I
procured a light crowbar and went to splitting the slate-
rocks which project into the ravine. I found between
the layers, which were not perfectly closed, particles
of gold, resembling in shape the small and delicate
scales of a fish. These were easily scraped from the
slate by a hunter's knife, and readily separated in the
wash-bowl from all foreign substances. The layers
in which they were found generally inclined from a
vertical or horizontal position, and formed an acute
angle with the bank of the ravine, in the direction of
the current. In the reverse of this position, and
where the inclination was with the current, they
rarely contained any gold. The inference would
seem to be, that these deposits are made by the cur-
rents when swelled by the winter rains, and poured
in a rushing tide down these channels. It is only the
most rapid stream that can carry this treasure, and
even that must soon resign it to some eddy, or the
rock that paves its footsteps.
There are about seventy persons at work in this
ravine, and all within a few yards of each other.
They average about one ounce per diem each. They
i»76 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
who get less are discontented, and they who get more
are not satisfied. ' Every day brings in some fresh
report of richer discoveries in some quarter not far
remote, and the diggers are consequently kept in a
slate of feverish excitement. One woman, a Sonora-
nian, who was washing here, finding at the bottom
of her bowl only the amount of half a dollar or so,
hurled it back again into the water, and straightening
herself up to her full height, strode off with the indig-
nant air of one who feels himself insulted. Poor
woman ! how little thou knowest of those patient
females, who in our large cities make a shirt or vest
for ten cents! Were an ounce of diamonds to fall
into one of our hands every day, we should hold out
the other just as eager and impatient as if its fellow
were empty. Such is human nature ; and a misera-
ble thing it is, too, especially when touched with the
gold fever.
Tuesday, Oct. 3. We parted to-day with the so-
ciety of Mr. Stewart and Mr. Simmons : they were
on a tour of observation ; were bound to Sutter's
Fort, and availed themselves of the company of Gov.
Mason and Capt. Sherman, who were soinof in the
same direction ; may they have an agreeable journey,
and each find a lump of gold as big as Vulcan's anvil.
We ordered up our own horses, packed our mules,
and started for a ravine some seven miles distant.
Our path lay over the spur of a mountain, so ruo-aed
and steep that we were obliged to dismount. The
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 277
soaring masses were piled around us in the wildest
sublimity, presenting those thunder-scarred fronts
which the volcano in its terrific energy throws into
the eye of the sun. You had a dim persuasion that
some fearful charm, some unseen treasure lurked in
the sunless recesses of these stupendous piles ; and so
it seemed, for out walked a grizzly bear from a moun-
tain gorge, and fixed his burning eyes steadfastly on
us. Not being certain of our rifles, as we had not
used them for several days, we deemed prudence the
better part of valor, and gave the old monarch of the
woods a pretty wide berth.
We examined several spots on our route for gold,
but found none, either on the table-rock, or in the
channels of the mountain streams. If it ever existed
there, it had been swept below, or remained in the
veins of the rock beyond the reach of pickaxe and
spade. On the plain we fell in with the camp of Mr.
Murphy, who invited us into his tent, and set before
us refreshments that would have graced a scene less
wild than this. His tent is pitched in the midst of a
small tribe of wild Indians who gather gold for him,
and receive in return provisions and blankets. He
knocks down two bullocks a day to furnish them with
meat. Though never before within the wake of
civilization, they respect his person and pro;;isrty.
This, however, is to be ascribed in part to the fact
that he has married the daughter of the chief — a
young woman of many personal attractions, and full
of that warm wild love which makes her the Haide
24
278 THREE YEARS IN CALIFOUMA.
of the woods. She is the queen of the tribe, and
walks among them with the air of one on whom au-
thority sets as a native grace,— a charm which all
feel, and of which she seems the least conscious.
The men and boys were busy with their bows and
arrows. A difficulty had arisen between this tribe
and one not far remote, and they were expecting an
attack. Though the less powerful tribe of the two,
they seemed not the least dismayed. The old men
looked stern and grave, but the boys were full of glee
as if mustering for a deer-hunt. The mothers with
Spartan coolness were engaged in pointing arrows
with flint stones, so shaped that they easily penetrate
and break oft" in the eftbrt to extract them, and always
leave an ugly wound. They project these arrows
from their bows with incredible force, often burying
them to the feather in the luckless elk ; the deer gives
his last life-bound and falls, while the unsuspecting
foe drops unwarned from his saddle. I saw no signs
of intoxication among these Indians, and was told by
Mr. Murphy that he allowed no liquors in the camp.
He said a trader brought there a few days since a
barrel of rum, and that he gave him exactly five
minutes in which to decide whether he would quit
the grounds, or have the head of the barrel knocked
in. He of course took his fire-curse to some other
place.
Wednesday, Oct. 4. Our camping-ground is in a
broad ravine through which a rivulet wanders, and
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 279
which is dotted with the frequent tents of gold-dig-
gers. The sounds of the crowbar and pick, as they
shake or shiver the rock, ai-e echoed from a thousand
cHffs ; while the hum of human voices rolls off on
the breeze to mingle with the barking of wolves,
who regard with no friendly eyes this intrusion into
their solitude. They resemble their great progene-
trix, trembling in stone, as the Vandals broke into
Rome. But little care the gold-diggers about the
wolves, it is enough for them to know that this ra-
vine contains gold ; and it must be dug out, though an
earthquake may slumber beneath. If you want to
find men prepared to storm the burning threshold of
the infernal prison, go among gold-diggers.
The provisions with which we left San Jose are gone,
and we have been obliged to supply ourselves here.
We pay at the rate of four hundred dollars a barrel
for flour ; four dollars a pound^jm'jDOorJjxawe-sttga*^ —
andTour dollars a pound for indifferent coffee. And
as for'^Tireal, there is nonT^foTbe gof^xc ept jerk ed- i^ C?
beef, which is the flesh of the bullock cut nito strings
and hung up in the sun to dry, and which has about
as much juice in it as a strip of bark dangling in the
wind from a dead tree. Still, when moistened and
toasted, it will do something towards sustaining life ;
so also will the sole of your shoe. And yet I have
seen men set and grind it as if it were nutritious and
sweetly flavored. Oh ye who lose your temper be-
cause your sirloin has rolled once too much on the spit,
come to the mines of California and eat jerked-beef!
290 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORXTA.
Thursday, Oct. 5. The rivulet, which waters the
ravine, collects here and there into deep pools. Over
one of these a low limb had thrown itself, upon which
I ventured out with an apparatus for scooping up the
sand at the bottom. But just as I had lowered my
dipper the limb broke, and down I went to the chin
in water. It was some minutes before I could extri-
cate myself, and when I did there was not a dry
thread on my body. The chill of the stream reduced
the gold fever in me very considerably. I had
brought no outward garments but those in which I
stood ; I wrung out the water and hung them up in
the sun to dry, and wound myself, like an Indian, in
my blanket. But I was not more savage in my as-
pect than in my feelings. This, however, soon passed
otr, and I could laugh with others at the gold plunge.
But nothing is a novelty here for more than a min-
ute ; were a man to cast his skin or lose his head, no
one would stop to inquire if he had recovered either,
unless they suspected foul play, and then they would
arraign and execute the culprit before one of our law-
yers could pen an indictment. "^
Friday, Oct. 6. The most efficient gold-washer
here is the cradle, which resembles in shape that ap-
pendage of the nursery, from which it takes its name.
It is nine or ten feet long, open at one end and closed
at the other. At the end which is closed, a sheet-iron
pan, four inches deep, and sixteen over, and perfo-
rated in the bottom with holes, is let in even with
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 281
the sides of the cradle. The earth is thrown into the
pan, water turned on it, and the cradle, which is on
an inclined plane, set in motion. The earth and
water pass through the pan, and then down the cra-
dle, while the gold, owing to its specific gravity, is
caught by elects fastened across the bottom. Very
little escapes ; it generally lodges before it reaches
the last cleet. It requires four or five men to supply
the earth and water to work such a machine to ad-
vantage. The quantity of gold washed out must de-
pend on the relative proportion of gold in the earth.
The one worked in this ravine yields a hundred dol-
lars a day ; but this is considered a slender result.
Most of the diggers use the b owl or pan ; its lightness
never embarrasses their roving habits ; and it can be
put in motion wherever they may find a stream or
spring. It can be purchased now in the mines i'or
five or six dollars ; a few months since it cost an
ounce — sixteen dollars for a wooden bowl ! But I
have seen twenty-four dollars paid for ajx)x of seid-
lit z-powders , and forty dollars for as many drops of
laudanum.
24*
282
CHAPTER XXI.
LUMP OK GOLD LOST.— INDIANS AT THEIR GAME OF ARROWS.— CAMP
OK THE GOLD- HUNTERS. A SONORAMA.V GOLD-DIGGER. SABBATH r\ THE
MIXES.— THE G1A.\T WELCHMAN. — NATURE OF GOLD DEPOSITS. — AVERAGE
PER M.O*. — NEW DISCOVERIES.
Saturday, Oct. 7. I had come to the mines with-
out a pick, but this morning fell in with a trader who
had one for sale : his price was ten dollars in specie,
or eighteen in gold dust. I gave him the specie ; the
pick weighed about four pounds, was of rude manu-
facture, and without a handle ; but this appendage
was readily supplied from the limb of an ash. Thus
accoutred I strode down the ravine, not doubting but
what I should, before night, strike upon some deposit
which would fill my pockets. Passing groups who
were engaged in digging into this bank and that, I
fell in with a sailor, whom I recognized as one of the
men who had been honorably discharged from the
Savannah. He was gi'oping about as if in quest of
something he had lost. " What is the matter, Jones?"
I inquired ; he sprung to his feet, gave me his rough
hand, and pointed to a cliff which overhung the glen.
" There, on that crag," said he, " I have been at work
ever since the peep of day, and got out several bits
of gold, and one good-sized lump: I put them in my
tin run. when, striking away again, my pick glanced,
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 283
struck the cup, and knocked it, gold and all, half-way
across this ravine ; and I might as well hunt a clam
in the Pacific as that gold, though it was a jewel of a
piece — the biggest I have seen here." So I laid down
my pick, ascended the cliff, ascertained, as near as
possible, the direction in which the cup flew, and
commenced the search. Every bunch of leaves, eve-
ry hole and gulley were examined, and the cup re-
covered, but the gold was not in it.
Fatigued, I threw myself into the shade of a scrub-
oak, and went to sleep ; but the gold of poor Jones
glanced through my dreams. I saw, in that fantastic
realm, a small birch-tree, a bubbling spring at its
root, and in its fount a piece of gold. I seemed to
know at the time it was only a dream ; still the pic-
ture remained in my mind so clear, so distinct, that
on awaking I identified at a glance the birch, and
springing to its root found the little fount, and with a
hoe fetched up the piece of gold ! — the same that had
been lost, for none other could answer so exactly to
the description which had been given. It weighed
about three ounces, but did not seem larger than the
sparkling eye of the sailor as I placed it in his hand.
They may laugh who will at dreams, but now and
then some Sibyl leaf floats through them. I tried to
dream again where gold might be found ; saw plenty
of birch-trees and fountains, but never discovered an
ingot in either.
Monday, Oct. 9. On returnmg to our campmg-
28^4 THREE YEAnS IN CALIFORNIA.
tree this afternoon, I found three wild Indians quietly
squatted in its shade. They had been attracted there
by a red belt, which hung from one of the limbs.
They could speak only their native dialect, not a
word of which could I understand. We had to make
ourselves intelligible by signs. They wanted to pur-
chase the belt, and each laid down a piece of gold,
which were worth in the aggregate some two hun-
dred dollars. I took one of the pieces, and gave the
Indian to whom it belonged the belt. They made
signs for a piece of coin ; I offered them an eagle,
but it was not what they wanted, — a Spanish mill
dollar, but they wanted something smaller, — a fifty-
cent piece, and they signified it would do. Taking
the coin they fastened it in the end of a stick, so as
to expose nearly the entire circle, and set it up about
forty yards distant. They then cast lots by a bone,
which they threw into the air, for the order in which
they should discharge their arrows. The one who
had the first shot, drew his long sinewy bow and
missed ; the second, he missed ; the third, and he
missed, — though the arrow of each flew so near the
coin it would have killed a deer at that distance.
The second now shot first and grazed the coin ; then
the third, who broke his string and shot with the bow
of the second, but missed ; and now the first took his
turn, and struck the coin, whirling it off at a great
distance. The other two gave him the belt, which
he tied around his head instead of his blanket, and
away they started over the hills, full of wild life and
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 285
glee, leaving the coin, as a thing of no importance, in
the bushes where it had been whirled.
Tuesday, Oct. 10. My companions, who have
been out on a gold-hunt for several hours, have just
returned, bringing with them about an ounce of gold
each. They are so thoroughly fatigued they prefer
sleep to a dinner, connected with the trouble of pre-
paring it. And there is no other way here ; every
man is obliged to be his own cook. We have our
henchman, it is true, but he is in a ravine some four
miles distant, in charge of our horses and mules. If
he will keep them from straying, or being stolen by
the wild Indians, we shall be content to wait on our-
selves. Several of the persons at work in the ravine
turned their horses adrift on their arrival, which they
might safely do, for the poor things have not got
strength enough to climb its steep sides. They sub-
sist on the acorns which they gather, and a few tufts
of grass as dry and scorched as the clover over which
the flames of Sodom rolled. But what think men of
the hunger or thirst of dumb animals, when the gold
fever is throwing its circle of fire around the soul.
Wednesday, Oct. 11. It is near sunset, and the
gold-diggers are returning from their labors, each one
bearing on his head a brush-heap, with which he will
kindle his evening fire. Their wild halloos, as they
come in, fill the cliffs with their echoes. All are
merry, whatever may have been the fortunes of the
280 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
iluv With them. Not one among the whole can an-
ticipate a more luxurious supper than a cake baked
in the ashes, with a cup of coffee and a bit of jerked-
beef, except in the case of a new-comer, who has
I)rought with him a few pounds of buckwheat flour ;
lie can have a pancake, that is if he has any thing
with which to grease his pan, which is extremely
doubtful. There is not a bottle of liquor in the ra-
vine, and every one must, per force, turn in sober.
Every streamlet preaches temperance, and the wind-
stirred pine sings its soft eulogy on the charmed air.
Thursday, Oct. 12. I found near our camp this
morning a boulder of trap and quartz w'hich had
evidently travelled some distance, as nothing of the
kind existed in the ravine. I had no means of de-
molishing the mass, and could with my pick only dis-
lodge a few of the quartz : these I found veined with
gold. But it is the only specimen of this combina-
tion with which I have met. Where the fellow came
from, I know not ; but had he tumbled into New York
or Philadelphia, instead of this Canada, the whole
community would have been filled with prattling
wonders. How much the marvellous depends on cir-
cumstances !
Friday, Oct. 13. I passed a few days since a
Sonoranian at work against a steep bank of decom-
posed granite and clay, which was so firm that he
could hardly make an impression upon it with a
>
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 287
heavy sharp-pointed crowbar. "And what, my friend,"
I inquired, " are you going to get out there ?" to which
he rephed, " A pocket of gold, sir, as soon as I can
reach it." " And what makes you think," I con-
tinued, " that you will find a deposit there ?" to which
he responded, " Do you see that blow-hole on the \^\y\
other side of the ravine, where the slate rock stands p^ \ \
out so rough, with a savage mouth in the centre ?
Well, sir, that was the devil's blow-hole, and he bio wed
the gold straight across the ravine into this bank,
where I wall find it, if I work long enough." I thought j
him some half-crazy fellow, and passed on. He dug !
away all that day without reaching his pocket ; but
on the following day took out two pounds of gold, in
small pieces, resembling in shape the seeds of the
watermellon. As soon as this was known, four of
the New York volunteers struck in each side of the
Sonoranian, and dug him out ; and the old man very
quietly retired. The intruders dug away through the
remainder of the day, but found no gold, and then
quit the spot, concluding that the Sonoranian had got
out the only pocket which existed there. The next
morning, however, the Sonoranian renewed his attack
on the bank, and with his sharp-pointed crow-bar and
pick, penetrated beyond the layer where the volun-
teers had knocked off. Before night he struck an-
other pocket, and took out a pound and a half of
gold of the same shape and size as the other. The
volunteers were now roused, and returned to the spot,
determined to dig down the whole bank ; but one day
288 TIIRHE YEARS IN' CALIFORNIA.
of hard work, unrewarded by a single particle of gold,
was enough. They quitted the bank in disgust. The
oM Sonorauian told me it contained no more pockets.
1 lis theory about the blow-hole is by no means confined
to his own wild imagination ; a man by the name of
Black, who is one of the most successful gold-hunters
in the ravine, is guided, in his researches, by the same
seemingly absurd theory. It is possible that these
blow-holes, as they are called, were the vents of vol-
canoes, performing the same functions as those found
beneath the shaking cone of Etna.
Saturday, Oct. 14. A party of seven Americans
are just in from the higher slopes of the Sierra, where
they have been prospecting for gold. They penetra-
ted to the snow, tearing up roots, overturning rocks,
and draining fountains, but discovering no gold. It
is the foot range of the Sierra that contains the de-
posits ; this has been cut into segments by rapid
streams, rising higher up, and which have sunk their
channels into deep gorges. The larger portion of the
gold, subjected to the action of these torrents, has
been swept out upon the plain, or buried deep in
some nearer undulation, where it \vill I'emain undis-
turbed till the deposits nearer the surface have been ex-
hausted. These deeper treasures, like the inhumed re-
mains of a Herculaneum, will then be brought to light.
SuxDAY, Oct. 15. A quiet day among the gold-
diggers ; but few are at work with pick or pan ;
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 289
small parties have gone over the hills " prospecting,"
but the masses are beneath the oak and pines, which
shadow the canadas. Missionaries might find a field
here in this rolling population ; the waving grain, as
well as the still, falls before the sickle of the reaper.
There is something inspiring in wild- wood worship ; jy
you are with nature and nature's God : every thing
around you trembles in the breath of the Almighty :
the glad rivulet whispers his name, and the pine-grove
pours its sweeping anthem ; your spirit soars on
lighter wings, and religion becomes, as another has
beautifully expressed it, the play of the soul in the
sunbeams of God.
Monday, Oct. 16. I encountered this morning, in
the person of a Welchman, a pretty marked specimen
of the gold-digger. He stood some six feet eight in
his shoes, with giant limbs and frame. A leather
strap fastened his coarse trowsers above his hips, and
confined the flowing bunt of his flannel shirt. A
broad-rimmed hat sheltered his browny features, while
his unshorn beard and hair flowed in tangled confu-
sion to his waist. To his back was lashed a blanket
and bag of provisions ; on one shoulder rested a huge
crowbar, to which were hung a gold-washer and skil-
let ; on the other rested a rifle, a spade, and pick, from
which dangled a cup and pair of heavy shoes. He
recognized me as the magistrate who had once ar-
rested him for a breach of the peace. " Well, Senor
Alcalde," said he, " I am glad to see you in these dig-
25
•j;)0 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
fMngs. You had some trouble with me in Monterey ;
I was on a burster ; you did your duty, and I respect
vou for it ; and now let me settle the difference be-
tween us with a bit of gold : it shall be the first I
strike under this bog." I told him there was no differ-
ence between us ; that I knew at the time it was rum
which had raised the rumpus. But before I had fin-
ished my disclaiming speech, his traps were on the
ground, and his heavy pick was tearing up bog after
bog from the marl in which it had struck its tangling
roots. These removed, he struck a layer of clay :
" Here she comes !" he ejaculated, and turned out a
piece of gold that would weigh an ounce or more.
" There," said he, " Senor Alcalde, accept that ; and
when you reach home, where I hope you will find
all well, have a bracelet made of it for your good
lady."
He continued to dig around the same place, but
during the hour I remained with him found no other
piece of gold — not a particle. This is no uncommon
thing ; I have seen a piece weighing six ounces taken
from some little curve in a bank undulating in its
bed, while not another of any size, after the most la-
borious search, could be found in its vicinity. This
holds true of the larger pieces, but rarely of the scale
gold. Where you find half an ounce of that, you
may be pretty sure there is more near by. The
same law which deposited that, has carried its results
much further ; and you will find a clue to them in
the curves of the channel, or the character and posi-
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 291
tion of the rocks which project into it. If the projec-
tion is smooth, or forms an obtuse angle with the
current, there is no gold there, and you must look to
the eddy directly below it. This eddy, or its deposit,
can be examined only when the water has subsided.
During the rainy season, and when the snows are
melting on the Sierra, no such investigations can be
successfully prosecuted. Of all metals the most diffi-
cult to reach and secure under water is gold. It has
a thousand modes of eluding your search, and escap-
ing your scooping implements.
Tuesday, Oct. 17. A German this morning, pick-
ing a hole in the ground, near our camping-tree, for
a tent-pole, struck a piece of gold, weighing about
three ounces. As soon as it was known, some forty
picks were flying into the earth all around the spot.
You would have thought the ground had suddenly
caved over some human being, who must be instant-
ly disenhumed or die. But the fellow sought was
not the companion of the digger, but the mate of the
yellow boy accidentally found by the German. But
no such mate was discovered ; the one found had
slumbered thus alone like Adam before the birth of
Eve. How solitary that couch, though in Paradise !
Think of that, ye devotees of celibacy, who people
your dreams with fairies, and imagine a bliss amid
the wrecks of the fall, which was not the portion of
man even before that moral catastrophe.
But I forget the piece of gold ; no fellow was found
202 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
for it here ; but in a ravine, seven miles distant, a
little girl this morning picked up what she thought a
curious stone, and brought it to her mother, who, on
removing the extraneous matter, found it a lump of
pure gold, weighing between six and seven pounds.
The news of this discovery silenced all the picks
here for half an hour, and set as many tongues going
in their places. Twenty or thirty started at once to
explore the wonders of this new locality. Gold
among hunters, like a magnet in the midst of ferrugi- '
nous bodies, attracts every thing to itself
^ Wednesday, Oct. 18. We are camped in the
centre of the gold mines, in the heart of the richest
deposits which have been found, and where there are
many hundred at work. I have taken some pains to
ascertain the average per man that is got out ; it
must be less than half an ounce per day. It might
be more were there any stability among the diggers ;
but half their time is consumed in what they call
prospecting ; that is, looking up new deposits. An
idle rumor, or mere surmise, will carry them off in this
direction or that, when perhaps they gathered noth-
ing for their weariness and toil. A locality where
an ounce a day can be obtained by patient labor is
constantly left for another, which rumor has enriched
with more generous deposits, jk They who decry this
nistability in others, may hold out for a time, but
yield at last to the same phrensied fickleness. I have
never met with one who had the strength of purpose
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 293
to resist these roving temptations. He will not swing
a pick f or an ounce a day, with tlig runjtpr of ^Qynds
ringing in his ears. He shoulders his implements to
chase this phantom of ho|De.
Thursday, Oct. 19. All the gold-diggers through
the entire encampment, were shaken out of their
slumbers this morning by a r epo rt that a soli ti poc ket
of gold had been discovered in a bend of jJie_Stanis- ^
laus. In half an hour a motley multitude, covered
with crowbarsT^pickaxes, spades, rifles, and wash-
bowls, went streaming over the hills in the direc tion
of the new deposits. You"woiITd have thought some
fortress was to be stormed, or some citadel sapped.
I had seen too much of these rumored banks of gold
to be moved from my propriety, and remained under
my old camping-tree. Near this I pecked out from a
small crevice of slate rock, a piece weighing about
half an ounce. It had evidently travelled some dis-
tance, and taken refuge from the propulsive storms of
ages in this little hiding-place, as a good man from
the persecutions of the world glides down at last to
his sainted repose. But I have no compunction for
having disturbed this piece of gold ; it may yet be
shaped into an ear-drop, and kiss the envied cheek of
beauty ; or it may be studded with diamonds, and
swell on a billow that seems to blush at the flash of
its ray ; or it may be shaped into the marriage-ring,
and set its seal on the purest bliss that greets the
visits of angels ; or it may be stamped into a coin,
I
or) I TIIKEE YEARS I\ CALIFORNIA.
and as it dro]is into the hands of the widow or or-
jihan, prove that —
" The secret pleasure of a generous act
Is the great mind's great bribe."
But evening is returning, and with it the gold-dig-
gers from their pursuit of the new deposit. Their
jokes, as they clatter down the slopes of the ravine,
are sufficient evidence that they have been on a wild-
goose chase. Disappointment will make a single man
sober, but when it falls on a multitude, is often con-
verted into a source of railery and fun. There is
something extremely consoling in having the com-
pany of others, when we have been duped through
our vanity or exaggerated hopes. This comfort was
deeply felt by the diggers this evening. All had lost
a day, and with it the most enchanting visions of
wealth. All had returned hungry as a wolf on a
desert ; or a recluse listening in his last penance to
the sound of his cross-bones, shaken by the wind.
295
CHAPTER XXII.
VISIT TO THE SONORANIAN CAMP. FESTIVITIES AND GAMBLING. THE DOC-
TOR AND TEAMSTER. AN ALCALDE TURNED COOK. THE MINEr's TATTOO.
THE LITTLE DUTCHMAN. NEW DEPOSITS DISCOVERED. A WOMAN
KEEPING A MONTE TABLE. UP TO THE KNEE AND NINE-PENCE. THE
VOLCANOES AND GOLD. ARRIVAL OF A BARREL OF RUM.
Friday, Oct. 20. I threw myself into my sad-
dle at an early hour this morning, and started for a
Canada, about ten miles distant. The foot-trail which
I followed, lay over several sharp ridges to the quick
waves of the Stanislaus, and then up a steep moun-
tain spur. I was obliged to dismount, draw myself
up by the bushes, and trust to the fidelity of my
horse to follow. At last we gained the summit, but
it was only to gaze down a wild precipitous descent,
where the cliffs hung in toppling terror. A vein of
white quartz run along the ridge, like a line of un-
melted snow, with here and there spangles of gold
glittering in the sun. I had no implement with me
but my hunting-knife, and vainly broke the point of
that. I tried one of my pistols ; the bullet knocked
out the gold-drop, but jewel and lead went over
the steep verge together. I let myself down by the
bushes, blessing every lythe limb and steadfast root,
while my horse, more sagacious, fetched a circuit, and
reached the plain before me.
*>yG THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
Ascending another ridge, the ravine, which had
induced this adventure, lay in jagged wildness be-
neath. It was in uproarious hie ; an elk had been
shot ; and the miners were feasting on its fat ribs.
The repast was hardly over, when the nionte table,
with its piles of gold, glimmered in the shade. It
was the great camp of the Sonoranians, and hundreds
were crowding around to reach the bank, and de-
posit their treasures on the turn of a card. They
seemed to play for the excitement, and often doubled
their stakes whether they won or lost. They ap-
parently connect no moral obliquity with the game ;
one of them, who sleeps near my camping-tree, will
kneel by the half hour on the sharp rock in his Ave
Marias, while the keen night-wind cuts his scarce
clad frame, then rise and stake his last dollar at monte.
At the break of day he is on his knees again, and his
prayer trembles up with the first trill of the waking
birds. It was in this ravine that a few weeks since
the largest lump of gold found in California was dis-
covered. It weighs twenty-three pounds, is nearly
pure, and cubic in its form. Its discovery shook the
whole mines ; the shout of the eureka swelled on the
wind like the cheer of seamen when the pharos breaks
through a stormy night. I waved my adieu to the
miners, and fetching a bold circuit to the east, reached
at night-fall my camping-tree.
Saturday, Oct. 21. Extravagant charges here are
often made as offsets. A doctor of my acquaintance,
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. , 297
wishing to remove to another cailada a few miles off,
tost his machine into an empty wagon, bound in that
direction, and on arriving, asked the teamster what
he was to pay ; the reply was a hundred dollars !
which was planked down without a word. Soon after
this the teamster had a grip of the cholic, from which
he sought relief in two or three of the doctor's pills.
The relieved patient now asked what lie was to pay ;
the doctor, after a few moment's abstraction, in which
he seemed to be rummaging his memory more than his
medicines, replied, " The charge is exactly one hundred
dollars !" " Ah," said the wagoner, " I knew that
cradle would yet rock thunder at me." But he paid
the fee, and scjuared the account.
I have been out for several hours this morning
scouring a conical hill crowned with quartz. I took
with me the sailor, who knocked his cup of gold out
of sight by an accidental glance of his pick. We
searched the hill from top to bottom, shivered the
quartz on its summit, and rummaged among the frag-
ments of the same, which the storms of ages had
swept to its base, but we found no gold. Following
one of the slopes which terminated in a glen, over-
hung with willows, and where a current had flowed,
we struck into a confined basin, where we found,
among the pebbles, a deposit of gold, and gathered,
in the course of the day, about two ounces ; with
beautiful trophies we returned to camp.
Monday, Oct. 23. It was now near noon, and
i>gQ THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
iiiv day to cook the dinner ; so I hastened back to
our camping-tree, and piHng up the half-extinguished
l)rands, soon raised a fire. Then taking a tin pan,
which served alternately as a gold-washer and a
bread-tray, I turned into it a few pounds of flour, a
small solution ofsaleratus, and a few quarts of water,
and then went to work in it with my hands, mixing
it up and adding flour till I got it to the right con-
sistency ; then shaping it into a loaf, raked open the
embers, and rolled it in, covering it with the live
coals. While this baking was going on, I placed in
a stew-pan, after pounding it pretty well between two
stones, a string of jerked-beef, with a small quantity
of water, and lodged it on the fire. Then taking
some coffee, which had been burnt the evening be-
fore, I tied it in the end of a napkin, and hammering
it to pieces between two stones, turned it into a
cofl'ee-pot filled with water, and placed that, too, on
the fire. In half an hour or so my bread was baked,
my jerk-beef stewed, and my coffee boiled. I settled
the latter by turning on it a pint of cold water. The
bread was well done ; a little burnt on one side, and
somewhat puffed up, like the expectations of the gold-
digger in the morning, or the vanity of a stump-ora-
tor just after a cheer. My companions returned, and
seating ourselves on the ground, each with a tin cup
of coffee, a junk of bread, and a piece of the stewed
jerky, our dinner was soon dispatched, and with a
relish which the epicure never yet felt or fancied.
The water here is slightly impregnated with iron and
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 299
sulphur ; the one acting as a tonic, the other as an
aperient. And then this fine mountain air, some
eight hundred feet above the level of the sea, all con-
duce to health and buoyancy of spirits. Among the
hundred gold-diggers around, not one hypochondriac
throws on rock or rill the shadow of a long counte-
nance. Even they who hardly get out gold enough to
pay their way, laugh at their bad luck, and hope for
better success to-morrow. They have yet plenty of
tickets in the lottery, and some of them may turn out
prizes. At any rate, they are not going to despond
while these glens contain an undisturbed bar, or
these hills lift their cones of white rock in the sun.
Tuesday, Oct. 24. The ravine in which we are
camped runs nearly north and south, and is walled
by lofty ranges of precipitous rock. It is near ten
o'clock of the day before the rays of the sun strike
its depths ; but when they do reach you, it is with a
power that drives you at once into the shade. It is
twilight in the glen, while the cliffs above still blaze
in the radiance of the descending orb. As darkness
comes on, the camp-fires of the diggers, kindled along
the ravine, throw their light into every recess, where
forms are seen, gathered in groups, or glancing about,
while every now and then some merry tale or apt
joke explodes in a roar of laughter. At eight o'clock
every tin pan and brass kettle is put in requisition,
and the thumpers beat a tattoo, which is concluded
with the simultaneous discharge of several muskets.
.'JOO THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
The jargon is enough to frighten the wolf out of his
cavern ; and yet no harmony that ever rolled from
theatrical orchestra or cathedral choir, can charm
you iialf as much. It is the music of the heart reel-
ing itself off through tin pans in melodious numbers.
But the musicians are now all sound asleep ; their
cami)-fires wane, and there is only heard the dirge of
the pines, murmuring in the night-wind. Thousands
who lie on beds of down, under canopies of silk, might
envy the sleepers on these rocks their quiet repose.
The stars gaze on no groups where slumber shakes
from its wings such a refreshing dew.
Wednesday, Oct. 25. A little Dutchman came to me
this morning, and informed me, in whispers, that he
and his companion had, unbeknown to the rest, stolen
off to a glen about three miles distant, where they
had found a rich deposit, and then invited me to
come and share it with them. He took my pan,
which had served as a bread-tray, and we wound
over the hills to his glen. Here we found his red-
haired companion, knee-deep in mud, which he was
shovelling out to reach the bed of clay beneath. On
tliis bed lay the gold in grains about the size of wheat-
kernels. Every now and then the water, which was
as cold as ice, would gather in the hole, and required
to be bailed out or drained off. The chill of the
water was enough for me ; I had tried that once be-
fore, and felt no disposition to repeat the experiment.
The mud I could stand, for I was already dirty as a
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 301
pig just rolling out of his siesta. So I told my young
friends to go to work, and I would poke about the
edges. They urged me to jump in ; and truly the
temptation was strong, and required some share of
prudence to resist it, but I contented myself with work-
ing where I could keep my feet dry. But they sev-
eral times called for my pan, and filled it with earth,
scraped from the clay bed, which I washed out, and
then found at the bottom fifteen or twenty dollars in
gold. They obtained, as the result of their joint la-
bors through the day, about a thousand dollars.
Night was advancing, and I returned over the hills
to our camping-tree.
Thursday, Oct. 26. Where is the little Dutchman
and the red-haired Paddy ? ran in excited inquiry
through the ravine this morning, for they had now
been missed from the camp twenty-four hours, and
no doubt existed on the minds of many that they had
found a rich deposit somewhere, and were secretly
working it out. I knew well where they were, but
no one thought of questioning me on the subject, for
I was looked upon as a sort of amateur gold-hunter,
very much given to splitting rocks and digging in
unproductive places ; and, indeed, this was not far
from the truth, for my main object was information,
and a specimen of wild mountain life.
But to return to the little Dutchman. All knew
him to be a shrewd gold-hunter, and determined to
find him before he should exhaust his discovery. No
26
3()'3 THKEE YKARS IN CALIFORNIA.
cliild lost in the woods ever awakened half the con-
cern : some started in this direction, others in tha^t,
till all the cardinal points in the heaven, and all the
glens between, had men travelling towards them.
The most curious feature in this business is, that out
of a regiment of gold-hunters, where the utmost ap-
parent confusion prevails, the absence of two men
should be noticed. But the motions of every man
are watched. Even when he gathers up his traps,
takes formal leave, and is professedly bound home,
he is tracked for leagues. No disguise can avail
him ; the most successful war-stratagem would fail
here.
Friday, Oct. 27. I have just returned from an-
other ravine, five miles distant, where there are eighty
or a hundred gold-diggers. They are mostly Sono-
ranians, and, like all their countrymen, passionately
devoted to gambling. They were playing at monte ;
the keeper of the bank was a woman, and herself a
Sonoranian. There was no coin on the table ; the
bank consisted of a pile of gold, weighing, perhaps, a
hundred pounds ; and each of the players laid down
his ounce or pound, as his means or courage permit-
ted. The woman, on the whole, appeared to be the
winner, though one man, in the course of half an
hour, took ten pounds from her yellow pile. But
such a loss was felt only for the moment, and only
had the effect to stimulate others to lose what little
they had left. A Sonoranian digs out gold simply
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 303
and solely that he may have the wherewithal for
gambling. This is the rallying thought which wakes
with him in the morning, which accompanies him
through the day, and which floats through his dreams
at night. For this he labors, and cheerfully denies
himself every comfort. All this is the result of habit.
A Mussulman looks upon gambling as a species of lar-
ceny, — as a crime which deserves the bastinado. I
saw a Turkish cadi at Smyrna sentence a man to
thirty-nine lashes for having, as he termed it, swin-
dled another out of fifty dollars at faro. Give me a
Turk where there is a rogue to be caught or a crime
punished. The flashings of the sword of justice fol-
low the crime as light the shark in a phosphoric sea.
Saturday, Oct. 28. A portion of the party that
went in qiUfet of the little Dutchman have found him,
and helped him to dig out his new deposit — a sort of
assistance for which he can feel no very profound
obligation. It was much like that rendered by
Prince Hal in the division of the spoils secured
by the knight of sack at Gad's hill. A successful
gold-hunter is like the leader of hounds in the chase
— the whole pack comes sweeping after, and are sure
to be in at the death. No doubling hill, or covert, or
stream throws them upon a false scent. I advise all
fox-hunters to come here and train their hounds, and
throw away their horns. Even his Grace of Wel-
lington, who is still so hotly keen in the chase, that
the snows of eighty winters fall from his locks unper-
301 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORMA.
ceivcd, might catch some valuable hints in the gold
mines of California.
Monday, Oct. 30. I encountered to-day, in a
ravine some three miles distant, among the gold-
washers, a woman from San Jose. She was at work
with a large wooden bowl, by the side of a stream.
I asked her how long she had been there, and how
much gold she averaged a day. She replied, " Three
weeks and an ounce." Her reply reminded me of
an anecdote of the late Judge B , who met a girl
returning from market, and asked her, " How deep did
you find the stream ? what did you get for your but-
ter ?" " Up to the knee and nine-pence," was the
reply. Ah ! said the judge to himself; she is the girl
for me — no words lost there : turned back, proposed,
was accepted, and married the next \^iJMt ; and a
more hajipy couple the conjugal bonds never united :
the nuptial lamp never waned ; its ray w-as steady
and clear to the last. Ye, who paddle off and on for
seven years, and are at last perhaps capsized, take
a lesson of the judge. That " up to the knee and
nine-pence " is worth all the rose letters and melan-
choly rhymes ever penned. But I am wandering ;
I did intend to write this journal without an episode,
but they will keep forcing themselves in, like the cu-
riosity of the crowd in a family jar, or remembrances
of wrong u\nm a guilty conscience. I know the in-
terest of a journal depends much on the continuity of
its thread ; iiut it is the easiest thing in the world to
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORMA. 305
be continuously stupid, and that is my apology for
these episodical breaks. If the reader don't like this
reason, then let him look up a better ; while I plunge
into that o'ershadowed glen, and see if it contains
any gold.
Tuesday, Oct. 31. I have collected, since my
arrival in the mines, several singular and beautiful
specimens of the gold. One of the pieces resembles
a pendulous ear-drop, and must have- assumed that
shape when the metal was in a state of fusion. That
all the gold here has once been in that state is suffi-
ciently evident from the forms in which it is found.
I have a specimen, weighing several ounces, in which
the characteristics of the slate rock are as palpable
as if they had been engraved. I have another speci-
men, in whifljk a clear crystal of quartz is set, with a
finish of execution which no jeweller can rival. I
have another specimen still, where the gold gleams
up, in the shape of buck-shot, from a basis of sand-
stone ; and another still, where it has taken the form
of a paper-folder, and 'may be used to cut the leaves
of a book, which have escaped the knife of the binder.
A most interesting cabinet of curiosities might be ga-
thered from the variety of combinations and forms
which the gold in these mines has assumed. Nature
never indulged in fancies more elegant and whimsi-
cal. If these are the works of the volcano, then jew-
ellers, instead of looking to the laboratories of Paris,
or Amsterdam, for models, should come and seat
26*
.•)fln THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
themselves by the side of these craters. Here are
hiboratories, which no human power has constructed,
and models, which no human skill can rival.
Wednesday, Nov. 1. There are several persons
among the gold-diggers here who rarely use any
implement but their wooden bowls. Into these they
scrape the dirt left by others, which they stir and
whirl till the gold gradually works its way to the bot-
tom. The earth, as these heavier particles descend,
is thrown off by the hands, and the gold remains.
This process is what they call dry washing : it is re-
sorted to where there is no water in the vicinity, and
will answer pretty well where the gold is found in
coarse grains ; but the finer particles, of course, es-
cajie. The Sonoranians obviate this difficulty to
some extent by calling their lungs into requisition.
Thev rub the earth into their bowls, throuo-h their
hands, detaching and throwing away all the pebbles,
and then blow off" the sand and dust, leaving the gold
at the bottom. But on some of the streams, particu-
larly the Yuba, the gold is too fine even for this pro-
cess. It is amusing to see a group of Sonoranians,
seated around a deposit, blowing the earth out of
their bowls. But for the dust they raise, you would
think they were cooling hasty-pudding. Their
cheeks swell out, like the chops of a squirrel, car-
rying half the beech-nuts on a tree to his hole. A
more provident fellow he than his two-legged supe-
rior ! He lays in his stores against the inclemency of
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 307
winter ; while tlie Sonoranian squanders his at the
gambling-table. There is more practical wisdom in
an ant-hill than is often found in a city. But I am
digressing again — a propensity which I shall never
get over. /
Thursday, Nov. 2. Quite a sensation was pro-
duced among the gold-diggers this morning by the
arrival of a wagon from Stockton, freighted with
provisions and a barrel of liquor. The former had
been getting scarce, and the latter had long since en-
tirely given out. The prices of the first importation
were — flour, two dollars a pound ; sugar and coffee,
four dollars ; and the liquor, which was nothing more
nor less than New England rum, was twenty dollars
the quart. But few had bottles : every species of re-
tainer was resorted to ; some took their quart cups,
some their coffee-pots, and others their sauce-pans ;
while one fellow, who had neither, offered ten dollars
to let him suck with a straw from the bung. All
were soon in every variety of excitement, from prat-
tling exhilaration, to roaring inebriety. Some shouted,
some danced, and some wrestled : a son of Erin
poured out his soul on the beauties of the Emerald
isle ; a German sung the songs of his father-land ; a
Yankee apostrophized the mines, which swelled in
the hills around ; an Englishman challenged all the
bears in the mountain glens to mortal combat ; and a
Spaniard, posted aloft on a beetling crag, addressed
the universe. The multitudinous voices which rang
309 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
iVoin every chasm and cove of the ravine, rivalled
ihe roar that went up around the tower of Babel.
I'ut night has come ; the camp-fires burn dim ; and
the revellers are at rest, save here and there one who
strides about in his delirium, commanding silence
among the wolves who bark from the hills. What
exciting, elevating, and expanding powers there are
in a barrel of New England rum ! It makes one to-
day monarch of peopled realms, and their riches ; but
leaves him to-morrow in rags, and with only ground
enough in which to sink his pauper grave.
" Tlion sparkling bowl ! thou sparkling bowl !
Though lips of bards thy brim may press,
And eyes of beauty o'er thee roll,
And song and dance thy power confess —
I will not touch thee ; for there clings
A scorjDion to thy side that stiags."
PlEE PONT.
K
309
CHAPTER XXIII.
NATURAL AMPHITHEATEE. — NO SCIENTIFIC CLUE TO THE DEPOSITS OF GOLD. —
SOIL OF THE MINES. LIFE AMONG THE GOLD-DIGGERS. — LOSS OF OUR
CAB.\LLADA. THE OLD MAN AND ROCK. DEPARTURE FROM THE MINES.
TRAVELLING AMONG GORGES AND PINNACLES. — INSTINCTS OF THE MULE.
A MOUNTAIN CABIN.
Friday, Nov. 3. At the head of the ravine, where
our camping-trees wave, stands an amphitheatre
reared by nature, and unrivalled in the grandeur of
its proportions, and the stateliness and strength of
its architecture. It unrolls its wild magnificence on
the eye with a more majestic power than even
Rome's great wonder. From its ample arena, circling
ranges of crags soar one over the other to the lofty
sweep of the architrave, where sentinel-trees toss their
branches against the sky. Had nature reared this
theatre on the banks of the Tiber, the beauty and
bravery of Rome would have flashed over the arena's
gladiatorial tumult. But it was here in California,
where even the Roman eagle, in its earth-embracing
circuit, flew not.
A new deposit was discovered this morning near
the falls of the Stanislaus, and in the crevices of the
rocks over which the river pours its foaming sheet.
An Irishman had gone there to bathe, and in throw-
ing off" his clothes, had dropped his jack-knife, which
310 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
slipped into a crevice, where he first discovered the
rroU\. He was soon tracked, and in less than an hour
o
a storm of picks and crowbars were shivering the
ri'cks. Ti)e accessible pockets were readily exhaust-
ed, but beyond these only the drill and blast of the
j)ractical miner can extend. And this is true of all
the rock-gold in California; the present harvest glows
near the surface ; but there are under-crops, which
the sunlight has never visited. Deep mining here, as
elsewhere, will be attended with uncertain results ;
but a fount so capacious on its rim, must have its re-
l)lenishing depths. The largest fish are taken with
the longest line.
Saturday, Nov. 4. The deposits here bafflff all
the pretensions of science. The volcanoes did their
work by no uniform geological law ; they burst out
at random, and scattered their gold in wanton ca-
price. Were not those old Vulcans dead, they would
laugh at the blundering vanity exhibited around them.
The old landmarks are the quartz ; these are general
indications, but too vague when applied to alluvial
deposits, and frequently serve only to bewilder and
betray. We have a young geologist here who can
unroll the whole earth, layer by layer, from surface
to centre, and tell the properties of each, and how
it came to be deposited there, who unsuspectingly
walked over a bank of gold, which a poor Indian
afterwards stirred out with a stick. I have seen this
sarcni camp down and snore soundly through the
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 311
night, with a half-pound piece of gold within a few
inches of his nose ; and then rise at peep of day to
push his learned theory into some ledge of rocks,
where not a particle of the yellow ore ever existed.
I have seen a digger take from a bank of decomposed
granite, in a space not larger than a man's hat, between
three and four pounds of gold, while his only clue to
it was a blast on the opposite side of the glen, through
which he believed the deil had blown the gold into
the bank, where he was at work. What a burlesque '
on all geological laws as applied to gold deposits !
There is only one of these laws, in reference to allu-
vial deposits, worth a pin, and that is the simple fact
that a heavy body will tumble down hill faster than
a lighter one, or that a nut shaken from a tree will
drop through the fog to the ground.
^/
Sunday, Nov. 5. I rose this morning with the in-
tention of proposing to the diggers a religious service.
But mid-day came, and only here and there one
broke from slumbers doubly deep from the overpower-
ing fatigues of the week In a shaded recess of the hills
three of us found a little sanctuary : neither of the two
with me was a professor of religion, but each retained
in vivid remembrance the rehgious instructions of his
childhood and youth. Time and distance had not
effaced these impressions; each lettered trace re-
mained as legible as the footprints of the primeval
bird in the fossil rock. Such is the inscription of pa-
rental fidelity on the heart of a child :' the wave may
312 TIIUF.E YEARS IX CALIFORNIA.
wear away the mound which it laves, and the niarble
dissolve under the touch of time, but that inscription
remains.
Monday, Nov. 6. Vein-gold in these rocks is as
uncertain and capricious as lightning; it straggles
where you least expect it, and leaves only a stain
where its quick volume seemed directed. It threads
its way in a rock without crevice or crack, and where
its continuity becomes at times too subtle for the naked
eye, and then suddenly bulges out like a lank snake
that has swallowed a terrapin. The great Hebrew
proverbialist says there are three things about which
there is no certainty, — the way of an eagle in the air,
the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship
in the midst of the sea ; and he might have added —
the way of a thread of gold in a vein of California
quart/. ; but probably California, with its treasures,
had not then been discovered, though some of our
wiseacres arc trying to make out that this el dorado
was the Ophir of the Old Testament : if so, the men
of .Iiippa must have been pretty good seamen, espe-
cially as they had no compass. It may be, but I
somewhat doubt it, that the Hottentots or Patago-
nians are the descendants of some shipwrecked men
bound in a wherry from Tarsus to California. The
adventurers, even in that case, would have been quite
as sober in their calculations as some who put to sea
on a gold-hunt in these days.
I
THREE YEAR3 I\ CALIFORNIA. 313
Tuesday, Nov. 7. The price of provisions here is
no criterion of their market value on the seaboard,
o: even at the embarcadaros nearest the mines. The
cost of a hmidred pounds of flour at Stockton, only
sixty miles distant, is twenty dollars ; but here it is
two hundred dollars. This vast disparity is owing to
the difficulty of transportation and the absence of
competition. But few can be persuaded to leave the
expectations of the pick for the certainties of the
pack — the promises of the cradle for the fulfilments
of the freighted wagon. All live on drafts upon
the future, and though disappointed a hundred times,
still believe the results of to-morrow will more
than redeem the broken pledges of to-day. Though
all else may end in failure, hope is not bankrupt
here.
The soil in the mines is evidently volcanic ; it re-
sembles in places the ashes which cover Pompeii.
You can walk through it w^hen dry, though every
footstep stirs a httle cloud ; but when saturated with
the winter rain you slump to the middle. No horse
can force his way forward ; every struggle but sinks
him the deeper, and the miner himself retires to his
cabin, as thoroughly cut off from the peopled districts
of the coast, as a sailor wrecked on some rock at
sea. Years must elapse before human enterprise can
bridge a path to these mines, or render communica-
tion practicable in the rainy season ; nor at any pe-
riod can heavy machinery be transported here with-
out an immense outlay of capital. The quartz rock
27
f
314 THREE YEARS 1\ CALIFORNIA.
has yet some time to roll back the sunlight before it
crumbles under the steam-stamper.
Wednesday, Nov. 8. Some fifty thousand persons
are drifting up and down these slopes of the great
I Sierra, of every hue, language, and clime, tumultuous
* and confused as a flock of wild geese taking wing at
the crack _of a gun, or autumnal leaves strown on the
atmospheric tides by the breath of the whirlwind.
All are in quest of gold ; and, with eyes dilated to the
circle of the moon, rush this way and that, as some
new discovery, or fictitious tale of success may sug-
gest. Some are with tents, and some without ; some
have provisions, and some are on their last ration ;
some are carrying crowbars ; some pickaxes and
spades ; some wash-bowls and cradles ; some ham-
mers and drills, and powder enough to blow up the
rock of Gibraltar — if they can but get under it, as
the monkeys do, when they make their transit, through
a sort of Thames tunnel, from the golden but barren
sands of Africa to the green hills of Europe. Wise
fellows they, notwithstanding the length of their tails
— they won't stay on the Congo side of the strait, to
gather gold, when, by crossing, they can gather
grapes. Wisdom is justified of her children.
But I was speaking of the gold-hunters here on the
slopes of the Sierra. Such a mixed and motley
crowd— such a restless, roving, rummamno-, rago-ed
multitude, never before roared in the rookeries of
man. As for mutual aid and sympathy — Samson's
THREE YEAKri IN CALII'OKNIA. 315
foxes had as much of it, turned tail to, with firebrands
tied between. Each great camping-ground is de-
noted by the ruins of shovels and shanties, the bleach-
ing^ bones of the dead, disinhumed by the wolf, and
the skeleton of the culprit, still swinging in the wind, "A
from the limb of a tree, overshadowed by the raven.
From the deep glen, the caverned cliif, the plaintive
rivulet, the croaking raven, and the wind-toned skel-
eton come voices of reproachful interrogation —
" Slave of the dark and dirty mine !
What vanity has brought thee here ?"
Thursday, Nov. 9. Our baccaro came in this
morning, and startled us with the intelligence that
last night, while he was on the watch — sound asleep,
of course — the wild Indians came, and stole all our
horses and mules, save one, little Nina, whom he had
tethered close to his post. Rather an awkward pre-
dicament for us, in the California mountains, three
hundred miles from home, and our horses and mules
in the hands of wild Indians, driving them off into
some unknown fastness, to be killed for food ! But I
was on the trail of a small piece of gold, and followed
it up with that sort of listless equanimity with which
a man will sometimes pick up a curious shell on the
rocks where his vessel floats in fragments. If you
would acquire those habits which no disaster can dis-
turb, come to California. One year here will do
more for your philosophy than a life elsewhere. I
31(5 THREE YEARS IN CALIFOKMA.
have seen a man sit, and quietly smoke his cigar,
while his dwelling went heavenward in a column of
flame. It seemed as if it were enough for him that
his wife and children were safe, and that the green
earth, with its bright-eyed flowers and laughing rills,
remained ; so let the old tenement pass off in smoke
to pall some mountain peak, or throw its dusky shad-
ow where —
" The owlet builds his ivy tower."
Friday, Nov. 10. The Sonoranian, who has been
one of the most successful diggers in the ravine, be-
sieged me to-day to sell him my pistols. They are
an elegant pair, silver mounted and rifle bore, and
good for duck or duelist — no matter which — for
twenty or -thirty paces. He offered me a pound of
gold ; so I determined to try the non-resistant prin-
ciple, and let him have them. As he belted them
about his waist, and strode off, you would have ad-
vised even a California bear to get out of his way.
How well prepared for a last extremity is a man with
a new weapon at his side, or a new patent pill in his
pocket ! The only difference is, that with the former
he may chance to kill some one else, and with the
latter he is pretty sure to kill himself But I prom-
ised to make no more remarks ; my apology must
be the loss of our horses, the probable necessity
of being obliged to pick our way home on foot, and
the refuge which even an irrelevant thought affords
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 317
from such a dismal prospect. Men have betrayed
flashes of humor on the block — an evanescent ray on
the verge of endless night ! Then why should not
my poor pill have place in the pedestrian prospect of
three hundred miles, and that, too, through a region
marked only by the footprints which linger dimly in
the trail of the wild Indian ?
Saturday, Nov. 11. I encountered an old man
to-day, sitting listlessly on a rock under the broken
shade of a decayed oak. A few gray hairs strayed
from under his camping-cap, and his face was deeply
wrinkled ; but his eye flashed, at intervals, with the
fires of an unquenched spirit. He had not, as he told
me, obtained an ounce of gold in this ravine, and was
about trying some other locality. I advised him to
roll over the rock on which he was sitting ; he said
he would do it to please me ; but as for gold, he
might as well look for a weasel in a watchman's rat-
tle. The rock was easily rolled from its inclined po-
sition ; beneath it was found a layer of moss, and
beneath this, in the crevices of another rock, a depos-
it of gold, in the shape of pumpkin-seeds, bright as if
fresh from the mint, and weighing over half a pound.
The eyes of the old man sparkled ; but he was think-
ing of his home and those left behind.
Sunday, Nov. 12. Could the parents of the youth
in these glens cast a glance at their children, what a
tide of affection and concern would rush through
27*
;H8 three years ix California.
their hearts! No treasured ship at sea was ever en-
vironed bv deeper perils; storms lower in thick dark-
ness above, and breakers thunder below, and no
jiharos throws its friendly ray from the shrouded clJtf.
The only light they have to guide them is in their
own tempest-tost bark, and the lamp in the binnacle
is dim. The merchant who should send his ship to sea
without compass or rudder, would not be more frantic
and foolish than the parent who sends his son out upon
the world without any religion in his soul. These
youths in these glens are to shape the destinies of
California ; under their hands her political, social,
and moral institutions are to be reared. Unless reli-
gion lie at the foundations, these structures, though
columned with gold, will fall. It was frailty and rot-
tenness at the base that has left all the proud fabrics
of the Old World a storied mass of ruins.
Monday, Nov. 13. A mounted compa.iy of gold-
diggers arrived on our camping premises last even-
ing, and we struck in for four horses, which we pur-
chased at their own prices. Mine is an Indian pony
from Oregon, full of heart and hardihood; but as for
ease of motion, you might as well ride a trip-hammer.
But an extremity makes the most indifferent gift of
nature a blessed "boon.
We reduced our effects to the fewest articles possi-
ble, and packing these, with provisions for three or four
days, upon little Nina, were ready for a start. Two
Oregonian trappers joined us, and before the sun's ravs
THREE YEARS I\ CALIFORNIA. 319
struck the depths of the ravine, we were off, with
three hearty cheers from the diggers. An hour
brought us to the summit of an elevation, beneath
which lay, in panoramic life, the ravines, rivulets,
rambling paths, and roving groups of the gold-hunters.
I have walked on the roaring verge of Niagara,
through the grumbling parks of London, on the laugh-
ing boulevards of Paris, among the majestic ruins of
Rome, in the torch-lit galleries, of Herculaneum,
around the flaming crater of Vesuvius, through the
w'ave-reflected palaces of Venice, among the monu-
mental remains of Athens, and beneath the barbaric
splendors of Constantinople : but none of these, nor
all combined, have left in my memory a page graven
with more significant and indelUble characters than
the gold diggins of California.
Our route lay for several miles through a succes-
sion of narrow ravines, above which soared the stu-
pendous steeps of a mountain range, through which
some convulsion of nature had sunk these shadowy
chasms. Here and there some giant bluff had plunged
into the winding abyss, as if to shut out the profane
intruder from its silent sanctuaries. These granite
gates became at last so frequent, that we determined
to try the ridge, the table-rock, or less precipitous
slope. We wound up the steep sides' of the pass one
by one, as a weary bird at sea scales the tempest-
cloud ; and at last ^emerged upon a lofty range of
trap, feathered by the fir and low pine, and where the
eagle had made himself a home. A wide sea of
3"^0 TIIunE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
chasms and dines lay around us. These were evi-
dentlv the bleak monuments of volcanoes, which ages
since had rested from their labors. The sun threw
its level rays along their summits, while the abysses
lay in perpetual shadow. No path threw its trail on
the eye. Rounding a pinnacle, which stood as a for-
tress at the abrupt termination of one of the ranges,
we discovered a slope which slanted off less steeply
than the rest. Here, dismounting, we let ourselves
down for several hundred yards by the bushes ; Ni-
na, sure of foot as a fox, followed first ; my Indian
pony next ; and then the rest, as the docility or cour-
age of each induced. All our horses had been trained
by mountaineers, and well knew, if left behind, what
must be their fate. What a strange affection for
such an animal springs up at such an hour as this ! As
he comes down to join you, selecting you out as his
rider, snuffing about you, and inviting you to mount
again, you involuntarily throw your arms about his
neck, and try to make him understand the kindness
you feel for him.
We discovered in the last flashes of twilight a gush
of waters from the rocks, which beetled over a Canada,
where the grass was fresh from the showering spray.
We had struck this spot through no sagacity of our
own ; Nina, snuffing the water long before it flashed
upon us. had turned into the ravine, and dashed ahead
upon the gallop. Here we camped for the night
The dried willows supplied us with fuel, the cascade
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORMA. 321
with water, and our panniers with a piece of pork, and
a few pounds of flour, which the kneading-tray and
embers soon converted into bread. The stones were
made to grind our coffee, and we were soon seated
to a supper from which the epicure might perhaps
turn away, but which these rough mountains made
a luxury. And then the repose, though on the earth
with your saddle for a pillow, yet how refreshing and
profound ! Nor bark of wolf, nor murmur of cas-
cade, nor rustle of the bear disturbed my dreams that
night.
Tuesday, Nov. 14. We were up, had taken our
coffee, and were ready for a start, while as yet only
the whispering trees on the higher cliffs had been
greeted by the sun. Our course, which was determined
by a pocket-compass, now lay among mountain spurs,
till we reached the rollers, which ridge the plain of
the San Joaquin. In a copse of birch, which shadows
one of these, we discovered a spring, where we lunched
and rested for an hour, while our animals refreshed
themselves on the gras.s, still green on the marge of
the fount. We were now off" for a hard ride of several
hours. My little Indian hammered into it with a res-
olution that paid but little heed to the discomfort of
his rider. Our object was to reach before nightfall
the cabin of an old friend, who had nested himself
out here among these wild mountain crags. We
dashed around this steep, and over that, like hunters
in the chase ; while Nina, without rein or rider, led
',i22 TIlREn YEARS IN' CALIFORMA.
the way. We had no trail to guide us, — only the in-
stinct of our animals, and that sagacity which a
mountain life converts into a sort of prophetic knowl-
edge. The day was dying fast, and no gleam of the
cabin cheered the eye. The night would render all
search hopeless. At last we struck the stream on
which we knew the cabin stood, but whether up or
down its current, we could not decide ; but Nina,
after pausing a moment, led quick and resolutely up
the stream, and we struck in after. The step of a
weasel may turn the balanced rock.
Three miles of fast riding brought us to a grove of
oak, now WTapped in the purple twilight. Along
this we streamed till reaching a bold bend, which
circled up into its shadows, when the fagot flame of
the cottage struck the eye. Our horses bounded for-
ward on the gallop, knowing as well as we that the
weary day was now over. Here we found my friend.
Dr. Isabel! and his good lady, who gave us a hearty
welcome. True, their cabin had but one room in it ;
but what of that ?— hearts make a home in the wilder-
ness. Our first care was for our animals, which were
soon watered and turned into a rich meadow, with a
faithful Indian to w^atch them through the night.
Our busy hostess soon announced supper— beefsteak,
omelet, hot rolls, and coffee, with sugar and cream ! If
you want to know how that supper relished, come
and live a month in the mines of California. We
run over our adventures since leaving Monterey, and
they chimed in well with those of our host in his
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 323
wild-wood home. Kindred and friends far away
came sweeping down on the stream of memory, and
gathered Hfe-like and warm at om' sides. We Hved
over again all om* school-days, om' rustic sports, our
husking-bees, our youthful loves, and those stolen
kisses, which the sterner rules of refinement have in-
terdicted only to give place to Polkas, in which
modesty is too much bewildered to blush. Our hos-
pitable friends welcomed us to all the sleeping com-
forts which their cabin afforded ; but we camped
under the trees, and were soon afloat in the realm of
dreams, amid its visioned forms.
" Alas ! that dreams are only dreams 1
That fancy cannot give
A lasting beauty to those forms,
Wliich scarce a moment hve."
324
CHAPTER XXIV.
A lADY IN THE MOUNTAINS. — TOWN OF STOCKTON. — CROSSING THE VALLEY
OF THE SAN JOAQUIN. — THE ROBBED FATHER AND BOY. — RIDE TO SAN
JOSE.— RUM IN CALIFORNIA. HIGHWAYMEN. WOODLAND LIFE. — RACHEL
AT THE WELL. FAREWELL TO MY CAMPING-TREE.
Wednesday, Nov. 15. Another day had dawned
fresh and brilliant ; we breakfasted with our friends,
who ordered up their horses, and started with us for
Stockton, twelve miles distant. Our lady hostess and
mv.<;elf led off; she had crossed the Rocky Mountains
on horseback into California, and was, of course, at
home in the saddle. She was mounted on a spirited
animal, and my little Indian almost blew the wind
out of him to keep up. My companion, though ac-
complished in all the refinements of metropolitan life,
was yet in love with the wild scenes in which her lot
had been cast. The rose of health blushed in her
cheek, and the light of a salient soul revelled in her
eye. " I would not exchange," she said, " my cabin
for any palace in Christendom. I have all that I
want here, and what more could I have elsewhere ?
I have tried luxury without health, and a wild moun-
tain life with it. Give me the latter, with the free
air, the dashing streams, the swinging woods, the
laughing flowers, and the exulting birds ; and
" Let liim wlio crawls enamored of decay,
Cling to his couch, and sicken years away.' "
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 325
We were now at Stockton, the nucleus of a town
at the head waters of a narrow arm of the San Joa-
quin. The site is well chosen ; its central position
to the gold mines, the broad fertile plain which
spreads around it, and the water communication
which connects it with the commerce of the Sacra-
mento and San Francisco, will lift it into a town of
the first importance. Charles Weber, a gentleman
much esteemed for his liberality and enterprise, is the
owner of the land now occupied by the town, and
many leagues adjacent. He has given spacious lots
to all who would erect buildings. His policy is
marked with wisdom ; he will find his advantage in
the results. His ample store is well filled with pro-
visions, groceries, and ready-made clothing. The
amount of business is immense, and the profits would
phrensy our Philadelphia merchants.
We found Stockton without a hotel, the private
houses unfinished ; and, caring but little for either,
camped under the trees, We took supper with Mr.
Weber, and, at a late hour, wound ourselves in our
blankets for repose. The dew fell heavy, but we
slept through it without the least harm. A hydropa-
thist might have exchanged his sheet for a twist in
one of our wet blankets. But we had no rheumatic
joints to be relaxed, and no bone-burrowed mercu-
ry to be douched. What an envied lot, that of the
pearl-diver ! He gets not only his bath, but a pearl
besides. And what a happy fellow is a fish ! He is
always head and tail in the hydropathic process. I
28
;j>(; THREE years in California.
wonder if it is not this that gives the shark such an
appetite, and lends wings to the flying-fish. Even the
bullfrog comes up only to twang his joy, and the whale
to blow off his excess of pleasure, while the mermaid,
lost io transport, sings in her coral hall till the listen-
inflf naiads feel
" Their souls dissolve in her melodious breath."
Thlrsday, Nov. 16. Replenishing our panniers
with hard bread, and a few pounds of dried venison
and coffee, we bade adieu to our Oregonian friends
and the hospitable proprietor of Stockton, and were off
for our distant home. Our trail for sixteen miles lay
through an arid plain, when we brought up on the
bold bank of the San Joaquin. Our saddles, bridles,
packs, and persons were thrown into a boat, our
horses driven into the stream, and over w^e dashed to
the opposite bank, where we paid two dollars each
for our ferriage, and mounted for a fresh start. It
was near sunset when w-e reached the line of trees
which belt, with their thick umbrage, the great valley
which stretches in barrenness beyond. Here we
camped for the night, and soon found, to our pleasur-
able surprise, our friends Lieut. Bonnycastle and
Lieut, Morehead, of the army, in a camp not more
than an arrow's flight distant. They w^ere on their
way to the mines, and if excellent qualities of head
and heart can secure success, must return with for-
tunes. Night deepened apace, and our simple repast
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 327
finished, we wrapped ourselves in our blankets, and
were soon in sound sleep.
Friday, Nov. 17. The day glimmered over the
hill-tops : a cup of coffee, a cake of hard bread, and
a scrap of dried venison, and we were under way
again. Our trail lay for fifteen miles over the prairie
of the San Joaquin. Though now in November, yet
the heat was oppressive. We encountered groups of
disbanded volunteers, on their way to the mines.
The soldiers' improvidence had left but very few the
means of procuring horses, and they were generally
on foot, and crippled with blisters. Going to the
mines is one thing ; returning from them is another.
A dream of victory animates the soldier, and visions
of sold stimulate the digger. It is onlv the result
under which the heart droops and the muscles give
way.
It was mid-day when we struck the hills which roll
their low forests to the verge of the prairie. In a
glen, where sparkled a spring and the pine threw its
shadows, we encountered an elderly man and his lit-
tle boy. The parent was silent, downcast, and ab-
stracted, and his boy was evidently trying to cheer
him. The father, in reply to our inquiries, informed
us that they had been in the mines, where, by great
industry and good fortune, they had got out twen-
ty pounds of gold ; that on their return they had
camped for the night near Stockton ; that leaving
their camping-tree for a few hours to renew their
n:?8 THREE YEARS 1\ CALIFORNIA.
Stock of provisions, they had buried their bagof goM
under the tree ; but on their return their gold could
not be found ! that the most diligent search had led
to no results ; that he had been robbed! that the loss
was less for him, but that he had eight motherless
children, dependent on him for a support. Who could
listen to such a tale as this and not feel his blood tin-
gle at the callous wretch who could thus ruin an-
other? Even the forgiving Uncle Toby w^ould de-
liver him over to the avenging angel, to be driven
down under double-bolted thunder : nothing could
rescue him, unless the Universalists catch him in
their creed, which saves a man in spite of the Evil
One, and in spite of himself, too.
We invited the father and son to join our com- •
pany ; and when on the way, the little boy, who was
mounted on a pony at my side, told me a subscription
had been started at Stockton for his father, and that
]Mr.^^'eber and Dr. Isabell had subscribed a pound of
gold each. Blessings on those liberal men ! such a
charity will throw a circle of light around misfortune,
should it ever be their lot. The sun was far down
his western dip when we reached the hospitable
hearth of our friend Mr. Livermore ; but finding that
he had no grain for our horses, and that the grass
around had utterly perished under the summer's
drought, we determined to push on ;. and, crossing a
plain of eight miles, reached the mountain rollers,
where we struck into a ravine, through which a
streamlet murmured, and where a plot of grass still
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 329
preserved some portion of its freshness; Here we
tethered and camped. The brief twilight that re-
mained had passed into night's bosom before we had
gathered sufficient wood for our camp-fire : and we
needed a large pile ; for the air was chill and pene-
trating. We made our supper on hard bread, dried
venison, and coffee ; while clouds, the sure precursors
of the winter rains, drifted above in sluggish masses.
Our camp-fire threw its column of waving flame on
the beetling crags ; not a sound from cavern or clift'
distuz'bed the silence ; we gazed into the fire, lost in
pensive musing ; and a more melancholy group sel-
dom gathers over that face —
" Where life's last parting pulse has ceased to play,"
when an owl perched near, gave a deep hoot ! Each
broke into an involuntary laugh. The philosophy of
that transition I leave to those whose metaphysical
acumen can spht the shadow which falls between
melancholy and mirth.
Saturday, Nov. 18. Another morn full of rosy
charms comes blushing over the hills ; at the glance
of her eye the shadows flee away, and the birds
awaken into song. The stir of preparation rustles
the leaves under our camping-tree, and while the dew
yet gems the grass, we are up and away. What sal-
ient freshness and force are in the heart which takes
its pulses from the waving wild-wood and the dashing
stream ! The exhilaration in its fullest tide never
28*
330 THREE YEARS I\ TALIFORMA.
ebbs ; it bears you on with sympathies and enjoy-
ments still expanding, till all nature, with her intense
life and rapture, is yours.
Our path, which lay through a mountain gorge,
bent its line to a winding rivulet, laughing and sing-
ing through the sohtude. Little cared that for mar-
ble fount or sculptured dolphin ; it was happy in its
own free life, and the kisses of the enamored pebbles,
which danced in its hmpid wave. And now the
white walls of the old church, where the mission of
San Jose reared its altars, glimmered into vision.
Fast and far the separating interval was left behind,
when we dashed up to its welcome portal. Here we
found an Irish restaurant, and set its culinary func-
tions in motion —
" Nothing's more pure at moments to take hold
Of the best feelings of mankind, which gi-ow
More tender, as we every day behold,
Than that all-softening, overpowering knell,
The tocsin of the soul — the dinner-bell !"
Sunday, Nov. 19. My companions pushed on
last evening to San Jose — fifteen miles distant. My
old Russian friend, who occupies one of the mission
buildings, invited me to spend the Sabbath with him ;
an invitation which I gladly accepted, as it aflforded
a refuge from the restaurant, with the roar of its rev-
elry and rum. The United States have sent out
enough of this fire here to burn up a continent. The
conflagration, kindled by the battle-brand or bolt of
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 331
the electric cloud, may sweep a forest, or lay a city
in ashes ; but from the smouldering ruins new struc-
tures will rise, and a new generation of plants spring;
but where the spirit of rum hath spread its flame a
desolation follows, which the skill of man and the re-
viving dews of heaven can never reach. It is bar-
ren and verdureless as the sulphurous marl which
paves
" The deep track of hell."
Monday, Nov. 20. For a moment this morning I
regretted having parted with my pistols, and thrown
myself on the non-resistant principle. I was alone,
and on my way to San Jose, when two horsemen sud-
denly broke from the covert of the woods on my left,
and swept down upon the line of my path. They were
w^ell mounted, and had the dare-devil air of the bri-
gand. It was near this spot, too, that a young friend
of mine had been recently murdered. To attempt
flight on my Indian pony from the lightning hoof- of
my pursuers, would have given to consternation itself
a hue of the ludicrous. I determined to die decently,
if die I must. My supposed assailants dashed close
to my side, and then, without uttering aAvord, spurred
back to the forest, from which they had debouched.
They were foreigners, disguised as Californians ; for
a native always salutes you, and would, were his hand
on the trigger of his pistol. They went as they
came, and the secret of their impetuous visit is in
their own keeping. I was quite willing to part with
.'J32 TJIRKE YHARS IN CALIFORNIA.
their company, and ascribe their intrusion to a violent
curiosity, or any other motive untouched by crime,
so that they would let me pass in peace to the
I'ueblo of San Jose.
Tl-esdav, Nov. 21. Arriving at the Pueblo, I
found my companions had hired four horses, accus-
tomed to the harness, attached them to the wagon,
which we had left here, on our way to the mines, and
were ready to start for Monterey. I threw my sad-
dle, l^ridle, and blanket into the wagon, and parted
with my Indian pony : he had done me good service,
and got me out of a bad fix in the mines ; he had
pounded me some, it is true ; but that was no fault of
his ; nature never intended him to tread on flowers
without bending their stems. May his new owner
treat him kindly ; and when age has withered his
strengtji, not turn him out on a public common to
die ! Had we as little mercy shown us as we extend
to the noblest animal committed to our care, we
should never get to heaven.
The sun was far down his western slope when we
reached the rancho of Mr. Murphy, and camped for
the niglit under the evergreen oaks, which throw the
soft shade of their undying verdure over a streamlet
thai murmurs near his door. The old gentleman in-
vited us in to share his restricted apartments, but we
had so long slept under trees, that we preferred the
iVce air, the maternal earth, and the stars to light us to
our slumber. Truly I never slept so soundly on the
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 333
garnished couch, and never found in sleep such a
renovating refreshment. I can now comprehend why
it is the hunter chngs to his wild life, and prefers the
precarious subsistence of his rifle to teeming stalls.
He lives out of himself; his sympathies are with
nature ; his sensations roll through boundless space.
It is for his eye the violet blooms, and the early cloud
catches the blush of morn ; it is for his ear the bird
sings from its green covert, and the torrent shouts
from its cliff; it is to cheer his footsteps that the twi-
light lingers, and the star blazes in the coronet of
night : all the changes of the varied year are for
him; and around his wild- wood home the seasons
lead the hours in perpetual dance ; and when his be-
ing shall resign its trust, the dirge of the deep wood
will sing his requiem, and the wings of the wind,
filled with the fragrance of flowers, bear his spirit to
its bright abode.
Wednesday, Nov. 22. We broke camp at sun-
rise, took our coffee, harnessed up, and began to lum-
ber ahead. Our driver, who owned the dull steeds
which he reined, was a native of New England, and
betrayed his origin in the perpetual hum of a low
plaintive tune, which spun on for hours in the same
unconscious monotony. Even the crack of his whip,
which came in frequently, had only the effect to give
some note a slight emphasis, while the low dirge still
murmured on, true to its unbroken flow as the tick of
the death-watch to its admonitory errand, Thus ■'ic
33 i THREE YEARS IN' CALIFORNIA.
liours of the day, their tender requiem being sung,
stole siltjntly into the past.
But now occurred a wayfaring incident which
could not thus be charmed to rest. Our team, about
half wav up the long hill of San Juan, balked, and
the wagon began to roll back to its base. We jumped
out and clogged the wheels, for we had no idea of re-
turning again to the mines. Having breathed a
moment, we made another attempt, but without suc-
cess ; we now put our shoulders to the wheels, while
the lash fell fast on the flanks of our horses. But no
pushing, coaxing, or whipping availed ; our journey for
the day was done, and abruptly too as that of a mi-
gratory goose struck by a rifle ball. The shadows of
the mountain pines were lengthening fast, and we re-
tired into a glen at a short distance, and camped. It
\\as my duty to procure water for coffee ; the spring
where the horses drank was too full of impurities ; I
followed up the" unseen vein marked by the green
willows, till its flowing wave murmured on the ear
from the depths of a shadowy chasm. But the
method of reaching it puzzled me as much as the
faithful proxy of the Patriarch would have been, but
for the pitcher and line of the gentle Rachel. How
free of affectation and false alarm that daughter of
Israel, as her snow-white arms drew the limpid tide
Jo quench the stranger's thirst ! How free of a dis-
trustful spirit, or disdaining pride, when told that one
whom her father loved, sued for her bridal hand ! The
wave which swelled in her milk-white bosom may
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORMA. 335
have trembled a moment, like the leaf stirred in the
rosy twilight, and the dream of her pillowed slumber
may have flushed through the snow-curl of her cheek,
but with the early lark, she was up and away — happy
in her own youth and innocence, and in the thought
that these were inwoven with the happiness of an-
other. How hollow the pretexts of protracted delay,
when touched by the light which glimmers down
through ages from the example of this primitive
maiden ! But where am I ? — in the infant world in-
stead of these chasmed rocks, which frown through
the wrinkles of its decrepitude and age. How thought
annihilates time and space! The flower that first
bloomed on the verge of the globe, as it emerged from
chaos, and the cinder that will fade last in the embers
of its final conflagration, lie side by side in the domain
of thought ; and the star that hailed its birth, and the
planet that will guard its tomb, are twin-born in
the eternity of time. But I am oft' again in a phi-
losophic revery, and must come back to my coffee-
pot and chasm ! With the aid of a long riata, my
bucket was lowered sufficiently to dip the unseen
stream; but drawing it up I discovered in its wave, as
the surface became tranquil, what might well startle
any one whose nerves were not of steel. It was a
human face of bronze hue, half covered with tano-led
locks, and a beard of hermit growth, and so like that
bent above, there was a relief in the ripple that de-
stroyed the resemblance. But my camping compan-
ions will never, at this rate, get then" coffee.
33G TflREE YEARi IN CALIFORNIA.
TinTRSDAY, Nov. 23. We escaped this morning
another balk of our aniinaJs by a circling road which
in the dusk of the last eve we had missed. It was
mid-day when we rumbled from the hills of San Juan
upon the plain of the Salinas, and near sunset when
we reached the river, which rolls its yellow w'ave fif-
teen miles from Monterey. We might have pushed
through, but why be impatient over a night's delay.?
I had no one there watching a husband's return, or
waiting a father's kiss. These objects of endearment
were in other lands, and oceans rolled between.
More than three lojjg years had worn away since I
waved my adieu, and weary moons must set before
my return. I may find the eyes that beamed so
kindly, closed forever; the bud of infant being, on
which their last light fell, withered.
We were roused in the night by screams from the
river ; an o.vcart, with three women in it, had tum-
bled down the opposite bank. The cattle seemed as
much frightened as their passengers, and fared better,
as they had struck a shallower bottom. We plunged
in and reached the cart. Our first impulse was to
take the women out and tote them ashore, but their
great size and weight forbade. We wished to carry
the thing through as gallantly as it had been begun;
but after casting about— the cold stream all the while
lowering the thermometer of our enthusiasm — we
concluded to drive the team out, and scramble out
ourselves.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 337
Friday, Nov. 24. We broke camp at an early
hour, and were off for Monterey. I left my camping-
tree as one parts with a tried friend. It was the last
of a vernal band, that had thrown over me, at burning
noon and through the chilly night, their protecting
shade. While our driver hummed his low monoto-
nous stave to his steeds, my neglected reed murmured
in the counter —
TO MY CAMPING-TREE.
Farewell to thee, mj camping-tree,
The last to shade this breast, ^
Where twilight weaves, with tender leaves,
Her couch of rosy rest.
Thy trembling leaf seemed shook with grief,
As on it gleamed the dew ;
As woke the bird, by night-winds stirred,
The stars came dancing through.
In lucid dreams I caught the gleams-
Through chasmed rocks unrolled —
Of gems, where blaze the diamond's rays,
And massive bars of gold.
I saw a ship her anchor trip,
All stowed with gold below.
Depart this bay for Joppa's quay,
Three thousand years ago !
A star-lit dome, of amber foam.
Loomed in the liquid blue,
Where reigned of old, on thrones of gold,
The Incas of Pern.
20
f
238 TUKEE YEARS IN CALIFORXIA.
The midnight moans, and phrensied groans,
Of miners near their last,
In tones that cursed the gold they nursed.
Came trembling on the blast.
Wliile one apart, with gentler heart,
His still tears dashed aside.
Tluit he might trace a pictured face^
At which he gazed, and died
On steep and vale, m calm and gale.
Like music on the sea —
Sweet slumber stole, within my soul.
Beneath the camping-tree.
A low-voiced tone, the wind hath tlirown
Upon my dreaming ear.
Of oxE, whose smiles, and gentle wiles,
Are still remembered here : —
Of one, whose tears — where each endears
The more the heart that wept —
From swimming lid in silence slid.
And on her bosom slept.
A blue-eyed child, with glee half wild,
In infant beauty's beams,
And lock tliat rolled, in waving gold.
Came glancing through my dreams.
Farewell to thee, my camping-tree ;
Till life's last visions gleam,
Tby leaves and limbs, and vesper hymns,
Shall float in memoiy's dream.
^^
\
339
CHAPTER XXV.
CAUSE OF SICKNESS IN THE MINES. — THE QUICKSILVER MINES. HEAT AND
COLD IN THE MINES. TRAITS IN THE SPANISH CHARACTER. HEALTH OF
CALIFORNIA LADIES. A WORD TO MOTHERS. THE PINGRASS AND BLACK-
BIRD. THE REDWOOD-TREE. BATTLE OF THE EGGS.
Saturday, Dec. 2. I found Monterey, on my re-
turn from the mines, under the same quiet air in
which her green hills had soared since I first beheld
their waving shade. Many had predicted my pre-
cipitate return, from the hardships and baffled attempt
of the tour ; but I persevered, taking it rough and
tumble from the first, and have returned with im-
proved health. I met with but very few cases of sick-
ness in the mines, and these obviously resulting from
excessive imprudence. What but maladies could be
expected, where the miner stands by the hour in a
cold mountain stream, with a broiling sun overhead,
and then, perhaps, drinking every day a pint of New
England rum ? Why, the rum itself would shatter
any constitution not lightning-proof. I wish those
who send this fire-curse here were wrapped in its
flames till the wave of repentance should baptize
them into a better life.
I have missed but two things, since my return, from
my goods and chattels — my walking-cane and my Bi-
ble ; both have been carried off during my absence.
I
340 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
I hope the latter will do the person who has taken it
much good : I forgive the burglary for the sake of the
benefit. Prometheus was chained to the Caucasian
rock for having filched fire from heaven ; but no such
fearful retribution awaits him who has stolen my Bi-
ble, flooded though it be with a higher light than ever
dawned on the eyes of the guilty Titan. May its
spirit reach the offender's soul, and quicken thoughts
that shall wander without rest till they light on the
Cross, where hang the hopes of the world.
Tuesday, Dec. 12. The quicksilver mines of Cal-
ifornia constitute one of the most important elements
in her mineral wealth. Only one vein has as yet
been fully developed ; this lies a few miles from San
Jose, and is owned by Hon. Alexander Forbes, Brit-
ish consul at Type, in Mexico — a gentleman of vast
means and enterprise— and who has a heart as full of
generous impulses as his mine is of wealth. Many
of our countrymen, in misfortune, have shared his
munificent liberality. His mine, in the absence of
suitable machinery, has been worked to great disad-
vantage; and yet, with two whaling-kettles for fur-
naces, he has driven off' a hundred and fifty pounds a
day of the pure metal. If this can be done with an
apparatus intended only for trying blubber, a ton may
be rolled from a capacious retort constructed for
the purpose. The title of Mr. Forbes to this mme
has excited some inquiry, but it will be found among
the soundest in California.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 341
Instead of attempting to shake this title, a more
wise and profitable course will be to open a fresh
vein. They lie in the contiguous spurs of the same
mountain range, and only require a small outlay of
labor and capital to develop their untold wealth. The
metal need not travel from California to find a mar-
ket ; vast quantities will be required in the gold
mines : the cradle and bowl must give place to more
complicated machinery ; the sands of the river pass
through a more delicate process ; and the quartz of
the steep rock, crumbled under the stamper, surren-
der its gold to the embrace of quicksilver. This stu-
pendous issue is close at hand ; and they who antici-
pate it, will find the fruits of their sagacity and enter-
prise in sudden fortunes.
Monday, Dec. 25. The multitudes who are in the
mines, suflTer in health and constitution from the ex-
treme changes of temperature which follow day and
night. In some of the ravines in which we camped,
these variations vibrated through thirty and forty
degrees. In mid-dav we were driven into the shade
to keep cool, and in the night into two or three blan-
kets to keep warm. The heat is ascribable in part
to the nature of the soil, its naked sandy features, its
power of radiation, and the absence of circulation in
the glens. But the cold comes with the visits of the
night wind from the frosty slopes of the Sierra
Nevada.
These extreme variations follow the miner through
29*
SVi THREE YEARS I\ CALIFORNIA.
the whole region in which his tempting scenes of
labor lie, and require a degree of prudence seldom
met with in that wild woodland life. The conse-
quence is, a group of maladies under which the strong-
est constitution at length breaks down. But I am
convinced fi-om personal experience, that with proper
precaution and suitable food, many, and most of these
evils may be obviated. The southern mines are in
elevations which exempt them from the maladies in-
cident to the low lands which fringe the streams
farther north. There are no stagnant waters, no de-
composition of vegetable matter, no miasma drifting
about in the fog, to shake and burn you wdth alternate
chill and fever. I never enjoyed better health and
spirits ; and never encountered in a great moving
mass, notwithstanding their irregularities, so few in-
stances of disease traceable to local causes. I have
seen more groaners and grunters in one metropolitan
household, than in any swarming ravine in the south-
ern mines
^-. V/ Sunday, Ja\. 7. Lapses from virtue are not un-
frequently associated, in the character of the Spanish
female, with singular exhibitions of charity and self-
denial. She is often at the couch of disease, un-
shrinkingly exposed to contagion, or in the hovel of
destitution, administering to human necessity. She
pities where others reproach, and succors where
others forsake. The motive which prompts this un-
wearied charity, is a secret within her own soul. It
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 343
may be as a poor expiation for conscious error, or the
impulse of those kindly sentiments not yet extinct, or
gratitude for that humanity which foregoes merited
reprehension. Be the cause what it may, it justly
retains her within the pale of Christian charity, and
entitles her to that sympathy in her own misfortunes
which she so largely bestows on the sorrows of
others.
Denunciation never yet protected the innocent,
confirmed the wavering, or recovered the fallen.
That spirit of ferocity which breaks the bruised reed,
partakes more of relentless pride than virtuous dis-
approbation. Many sever themselves from all sympa-
thy with the erring, from the mistaken apprehension
that the wider the chasm, the more advantageous the
light in which they will appear. But that chasm
which seems so wide to them, narrows to a faint line
in the eye of Omniscience. Forgiveness is our duty ;
not that forgiveness which scorns and forsakes the
object on which it is bestowed, but which seeks to
i*eclaim the erring, and reinstate the fallen in merited
confidence and esteem. When repentant guilt trem-
bled and blushed in the presence of Him whose
divine example is our guide, no frown darkened His
brow, no malediction fell from His lips ; His absolv-
ing injunction was — go, and sin no more. The bright-
est stars are they which have emerged from a horizon
of darkness.
Tuesday, Jan. 16. The climate on the seaboard
IMI TIIUEE YEARS IN CALIFOKMA.
is remarkably equable ; it varies at Monterey, the
year round, but little from sixty. You never lay
aside vour woollen apparel, and always feel ready for
a bear-hunt, or any other field-sport that may tempt
vour taste or skill. Till the Americans came here
there was hardly a house in the town which contained
a fireplace ; even the cooking was done in a de-
tached ;ipartment, seemingly to avoid the straggling
ravs of its grate. The children ran about in the
winter months without a shoe, and in their httle cot-
ton slips, the perfect pictures of health. The girl of
seventeen, the mother of forty, and the venerable
lady, who had reached her threescore and ten, were
never seen hovering around a fire : they were at their
household affairs, in apartments where a coal had
never been kindled ; or in their gardens, where the
last rain had revived their drooping plants ; or out in
the woods at })ic-nics, where the very birds sung out
in rivalry of their jocund mirth. Health spread its
rose in the cheek, and elastic life thrilled in the bound-
ing limb. The birth of a child was only a momentary
pause in this scene of pleasurable activity, and more
than compensated for its brief encroachment in a
new bud of being, to be clustered among the rest —
now blooming in fragrant life around the parent tree.
Think of this, ye mothers who cloister your daugh-
ters in air-tight parlors, with furnaces blowing in
hot steam from below. It is no wonder they wither
from their cradles, and that their bridal couch is
olten ashes. Your mistaken tenderness, vanity, and
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 345
pride have supplied death with trophies long enough.
Look here to California ; among all these mothers
and daughters, there is not one where the canker-
worm of that disease is at work which has spread
sorrow and dismay around your hearths.. The insidi-
ous disguises and sapping advances of the ct)nsump-
tion are not known here ; I have not yet met with
the first instance where this disease, contracted here,
has found a victim. It is your in-door habits, hot
parlors, prunellas, and twisting corsets, that clothe
this generation with weeds, and bequeath to the next
constitutions that fall like grass under the scythe of
death. If your daughters won't take out-door exer-
cise from persuasion, then drive them forth as the
guardian angel of Eden your erring progenitrix. It
may have been that the development of her physical
forces, as well as retributive justice, induced her ex-
pulsion from the luxurious roses, the balmy airs, and
lulling streams of her first abode. But your Eves
will come back again, and sparkling eyes, and buoy-
ant spirits, and a vigorous pulse will commend your
maternal wisdom ; and when a man, worthy of your
confidence and the aflfections of your daughters,
wants a wife, his choice will not lie in a group of
valetudinarians. He carries off a bird that floats a
strong wing, and that can sing in concert with him
as they build the nest out of which other harmonies
are to charm the warbling grove ; and then, too, the
young fledglings will come back to you, all bright and
beautiful, and touched with the spirit of gladness in
310 THRF.n YEARS I.\ CALIFORNIA.
\vhich their breezy cradle swung. Why, is not this
enough to make a mother's soul leap to her laughing
eyes !
Wednesday, Jan. 24. Nature never leaves any
portion of her troubled domain without a compensa-
tion. Here, where the hills and plains, under the
long summer's drought, become so parched and dry
that the grasshoppers cease to sing, she presents a
pingrass, on which the cattle still thrive ; and when
this fails, it has already dropped a seed even more
nutritious than the stem which sustained its bulbous
cradle. For this, a California horse will leave the
best bin of oats that ever waved in the harvest-moon.
The first copious shower, which usually occurs in
November, destroys it, but around its ruins another
grass springs, to throw its green velvet, inwrought
with millions of flowers, on the charmed eye. It is
no wonder the birds here sing through the year, and
forego those migrations to which they are subjected
in other climes. The lay of the robin, the whistle of
the quail, and the tender notes of the curlew, are al-
ways piping in the grove, or filling with melody the
garden-tree.
Were the blackbird to migrate, and never come
back, no farmer would regret his absence ; for he is
a mischievous bird, who has no respect for the rights
of property. He squats by millions where he likes,
and would rob a wheat-field of its last kernel with a
thousand thunders rattling overhead. His lections
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 347
darken the heaven where they fly, and drown all other
harmonies in the jargon of their obstreperous chatter.
They are said to be good for a pot-pie ; and there are
enough of them here to plump a pie around which
nations might sit and carve at will : and how much
better to be carving a common pie than carving into
each other's lands, — to be popping at blackbirds than
shooting each other. There is not a blackbird but
what laughs under his glossy wing when he sees a
man levelling his gun at another, which the sable
rogue knows ought to be levelled at him ; and when
the smoke-clouds loom up from the field of battle, he
chatters in very glee, and even the eyes of the sedate
raven are filled with unwonted light. Man makes
himself a mournful tragedy and ludicrous comedy in
the great creation of God.
Wednesday, Feb. 7. There is one tree in Cali-
fornia that is worthy of note, which is peculiar to the
country, and as deserving a place on her coat-of-arms
as her grizzly bear, and much more so, unless her
people intend to overawe their neighbors with the
terrors of their insignia. This tree is called the red-
wood, and closely resembles, in its texture, size, and
antiseptic qualities, the giant cedars which have
pinnacled, through the storms of a thousand years,
the steeps of Lebanon. It is found on the table-lands
between the coast range and the sea, and grows in
distinct forests, like the savage tribes which once
slumbered in its shadows. Its shaft rises straight and
;{18 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
Ircc uf limbs, till high over the wave of other trees it
can spread its emerald sails to the wind, compact as
the royals of a ship of the line. The wqod is of a
pale red hue, and easily yields to any shape under the
implements of the carpenter, but is not sufficiently
firm for the severer tests of cabinet work. It resists
decav, whatever may be its exposure, and in the
ground or on the roof is true to its trust. The same
shingle which shook the rain from your grandsire,
wards it from you ; and the same board which pan-
nelled his coffin, echoes to the rumbling sounds of
yours as you go down to join him. In a grove of
these trees, only a short ride from Monterey, stands
one measuring sixty feet in circumference ! Of its
height I am not certain, as I had no means of meas-
uring it — say three hundred feet — or at least as high
as the steeple of that church, a warden of which,
who had caught the spirit of its elevation, is reported
to have said in reply to a proposition for the intro-
duction of lamps and an evening service, " this line
goes through by daylight." Let those versed in
moral mensuration determine the elevation of that
warden s spn-itual pride, and they will have the height
of my tree exactly.
Friday, Feb. 16. Mr. Larkin has closed the
amusements of the carnival with a splendid entertain-
ment, graced with all the beauty and bravery of
Monterey. As no egg could be broken after mid-
night, without trenching on the solemnities of Lent,
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 349
each went equipped with these weapons, ready for an
early contest. Several small volleys opened the en-
gagement between some of the parties ; while the
fandango engrossed the attention of others. In this
oval war the ladies are always the antagonists of the
gentlemen, and, generally, through their dexterity,
and larger supply of ammunition, bear off the palm.
They will sometimes carry two or three dozen rounds
each, and as snugly stowed away as cartridges in the
box of a new recruit. Still both parties will fight it
out —
" With blow for blow, disputing inch by inch,
Where one will not retreat, nor t'other flinch."
But there were two shot in the company, in the
shape of goose eggs, well filled with cologne, to which
an unusual interest attached. One of them had
been brought by Gen. M , the other by Donna
J , and each was only watching an opportunity
for a crash on the head of the other. Both were en-
dowed with physical force, dexterity, and firmness,
and a heart in which pity relaxed none of these ener-
gies. Neither turned an eye but for a moment from
the other ; but in that moment the donna dashed to
the side of the general, and would have crashed her
egg on his head, had not the blow been instantly par-
ried. The assailed now became the assailant, and
both were in for the last tests of skill —
" While none who saw them could divine
To which side conquest would incline."
30
S')0 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
The donna changed her tactics, stood on the defen-
sive and parried, and in one of these dexterous foils
(lashed her egg on the head of her antagonist, who,
in the same instant, brought his down plump on hers.
Both were drenched in cologne ; both victors in de-
feat : a shout followed, which shook the rafters of the
old tenement. The engagement now became gene-
ral ; each had his antagonist, and must "do or die ;"
the battle swayed this way and that — sometimes in
single combat, and at others in vollied platoons ; and
then along the whole blazing line : each recoil was re-
covered by a more vigorous assault ; each retreat in
rallied thunder, more than redeemed ; while first and
foremost, where wavered or withstood the foe —
" Tlie donna cheered her band."
But, in this most critical crisis of the field, the fire
began to slacken along the line of the men ; their
ammunition was giving out ; only a few^ rounds here
and there remained ; the heroines perceived this,
and opened with double round and grape on their
foes —
" Who f(irm— unite— charge— waver — all is lost!"
The bell tolled the hour of midnight, and Lent came
in with her ashes to bury the dead ! They may trifle
who will with this field ; but there was more in it
worthy of a good man's remembrance than half the
fields fought from Homer's day to this. If this be
Irea.son to the bullet and blood chivalry — make the
most of it.
351
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. — SCENERY AROUND MONTEREY. — VINEYARDS OF LOS
ANGELS. BEAUTY OF SAN DIEGO. THE CULPRIT HALL. THE RUSH FOR
GOLD. LAND TITLES. THE INDIAN DOCTRESS. — TUFTED PARTRIDGE.
DEATH OF COM. BIDDLE.
V
Saturday, Feb. 24. All the land grants in Cali-
fornia are blindly defined ; a mountain bluff, lagoon,
river, or ravine serve as boundaries ;\and these not
unfrequently comprehend double the leagues or acres
contemplated in the instrument. No accurate sur-
veys have been made ; and- the only legal restrictions
falling within these vague limits, is in the shape of a
provision that the excess shall revert to the public
domain. This provision, which is inserted in most
of the grants, will throw into the market, under an
accurate survey, some of the best tracts in Califor-
nia. These will be seized upon by capitalists and
speculators, and held at prices beyond the means of
emigrants, unless some legislative provision shall ex-
tend peculiar privileges to actual settlers.
The lands which lie through the gold region are
uninvaded by any private grants, except one on the
Maraposa, owned by Col. Fremont ; one on the
Cosumes, owned by W. E. P. Hartnell, and the
limited claims of Johnson on Bear river, and Capt,
Sutter on the Americano. All the other lands stretch-
ing from Feather river on the north, to the river Reys
r52 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
on the south, covering five hundred miles along the
slopes of the Sierra Nevada, belonging to the public
domain.^nd should never become private property
so lonfT as it is for the interests of the United States
to encourage mining in California, Any system of
private proprietorship will result in monopoly and
bloodshed. Let companies lease their sections, and
private individuals pay their license; and let every
rerrulation look more to the encouragement it extends,
than the revenue it exacts.
Tuesday, Feb. 27. At an early hour this morn-
ing a huge floating mass, with her steep sides dark as
night, was seen winding into the bav without sail,
wind, or tide. Such a wizard phenomenon was never
seen before on this coast, and might well alann the
natives, especially when the great guns of the fort
rolled their thunder at her : and still she neared !
heaving the still waters into cataracts at her side,
and sending up her steep column of smoke, as if a
young Etna were at work within. They who had
witnessed such things in other parts of the world,
shouted "The steamer! the steamer!" and instantly
the echo came back with redoubled force from a
hundred crowded balconies. The whole community
was thrown into excitement, wonder, and gratula-
tion ; cheers and shouts of welcome rent the air ; all
liquors were free to brim the bumpers ; and basket
after basket of champagne went gratuitously into the
streets, till their flying corks rose like musket-shot in
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 353
a general feu de joie. The last distrust of good faith
in the government vanished ; and all saw the dawn of
a higher destiny breaking over California. The en-
terprise of a Rowland and Aspinwall blazed in this
new aurora, and filled the whole horizon with lisht.
The golden promise which had floated in doubt and
earnest hope had been redeemed and the union of
California with the glorious confederacy achieved.
What now were oceans and an isthmus ! — only a few
waves and a narrow line of earth, unfelt under the
conquering powers of steam. Such was the tumult
of transport which hailed the first steamer ; such her
welcome to the el dorado of the West. No gold mine
sprung in the Sierra ever roused half the wonder,
hope, and general joy.
Monday, March 5. The scenery around Mon-
terey and the locale of the town, arrest the first
glance of the stranger. The wild waving background
of forest-feathered cliffs, the green slopes, and the
glimmering walls of the white dwellings, and the dash
of the billows on the sparkling sands of the bay, fix
and charm the eye. Nor does the enchantment fade
by being familiarly approached ; avenues of almost
endless variety lead off through the circling steeps,
and winding through long shadowy ravines, lose
themselves in the vine-clad recesses of the distant
hills. It is no wonder that California centred her
taste, pride, and wealth here, till the Vandal irruption
of gold-hunters broke into her peaceful domain. Now
30*
354 TUREE YEARS IN CALIFORNTA.
all eves are turned to San Francisco, with lier mud
bottoms, her sand hills, and her chill winds, which cut
the stranger like hail driven through the summer sol-
stice. Avarice may erect its shanty there, but con-
tentment, and a love of the wild and beautiful, will
construct its tabernacle among the flowers, the waving
shades, and fragrant airs of Monterey. And even
they who now drive the spade and drill in the mines,
when their yellow pile shall fill the measure of their
purposes, will come here to sprinkle these hills with
the mansions and cottages of ease and refinement.
Among these soaring crags the step of youth will still
spring, and beauty garland her tresses with wild-
flowers in the mirror of the mountain stream. Alas !
that eyes so bright should be closed so soon, and that
a step so light and free should lead but to that narrow
house which holds no communion with the pulses
which will still roll through nature's great heart !
Wednesday, March 7. Emigrants, when the
phrensy of the mines has passed, will be strongly
attracted to los Angeles, the capital of the southern
department. It stands inland from San Pedro about
eight leagues, in the bosom of a broad fertile plain,
and has a population of two thousand souls. The
San Gabriel pours its sparkling tide through its green
borders. The most delicious fruits of the tropical
zone may flourish here. As yet, only the grape and
fig have secured the attention of the cultivator ; but
the capacities of the soil and aptitudes of the climate
THREE YEAUS IN CALIFORNIA. 355
are attested in the twenty thousand vines, which reel
in one orchard, and which send through Cahfornia a
wine that need not blush in the presence of any rival
from the hills of France or the sunny slopes of Italy.
To these plains the more quiet emigrants will ere
long gather, and convert their drills into pruning-
hooks, and we shall have wines, figs, dates, almonds,
olives, and raisins from California. The gold may
give out, but these are secure while nature remains.
San Diego is another spot to which the tide of
immigration must turn. It stands on the border line
of Alta California, and opens on a land-locked bay of
surpassing beauty. The climate is soft and mild the
year round ; the sky brilliant, and the atmosphere
free of those mists which the cold currents throw on
the northern sections of the coast. The sea-breeze
cools the heat of summer, and the great ocean her-
self modulates into the same temperature the rough
airs of winter. The seasons roll round, varied only
by the fresh fruits and flowers that follow in their
train. I would rather have a willow-wove hut at
San Diego, wath ground enough for a garden, than
the whole peninsula of San Francisco, if I must live
there. ' The one is a Vallambrosa, where only the ^
zephy rstirs her light wing ; the other a tempest-swept
cave of iEolus, where the demons of storm shake their
shivering victims. The lust of gold will people the
one, but all that is lovely in the human heart spread
its charm over the other. Before the eyes that fall
on these pages are under death's shadow, San Diego
S'lG THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
will have become the queen of the south in California,
encircled with vineyards and fields of golden grain,
and gathering into her bosom the flowing commerce
of the Colorado and Gila.
Thursday, March 8. The town-hall, on which
I have been at work for more than a year, is at last
finished. It is built of a white stone, quarried from a
neighboring hill, and which easily takes the shape
you desire. The lower apartments are for schools ;
the hall over them — seventy feet by thirty — is for
public assemblies. The front is ornamented with a
portico, which you enter from the hall. It is not an
edifice that would attract any attention among pub-
lic buildings in the United States ; but in California
it is without a rival. It has been erected out of the
slender proceeds of town lots, the labor of the con-
victs, taxes on liquor shops, and fines on gamblers.
The scheme was regarded with incredulity by many;
but the building is finished, and the citizens have as-
sembled in it, and christened it after my name, which
will now go down to posterity with the odor of gam-
blers, convicts, and tipplers. I leave it as an hum-
])le evidence of what may be accomplished by rigidly
adhering to one purpose, and shrinking from no per-
sonal efforts necessary to its achievement. A prison
has also been built, and mainly through the labor of
the convicts. Many a joke the rogues have cracked
while constructing their own cage ; but they have
worked so diligently I shall feel constrained to pardon
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 357
out the less incorrigible. It is difficult here to dis-
criminate between offences which flow from moral
hardihood, and those which result, in a measui'e, from
untoward circumstances. There is a wide difference
in the turpitude of the two ; and an alcalde under
the Mexican law, has a large scope in which to exer-
cise his sense of moral justice. Better to err a fur-
long with mercy than a fathom with cruelty. Un-
merited punishment never yet reformed its subject ;
to suppose it, is a libel on the human soul.
Friday, March 9. There is one event in the re-
cent history of California, which has carried with it
decisive moral results. Till the intelligence of peace ) ^
reached here, a bewildering expectation had been en-
tertained by many, that Mexico would never consent
to part with this portion of her domain. This idea,
vague and groundless as it was, interfered with all
permanent plans of action affecting individual capital
and enterprise. To this state of uncertainty the
news of peace, which reached here in August, gave
an effectual quietus. The event was announced to
the community by order of Gen. Mason, through a
national salute from the fort ; and hardly had the
echoes died away among the hills, when its certainty
sunk deep and firm into the convictions of all. The
result was a revulsion of feeling towards Mexico,
which no repentant action on her part could ever
overcome. The native people felt that they had been
sold, and expressed in no measured terms their indig-
35S THREE YEARS IN CALIFORMA.
nation. They had no objections to the transfer of al-
legiance ; but they scorned the barter, and denounced
the treachery, as they termed it, which had put a
price upon their heads. The old Spanish blood was
up, and flaming, like the lake which rolls its tide of
fire in the breast of Vesuvius. From that day to this,
I have never heard one native citizen express for
jNIexico even that poor sentiment of regard with
which pity sometimes softens an indignant contempt.
The only regret was, that the American arms were
withdrawn from that country, and that her national
existence was not extinct. This feeling remains, and
will still be felt in the various relations of society,
when the native mass has been swallowed up in the
emigrant tide, as a rivulet in the majesty of the moun-
tain stream.
Sunday, March 11. What crowds are rushing
out here for gold ! what multitudes are leaving their
distant homes for this glittering treasure ! Can gold
warrant the hazards of the enterprise ? Can it com-
pensate the toils and suffering which it imposes ? Can
it repair a shattered constitution, or bring back the
exhilarating pulse and play of youth ? Let the wrecks
of those who have perished speak ; let the broken
hearts and hopes of thousands utter their admonition :
their voices come surging over these pines, breaking
from these cliffs, sighing in the winds, and knelling
from the clouds. Your treasures you must resign at
the dark portal of the grave ; there the glittering heap,
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 350
and the stioiig arms which wrenched it from the mine,
lie down together ; the spirit walketh alone through
that troubled night ; but a ray twinkles through its
long aisle of darkness : follow that in meekness and
faith, and it will lead you to the spirit-land. There
dwell your kindred who adorned virtue with a spirit
of contentment, — there the parent whose latest prayer
was for you, — there the sister, who, in the hush of
voices around, heard the sweet strains of an unseen
harp, and was charmed away from the delusive dreams
of earth, ere a hope of the heart had been broken, or
sorrow had saddened a smile. What is wealth to
such an inheritance ? what the society of kings to
such companionship ? XPlume your wing for heaven
ere it droops in the death-dew of its dissolving
strength. V
Tuesday, March 20. The land-titles in California
ought to receive the most indulgent construction.
But few of them have all the forms prescribed by
legislative enactments, but they have official insignia
sufficient to certify the intentions of the government.
To disturb these grants w^ould be alike impolitic and
unjust ; it would be to convert the lands which they
cover to the public domain, and ultimately turn them
over to speculators and foreign capitalists. Better
let them remain as they are : they are now in good
hands ; they are held mostly by Californians, — a class
of persons who part with them on reasonable terms.
No Californian grinds the face of the poor, or refuses
3d0 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
an emigrant a participation in his lands. I hav e
seen them dispose of miles for a consideration less
than would be required by Americans for as many-
acres. You are shut up to the shrewdness and sharp-
ness of the Yankee on the one hand, and the libe-
rality of the Californian on the other. Your choice
lies between the two, and I have no hesitation in say-
ing, give me the Californian. If he has a farm, and
1 have none, he will divide with me ; but who ever
heard of a Yankee splitting up his farm to accom-
modate emigrants ? Why, he will not divide with his
own sons till death has divided him from both.
Yankees are good when mountains are to be levelled,
lakes drained, and licrhtninc: converted into a vesi;eta-
ble manure ; but as a landholder, deliver me from his
map and maw. He wants not only all on this side
of creation's verge, but a leette that laps over the
other.
Wednesday, March 28. A young friend of mine
had been several months in Monterey, confined to his
room, and nearly helpless, from an ugly sore on one
of his limbs. The skill of the whole medical profes-
sion here, in the army and navy, and out of them,
had been exerted in this case, and baffled. At last,
the discouraged patient sent for an old Indian wo-
man, who has some reputation among the natives for
medical sagacity in roots and herbs. She examined
the sore, and the next day brought to the patient a
poultice and pot of tea. The application was made
THREE YEAKS IN CALIFORNIA. 361
and the beverage drank as directed. These were re-
newed two or three times, and the young man is now
running about the streets, or hunting his game, sound
as a nut.
This same Indian woman is the only physician I
had when attacked with the disease which carried off
Lieut. Miner and several others attached to the pub-
lic service. In a half-delirious state, which followed
close upon the attack, I looked up and saw bending
over me the kind Mrs. Hartnell — one of the noblest
among the native ladies of California — and at her
side stood this Indian woman feeling my pulse. Mrs.
H. remained, while her medical attendant went away,
but returned soon with the Indian medicaments which
were to arrest, or remedy this rapid and critical dis-
ease. I resigned myself to all her drinks and baths ;
she did with me just what she pleased. She broke
the fever without breaking me ; restored my strength,
and in a week I was in my office, attending to my
duties. What she gave me I know not, but I believe
her roots and herbs saved my life, as well as the leg
of my friend.
Saturday, April 7. The quail, or tufted partridge,
abounds in California, and is a delicious bird. A
walk of ten minutes in any direction from Monterey,
will bring you into their favorite haunts. But they
are extremely shy ; it is no easy matter to strike them
on the wing : they are out of one bush and into an-
other before you can level your piece, unless, like the
31
;j;;3 TlIRnF, years in CALIFORNIA.
Irishman hitting his weasel, you fire first and take
aim afterwards. I must attribute my success fre-
quently to hits of this kind ; for a deliberate aim was
sure to come too late, — ^just like an old bachelor's
proposal of marriage, which, as his vanity whispers
him, might have been accepted had it been made a
little sooner, but now the dulcinia has changed her
mind, and the fat is all in the fire. What a pity that
such a pelican should be left alone in this world's
wilderness, and the community be deprived of all the
little pelicans that might have been ! But I was
speaking of quail, and not of pelicans, and of the diffi-
culty of hitting them. Gen. Mason is the best shot
here ; a quail, to fly his fire, must be as quick on the
wing as a message, in its sightless career, over one of
INIorse's magnetic wires. To me one of the most en-
ticing features in California life is presented in her
game. It comes in every variety of form, from the
elk and buck that rove her forests and prairies, to the
rabbit that undermines the garden-hedge ; and from
the wild goose and duck, which sweep in clouds her
ruflled waters, to the little beca that feeds on her figs.
A good sportsman might live the year round, amid
these meadows and mounds, on the trophies of his
fowling-piece and rifle, and as independent of civilized
life as any savage that ever bent the bow or steadied
his bark canoe over the rushing verge of the cascade.
Tuesday, April 17. That spirit of prophecy which
sometimes trembles in an adieu, occurred forcibly to
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 3G3
me on receiving the intelligence of the death of Com.
Biddle. His last words were omens, if such a thing
may be. He had ordered the Columbus to be ready
for sea the next morning, and had come ashore for a
walk in the woods which skirt Monterey. We had
ascended the summit of a hill which commands a
wide range of waving woods, gleaming meadows, and
ocean's blue expanse. The great orb of day was on
the horizon, and the eye of the commodore was fast-
ened upon it as it sunk in solemn majesty from sight.
He had not spoken for several minutes ; when, turn-
ing to me, he said — " This is my last walk among
these hills, and something whispers me that all my
walks end here." This was said with that look and
manner in which the undertone of a man's thoughts
will sometimes find words without his will. It was
utterly at variance with the cool, philosophical habits
which were eminently characteristic of the commo-
dore, and which he seldom relinquished, except in
some sally of humor and wit. This remark woke
like a slumber of the shroud, on the sudden intelli-
gence of his death. It may be a superstition, but I
shall never resign, to a skeptical philosophy, the
omen and its seeming fulfilment. The future is often
prefigured in an incident or sentiment of the present.
" An undefined and sudden thrill,
That makes the heart a moment still —
Then beat with quicker pulse, ashamed
Of that strange sense itscK had liAmed."
301 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
The hill-top and the waving forest remain, but the
commodore — where is he ? Gone, like a star from its
darkened watch-tower on high ! But the night which
quenched the beam is still fringed with light. To
this surviving ray we turn in bereavement and grief
His genius lighted the objects of thought on which it
touched, and glanced, with an intuitive force, through
the subtle problems of the mind. His mental horizon
was broad, and yet every object within its wide cir-
cle was distinctly seen, and seen in its true position
and relative importance. The trifling never rose
into the great, and the majestic never became tame.
Each stood, in his clear vision, as truth and reason
had stamped it. He was cool and collected without
being stoical, and immovably firm without being ar-
bitrary. He had that courage which could never be
shaken by surprise, made giddy with success, or
quelled by disaster. Whatever subject he assayed,
he mastered. He has left but few behind him, out of
the legal profession, more thoroughly versed in ques-
tions of international law and maritime jurisprudence.
Had not his early impulses taken him to the deck, he
might have been eminent at the bar, in the cabinet,
or hall of legislation. He had all the clearness and
comprehensiveness of a great statesman. Gratitude
twines this leaf of remembrance and respect into that
chaplet which the bereavement of the service has
woven on his grave.
365
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE GOLD REGION. — ITS LOCALITT, NATURE, AND EXTENT. — FOREIGNERS
IN THE MIXES. THE INDIANS* DISCOVERT OF GOLD. AGRICULTURAL
C.VP ABILITIES OF CALIFORNIA. SERVICES OF UNITED STATES OFFICERS.
FIRST DECISIVE MOVEMENT FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF A CIVIL GOVERN-
MENT. — INTELLIGENCE OF THE DEATH OF GEN. KEARNY.
Thursday, April 26. The gold region, which con-
tains deposits of sufficient richness to reward the
labor of working them, is strongly defined by nature.
It lies along the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada — a
mountain range running nearly parallel with the
coast — and extends on these hills about five hundred
miles north and south, by thirty or forty east and west.
From the slopes of the Sierra, a large number of
streams issue, which cut their channels through these
hills, and roll with greater or less volume to the
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. The Sacra-
mento rises in the north, and flowing south two hun-
dred and fifty miles, empties itself into the Suisun, or
upper bay of San Francisco. The San Joaquin rises
in the south, and flowing north two hundred miles,
discharges itself into the same bay. The source oi
the San Joaquin is a narrow lake lying still further
south, and extending in that direction about eighty
miles.
The streams which break into these rivers from
31*
306 THREE YEARS 1\ CALIFORNIA.
tlie Sierra Nevada, are from ten to thirty miles dis-
tant from each other. They commence with Feather
river on the north, and end with the river Reys on
the south. They all have numerous tributaries ; are
rapid and wild on the mountain slopes, and become
more tranquil and tame as they debouch upon the
l)lain. Still their serpentine waters, flashing up among
the trees which shadow their channels, give a pic-
turesque feature to the landscape, and relieve it of
that monotony which would otherwise fatigue the
eye. But very few of these rivers have sufficient
depth and regularity to render them navigable. Their
sudden bends, falls, and shallows would puzzle even
an Indian canoe, and strand any boat of sufficient
draft to warrant the agency of steam.
The alluvial deposits of gold are confined mainly
to the banks and bars of these mountain streams, and
the channels of the gorges, which intersect them,
and through which the streams are forced when
swollen by the winter rains. In the hills and table-
lands, which occupy the intervals between these cur-
rents and gorges, no alluvial deposits have been
found. Here and there a few detached pieces have
been discovered, forming an exception to some gene-
ral law by which the uplands have been deprived of
their surface treasures. The conclusion at which I
have arrived, after days and weeks of patient re-
search, and a thousand inquiries made of others, is,
that the alluvial dejwsits of gold in California are
mainly confined to the banks and bars of her streams,
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 367
and the ravines which intersect them. The only
material exception to this general law is found in
those intervening deposits, from which the streams
have been diverted by some local cause, or some con-
vulsion of nature. Aside from these, no surface gold
to any extent has been found on the table-lands or
plains. Even the banks of the Sacramento and San
Joaquin, stretching a distance of five hundred miles
through their valleys, have not yielded an ounce.
The mountain streams, long before they discharge
themselves into these rivers, deposit their precious
treasures. They contribute their waters, but not
their gold. Like cunning misers they have stowed
this away, and no enchantments can make them whis-
per of its whereabouts. If you would find it, you
must hunt for it as for hid treasures.
Monday, May 14. Much has been said of the
amounts of gold taken from the mines by Sonora-
nians, Chilians, and Peruvians, and carried out of the
country. As a general fact, this apprehension and
alarm is without any sound basis. Not one pound of
gold in ten, gathered by these foreigners, is shipped
off to their credit : it is spent in the country for pro-
visions, clothing, and in the hazards of the gaming-
table. It falls into the hands of those who command
the avenues of commerce, and ultimately reaches our
own mints. I have been in a camp of five hundred
Sonoranians, who had not gold enough to buy a
month's provisions — all had gone, through their im-
nf;8 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
1-rovident habits, to the capacious pockets of the Amer-
icans. To drive them out of California, or interdict
their operations, is to abstract that amount of labor
from the mines, and curtail proportion ably the pro-
ceeds. If gold, slumbering in the river banks and
mountains of California, be more valuable to us than
when stamped into eagles and incorporated into our
national currency, then drive out the Sonoranians :
but if you would have it here and not there, let those
diggers alone. When gold shall begin to fail, or re-
quire capital and machinery, you will w'ant these
hardy men to quarry the rocks and feed your stamp-
ers ; and when you shall plunge into the Cinnebar
mountains, you will want them to sink your shafts
and kindle fires under your great quicksilver retorts.
They will become the hewers of w^ood and drawers
of water to American capital and enterprise. But if
you want to perform this drudgery yourself, drive
out the Sonoranians, and upset that cherished system
of political economy founded in a spirit of wisdom
and national justice.
Tuesday, May 22. I was in possession of a fact
wnich left no doubt of the existence of gold in the
Stanislaus more than a year prior to its discovery on
the American Fork. A wild Indian had straggled
into Monterey with a specimen, which he had ham-
mered into a clasp for his bow. It fell into the hands
of my secretary, W. R. Garner, who communicated
the secret to me. . The Indian described the locality
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 369
in which it was found with so much accuracy that
Mr. G., on his recent excursion to the mines, readily
identified the spot. It is now known as " Carson's
diggings." No one who has been there can ever for-
get its wild majestic scenery, or confound its soaring
cliffs or sunless chasms with the images projected
from other objects. It was the full intention of Mr.
G. to trail this Indian at the first opportunity, and
he was prevented from doing it only by the impera-
tive duties of the office. His keeping the discovery
a secret, proceeded less from any sinister motive than
an eccentricity of character. He had another min-
eral secret which has not yet transpired — the exist-
ence of a tin mine, near San Louis Obispo. The ex-
tent is not known, but certainly the specimen shown
me was very rich. Mr. Garner is now dead : it was
his melancholy fate to fall with five others by the
wild Indians on the river Reys. To that party I
should have been attached had I remained in Califor-
nia another month. How narrow those escapes
which run their mystic thread between two worlds !
On the grave of my friend, gratitude for important
services, and a remembrance of many sterling vir-
tues, might well erect a memorial.
Thursday, May 24. The capabilities of the soil
of California for agricultural purposes involve a ques-
tion of profound interest, and one which is not easily
answered. There are no experimental facts of suffi-
cient scope to warrant a general conclusion. Where
.'{70 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
the soil itself leaves no doubt of its richness, its pro-
ductive forces may be baffled by local circumstances
or atmospheric phenomena. Some of the largest
crops that have ever rewarded the toil of the hus-
bandman, have been gathered in California ; and yet
those very localities, owing to a slender fall of the
winter rains, have next season disappointed the
hopes of the cultivator. The farmer can never be
certain of an abundant harvest till he is able to sup-
pi v this deficiency of rain by a process of irrigation.
This can be done, in some places, by the diversion of
streams, and must be accomplished in others through
artesian wells. It will be some years before either
will be brought into effective force in the agricultural
districts.
The lands on which cultivation has been attempt-
ed occupy a nari'ow space between the coast ranges
and the sea ; it seldom exceeds in width thirty miles,
and is often reduced to ten by the obtrusion of some
mountain spur. East of this range no plough has
ever travelled ; no furrow has ever been turned in
the long valley of the San Joaquin ; and if the other
sections of this valley correspond to those over which
I passed, there can be very little encouragement for
the introduction of husbandry. The soil is light and
gravelly ; the grass meagre and sparse ; even the
wild horses and elk seek its margin, as if afraid to
trust themselves to the Sahara of its bosom. Still,
in some of its bays, the evidences of fertility exist,
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 371
but as a district it will never add much to the agri-
cultural wealth of California.
The valley of the Sacramento has many localities
of great fertility ; but few of them, as yet, have been
subjected to the plough and harrow ; their adaptation
to agriculture is inferred from their vigorous vegeta-
tion. The same evidences of productive force cover
several tracts north of San Francisco, on the Rus-
sian river, and in the vicinity of Sonoma. But the
most fertile lands in California, as yet developed, lie
around the missions of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz,
through the long narrow valleys of San Jose and San
Juan, along the margin of the Salinas, through the
dells of San Louis Obispo, and in the vicinity of los
Angeles. These, and other insular spots, may be
made perfect gardens ; but take California as a whole,
she is not the country which agriculturists would
select. Her whole mining region is barren ; nature
rested there with what she put beneath the soil. You
can hai^dly travel through it in midsummer without
loading your mule down with provender to keep him
alive. The productive forces of such a state as New
York, Ohio, or Pennsylvania, sweep immeasurably
beyond the utmost capabilities of California. It is
the golden coronet that gives this land her pre-emi-
nence, and puts into her hand a magic wand, that
will shake for ages the exchanges of the civilized
world.
Tuesday, June 12. At the return of Gen. Kearny,
372 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
the command of the military posts of the country,
the suppression of popular disturbancies, the protec-
tion of property from the incursion of the Indians,
and the collection of the custom-house revenues have
devolved on Gen. Mason. To these complicated
duties he has surrendered his energies with an un-
wearied fidelity and force. No one great interest con-
fided to his indomitable activity has languished. He
has derived indispensable aid from the intelligent ser-
vices of Col. Stevenson, Maj. Folsom, Capt. Halleck,
and Lieut. Sherman, of the army, and Lieut. Lanman,
of the navy. These officers, and others that might
be named, without any increased compensation, and
subjected to heavy expenses, have cheerfully dis-
charged the onerous duties devolved upon them by
the condition of the country.
The regiment of volunteers under Col. Stevenson
arrived too late for any active participation in the
war. The insurrection had been suppressed, and the
country was in the peaceful occupation of the Ameri-
cans. Still they were with great propriety retained
in the service, and their presence at different points
tended to discourage any attempts at revolutionary
movements. They were, many of them, youth who
had not been reared under the most auspicious cir-
cumstances, and the adventures of a camp life were
i)ut little calculated to supply the defects of education.
They gave the colonel and his officers some trouble,
and the communities where they were stationed some
solicitude. But they are now in a condition, where
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 373
every one is thrown upon his own resources, where
every thing good in a man may be developed. They
have been sowing their wild oats, and will now go to
planting corn.
Saturday, June 16. The primary movements in
California for the organization of a civil government
had no connection with any instructions from Wash-
ington. '' The first great meeting on the subject was
held in Monterey in January, 1849. At this meeting
I was called upon to draft a preamble and resolutions,
setting forth the condition of the country, the ne-
cessity of a civil organization, and providing for the
election of proper delegates to a convention, to be held
at San Jose on the 27th of February, in which all
the districts of the Territory were to be represented,
and where a suitable constitution was to be framed.
These resolutions were sent to all the principal towns,
and adopted. But upon more mature reflection, it
was deemed expedient, in order to prevent any col-
lision with the possible action of Congress, to post-
pone the assembling of the convention to the first of
May, that the proceedings of that body might be
known. This is the true history of those primary
and decisive measures which have resulted in that
noble constitution which now throws its sacred aegis
over California. The friends of the last and present
administration, instead of contending for the honor
of an active participation in the origin and progress
of this instrument, deftly box back and forth the
32
37i THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
responsibility of its provisions. But their political
timidity is without any just grounds; for neither
afforded any countenance or aid till the rubicon had
been passed: so that all this shuttlecock business
l)etween the last and present administration, is a su-
perfluous exhibition of dexterity and skill. Much
o-ood may it do the players, only let not California
suffer too much while the sport is going on.
Wednesday, June 20. The causes which exclude
slavery from California lie within a nut-shell. All
here are diggers, and free white diggers wont dig
with slaves. They know- they must dig themselves :
they have come out here for that purpose, and they
wont degrade their calling by associating it with
slave-labor : self-preservation is the first law of na-
ture. They have nothing to do wdth slavery in the
abstract, or as it exists in other communities ; not one
in ten cares a button for its abolition, nor the Wilmot
proviso either : all they look at is their own position ;
they must themselves sw-ing the pick, and they w^ont
swing it by the side of negro slaves. That is their
feeling, their determination, and the upshot of the w^hole
business. An army of half a million, backed by the
resources of the United States, could not shake theii
purpose. Of all men with whom I have ever met,
the most firm, resolute, and indomitable, are the emi-
grants into California. They feel that they have got
into a new world, where they have a right to shape and
settle things in their own way. No mandate, unless
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 375
it comes like a thunder-bolt straight out of heaven, is
regarded. They may offer to come into the Union, but
they consider it an act of condescension, like that of
Que6n Victoria in her nuptials with Prince Albert.
They walk over hills treasured with the precious
ores ; they dwell by streams paved with gold ; while
every mountain around soars into the heaven, circled
with a diadem richer than that which threw its halo
on the seven hills of Rome. All these belong to
them ; they walk in their midst ; they feel their pres-
ence and power, and partake of their grandeur.
Think you that such men will consent to swing the
pick by the side of slaves ? Never! while the stream
owns its source, or the mountain its base. You may
call it pride, or what you will, but there it is — deep
as the foundations of our nature, and unchangeable as
the laws of its divine Author.
Tuesday, June 26. The intelligence of the death
of Gen. Kearny has been received here with many
expressions of affectionate remembrance. During
his brief sojourn in California, his considerate dispo-
sition, his amiable deportment and generous policy,
had endeared him to the citizens. They saw in him
nothing of the ruthless invader, but an intelligent,
humane general, largely endowed with a spirit of for-
bearance and fraternal regard. The conflict which
arrested his progress at Pasquel, and the disaster in
which so many of his brave men sunk overpowered,
were contemplated, by the more considerate of the
A
376 THREE YEARS JX CALIFORNIA.
inhabitants, rather with a sentiment of regret than
an air of triumph. They seemed to regard these
events as a waste of life — as a reckless resistance on
their part, which, if successful for a time, could only
have the effect to continue, for a brief period, the
sway of leaders in whose prudence and patriotism
they had no confidence. They took leave of him
with regret, and have received the tidings of his
death with sympathy and sorrow. It is not for me
to write his eulogy ; it is graven on the hearts of all
who knew him. His star set without a cloud ; but
its light lingers still : when all the watch-fires of the
tented field have gone out, a faithful ray will still
light the shrine which affection and bereavement
have reared to his worth.
" Still o'er the past -warm memory wakes,
And fondlv broods with miser-care ;
Time but the impression deeper makes,
As streams their chamiels deeper wear."
I
iO^^^
^2^
377
CHAPTER XXVIII.
HIDE OF COL. FREMONT FROM LOS ANGELES TO MONTEREY AND BACK. — THE
PARTY. THE RELAYS. CHARACTER OK THE COUNTRY. THE RINCON.
SKELETONS OF DEAD HORSES. A STAMPEDE. GRAY BEARS. RECEPTION
AT MONTEREY. THE RETURN. THE TWO HORSES RODE BY COL. FREMONT.
AN EXPERIMENT. THE RESULT. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CALIFOR-
NIA HORSE. FOSSIL REMAINS. THE TWO CLASSES OF EMIGRANTS.
LIFE IN CALIFORNIA. HEADS AG^UNST TAILS.
' The ride of Col. Fremont in March, 1847, from
the ciudad de los Angeles to Monterey in Alta Cali-
fornia — a distance of four hundred and twenty miles —
and back, exhibits in a strong light the iron nerve of
the rider, and the capacities of the California horse.
The party on this occasion, consisted of the colonel,
his friend Don Jesuse Pico, and his servant Jacob
Dodson. Each had three horses, nine in all, to take
their turn under the saddle, and relieve each other
every twenty miles ; while the six loose horses gal-
loped ahead, requiring constant vigilance and action
to keep them on the path. The relays were brought
under the saddle by the lasso, thrown by Don Jesuse
or Jacob, who, though born and raised in Washing-
ton, in his long expeditions with Col. Fremont, had
become expert as a Mexican with the lasso, sure as a
mountaineer with the rifle, equal to either on horse
or foot, and always a lad of courage and fidelity.
2'>*
378 THREE YEARS IX CALIFORMA.
The party left los Angeles on the morning of the
22d, at daybreak, though the call which took the
colonel to Monterey, had reached him only the eve-
ning before. Their path lay through the wild moun-
tains of San Fernando, where the steep ridge and
precipitous glen follow each other like the deep hol-
lows and crested waves of ocean, under the driving
force of the storm. It was a relief when a rough
ravine opened its winding gallery on the line of their
path. They reached at length the maritime defile of
El Rincon, or Punto Gordo, where a mountain bluff
shoulders its way boldly to the sea, leaving for fifteen
miles only a narrow line of broken coast, lashed at
high tide, and in the gale, by the foaming surf The
sun was on the wave of the Pacific, when they issued
from the Rincon; and twilight still lingered when they
reached the hospitable rancho of Don Thomas Rob-
bins — one hundred and twenty-five miles from los
Angeles. The only limb in the company which
seemed to complain of fatigue was the right arm of
Jacob, incessantly exercised in lashing the loose
horses to the track, and lassoing the relays. None of
the horses were shod — an iron contrivance unknown
here, except among a few Americans. The gait
through the day,had been a hand-gallop, relieved at
short intervals by a light trot. Here the party rested
for the night, while the horses gathered their food
from the young grass which spread its tender ver-
dure on the field.
Another morning had thrown its splendors on the
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 379
forest when the party waved their adieu to their hos-
pitable host, and were under way. Their path lay
over the spurs of the Santa Barbara mountains ; and
close to that steep ridge, where the California battal-
ion, under Col. Fremont, encountered on the 25th
Dec, 1846, a blinding storm, which still throws its
sleet and hail through the dreams of those hardy men.
Such was its overpowering force, that more than a
hundred of their horses dropped down under their
saddles. Their bleaching bones still glimmering in
the gorges, and hanging on the cliffs, are the ghastly
memorials of its terrific violence. None but they,
who were of their number, can tell what that battal-
ion suffered. The object of that campaign accom-
plished, and the conquest of California secured, the
colonel, with his friend and servant, was now on his
brief return. Their path continued over the flukes
and around the bluffs of the coast mountains, relieved
at intervals by the less rugged slopes and more level
lines of the caiiada. The hand-gallop and light trot
of their spirited animals brought them, at set of sun,
to the rancho of their friend, Capt. Dana, where they
supped, and then proceeding on to San Luis Obispo,
reached the house of Don Jesuse, the colonel's com-
panion, at nine o'clock in the evening — one hundred
and thirty-five miles from the place where they broke
camp in the morning !
The arrival of Col. Fremont having got wind, the
rancheros of San Luis were on an early stir, deter-
mined to detain him. All crowded to his quarters
380 TJIKEE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
with their gratulations, and the tender of a splendid
entertainment, but his time was too pressing : still
escape was impossible, till a sumptuous breakfast had
been served, and popular enthusiasm had expressed
its warm regard. This gratitude and esteem were
the result of that humane construction of military
law, which had spared the forfeited lives of the leaders
in the recent insurrectionary war. It was eleven
o'clock in the morning before the colonel and his
attendants were in the saddle. Their tired horses
had been left, and eight fresh ones taken in their
places, while their party had been increased by the
addition of a California boy, in the capacity of vaquero.
Their path still lay through a wild broken country,
where primeval forests frowned, and the mountain
torrent dashed the tide of its strength. At eight in
the evening they reached the gloomy base of the
steep range which guards the head waters of the
Salinas or Benaventura, seventy miles from San
Luis. Here Don Jesuse, who had been up the greater
part of the night previous, with his family and friends,
proposed a few hours rest. As the place was the
favorite haunt of marauding Indians, the party for
safety during their repose, turned off the track, which
ran nearer the coast than the usual rout, and issuino-
through a Canada into a thick wood, rolled down in
their serapes, with their saddles for their pillows,
while their horses were put to grass at a short dis-
tance, with the Spanish boy in the saddle to keep
watch. Sleep once commenced, was too sweet to be
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 3S1
easily given up ; midnight had passed when the party-
were roused from their slumbers by an estampedo
among their horses, and the loud calls of the watch
boy. The cause of the alarm proved not to be In-
dians, but gray bears, which infest this wild pass. It
was here that Col. Fremont with thirty-five of his
men, in the summer preceding, fell in with several
large bands of these ferocious fellows, who appeared
to have posted themselves here to dispute the path.
An attack was ordered, and thirteen of their grim
file were left dead on the field. Such is their ac-
knowledged strength and towering rage, when as-
saulted, the bravest hunters, when outnumbered,
generally give them a wide berth. When it was
discovered that they had occasioned this midnight
stampede, the first impulse was to attack them ; but
Don Jesiise, who understood their habits and weak
points, discouraged the idea, stating that " people
gente can scare bears," and with that gave a succes-
sion of loud halloos, at which the bears commenced
their retreat. The horses by good fortune were re-
covered, a fire kindled, and by break of day, the party
had finished their breakfast, and were again in the
saddle. Their path, issuing from the gloomy forests
of the Soledad, skirted the coast range, and crossed
the plain of the Salinas to Monterey, where they
arrived three hours to set of sun, and ninety miles
from their last camping-tree.
The principal citizens of Monterey, as soon as the
arrival of Col. Fremont was announced, assembled at
38"3 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
the office of the alcalde, and passed resolutions in-
viting him to a public dinner; but the urgency of his
immediate return obliged him to forego the proffered
honor. At four o'clock in the afternoon of the day
succeeding that of their arrival, the party were ready
to start on their return. The two horses rode by the
colonel from San Luis Obispo, were a present to him
from Don Jesiise, who now desired him to make an
experiment with the abilities of one of them. They
were brothers, one a year younger than the other,
both the same color — cinnamon — and hence called el
canelo, or los canelos. The elder was taken for the
trial, and lead off gallantly as the party struck the
plain which stretches towards the Salinas. A more
graceful horse, and one more deftly mounted, I have
never seen. The eyes of the gathered crowd follow-
ed them till they disappeared in the shadows of the
distant hills. Forty miles on the hand-gallop, and
they camped for the night. Another day dawned,
and the elder canelo was again under the saddle of
Col. Fremont, and for ninety miles carried him with-
out change, and without apparent fatigue. It was
still thirty miles to San Luis, where they were to pass
the night, and Don Jesiise insisted that canelo could
easily perform it, and so said the horse in his spirited
look and action. But the colonel would not put him
to the trial ; and shifting the saddle to the younger
brother, the elder was turned loose to run the remain-
ing thirty miles without a rider. He immediately
took the lead, and kept it the whole distance, entering
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 383
San Luis on a sweeping gallop, and neighing with
exultation on his return to his native pastures, llis
younger brother, with equal spirit, kept the lead of
the horses under the saddle, bearing on his bit, and
requiring the constant check of his rider. The whole
eight horses made their one hundred and twenty miles
each in this day's ride; after having performed forty
the evening before. The elder cinnamon, who had
taken his rider through the forty, carried him ninety
miles further to-day, and would undoubtedly have
taken him through the remaining thirty miles had
Col. Fremont continued him under the saddle.
After a detention of half a day at San Luis Obispo
by a rain-storm, the party resumed the horses they
had left there, and which took them back to los An-
geles in the same time they had brought them up.
Thus making their five hundred miles each in four
days, with the interval of repose occupied in the ride
from San Luis to Monterey and back. In this whole
journey from los Angeles to Monterey and back —
making eight hundred and forty miles — the party had
actually but one relay of fresh horses ; the time on
the road was about seventy-six hours. The path
through the entire route lies through a wild broken
country, over ridges, down gorges, around bluffs, and
through gloomy defiles, where a traveller, unused
to these mountains, would often deem even the slow
trot impracticable. The only food which the horses
had, except a few quarts of barley at Monterey, was
the grass on the road ; though the trained and do-
384 TJIKEE YEARtJ IX CAI-IFORMA.
mesticated horses, like the canelos, will eat or drink
almost every thing which, their master uses. They
will take from his caressing hand bread, fruits, sugar,
cotlee ; and, like the Persian horse, will not refuse a
bumper of wine. They obey with gentlest docility
his slightest intimation ; a swing of his hand, or a tap
of his whip on the saddle, will spring them into in-
stant action, while the check of a thread-rein on the
Spanish bit will bring them to a dead stand ; and yet
in these sudden stops, when rushing at the top of
their speed, they manage not to jostle their rider, or
throw him forward. They go where their master
directs, whether it be a leap on the foe, up a flight of
stairs, or over a chasm. But this is true only of the
conduct and behavior of those horses trained like the
canelos, who vindicate, in the mountain glens of Cal-
ifornia, their Arabian origin. They are all grace,
fleetness, muscle, and fire ; gentle as the lamb, lively
as the antelope, and fearless as the lion.
MARINE REMAIXS.
The hills around Monterey are full of marine shells.
You can turn them out wherever you drive your
spade into the ground. The Indians dig and burn
them for lime, which is used in whitewashing the
adobe walls of houses, and which makes them glim-
mer in the sun like banks of freshly-driven snow. It
has not sufficient strength for the mason, but no other
was in use when we landed at Monterey. The first
regular lime-kiln was burnt by me for the town-hall.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 385
1 found the stone about ten miles from Monterey,
and the lime it produced of a superior quality. When
the lime, hair, lath, and sand were brought together,
no little curiosity was awakened bv the heteroaceneous
mass, and the admiration was equally apparent when
each took its place and performed its part in the
plaster and hard finish of the wall and ceiling. Thou-
sands came to see the work ; it was the lion of the
day. But the curiosity of the geologist would turn
from this to the fossil oyster-shells in the hills ; and
when he has exhausted those on the coast, let him
turn inland, and he will find on the mountains, two
hundred miles from the sea, and on elevations of a
thousand feet, the same marine productions ; and not
only these, but the skeleton of a whale almost entire.
How came that monster up there, high and dry, glim-
mering like the pale skeleton of a huge cloud between
us and the moon ? Did the central fire which threw
up the mountain ridge, throw him up on its crest ?
How astonished he must have been to find himself
up there, blowing off steam among volcanoes and
comets ! Now let our savcais quit their cockle-shells
and petrified herring, and tell us about that whale.
They will find him near the rancho of Robert Liver-
more, on a mountain which overlooks the great val-
ley of the San Joaquin. There he reposes in grim
majesty, while the winds of ages pour through his
bleaching bones their hollow dirge.
33
380 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
THE TWO CLASSES OF EMIGRANTS.
The emigrants to California are composed of two
classes — those who come to live by their wits, and
those who come to accumulate by their work. * The
wit capitalists will find dupes for a time — small fish
in shallow waters — but a huge roller will soon heave
them all high and dry ! This is the last country to
which a man should come, who is above or beneath
the exercise of his muscles. Every object he meets
addresses him in the admonitory language which
gleams in the motto of the Arkansas bowie-knife —
" root, hog, or die." But then he has this encourage-
ment : he can root almost anywhere, but root he
must. They who come relying on their physical
forces, and who are largely endowed with the organs
of perseverance, will succeed. But if they stay too
long in San Francisco, their enthusiasm will have an
ague-fit, and their golden dream turn to sleet and hail.
They should hasten through and dash at once into
their scene of labor ; nor should they expect success
without corresponding efforts ; if fortune favors them
to-day, she will disappoint them to-morrow ; her fa-
vors and frowns fall with marvellous caprice ; the
digger must be above the one and independent of the
other ; he must rely upon his own resources ; and
upon his fidelity to one unchanged and unchangeable
purpose. '■ He comes here to get gold, not in pounds
or ounces, but in grains ; his most instructive lesson
will be by the side of the ant-hill. There he sees a
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 387
little industrious fellow, foregoing the pastimes of
other insects, and bringing another grain to his heap ;
working on with right good heart through the day,
and sometimes taking advantage of the moon, and
plying his task through the luminous night. Let him
watch that ant, and go and do likewise, if he would
return from California with a fortune. I don't rec-
ommend him to come here and convert himself into
a pismire for gold ; but if he will come, the more he
has of the habits of that little groundling the better.
CALIFORNIA ON CHARACTER.
Life in California impresses new features on old
characters, as a fresh mintage on antiquated coins.
y The man whose prudence in the States never forsakes
him, and whose practical maxim is, " a bird in the
hand is worth two in the bush," will here throw all
his birds into the bushes, seemingly for the mere ex-
citement of catching them again. He finds himself
in an atmosphere so strongly stirred and stirring, that
he must whirl with it, and soon enjoys the strong
eddy almost as much as the still pool. .^ He may hang
perhaps a moment on the verge of a cataract, but if
it spreads below to a tranquil lake, down he goes,
and emerges from the boiling gulf calm and confident
as if lord of the glittering trident. Or he may have
been, while in the States, remarked for his parsimony,
pinching every cent as it dropped into the contribu-
tion-box as if there was a spasm between his avarice
and alms. Bui in California that cent so awfully
3R8 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
l)inched soon takes the shape of a doubloon, and
slides from his hand too easily to leave even the odor
of its value behind. I have known five men, who
never contributed a dollar in the States for the sup-
port of a clergyman, subscribe here five hundred dol-
lars each per annum, merely to encourage, as they
termed it, " a good sort of a thing in the community.'"'
I have seen a miser, who would have sold a hob-nail
from his heel for old iron, in bartering oflf his saddle
throw in the horse ; and then exchange a lump of per-
fectly pure gold for one half quartz, merely because it
struck his fancy ! Such are some of the anomalies in
character which a life in California produces. If you
doubt it, make the experiment, and you will soon find
your own heart, thousrh srnarled as a knot, crackins:
open, and turning inside out like a kernel of parched
corn.
HEADS AND TAILS.
My friend William Blackburn, alcalde of Santa
Cruz, often hits upon a method of punishing a trans-
gressor, which has some claims to originality as well
as justice. A young man was brought before him,
charged with having sheared, close to the stump, the
sweeping tail of another's horse. The evidence of
the nefarious act, and of the prisoner's guilt, was con-
clusive. The alcalde sent for a barber, ordered the
offender to be seated, and directed the tonsor to shear
and shave him clean of his dark flowing locks and
curling moustache, in which liis pride and vanity lay.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 389
This was hardly done, when Mr. B, counsel for the
prisoner entered, and moved an arrest of judgment.
" Oh, yes," said the alcalde, " as the shears and razor
have done their work, judgment may now rest."
" And under what law," inquired the learned counsel,
" has this penalty been inflicted ?" " Under the Mo-
saic," replied the alcalde : " that good old rule — eye
for eye, tooth for tooth, hair for hair." " But," said
the biblical jurist, " that was the law of the Old Tes-
tament, which has been abrogated in the New." "But
we are still living," returned the alcalde, " under the
old dispensation, and must continue there till Con-
gress shall sanction a new order of things." " Well,
well," continued the counsel, "old dispensation or
new, the penalty was too severe — a man's head against
a horse's tail !" " That is not the question," rejoined
the alcalde : " it is the hair on the one against the
hair on the other ; now as there are forty fiddles to
one wig in California, the inference is just, that horse-
hair of the two is in most demand, and that the
greatest sufferer, in this case is still the owner of the
steed." " But, then," murmured the ingenious coun-
sel, " you should consider the young man's pride."
" Yes, yes," responded the alcalde, " I considered all
that, and considered too the stump of that horse's
tail, and the just pride of his owner. Your client will
recover his crop much sooner than the other, and will
manage, I hope, to keep it free of the barber's de-
partment in this court ;" and with this, client and
counsel were dismissed.
33*
300 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
SPANISH COL'RTESIES.
The courtesies characteristic of the Spanish linger
in California, and seem, as you encounter them amid
the less observant habits of the emigration, like gold-
en-tinted leaves of Autumn, still trembling on their
stems in the rushing verdure of Spring. They ex-
hibit themselves in every phase of society and every
walk of life. You encounter them in the church, in
the fandango, at the bridal altar, and the hearse : they
adorn youth, and take from age its chilling severity.
They are trifles in themselves, but they refine social
intercourse, and soften its alienations. They may
seem to verge upon extremes, but even then they
carry some sentiment with them, some sign of defer-
ence to humanity. I received a cluster of wild-
flowers from a lady, with a note in pure Castilian,
and bearing in the subscription the initials of the
words, which rudely translated mean, " I kiss your
hand." One might have felt tempted to write her
back —
Thou need'st not, lady, stoop so low
To print the gentle kiss :
Can hands return what lips bestow,
m Or blu^h to show their bliss ?
391
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE TRAGEDY AT SAN MIGUEL. — COURT AND CULPRITS. AGE AND CIRCUM-
STANCES OF THOSE WHO SHOULD COME TO CALIFORNIA. — CONDITION OF
THE PROFESSIONS. — THE WRONGS OF CALIFORNIA. — CLAIMS ON TUK
CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY. JOURNALISTS.
Retribution follows fast on the heels of crime in
California. Two persons, a Hessian and Irishman,
whom I had met in the Stanislaus, left the mines for
the seaboard. On their way to Stockton, they fell in
with two miners asleep under a tree, whom they
murdered and robbed of their gold ; with this booty
they hastened across the valley of the San Joaquin,
and skirting the mountains to avoid all frequented
paths, held their course south to La Solidad. Here
they fell in with three deserters from the Pacific
squadron, who joined them, and the whole party pro-
ceeded south to San Miguel, where they quartered
themselves for the night on the hospitality of Mr.
Reade, an English ranchero of respectability and
wealth. In the morning they took their depfrture,
but had proceeded only a short distance, when it was
agreed they should return and rob their host. During
the ensuing night they rose on the household, con-
sisting of Mr. Reade, his wife, and three children, a
kinswoman with four children, and two Indian do-
4
H[)2 TIIKEK YEARS IN CALIFORMA.
iiiestics, and murdered the whole! Having rifled the
money-chest of a large amount of gold dust, the blood-
stained party renewed their flight south, and had
reached a secluded cove in a bend of the sea, below
Santa Barbara, where they were overtaken by a band
of citizens, who had tracked them from the neighbor-
hood of San Miguel. The fugitives were armed, and
avowed their determination to shoot down any person
who should attempt to apprehend them. The citizens,
though few, and badly provided with weapons, were
resolute and determined. A desperate conflict ensued,
in which one of the felons was shot dead; another, hav-
ing discharged the last barrel of his revolver, jumped
into the sea and was drowned ; the remaining three
were at length disarmed and secured. Of the citizens
several were wounded, and one — the father of a be-
loved family — lay a corpse ! The next morning, as
there was no alcalde in the vicinity, the three prison-
ers were brought before a temporary court organized
for the purpose, wherein twelve good and lawful men
took oath to render judgment according to conscience.
Each person when brought to the bar told his own
story, inextricably involving his associates in the
guilt of deliberate murder, and who, in their turn,
wove the same terrible web about him. Of their guilt,
though convicted without the testimony of an im-
partial witness, no doubt remained to disturb the
convictions of the court. They were sentenced to
death, and before the sun went down were in their
graves! The whole five were buried among; the
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 393
Stern rocks which frown on the sea, and which seem
as if there to stay the tide of crime, as well as the
storms of ocean. What a tragedy of depravity and
despair! Thirteen innocent persons — men, women,
and children — swept in an unsuspecting moment from
life ; and the five perpetrators of the crime, crushed
into a hurried grave, under the avenging arm of jus-
tice ! There is a spirit in California that will rightly
dispose of the murderer ; it may at times be hasty,
and too little observant of the forms of law, b'ut it
reaches its object ; it leaves the guilty no escape
through the defects of an indictment, the ingenuity
of counsel, or the clemency of the executive. It
plants itself on the ground that the first duty society
owes itself, is to protect its members ; and to secure
this object, it throws around the sanctity of life, the
defenses found in the terrors of death. The grave is
the prison which God has sunk in the path of the
murderer. Let not man attempt to bridge it.
WHO SHOULD STAY AND WHO COME.
The indiscretion with which so many thousands
are rushing to California will be a source of regret to
them, and of sorrow to their friends. Not one in twen-
ty will bring back a fortune, and not more than one in
ten secure the means of defraying the expenses of his
return. I speak now of those whose plans and efforts
are confined to the mines, and who rely on the pro-
ceeds of their manual labor : when they have de-
frayed the expenses incident to their position, liqui-
394 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
dated all demands for food, clothing, and implements
for the year, their yellow heap will dwindle to a point.
This might serve as the nucleus of operations which
are to extend through a series of years ; but as the
result of the enterprise, involving privation and hard-
ship, is a failure, no man should come to California
under the impression that he can in a few months
pick a fortune out of its mines. He may here and
there light on a more productive deposit, but the
chances are a hundred to one that his gains will be
slenderly and laboriously acquired. He is made
giddy with the reports of sudden wealth ; these are
the rare prizes, while the silence of the grave hangs
over the multitudinous blanks.
A young man endowed with a vigorous constitu-
tion, and who possesses sterling habits of sobriety and
application, and who has no dependencies at home,
can do well in California. But he should come with
the resolute purpose of remaining here eight or ten
years, and with a spirit that can throw its unrelaxed
energies into any enterprise which the progress of
the country may develop. He must identify him-
self for the time being with all the great interests
which absorb attention, and quicken labor. If he has
not the enterprise and force of purpose which this
requires, he should remain at home. There is an-
other class of persons whom domestic obligations
and motives of prudence should dissuade from a Cali-
fornia adventure. It is blind folly in a man, who has
a family dependent on him for a support, to exhaust
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 395
the little means, which previous industry and frugality-
have left, in defraying the expenses of a passage here,
with the vague hope that in a year or two he can re-
turn with an ample competence. I respect his feel-
ings and motives, but honorable intentions cannot
save him from disappointment. When the expenses
which the most rigid economy could not avoid have
been paid, and the obligations connected with the
support of his family at home have been discharged,
the results of his enterprise will leave him poor. He
may never tell you of broken hopes and a shattered
constitution, but his hearth-stone is strewn with their
pale, admonitory fragments. Let me persuade those
whom God has blessed with a faithful wife and in-
teresting family, not to abandon these objects of affec-
tion for the gold mines of California. Do not come
out here under the delusive belief that you can in a
few months, or a brief year, on the proceeds of the
mattock and bowl, accumulate a fortune. This has
rarely if ever been done, even where the deposits
were first disturbed by the more fortunate adven-
turer. If it could not be done in the green tree,
what are you to expect in the dry ? If when the
placers were fresh, many gathered but little more than
sufficient to meet their current wants, what can you
anticipate when they are measurably exhausted ?
They who inflame your imagination with tales of in-
exhaustible deposits which only wait your spade and
wash-bowl, abuse your credulity, and dishonor their
own claims to truth.
,'};)(} TriIlEE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
THE PROFESSIONS AND PURSUITS.
All the secular professions and more privileged or
prescribed pursuits in California are crowded to over-
llowing. Physicians are without patients ; lawyers
without clients ; surveyors without lands ; hydro-
graphers without harbors; actors without audiences;
painters without pupils ; financiers without funds ;
niinters without metals ; printers without presses ;
hunters without hounds, and fiddlers without fools.
And all these must take to the plough, the pickaxe,
and spade. Even California, with all her treasured
hills and streams, fell under that primal malediction
which threw its death-shade on the infant world. It
is as true here as among the granite rocks of New
England — in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread. Let none think to escape this labor-destiny
here ; it environs the globe, and binds every nation
and tribe in its inexorable folds.
The merchant, whose shrewdness avails him eve-
rywhere else, will often be wrecked here. The mar-
kets of a single month have all the phases of its fickle
moon. The slender crescent waxes into the circle ;
and the full orb passes under a total eclipse. The
man that figured on its front is gone, and with him
the hopes of the millionaire. The bullfrog in his
croaking pond, and the owl in his hooting tree, re-
main ; but the speculator, like a ghost at the glimmer
of day, hath fied. You can only dimly remember the
phantom's shape and where he walked, and half doubt
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 397
the dream in which he denizened and dissolved from
sight. But still the gulf of vision swarms with reali-
ties — with beings Avhere the play of life and death,
joy and grief, wealth and want, are the portion of the
living and the legacy of the dead. CaUfornia is a
continent swelling between the hopes of the future
and the wrecks of the past ; but like all other conti-
nents, will be visited with the alternation of day and
night. The cloud will travel where the sunbeam
hath been.
•VTROXGS OF CALIFORNIA. '^
The neglect and wrongs of California will yet find
- a tongue. From the day the United States flag was
raised in this country, she has been the victim of the
most unrelenting oppression. Her farmers were rob-
bed of their stock to meet the exigences of war ; and
her emigrants forced into the field to maintain the
conquest. Through the exactions of the custom-
house the comforts and necessaries of life were op-
pressively taxed. No article of food or raiment could
escape this forced contribution; it reached the plough
of the farmer, the anvil of the smith ; the blanket
that protected your person, the salt that seasoned
your foc4, the shingle that roofed your cabin, and
the nail that bound your coffin. Even the light of
heaven paid its contribution in its windowed tariff".
And who were the persons on whom these extortions
fell ? Citizens whom the government had promised
to relieve of taxation, and emigrants who had exhaust-
34
398
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
ed their last means in reaching their new abode !
There was treachery and tyranny combined in the
treatment which they received. A less provocation
sunk the dutied tea in the harbor of Boston, and sev-
ered the indignant colonies from the British crown.
Nor does this gross injustice stop here : this op-
pressive tax was enforced at a time when there was
but little specie in the country; the whole circulating
medium was absorbed in its unrighteous demands.
Nor was the case materially relieved by the discovery
of gold ; this precious ore was extorted at ten dollars
the ounce, and forfeited at that arbitrary valuation if
not redeemed within a given time. There was no
specie by which it could be redeemed, and it went to
the clutches of the government at ten dollars, when
its real value at our mints is eighteen dollars. If this
be not robbery, will some one define what that word
means ? It was worse than robbery — it was swin-
dling under the color of law. All this has been car-
ried on against a community without a representation
in our national legislature, and without any civil ben-
efits in return. Not even a light-house rose to relieve
its onerous injustice. Hundreds of thousands, not to
say millions thus extorted, are now locked up in the
sub-treasury chest at San Francisco. Evfry doub-
loon, dollar, and dime that reaches the country is
forced under that inexorable key. In this absorption
of the circulating medium, commercial loans can be
effected only on ruinous rates of interest, and the civil
government itself is bankrupt.
• ♦.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 399
Every dollar of these ill-gotten gains should be
placed forthwith at the disposal of the state of Cali-
fornia. It belongs to her ; it never was the property
of the United States under any law of Congress. It
has been exacted under executive circulars, under
the naked dictates of arbitrary power. I blame not
the revenue functionaries of the general government
in California ; they were bound by the orders and in-
structions which they received ; the responsibility
rests nearer home : it rests with those who have
usurped and exercised powers not conferred by the
Constitution, or the consent of the American people.
Nor do these aggressions and wrongs stop here. Who
has authorized a captain of U. S. dragoons to drive,
at the point of his flashing glaive, peaceful citizens
from their gardens and dwellings on the bay of San
Francisco, under the pretext of a government reserva-
tion, and then to farm out those grounds under a ten
years' lease ? Who has conferred this impudent
stretch of authority, and this private monopoly of the
public domain ? Let the citizens thus trampled upon
maintain their right, even with their rifles, till they
can be made the proper subjects of judicial investiga-
tion or legislative action.
CLAIMS ON THE CHRISTIAN.
With the Christian community California has higher
claims than those which glitter in her mines. The
moral elements which now drift over her streams and
treasured roftcs will ere long settle down into abiding
400 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
forms. The impalpable will become the real, and the
unsubstantial assume a local habitation and a name.
Shall these permanent shapes, into which society is
to be cast, take their plastic features from the im-
press of blind accident and skeptical apathy, or the
moulding hand of religion? These primal forms
must remain and wear tor ages the traces of their de-
formity or beauty, their guilty insignificance or moral
grandeur. Through them circulates your own life-
blood ; in them is bound up the hopes of an empire.
Not only the destiny of California is suspended on
the issue, but the fate of all the republics which cheer
the shores of the Pacific. The same treason to reli-
gion which wrecks the institutions of this country,
will sap the foundations of a thousand other glorified
shrines. It is for you, Christian brethren, to prevent
such a disaster ; it is for you to pour into California
an unremitted tide of holy light. The Bible must
throw its sacred radiance around every hearth, over
every stream, through every mountain glen. The
voice of the heralds of heavenly love must be echoed
from every cliff and chasm and forest sanctuary.
On you devolves this mission of Christian fidelity.
It is for your faith and philanthropy to say what
California shall be when her swelling population shall
burst the bounds of her domain. You can write her
hopes in ashes, or stars that shall never set. Every
school-book and Bible you throw among her hills
will be a source of penetrating and pervading light,
when the torch of the caverned miner ^as gone out.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 401
The images which you impress on her gold, age will
efface ; but the insignia of truth, stamped into her
ardent heart, will survive the touch of tune, and
gleam bright in the night of the grave.
PROPHETIC SHADOWS AND JOURNALISTS.
Coming events cast their shadows belbre. When
Com. Jones, several years since, captured Monterey,
no political seer discovered in the event the precursor
of an actual, permanent possession. No flag waved
on the horoscope save the Mexican ; no thunder
broke on the ear of the augur, except what disturbed
the wrong quarter of the heaven; and even the birds,
which carried the fate of nations in their sounding
beaks, flew in a wrong direction. But the first occu-
pation, though it came and went as a shadow, was an
omen, which has now become a reality — a great event-
ful fact in the history of the age. The commodore,
who struck this first uncertain blow, is now here en-
trusted with the defence of the new acquisition. His
spirit of intelligence and enterprise is making itselt
felt in every department, that justly falls within the
prerogatives of a commander-in-chief.
There are a multitude of topics connected with the
wild life and new condition of affairs in California,
which must escape the pen of any one journalist.
Some of them are touched with vivid force in the
graphic pictures of " El Dorado," others are sketched
with lively effect iinEe~p"agCs of " Los Gring os,"
while California as she was, before gold had cankered
31*
.102 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
her barbaric bliss, is thrown wildly on our vision, by
the author of " Two Years Before the Mast." Her
geography, the habits of her citizens, and her re-
sources, when little known beyond the furtive glances
of the coaster, are faithfully delineated in the pioneer
pages of Col. Fremont, Capt. Wilkes, and Mr. Robin-
son. Every traveller can find in California some
new untouched feature for a sketch. They unroll
themselves on the eye at every glance. With the
reader they are rather sources of wonder and amuse-
ment, than solid advantage. Our globe was invested
with no claims to utility till it had emerged from
chaos ; then verdure clothed its hills and vales ; then
flowing streams made vocal the forest aisles ; then
rolled the anthem of the mornins star.
403
CHAPTER XXX.
THE GOLD-BEARING QUARTZ. THEIR LOCALITY. RICHNESS AND EXTENT.
SPECIMENS AND DOUBTF0L CONCLUSIONS. THE SUITABLE MACHINERY
TO BE USED IN THE MOUNTAINS. THE COURT OK ADMIRALTY AT MON-
TEREY. ITS ORGANIZATION AND JURISDICTION. THE CASES DETER-
MINED. SALE OF THE PRIZES. CONVENTION AND CONSTITUTION OF
CALIFORNIA. DIFFICULTIES AND COMPROMISES. SPIRIT OF THE IN-
STRUMENT.
The surface gold in California will in a few years
be measurably exhausted ; the occasional discovery
of new deposits cannot long postpone such a result ;
nor will it be delayed for any great number of years,
by any more scientific and thorough method of secur-
ing the treasure. California will prove no exception
in these respects to other sections of the globe where
surface gold has been found. The great question is,
will her mountains be exhausted with her streams and
valleys ? Will her rock gold give out with her allu-
vial deposits ? The gold-bearing quartz is the sheet-
anchor at which the whole argosy rides ; if this parts,
your golden craft goes to fragments.
When an old Sonoranian told me in the mines that
the quartz swetted out the gold, all the young savans
around laughed at the old man's stupidity ; and I must
say the perspiration part of the business rather
40 i THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
Staggered my credulity, which has some compass,
where there are no laws to guide one. But the old
difT<Ter was nearer the truth than many who have more
felicitous terms in which to express their theories.
Though the gold may not ooze from the quartz as
water drips from a rock, yet it is thei^e, and often
beads from the surface like a tear that has lost its
way among the dimples of a lady's cheek. In other
instances it shows itself only in fine veins ;. and in
others still, is wholly concealed from the naked eye,
and even eludes the optical instrument ; but when
reduced to powder with the quartz, flies to the em-
brace of quicksilver, and takes a virgin shape, mas-
sive and rich. The specimens of quartz which have
been subjected to experiment, have yielded from one
to three dollars the pound. These specimens were
gathered at different points, in the foot range of the
Sierra Nevada, and are deemed only a fair average
of the yield that may be derived from the quartz.
The gold rocks of Georgia and Virginia yield, on
an average, less than half a cent to the pound, and
yet the profits are sufficient to justify deep mining.
What then must be the profits of working a rock
which lies near the surface, and which yields over a
dollar to the pound ! The result staggers credulity ;
and we seek a refuge from the weakness of faith in
the more reasonable persuasion, that the specimens
tested are richer than the average of the veins and
quarries which remain. And yet the poorest speci-
inen, which the casual blow of the sledge has knocked
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 405
from the sunlit peak, has seemingly more gold in its
shadow, than the rock unhouseled from its mine in
Virginia beneath forty fathoms of darkness. The
only real defence for our incredulity lies in the pre-
sumption, that the gold-bearing quartz, like the sur-
face deposits, has its confined localities. And yet
Mr. Wright, our member of Congress from Califor-
nia, who has traversed the slopes of the Sierra, col-
lected more specim.ens, and made more experiments
than any other individual, is sanguine in the opinion
that the gold-bearing quartz occupies a broad contin-
uous vein through the entire extent of the foot range :
and in this opinion the Hon. T. Butler King, in his
lucid report, coincides. Still such a wide departure
in nature from all her known laws, or capricious im-
pulses, in the distribution of gold, leaps beyond my
belief. In no other part of her wide domain has she
deposited in the quartz rock a proportion of gold more
than sufficient barely to compensate the hardy miner :
and it is difficult to believe, that with all her affection
for California, she has been so prodigal of her gifts.
It surpasses the rainbow-inwoven coat bestowed by
the partial love of the patriarch on his favorite child.
When a simple swain saw a necromancer break a
cocoanut shell and let fly half a dozen canary birds,
he remarked, there was no doubt the young birds
were hatched in the cocoanut ; but what puzzled him
was, to know how the old bird could get in to lay
the eggs. But a deeper puzzle with me is, that each
and every cocoanut on this California tree, should
•100 THREE YEARS I\ CALfFORNIA.
have a nest of canaries in it. And yet, with all these
dogged doubts and dismal dissuasives, were I going to
invest in California speculations, my inklings would
turn strongly to quartz and stampers.
But I would send out no machinery which should
have a piece in it weighing over seventy or eighty
pounds : no other can be taken through the gorges,
and over the acclivities to the lofty steeps where the
quartz exists. The machinery which can be readily
taken to the mines in Virginia, would cost a fortune
in its transportation to the proper locahties in Cali-
fornia. The heaviest capitalist would find himself
swamped before he got to work. Every piece must
be taken over elevations where a man can hardly
draw himself up, and where his life is often suspended
on the strength of the fibres which twine the bush to
the fissures of the rock. It should be so light as to
render its removal to any new and more productive
locality practicable, without involving a ruinous ex-
pense. A machine wielding the force of one man,
and stamping on the spot, will be more productive
than a forty-horse power working at a distance. All
the transportation must be done by hand, for no ani-
mal can subsist among the steeps where the quartz
prevail. Watch the eagle as he soars to his high cliff
with a writhing snake in his beak, and then seize
your light machinery and pursue his track. But,
chained to a heavy engine, you would make about as
much progress as that mountain bird with his talons
driven inlo the back of a mastodon or whale.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 407
COURT OF ADMIRALTV.
There were seven prize cases introduced into the
court of admiralty at Monterey, on which condemna-
tion and sale of the property libelled ensued. They
were all clearly cases of legal capture, and came un-
der the well-established rule of international law, that
the hostile character attaches to the commerce of the
neutral domiciled in the enemy's country. This rule
is enforced by every consideration of sound policy
and national justice. If the flag of the neutral can
protect the property over which it waves, the entire
commerce of the belligerent might assume this neu-
tral garb, and be as safe in time of war as peace.
To prevent such an abuse, the comiiy of nations has
conceded the general principle, that all commerce
flowing to or emanating from a mercantile house,
established in the enemy's country, shall be deemed
hostile, and be held liable to seizure.
A much more difficult question arose connected
with the competency of the court. Its organization
arose out of the exigences of war ; the alternative lay
between a recognition of its jurisdiction, and the ex-
treme right of the belligerent to burn and sink his
captures. Congress, in a declaration of war, vir-
tually invests the executive with authority to prose-
cute it, and secure the ends for which it has been
waiged. He is necessarily entrusted with extraordi-
nary discretion and corresponding powers ; when, in
the due prosecution of these measures, he finds himself
408 THUEE YEARri IS CALIFORNIA.
borne beyond their statutory provisions, and sur-
rounded by exigences, lying at the time perhaps be-
yond the ])urview of legislative enactment, he must
either forego tiie objects which animated the acts of
the national legislature, or temporarily assume the
responsibility which the crisis demands. He must
authorize the maintenance of civil government in
territories acquired by our arms, and judicial proceed-
ings in cases of capture on the high seas, which can-
not be brought within the jurisdiction of our estab-
lished courts.
A'or is there any thing in such judicial proceedings
which trenches upon the laws of nations ; these laws
never assume the right to define the powers vested
in the executive of a realm. They claim no authority
to bring into court the constitutional prerogatives of a
prince or of the president of a republic ; these are
questions which appertain to the forms of government
where the acts originate, where the power is exercised,
and which must be disposed of as the wisdom of the
nation may deem proper. It is enough that national
law allows the captor at his peril to burn or sink his
prize. Any executive measure to prevent such a
precipitate result, and to subject the legality of the
capture to the forms of a judicial investigation, is in
accordance with every dictate of moral justice, and
that strong sense of right which binds every civilized
nation in a period of war as well as peace. Norman
the captor, from a want of jurisdiction in the court
that determines his case, lose his prize. .All the
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 409
claimant can do is to require him to appear before a
court of competent authority, where the case must
be examined and decided de novo on its merits. This
great principle in maritime jurisprudence has been
recognized and confirmed in the decision of the High
Court of Admiralty in England. Half a century has
rolled over that decision, but its authoritative force
remains firm and unshaken as the base of the sea-girt
isle.
It devolved on the court at Monterey not only to
determine the prize cases submitted, but to assume
an onerous responsibility in the disposal of the prop-
erty libelled and condemned. The cargo of one of
these prizes consisted of a large amount of cotton,
paper, and iron, destined to a Mexican market, and for
which there was no adequate demand in California.
The highest cash bid that could be procured at a sale
duly notified, was $34,000. To this bid the property
must be knocked down, or surrendered to a credit
bid of $60,000, involving conditions for the benefit of
the purchaser wholly inadmissible in law. In this
perplexity I bid the ship and cargo in ; placed a faith-
ful, competent agent and crew on board, and sent the
whole to Mazatlan, which had become a port of entry.
The result was, that after discharging all claims exist-
ing against the property, I paid over to the Secretary
of the Navy, as the net proceeds of the sales, the sum
of ^8,000, and stand credited with that amount on the
books of the department. But this is rather a matter
of personal service than a topic of public interest; it
35
410 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
is, however, connected with official duty, and exhibits
one of the many forms in which private responsibility
may be tasked in saving from sacrifice property con-
fided to its care. A failure in such cases often brings
ruin ; and even success may be obliged to seek its
meagre remuneration through the slow forms of legis-
lative relief.
CONSTITUTION OF CALIFORNIA.
The desires of the people of California for a civil
government, suited to their new condition, at length
found utterance at the ballot-box. The best informed
and most sedate of her citizens were elected in their
several districts, and commissioned to proceed to
Monterey, for the purpose of drafting in concert the
provisions of a constitution. Never were interests,
habits, and associations more diverse than those rep-
resented in this body. Unanimity could be reached
only through the largest concessions. It was the
conquerors and the conquered, the conservatives and
the progressives ; they who owned the lands, and they
who worked the mines, assembling to frame organic
laws which should equally secure and bind the inter-
ests of all. No cloud ever cast its shadow on equal
incongruities grouped in cliffs and chasms, pinnacles
and precipices, without having it broken into a thou-
sand fragments. But the honest and patriotic jDur-
pose which animated the convention, raised that body
above all national prejudice and local interests, and
poured its spirit in blending power over its measures.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 411
They had been commissioned to plan and perfect a
constitution for California, and they were true to
their trust. Day after day they labored at that event-
ful instrument ; no passion, no prejudice disturbed
their counsels : where opinions clashed, they were
softened ; where interests jarred, they were harmo-
nized ; where local feeling sought assertion, it was
surrendered. Till at last, through this spirit of def-
erence, compromise, and public concern, the instru-
ment was finished. And now let us glance at its
prominent features.
This constitution is thoroughly democratic ; no
prescriptive privileges, or invidious distinctions are
recognized ; the interests of the great mass fill every
provision. Political and social equality are its bases,
while the rights of private judgment and individual
conscience flow untrammelled through its spirit. It
is the embodiment of the American mind, throwing
its convictions, impulses, and aspirations into a tangi-
ble, permanent shape. It is the creed of the thousands
who wield the plough, the plane, the hammer, the
trowel, and spade. It is the palladium of freedom,
rolled in from the seaboard, and down from the
mountains, and which has caught its echoes from
every river, steep, and valley. It is the fraternal
oath of a great people, uttered in the presence of God
and the hearing of nations. Millions will turn their
eyes to the fulfilment of its promises, w^hen time and
disaster have engulfed the monuments of their own
splendor and strength.
41 "J THREE YEARri IN CALIFORNIA.
The 13th of October, 1849, will never fade from
the annals of California. It was not the sun, circhng
up into a broad and brilliant heaven, that gave this
morn its brightness : it was not the thunder of the
Pacific on the sea-beaten strand, that gave the day its
impressive force : it was not the long heavy roll of
the artillery that most signalized the hour ; nor the
harmony of the winds rolling their anthems from the
steep forests that stirred most strongly the human
heart. It was the silent signatures of the members
of the convention to the constitution, which had been
confided to their wisdom and patriotic fidelity. It
was this last crowning act in an eventful moral enter-
prise, having its source in the exigences of a great
community. I wonder not the old pioneer of the
Sacramento pronounced it the greatest day of his
life ; I wonder not that the veteran " Hero of Con-
treras" forgot the laurels gathered on that field of
fame, in the higher and nobler honors showered upon
him in this day's achievements. It was his steady
purpose and fearless responsibility that threw into
organized forms and practical results, the plans and
purposes of the people of California. He will find
his reward in the happiness and prosperity of a great
state, over which the flag of the Union shall never
cease to wave. The tide of Anglo-Saxon blood stops
not here ; it is to circulate on other shores, con-
tiiiriiis, and isles; its progress is blent with the steady
triumphs of commerce, art, civilization, and religion.
It will yet flow the globe round, and beat in every
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 413
nation's pulse ; morn will not blush, or twilight fade
where its swelling wave is not ; its guiding-star is
above the disasters in which the purposes of man are
sphered.
I regret my limits will not permit me to follow the
Pacific squadron, under the command of Com. Shu-
brick, to the Mexican coast. The capture and occu-
pation of Mazatlan has hardly stirred a whisper in
the trump of fame, which has poured out such strains
on the other side of the continent. And yet this
achievement of the commodore had in it a spirit of
wisdom, resolution, and firmness that might emblazon
a much loftier page than mine. When the history of
the Mexican war shall be written, and the services
of those who shared in its hardships and perils be
duly recognized, Com. Shubrick, with the gallant offi-
cers and brave men attached to his command, will
receive a lasting meed of merited renown. It is now
silently written in that international compact which
terminated the apprehensions of one republic and
sealed the triumphs of another. It was the waving
of the stars and stripes on the strand of the Pacific
which left a forlorn hope without a refuge, and
coerced the terms of an honorable peace ; and long
may that peace remain unbroken by the monster of
discord and war.
35*
414
CHAPTER XXXI.
GLANCES AT TOWNS SPRUNG AND SPRINGING. SAN FRANCISCO. BENICIA.
SACRAMENTO CITY. — SUTTER. — VERNON. BOSTON. — STOCKTON. — NEW
YORK. — ALVEZO. — STANISLAUS. — SONORA. — CRESCENT CITY. — TRINIDAD.
The growth of towns in California is so rapid, that
before you can sketch the last, a new one has sprung
into existence. You go to work on this, and dash
down a few features, when another glimmers on your
vision, till at last you become like the English surgeon
at the battle of Waterloo ; who began by bandaging
individuals, but found the wounded brought in so fast
he declared he must splinter by the regiment.
San Francisco. — This town has twice been laid
in ashes ; but the young phoenix has risen on ampler
wings than those which steadied the consumed form
of its parent. It must be the great commercial em-
porium of California in spite of competition, wind,
and flame. Its direct connection with the sea, its
magnificent bay and internal communications, have
settled the question of its ultimate grandeur. It may
be afflicted with grog-shops and gamblers, and the
mania oT speculation, but these are temporary evils
which time, a higher moral tone, and the more
steady pursuits of man will remedy. Three years ago
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 415
only a dozen shanties sprinkled its sand-hills ; now,
even with its heart burnt out, it looks like the skele-
ton of a huge city. That heart will be reconstructed,
and send the life-blood leaping through the system.
Benicia. — This town on the straits of Carquenas
has the advantages of a bold shore, a quiet anchorage,
and depth of water for ships of any size. Even with-
out being a port of entry, it must become in time a
large commercial depot. The small craft which float
the waters of the Suisun, Sacramento, and San Joa-
quin, and which are ill suited to the rough bay below,
will here deposit their cargoes. It has been selected
as the most feasible site for a navy-yard, and the
army stores are already housed on its quay. It was
first selected as the site of a city by Robert Semple,
president of the Constitution Convention, and rose
rapidly into importance under his fostering care, and
the energetic measures of Thomas O. Larkin.
Sacramento City. — The site of this town on the
eastern bank of the Sacramento, at its junction with
the Rio Americano, presents many picturesque fea-
tures. It is a town in the woods, with the native
trees still waving over its roofs. The sails of the
shipping are inwoven with the masses of shade, which
serve as awnings. Roads diverge from it to the
mines on the North, Middle, and South l^'orks. Bear,
Juba, and Feather rivers. The town has been swept
by one inundation from the overflow of the Ameri-
i
410 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
cano. It came upon the inhabitants like a thief in
the night ; they had only time to jump from their
beds ; the roaring flood was at their heels : some
reached the shipping, and some sprung into the tops
of the trees. But a levee is now going up which
will shut out the flood ; while brick and slate will
ward oir the flame. This place is destined to figure
among the largest towns of California.
Sutter. — This town, which bears the name of the
old pioneer on whose lands it stands, is beautifully
located on the Sacramento, at the head waters of navi-
gation. From it issue the roads leading to all the
northern mines ; the site is not subject to overflow,
and the country around possesses great fertility. It
has a large commercial business : its central position
must secure its prosperity. Its proprietors are Capt.
Sutter and John McDugal, lieutenant-governor of the
state — gentlemen who pursue the most liberal policy,
and reap their reward in the growth of their town.
Vernon. — This is the only town on Feather river,
and stands at the confluence of that stream with the
Sacramento. It is above the reach of any inunda-
tion, and commands a country of wildly varied as-
pect. Its location, rather than buildings or business,
invest it with interest. Its importance *is prospec-
tive ; but the future is fast becoming the present.
Its projectors are Franklin Bates, E. O. Crosby, and
Samuel Norris.
THREE YZARS IN CALIFORNIA. 417
Boston. — This town is located on the American
Fork at its junction with the Sacramento. The plot
of the town is beautiful — its situation afrreeable. Di-
rect roads issue from it to the placers of the Yuba,
Feather river, the North, Middle, and South forks of
the Americano. Like Sacramento City, it is located
within the grant of Capt. Sutter, whose title to the
enterprising proprietors will undoubtedly be found
valid. Several buildings have been erected, which
give an air of stability to the flapping tents which
shadow its avenues.
Stockton. — This flourishing town is located at the
head of an arm of the Suisun bay, and is accessible
to small steamers. It stands in the centre of a vast
fertile plain, and on a position sufficiently elevated to
exempt it from inundation. It is the commercial de-
pot for the southern mines ; the miners on the Moke-
lumne, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Mariposa, Mercedes,
and King's river, are supplied with provisions and
clothing from its heavy storehouses. It will yet
loom largely in the map of California.
New York. — This town is located on the triangle
formed by the junction of the San Joaquin river and
Suisun bay, with its base resting on a broad plain,
covered with clusters of live-oak. The banks of the
river and bay are bold, and above the reach of tide
and freshet. The bay is represented on the surveys
which have been made as having sufficient depth for
I>
418 THREE YEARS I\ CALIFORNIA.
merchantmen of the largest class. The communica-
tion with the sea lies through the broad strait of the
Carquinas. The town will naturally command the
commerce of the San Joaquin and its numerous trib-
utaries. The projectors of the town are Col. Ste-
venson and Dr. Parker.
Alvezo. — This town is situated at the head of the
great bay of San Francisco, on the Gaudalupe, which
flows through it. It is the natural depot of the com-
merce which will roll in a broad exhaustless tide,
through the fertile valleys of Santa Clara and San
Jose. It lies directly in the route to the gold and
quicksilver mines, with a climate not surpassed by
that of any locality in the northern sections of Cali-
fornia. The fertility of the surrounding country
must ere long make itself felt in the growth and pros-
perity of this town. San Francisco is dependant on
the products of its horticulture. Fortunes might be
made by any persons who would go there and devote
themselves exclusively to gardening. But it is not
in man to raise cabbages in a soil that contains gold.
The proprietors of the town are J. D. Hoppe, Peter
H. Burnett, and Charles B. Marvin.
Stanislaus. — This town, situated at the junction
of the Stanislaus and San Joaquin, is fast rising into
consideration. It is the highest point to which the
lightest steamer can ascend, and is in the immediate
vicinity of the richest mines in California. From its
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 419
Storehouses supplies are destined to flow through the
whole southern mines. The placers on the Stanis-
laus, Tuolumne, Mercedes, and King's river must
contribute to its growing wealth. It is in the direct
route from Monterey to the mines — a route which
has been surveyed in reference to a great public
road, and through which a portion of the commerce
of the Pacific will one day roll. This town was pro-
jected by Samuel Brannan, the sagacious leader of
the Mormon battalion in California.
SoNORA and Crescent City. — These towns, perch-
ed up among the gold mines which overlook the San
Joaquin, derive their importance from no river or
bay ; their resources are in the rocks and sands of
the mountain freshet. They are the miner's home —
his winter quarters — his metropolis, to which he
goes for society, recreation, repose, frolic, and fun.
Through the livelong night the rafters ring with re-
sounding mirth, while the storm unheeded raves with-
out. Of all the sites for a hamlet which I have met
with in the mining region, I should prefer the one at
the head of a ravine near the sources of the Stanis-
laus. It is a natural amphitheatre, throwing on the
eye its sweeping wall of wild cliffs and waving shade.
From the green bosom of its arena swells a slight
elevation, covered with beautiful evergreen trees. A
little rivulet leaps from a rock, and sings in its spark-
ling flow the year round ; while the leaves, as if in
love with the spot, whisper in the soft night-wind.
420 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
Many a night have I stood there in silent revery,
watching the bright stars, the trembling shadows of
the trees, and listening to the silver lay of the stream-
let. The Coliseum, with its melancholy night-bird
and solemn grandeur, can never rival this temple of
nature.
THE ONE MOON TOWN.
The recent discovery of Trinidad bay, which lies
about two hundred miles north of San Francisco,
will have a material effect on the local interests of
the country. It will open a new channel of com-
merce into the northern mines, and render accessible
the finest forests in California. This bay, as repre-
sented, has sufficient depth and capacity to shelter a
large marine. A town has already been laid out on
the curve of its bold shore ; streets, squares, and edi-
fices have ceased to figure on the map, and become a
reality. Where but one moon since the shark and
seal plunged and played at will, freighted ships are
riding at anchor ; while the indignant bear has only
had time to gather up her cubs and seek a new
jungle.
Before this sheet can get to press, there will be a
daily on Trinidad bay, with the price-current of New
York and London figuring in its columns, and an
opera of Rossini singing its prelude between the reel-
ing anthems of the church-going bell. Why, man !
you talk of the slumbers of Rip Van Winkle, and the
visions of the seven sleepers of Ephesus ! Know you
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 421
not the whole world is asleep, save what wakes and
works on Trinidad bay ? It takes an age in other
lands to rear a city ; but here, one phase of the fickle
moon, and up she comes, like Venus from the wave,
or the peak of Pico at the call of the morning star.
Clear the coast with your old dormitory hulks of
slumbering ages, and let this new Trinidad launch
her keeled thunder! Her pennant unrolls itself in
flame on the wind, and her trident is tipt with the
keen lightning. The great whale of the Pacific turns
here his startled gaze — plunges, and blows next half
way to Japan.
Hurra for Trinidad ! Let nations sleep,
And empires moulder in their misty shroud ;
She shakes her trident on her golden steep.
O'er ■waving woods, in solemn reverence bowed ;
Her bright aurora throws its flashing ray-
Where primal worlds in sunless darkness stray I
A shout from those touched orbs comes rolling back,
As rose the antiieni of this earth, when first
Around the night that sj^hered her rayless track,
The breaking morn in golden splendors burst —
The king of chaos sees the new-bom light,
And, howhng, plunges down the gulf of night.
OLD AND AVELL-TRIED FRIENDS.
I must not forget in my reveries over the map
marvels of the new towns, the fireside friends of good
old Monterey. Among them my three years circled
their varied rounds, now stored with memories that
- 36
422 THREE VEAKS IN CALIFORNIA.
can never die. I must introduce them to the reader
before we part, and pay them the tribute of a farewell
word. They have no splendor of outward circum-
stance to stir your wonder, but hearts as true as ever
throbbed in the human breast. Here is David Spence,
from the hills of Scotland, a man of unblemished in-
tegrity and sterling sense, married to a daughter of
the late Don Jose Estrada, a resident of twenty-five
years in Monterey, my predecessor in the office of
alcalde, and recently prefect of the department.
Here is W. P. Hartnell, from England, married into
the Noriega family, the best linguist in the country,
and the government translator, with the claims of a
twenty-seven years' residence, and a circle of chil-
dren, in which yours, my gentle reader, would only
appear as a few more added to a sweeping flodk.
Here is Don Manuel Dias, a native of Mexico,
married to a sister of Mrs. Spence, a gentleman
whose urbanity and intelligence honors his origin.
Here is James McKinley, a gentleman of liberality
and wealth from the Grampian Hills, married to a
daughter of a Spanish Don from the Bay of Biscay.
Here is Don Manuel Jimeno, once secretary of state,
married into the Noriega family, to a lady of spark-
ling wit and gentle benevolence. Here is Milton
Little, a man of mind and means, who broke into
California many years ago from the west, and whom
I joined in wedlock to a fair daughter of the empire
state. Here is Don Jose Abrigo, blest with wealth,
enterprise, and a fine family of boys. Here is J. P.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 423
Lease, from Missouri, long resident in California, with
ample fortune and generous heart, and whose amia-
ble wife is the sister of Gen. Vallejo. Here is James
Watson, born on the Thames ; came to Monterey
twenty-five years since, married a lady of the country,
is now a heavy capitalist, with a charity open as day.
Here is Charles Walter, of German origin, a resident
of many years, married into the Estrada family, and
possessed of wealth. Here is Gov. Pulacio, from
Lower California — a gentleman of the old school —
with a wife and daughter imbued with the same spirit
of refinement. Here is J. F. Dye, from our own
shores, long identified with the interests of the country,
and married to one of its daughters. Here are Messrs.
Toomes & Thoms, bosom friends, partners in busi-
ness, and men of enterprise and substance. Here is
James Stokes, from England, for twenty-five years a
citizen of Monterey, a merchant, farmer, and doctor,
married to a lady of the country, in whom the afflicted
always find a friend.
Here is Senor Soveranez, whose saloon is lit by
eyes bright as nuptial tapers, and where the Castilian
flows soft as if warbled by a bird. Here is Padre
Ramirez, an intelligent, liberal, and warm-hearted
canon of the Catholic church ; and also the Rev. S.
H. Willey, of the Protestant persuasion, who is or-
ganizing a society, and who has the zeal and energy
to carry the enterprise through. Monterey lost one
of its most cherished ladies, when Mrs. Larkin took
her departure. Here for eighteen years she had lent
42 i THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
a charm to its society. She was the first lady from
the United States that settled in California. Long
will the good old town lament the departure of T. H.
Green. His enterprise and integrity as a merchant,
and his benevolence as a citizen, were everywhere
felt. The widow and the orphan ever found in him
a generous friend. Nor must I forget the young and
gentle Saladonia, who has often hovered like a minis-
tering angel in the family of the poor emigrant. Nor
must I pass unheeded the grave of my revered friend
Don Juan Malerine, beloved in life, and who died
" Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and Ues down to pleasant dreams."
425
CHAPTER XXXIl.
BRIEF NOTICES OF PERSONS WHOSE PORTRAITS EMBELLISH THIS VOLUME,
AND WHO ARE PROMINENTLY CONNECTED WITH CALIFORNIA AFFAIRS.
JOHN CHARLES FREMONT
Is a native of South Carolina — was born in 1813 —
received his education at Charleston College, and
first evinced the vigor of his mathematical genius in
the eflicient aid rendered the accomplished Nicollet
in his survey of the basin of the upper Mississippi.
The importance of this service was acknowledged by
the governnient in his appointment as a lieutenant in
the corps of Topographical Engineers. In 1841 the
war department confided to him the interests and ob-
jects of an expedition to the Rocky Mountains, in
which he discovered and mapped the South Pass.
The scientific results of this adventure awakened in
the public mind an intense enthusiasm for a more
extended exploration. In the following year he left
the frontier settlements at the head of a small party,
crossed the Rocky Mountains, discovered and sur-
veyed the great valley of the Salt Lake, and extended
his researches into Oregon and California. Tiiese
explorations, which occupied the greater portion of
two years, were not confined to topographical ques-
tions ; they embraced all the departments of natural
36*
426 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORMA.
history, with extended meteorological observations.
They fill a volume, in which the trophies of science
are blended with the incidents of the wildest adven-
ture.
In 1844, the explorer left the United States again
for the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, and had
descended into California, when the declaration of
war suspended his scientific pursuits, and summoned
him to the field. He had been honored successively
with the rank of captain, major, and colonel. A bat-
talion of riflemen enrolled themselves under his com-
mand. Their campaign, in the winter of 1846, im-
pressed its intrepid spirit and heroic action on the
fate of the war. Constrained by the orders of a su-
perior, Col. Fremont was again in the United States ;
where, having declined a return of his commission,
which he had adorned with eminent service, he threw
himself, with unrepressed spirit, on his own energies,
and started again for California. This was his sev-
enth adventure across the continent ; and owing to
the lateness of the season, was attended with hard-
ships and privations, in which many of his brave
mountaineers perished. But his force of purpose tri-
umphed over the elements, and carried him through.
The new territory, in the vast accessions of a rush-
ing emigration, had suddenly risen to the dignity of
a commonwealth. A United States senator was to
be chosen : it was the highest office within the gift
of the people, and they conferred it, without distinc-
tion of party, on Col. Fremont. The decree of a
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 427
military tribunal, bound to those rigid rules of disci-
pline which never bend to the force of circumstance,
may dispose of the parchment honors of a commis-
sion, but the public services and private worth of the
individual must remain ; the substantial benefits con-
ferred on mankind must remain ; the path opened to
the golden gates of the west must remain ; the flag
of the country still fly along its fortified line, and the
great tide of emigration roll through its avenue for
ages. If Humboldt be the Nestor of scientific travel-
lers, and Audubon the interpreter of nature, Col. Fre-
mont is the Pathfinder of empire.
WILLIAM M. GWIN
Was born in Sumner county, Tennessee, in 1805.
His father, the Rev. James Gwin, was a distinguished
divine in the Methodist Episcopal church, and one ot
its founders in the West. He was for fifty years the
intimate and confidential friend of Gen. Jackson, and
chaplain to his army during the late war with Eng-
land. Dr. Gwin was graduated at Transylvania Uni-
versity, in Kentucky, and practised his profession,
with eminent success for several years, in his native
state and Mississippi. He relinquished his profession
in 1833, and was appointed, by Gen. Jackson, Mar-
shal of Mississippi, — an office which he filled until
after the election of Gen. Harrison to the presidency,
when he became a candidate for congress, and was
elected by a large majority.
He was remarked, during the session, as a ready.
428 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
forcible debater, and was renominated by his district
with great unanimity, but decUned running, owing to
pecuniary embarrassments incurred while he held the
office of marshal, and brought about by the paper
money system, which involved Mississippi in bank-
ruptcy, and especially the public officers, who, like
Dr. Gwin, had been induced, under the decisions of
the courts, to take this irresponsible paper in payment
of executions. In 1846, Dr. Gwin removed to New
Orleans, and was soon after appointed commissioner
to superintend the erection of the custom-house in that
city, destined to be one of the largest public edifices in
the country. From this position he retired on the
election of Gen. Taylor to the presidency, and emi-
grated to California, where he engaged actively in
organizing a state government. He was elected a
member of the convention from San Francisco, and
bore a prominent, influential part in its debates and
proceedings, which resulted in the present noble con-
stitution. The importance of these services were
duly recognized by the people of Cahfornia, and they
testified their regard and confidence in conferring on
him the dignity of a United States senator. He will
have it in his power to do much for the new state,
and we feel assured she will find in him a resolute
champion of her rights.
THOMAS OLIVER LARKIN,
Born in Charleston, Mass., 1803, and emigrated to
California eighteen years since. The same spirit of
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 429
adventure which took him to this country, charac-
terized his subsequent career. He came here with-
out capital, and with no sources of reliance save in
his own enterprise and activity. There was then no
gold out of which a fortune could be suddenly piled,
and no established channels of business through
which a man could become regularly and safely rich.
But this unsettled state of affairs was suited to the
enterprising spirit of Mr. Larkin. He often projected
enterprises and achieved them, seemingly through the
boldness of the design ; but there was ever behind
this a restless energy that pushed them to a success-
ful result. Many and most of the public improve-
ments were planned and executed by him ; the only
wharf and custom-house on the coast were erected
through his activity.
Through all the revolutions which convulsed the
country, he held the post of United States consul,
and vigilantly protected our commercial interests and
the rights of our citizens. He was deeply concerned
in all the measures which at length severed Califor-
nia from Mexico, and loaned his funds and credit to
a large amount in raising means to meet the sudden
exigences of the war. The Californians, to cut off
these supplies, managed at last, very adroitly, to cap-
ture him, and held him as a hostage in any important
contingency. But the work had already been meas-
urably accomplished, and a restoration of prisoners
soon followed. Mr. Larkin early engaged in the or-
ganization of a civil government — was a delegate
430 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
from Monterey to the convention for drafting a con-
stitution, and impressed his practical genius on many
of its provisions. He has never been a candidate for
any office, and resigned that of Navy Agent, with
which he had been honored, as soon as the condition
of pubUc affairs would allow. His commercial en-
terprise and sagacity work best where they have the
most scope ; they have secured to him an ample for-
tune. His house has always been the home of the
stranger ; his hospitalities are ever on a scale with
his ample means.
GEORGE W. WRIGHT.
Among the successful adventurers into California,
Mr. Wright holds a prominent place. He was born
in Massachusetts in 1816, where he received a busi-
ness education, and commenced life with no capital
beyond his own enterprise and sagacity. Through
these he won his way to a partnership in a large
commercial house, extensively engaged in the wha-
ling service and its correlative branches of trade.
Without disturbing these relations, he determined to
push his adventures into California, where he arrived
soon after the discovery of the placers, and engaged
in the commerce of the country. Success and a
rapid accumulation of capital attended his efforts. A
large banking-house at San Francisco was proposed,
and he became the leading partner. This house has
withstood all the shocks which have carried ruin to
miiny others, and maintained its credit mishaken. At
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 431
the adoption of the constitution, two members of Con-
gress were to be chosen, and Mr. Wright was elected
to this honorable position. This token of confidence
and regard was the more to be appreciated, as it re-
sulted from no constrained party organization, but
the decided preference of the citizens, expressed at
the ballot-box.
Mr. Wright was the first to collect specimens of
the gold-bearing quartz. He traversed the foot hills
of the Sierra Nevada for this purpose, and underwent
many hardships and perils. He was often for days
on the very shortest allowance, and obliged to share
even this with his famished mule. The quartz fre-
quently seam the loftiest ridges, and can be reached
only through the most exhausting fatigue. None but
those of iron muscles can scale the soaring steep, or
dislodge, with steady hand and head, the treasured
vein in the giddy verge. Against these obstacles
Mr. Wright persevered, and gathered a great variety
of specimens, curious in themselves and often rich,
but valued mainly as indications of the wealth of the
quartz, and as leading-clues to their localities. They
will serve to stimulate the exertions and guide the
footsteps of the subsequent miner. They are not
stowed away as secrets for the exclusive benefit of
the discoverer : the information they impart is free
to all. The only danger lies in conclusions too
glowing for the reality, and those hasty adventures
in which anticipation overleaps the laborious process.
The specimens are genuine, and have been pro-
432 THREE YEARS IX CALIFORMA.
nounced at the mint the richest that have been test-
ed. The extent to which the gold-bearing quartz
prevails can be thoroughly known only in the results
of mining operations. It has been found in different
localities between Feather river and the Mariposa ;
and if it approaches in value the most ordinary spe-
cimens gathered by Mr. Wright and myself, will mu-
nificentlv reward the labors of the miner, and will
upset all geological deductions connected with gold-
bearing quartz in other countries.
JACOB R. SXYDER.
Born in Philadelphia, 1813, emigrated to the west
in 1834, and has been for the last five years a citi-
zen of California. At the commencement of hostilities
in that country. Com. Stockton, then in command of
the land and naval forces, confided to him the organi-
zation of an artillery corps, and subsequently con-
ferred on him the appointment of quarter-master to
the battalion of mounted riflemen under Col. Fre-
mont, which office he continued to fill during the war.
At the restoration of peace, Mr. Snyder was appointed
by Governor Mason surveyor for the middle depart-
ment of California, where his activity and science
were called into play in the settlement of many ques-
tions of disputed boundary in land titles. In the or-
ganization of a civil government, he was elected
delegate from Sacramento district to the convention,
and was one of the committee for drafting the con-
st! lution. His remarks in the convention are charac-
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 433
terized for their pertinency, brevity, and sound sense.
He is a good specimen of that versatility which be-
longs to the " universal nation." Fond of adventure,
and with resources in himself to meet all its exio-en-
cies, — partial to new positions, new duties, and re-
sponsibilities, and yet perfectly at home in each —
ever with some beckoning object ahead, which, when
attained, is to be relinquished for one of still greater
magnitude, — and all this with a sound judgment, in-
flexible integrity, and unostentatious generosity. He
was one of the original projectors of Sacramento
City, and is still largely concerned in its prosperity.
His liberal policy, sustained by that of his enter-
prising, intelligent partner. Major Reading, is ex-
hibited in the ample reservations which have been
made for churches, school- houses, and public squares.
CAPT. JOHN A. SUTTER.
The leading features of interest in the adventurous
life of Capt. Sutter are connected with California
affairs. He -was born in Switzerland near the close
of the last century, and early relinquished its glaciers
and lakes for the sunny fields of France. His love
of adventure turned his attention to the camp, where
his gallant conduct soon secured him an honorable
commission. But the wars of the continent being
over, he emigrated to the United States, and having
resided several years in Missouri, turned his roving
eye to the shores of the Pacific.
Through a series of adventures, which seem more
37
434 THREE YEARS I\ CALIFORNIA.
like fictions than realities, he at length reached the
valley of the Sacramento, where he procured from
the government the grant of a large tract of land.
The country around was in the possession of wild
Indians, some of whom he conciliated, and through
their labors constructed a fort to protect himself from
the rest. His influence over these children of the
forest was such that in a few years he had over a
thousand of their number at work on his farm. He
was upright in all his dealings with them, and paid
each as punctually as if he had been a king. His
place, to which he gave the name of New Helvetia,
was for years the emigrants goal, — the land ot
promise, which glimmered in warm light through his
cold mountain dream. There he was sure of a cor-
dial welcome, and a hospitality that new no bounds ;
no matter from what clime he came, or what were
his credentials ; it was enough for his generous host
to know that he was an adventurer, poor in all things
save a manly purpose. But often the bounty of Capt.
Sutter has gone forth to meet the emigrant ; it was
his sympathy and active benevolence that mainly
rescued the emigrants of forty-six from starvation in
the California mountains. When his relief reached
them, their last animals had been killed and consumed
for food, their last pound of provisions, and their last
means of subsistence had given out ; thev were em-
bayed in depths of snow which baffled their ex-
hausted strength, and hunger hung in horror over the
dead.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 435
It was on the lands of Capt. Sutter that gold was
first discovered ; the cut of a mill-race revealed the
entrancing treasure ; but all were welcome to the
results ; no spirit of monopoly obstructed the digger,
or enriched the proprietor ; fortunes went freely to
the pockets of those who drove the spade and turned
the bowl. When a civil organization was proposed,
the generous captain was deputed by the electors in
his district to represent them in the convention. He
there favored all measures calculated to secure the
interests of the emigrants, and develop the resources
of the country. When he put his own signature to
the constitution, he dropped the pen in very glad-
ness ; the light of other days encircled his spirit, he
was a child again ; all felt the tears which filled the
eyes of the old pioneer, and wept in joyous sympathy
with their source. The work was done, and Califor-
nia was henceforth to revolve among the glorious orbs
of the republic !
DON MARIANO GUADALUl'E VALLEJO.
This distinguished Californian was born in Mon-
terey, 1817 ; his father held a military command
under the crown of Spain, and subsequently under
the Mexican republic ; he lived to the advanced age
of 95, and saw his children allied in marriage to the
most influential families in the province. Don Mari-
ano entered the service of the government as a
cadet ; rose rapidly to a post of commanding influ-
ence, but always evinced a repugnance to Mexican
436 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
rule. In 1837, assisted by his nephew, Alverado, he
succeeded in driving the satellites of that ill-starred
republic out of the country, and in the organization
of the new government, was honored with the post
of commandante-general.
■ When the United States flag was raised, Gen.
Vallejo saw in it the opportunity of securing the
permanent tranquillity and prosperity of California :
a thousand of his noble horses went under the saddles
of our mounted riflemen. The war over, he was
first and foremost in measures for a civil organiza-
tion, and represented the district of Sonoma in the
convention for drafting a constitution. His liberal
views and sound policy pervade every provision of
the instrument. He was subsequently elected a
senator to the state legislature, and might have been
a successful candidate for any office within the gift
of the people. He is a large landed proprietor ; his
cattle are on a hundred hills, and his horses in as
many vales ; while a thousand Indians, whom he has
won from savage life, cultivate his fields, and garner
his grains. His munificent Uberality and profound
interest in the cause of education, and the claims of
humanity, may be gathered from the following state-
ment contained in the report of the committee of the
California legislature on public buildings and grounds,
in relation to the permanent location of the seat of
government. This committee say :
Gen. Vallejo, a native of California, and now a member of the
legislature, offers a site lying upon the Straits of Carquinas and Napa
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 437
river, where he proposes to lay out (he capital to be called Eureka,
or such other name as the legislature may suggest. He proposes—
1st. That said permanent seat of government may be laid out in
such form as five Commissioners may direct, three of whom shall
be appointed by tiie legislature, and two by himself.
2d. That he proposes to grant to the state, for the following pur-
poses, free of cost :
Acres.
Capitol and grounds 20
Governor's house and grounds 10
Offices of Treasurer, Comptroller, Secretary of State, &c 5
State Library and Translator's office 1
Orphan's Asylum 20
Male Charity Hospital 10
Female Charity Hospital 10
Asylum for the Blind 4
Deaf and Dumb Asylum 4
Lunatic Asylum 20
Four Common Schools 8
State University 20
State Botanical Garden 4
State Penitentiary 20
Also, your memorialist proposes to donate and pay over to the
state, within two years after the acceptance of his propositions, the
following sums of money, for the faithful payment of wliich he pro-
poses to give to the state ample security.
For building State Capitol $125,000
Furnishing the same 10,000
Building Governor's House 10,000
Furnishing the same 5,000
State Library and Translator's Office 5,()00
State Library 5,000
For the building of the Offices of Secretary of State, Comp-
troller, Attorney-General, Surveyor-General, and Treas-
urer, should the Commissioners deem it proper to sepa-
rate them from the State House 20,000
Building Orphan's Asvlum 20,000
Building Female Charitv Hospital 20,000
Building Male Charitv Hospital 20,0fi0
Building Asylum for Rhnd 20,000
Building Deaf and Dumb Asylum 20.000
Building State Universitv 20,000
For University Library .!' 10,000
Scientific Apparatus therefor 5,000
Chemical Laboratory therefor 3,000
Mineral Cabinet therefor 8,000
Four Common School Edifices 10,000
Purchasuig Books for same 6,000
37*
438 THREE VEARS IX CALIFORXIA.
For the Building of a Lunatic Asylum $20,000
For a Stiite Penitentiary 20,000
For a State Botanical Collectioa 3,000
In accordance ■with another proposition of Gen. Yallejo, the com-
mittee further report in favor of submitting this offer to the accept-
ance of the people, at the next general election. The report adds :
" Your committee cannot dwell with too much v/annth upon the
magniticent propositions contained in the memorial of Gen. Vallejo.
Tliev breathe throughout the spirit of an enlarged mind, and a sincere
public benefactor, for which he deserves the thanks of this body, and
tile gratitude of Califoiuia. Such a proposition looks more like the
logacv of a prince to his people, than the free donation of a private
planter to a great state."
439
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE MISSION ESTABLISHMENTS IN CALIFORNIA. — THEIR ORIGIN, OBJECTS,
LOCALITIES, LANDS, REVENUES, OVERTHROW.
The missions of California are the most prominent
features in her history. They were established to
propagate the Roman faith, and extend the domain
of the Spanish crown. They contemplated the con-
version of the untutored natives, and a permanent
possession of the soil. They were an extension of
the same system which, half a century previous, had
achieved such signal triumphs on the peninsula and
through the northern provinces of Mexico. The
founders were men of unwearied zeal and heroic ac-
tion ; their enterprise, fortitude, and unshaken pur-
pose might rouse all the slumbering strings of the
religious minstrel.
In Alta Cahfornia these missions formed a religious
cordon the entire extent of the coast. They were
reared at intervals of twelve or fourteen leagues in
all the great fertile valleys opening on the sea. The
first was founded in 1769 ; others followed fast, and
before the close of the century the whole twenty
were in effective operation. Each establishment
contained within itself the elements of its strength, the
sources of its aggrandizement. It embraced a mas-
sive church, garnished with costly plate ; dwellings,
440 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
Storehouses, and workshops, suited to the wants of a
growing colony ; broad lands, encircling meadows,
forests, streams, orchards, and cultured fields, with
cattle, sheep, and horses, grazing on a " thousand
hills," and game in every glade ; and above all, a
faith that could scoop up whole tribes of savages,
dazzling them with the symbols of religion, and im-
pressing them with the conviction that submission to
the padres was obedience to God.
These vast establishments absorbed the lands, cap-
ital, and business of the country ; shut out emigra-
tion, suppressed enterprise, and moulded every interest
into an implement of ecclesiastical sway. In 1833,
the supreme government of Mexico issued a decree
which converted them into civil institutions, subject
to the control of the state. The consequence was,
the padres lost their power, and with that departed
the enterprise and wealth of their establishments.
The civil administrators plundered them of their
stock, the governors granted to favorites sections of
their lands, till, with few exceptions, only the huge
buildings remain. Their localities will serve as im-
portant guides to emigrants in quest of lands adapted
to pasturage and agriculture, and their statistics will
show, to some extent, the productive forces of the
soil. These have been gathered, with some pains,
from the archives of each mission, and are grouped
for the first time in these pages. They are like the
missions themselves — skeletons. California, though
seemingly young, is piled with the wrecks of the
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 441
past ; around the stately ruin flits the shade of the
padre ; his warm welcome to streaming guests still
lingers in the hall ; and the loud mirth of the festive
crowds still echoes in the darkened arches. But all
these good olden times are passed — their glorious
realities are gone — like the sound and sun-lit splen-
dors of the wave dashed and broken on the remorse-
less rock.
MISSION OF DOLIORES.
This mission is situated on the south side of the
bay of San Francisco, two miles from the town. Its
lands were forty leagues in circumference. Its stock,
in 1825, consisted of 76,000 head of cattle, 950 tame
horses, 2000 breeding-mares, 84 stud of choice breed,
820 mules, 79,000 sheep, 2000 hogs, 456 yoke of
working-oxen, 18,000 bushels of wheat and barley,
$35,000 in merchandize, and $25,000 in specie. It
was secularized in 1834 by order of Gen. Figueroa,
and soon became a wreck. The walls of the huge
church only remain. Little did the good padre who
reared them dream of the great town that was to
rise in their shadows !
MISSION OF SANTA CLARA.
This mission is situated in the bosom of the great
valley that bears its name, six miles from the embar-
cadara which strands the upper bend of the great
bay of San Francisco. Around it lie the richest
lands in California — once its own domain. In 1823
442 THREE YEARS I\ CALIFORNIA.
it branded, as the increase of one year, 22,400 calves.
It owned 74,280 head of full-grown cattle, 407 yoke
of working-oxen, 82,540 sheep, 1890 trained horses,
4235 mares, 725 mules, 1000 hogs, and i 120,000 in
goods. The church is a gigantic pile, and was once
adorned with ornaments of massive silver. The
property was secularized in 1834 by order of Gen.
Figueroa, when the frolicking citizens of the Pueblo
de San Jose began to revel on its ruins. It has still
a fine vineyard, where the grape reels and the pear
mellows
MISSION OF SAN JGSIE.
This mission was founded in 1797, fifteen miles
from the town which bears its name, and at the ter-
minus of a valley unrivalled in fertility. It supplied
the Russian Company with grain, who sent yearly
several large ships for stores for their northern settle-
ments. It is stated, in the archives of this mission,
that the mayordomo gathered 8,600 bushels of wheat
from 80 bushels sown ; and the following year, from
the grain which fell at the time of the first harvest,
5200 bushels ! The priest told me that Julius Csesar
deposited in the temple of Ceres 362 kernels of wheat,
as the largest yield of any one kernel in the Roman
empire ; and that he had gathered and counted, from
one kernel sown at this mission, 365 — beating Rome
in three kernels ! This mission had, in 1825, 3000
Indians, 62,000 head of cattle, 840 tame horses, 1500
mares, 420 mules, 310 yoke of oxen, and 62,000 sheep.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA 443
It has still a vineyard, in which large quantities of
luscious grapes and pears are raised. It was secular-
ized in 1834 ; and the old church bell, as if indignant
at the change, has plunged from its chiming tower.
MISSION OF SAN JUAN BOUTISTA.
This mission looms over a rich valley, ten leagues
from Monterey — founded 179<|r Its lands swept the
broad interval and adjacent hills. In 1820 it owned
43,870 head of cattle, 1360 tame horses, 4870 mares,
colts, and fillies. It had seven sheep-farms, contain-
ing 69,530 sheep ; while the Indians attached to the
mission drove 321 yoke of w'orking-oxen. Its store-
house contained $75,000 in goods and $20,000 in spe-
cie. This mission was secularized in 1834 ; its cattle
slaughtered for their hides and tallow, its sheep left
to the w^olves, its horses taken by the dandies, its In-
dians left to hunt acorns, while the wind sighs over
the grave of its last padre.
MISSION OF SAN CARLOS.
This mission, founded 1770, stands in the Carmel
valley, three miles from Monterey. Through its
ample lands flows a beautiful stream of water, which
every governor of the country, for the last thirty
years, has purposed conducting to the metropolis.
Its gardens supply the vegetable market of Monterey.
Its pears are extremely rich in flavor. In its soil
were raised, in 1826, the first potatoes cultivated in
California. So little did the presiding padre think of
444 THREE YEARS IX CALIFORNIA.
this strange vegetable, he allowed the Indians to raise
and sell them to the whalers that visited Monterey,
without disturbing their profits. He was satisfied if
the Indians would give him one salmon in ten out of
the hundreds they speared in the stream which swept
past his door. This mission, in 1825, branded 2300
calves ; had 87,600 head of cattle, 1800 horses and
mares, 365 yoke of oxen, nine sheep-farms, with an
average of about 6,000 sheep on each, a large assort-
ment of merchandise, and $40,000 in specie, which
was buried on the report of a piratical cruiser on the
coast. It was secularized in 1835. The church re-
mains ; but the only being I found in it was a large
white owl, who seemed to mourn its fall.
MISSION OF SAXTA CRUZ.
This mission stands near the coast on the northern
side of the bay of Monterey, in a tract of land re-
markable for its agricultural capacities, which it de-
veloped in the richest harvests. In 1830 this mission
owned all the lands now cultivated or claimed by the
farmers of Santa Cruz. It had 42,800 head of cattle,
3200 horses and mares, 72,500 sheep, 200 nmles,
large herds of swine, a spacious church, garnished
with §25.000 worth of silver plate. It was secular-
ized in 1834 by order of Gen. Figueroa, and shared
the fate of its Carmel sister. Only one padre lingers
on the premises, and he seems the last of a perished
race.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 445
MISSION OF SOLEDAD.
This mission is situated fifteen leagues southwest
of Monterey, in a fertile plain, known by the name
of the " llano del rey." The priest was an indefati-
gable agriculturist. To obviate the summer drought,
he constructed, through the labor of his Indians, an
aqueduct extending fifteen miles, by which he could
water twenty thousand acres of land. In 1826 this
mission owned about 36,000 head of cattle, and a
greater number of horses and mares than any other
mission in the country. So great was the reproduc-
tion of these animals, they were given away to pre-
serve the pasturage for cattle and sheep. It had
about 70,000 sheep, and 300 yoke of tame oxen. In
1819 the mayordomo of this mission gathered 3400
bushels of wheat from 38 bushels sown. It has still
standing about a thousand fruit-trees, which still bear
their mellow harvests ; but its secularization has been
followed by decay and ruin.
MISSION OF SAN ANTONIO.
This mission is situated twelve leagues south of
Soledad, on the border of an inland stream, upon
w^hich it has conferred its name. The buildings
vv^ere inclosed in a square, twelve hundred feet on
each side, and walled with adobes. Its lands were
forty-eight leagues in circumference, including seven
farms, with a convenient house and chapel attached
to each. The stream was conducted in paved
38
446 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
trenches twenty miles for purposes of irrigation ;
large crops rewarded the husbandry of the padres.
In 1822 this mission owned 52,800 head of cattle,
1800 tame horses, 3000 mares, 500 yoke of working-
oxen, 600 mules, 48,000 sheep, and 1000 swine. The
climate here is cold in winter, and intensely hot in
summer. This mission, on its secularization, fell into
the hands of an administrator, who neglected its
farms, drove oft' its cattle, and left its poor Indians to
starve.
MISSION OF SAN MIGUEL.
This inland mission is situated sixteen leagues south
of San Antonio, on a barren elevation ; but the lands
attached to it sweep a circuit of sixty leagues, and
embrace some of the finest tracts for agriculture.
Of the sethe Estella tract is one ; its fertility is enough
to make a New England plough jump out of its rocks ;
and a hundred emigrants will yet squat in its green
bosom, and set the wild Indians and their warwhoop
at defiance. In 1822 this mission owned 91,000 head
of cattle, 1100 tame horses, 3000 mares, 2000 mules,
170 yoke of working oxen, and 47,000 sheep. The
mules were used in packing the products of the mis-
sion to Monterey, and bringing back drygoods, gro-
ceries, and the implements of husbandry. But now
the Indian neophytes are gone, the padres have de-
parted, and the old church only remains to interpret
the past.
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 447
MISSION OF SAN lUIS OBISPO.
This mission stands fourteen leagues southeast of
San Miguel, and within three of the coast. It has
always been considered one of the richest missions
in California. The presiding priest, Luis Martinez,
was a man of comprehensive purpose and indomita-
ble force. His mission grant covered an immense tract
of the richest lands on the seaboard. Every mountain
stream was made to subserve the purposes of irriga-
tion. He planted the cotton-tree, the lime, and a grove
of olives, which still shower their abundant harvests
on the tables of the Californians. He built a launch
that run to Santa Barbara, trained his Indians to kill
the otter, and often received thirty and forty skins a
week from his children of the bow. His storehouse
at Santa Margarita, with its high adobe walls, was
one hundred and ninety feet long, and well stowed
with grain. His table was loaded with the choicest
game and richest wines ; his apartments for guests
might have served the hospitable intentions of a
prince. He had 87,000 head of grown cattle, 2000
tame horses, 3500 mares, 3700 mules, eight sheep-
farms, averaging 9000 sheep to each farm, and the
broad Tulare valley, in which his Indians could
capture any number of wild horses. The mayordomo
of this mission in 1827, scattered on the ground,
without having first ploughed it, 120 bushels of wheat,
and then scratched it in with things called harrows,
and harvested from the same over 7000 bushels. This
418 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA,
was a lazy experiment, but shows what the land may
yield when activity shall take the place of indolence.
Father Martinez returned to Spain, taking with him
^100,000 as the fruits of his mission enterprise. On
the secularization of the mission in 1834, the property
fell a prey to state exigency, and private rapacity.
A gloomy wreck of grandeur only remains.
MISSION OF LA PURISIMA.
This mission is located eighteen leagues south of
San Luis, at the base of a mountain spur, in the coast
range ; its lands covered about thirteen hundred
square miles, and were at one time so filled with wild
cattle, the presiding priest granted permits to any
person who desired to kill them for their hides and
tallow, the meat being thrown away. Thousands in
this shape fell under the lasso and knife, and still the
mission numbered^!! 1830 over 40,000 head of cattle
sufficiently domesticated to be coralled, 300 yoke of
working-oxen, 2600 tame horses, 4000 mares, 30,000
sheep, and 5000 swine, which were raised for their
lard — 110 one eating the meat. The horses on this
mission were celebrated for their beauty and speed ;
they performed feats under the saddle worthy of the
most brilliant page in the register of the turf But
now the steed and his rider are gone, and the willow
sighs over the mouldering ruin.
MISSION OF SANTA INEZ.
This mission is seven leagues to the southward of
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 449
La Purisima, and thirteen north of Santa Barbara.
Its lands were more circumscribed than those of
other missions ; still it had vast herds of cattle and
sheep, and its horses vied in beauty and strength with
those of its sister missions. Its property, in 1823, was
valued at $800,000. A portion of its lands remain
unalienated, and must be held for the benefit of its
Indian neophytes, or accrue to the public domain.
The last government decree left the whole in the
hands of- an administrator, who thought more of his
own revenues than the claims of the poor Indians
whom law had betrayed.
MISSION OF SANTA BARBARA.
This mission is twelve leagues south of ^anta Inez.
Between the two a steep n'lountain range shoulders
its way to the sea. No wheeled vehicle has ever
been driven over it, except that which transported
the field-piece attached to Col. Fremont's battalion.
The mission being near the beautiful town of Santa
Barbara, its profuse hospitality contributed largely to
the social pleasures of the citizens. Its vintage never
failed, and its friendly fires ever burnt bright ; many a
gay merrianda has kindled the eye of beauty in its soft
shade. The main building is elaborately finished for
California. The lands of the mission embraced many
leagues. In 1828 it had 40,000 head of cattle, 1000
horses, 2000 mares, 80 yoke of oxen, GOO mules, and
20,000 sheep. It is now under a civil administrator,
and a portion of its land? still remain vested in their
38*
450 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
original object. Around this mission emigrants will
ere long settle in great numbers, and devote them-
selves to agriculture and the cultivation of grapes,
olives, figs, for which the climate is peculiarly adapted.
MISSION OF SAN BUENAVENTURA.
This mission is situated about nine leagues south
of Santa Barbara, near the seaboard. Its lands cov-
ered an area of fifteen hundred square miles, of which
two hundred are arable land. In 1825 it owned
37,000 head of cattle, 600 riding horses, 1300 mares,
200 yoke of working-oxen, 500 mules, 30,000 sheep,
200 goats, 2000 swine, a thrifty orchard, two rich
vineyards, $35,000 in foreign goods, $27,000 in spe-
cie, with church ornaments and clothing valued at
$61,000. It w^as secularized in 1835, and has since
been under a civil administrator, but all its wealth
soon became a wreck. A small portion of its lands
remain, and will tempt the horticultural emigrant to
its fertile bosom.
MISSION OF SAN FERNANDO.
This mission, founded 1797, is situated about six-
teen leagues south of San Buenaventura, in the midst
of a beautiful plain, and has always been celebrated
for the superior quality of the brandy distilled from
its grapes. In 1826 it owned 56,000 head of cattle,
1500 horses and mares, 200 mules, 400 yoke of work-
ing-oxen, 64,000 sheep, and 2000 swine. It had in
its stores about $50,000 in merchandise, $90,000 in
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 451
specie ; its vineyards yielded annually about 2000
gallons of brandy and as many of wine. Its secular-
ization was followed by the dispersion of its Indians
and ruin of its property. The hills, at the foot of
w^hich this mission stands, have, within the last ten
years, produced considerable quantities of gold. One
house exported about 830,000 of it. This was the first
gold discovered in California, and the discovery was
made three or four years previous to that on the
American Fork. The marvel is the search for it did
not extend further.
MISSION OF SAN GABRIEL.
This mission, located a little below los Angeles,
was founded in 1771, and for several years led the
others in enterprise and wealth. Its lands cover one
of the most charming intervals in California ; the
soil and climate are both well adapted to fruit. In
its gardens bloomed oranges, citrons, limes, apples,
pears, peaches, pomegranates, figs, and grapes in
great abundance. From the latter were made an-
nually from four to six hundred barrels of wine, and
two hundred of brandy, the sale of which produced
an income of more than 812,000. In 1829 it had
70,000 head of cattle, 1200 horses, 3000 mares, 400
mules, 120 yoke of working-oxen, and 54,000 sheep.
The charming rancho of Santa Anita belongs to this
mission; it is situated on a gentle acclivity, where fruit
trees and flowers scatter their perfume ; while a clear
lake lies calmly in front, to which the leaping rivulets
452 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
rush in glee. Here the emigrant will find more
charms in the landscape than he has left behind,
and a more balmy air than he ever yet inhaled.
MISSION OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO.
This mission, situated eighteen leagues south ot
San Gabriel, was founded in 1776, and was for many
years one of the most opulent in the country. Its
lands extended fifteen leagues along the seaboard, and
back to the mountains, where they swept over many
ravines of fertile soil and sequestering shade. Through
these roamed vast herds of cattle, sheep, and horses ;
while the sickle, pruning-knife, and shuttle gleamed
in the dexterous hand of the domestic Indian. The
earthquake of 1812 threw down the heavy stone
church, as if in omen of the disasters which have
since befallen the mission. The cattle have gone to
the shambles, the Indians are in exile, the mass is
over, and the shuttle at rest.
MISSION OF SAN LUIS RET.
This mission, located near the sea, and twelve
leagues south of San Juan, was founded in 1798 by
padre Peyri, who had devoted himself for years to
the improvement of the Indians. The buildings oc-
cupy a large square, in the centre of which a foun-
tain still plays; along the front runs a corridor,
supported by thirty-two arches, ornamented with
latticed railings; while the interior is divided into
apartments suited to the domestic economy of a large
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 453
establishment. Here the wool of the sheep which
grazed on the hills around, was woven into blankets,
and coarse apparel for the Indians, while the fur-
rowed field waved for miles under the golden grain.
The reeling grape, the blushing peach, the yellow
orange, the mellow pear, and luscious melon filled
the garden, and loaded the wings of the zephyr with
perfume. In 1826 it had three thousand Indians,
70,000 head of cattle, 2000 horses, 140 yoke of tame
oxen, 300 mules, 68,000 sheep, and a tract of land,
around half of which you could not gallop between
sun and sun. Its massive stone church still remains,
and the remnants of its greatness are now in the
hands of an administrator who little heeds the object
which animated its founder.
MISSION OF SAN DIEGO.
This mission, situated fourteen leagues south of
San Luis Rey, and near the town that bears its
name, was founded in 1769 by padre Junipero- L^rra,
and was the first established in Alta California. Its
possessions covered the whole tract of land which
circles for leagues around the beautiful bay upon
which its green hills look. Here the first cattle were
coralled, the first sheep sheared, the first field fur-
rowed, the first vineyard planted, and the first church
bell rung. The Indian heard in this strange sound
the invoking voice of his God, and knelt reverently
to the earth. The success of this mission paved the
wav for the establishment of others, till the whole
454 THREE VEARS IN CALIFORNIA.
coast was sprinkled with their churches, and every
green glade filled with their wild converts and lowing
herds. But the padres and their neophytes are gone,
and all the memorials that remain are a cumbrous
ruin. Gigantic skeletons of things that were !
THE RAILROAD TO CALIFORNIA.
The facilities of social and commercial intercourse
between our Atlantic and Pacific borders, yet to be
created, present a problem of great practical import-
ance. The present route, via Chagres and Panama,
may be regarded as a necessity to be superseded as
soon as practicable, by a railroad directly across the
continent, within our own jurisdiction. Besides the
formidable political objections to being dependent on
foreign powers for a connection between our remo-
test and most important commercial points, the dis-
tance, via Chagres and Panama, or by any railroad
or canal across the Isthmus yet to be made, in con-
nection with the effects of a hot climate on animal
and vegetable products, as subjects of trade between
our Atlantic and Pacific coasts, present most insupera-
ble obstacles to a permanent reliance on that route.
It is now ascertained, that instead of thirty days be-
tween New York and San Francisco, or forty days to
the mouth of the Columbia river by steam, or three
to six months by sailing craft, either of these points
may be reached in seven to eight days by railroad
direct, avoiding altogether the deleterious effects of
climate on articles of trade, as well as on health and
life. These two considerations, so potent and over-
ruling in commercial intercourse, will undoubtedly
prove paramount to all antagonistic interests, and the
THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 455
railroad, directly across, may be regarded as already
decided by the demands of trade between these re-
mote parts of our present extended domain.
But what shall be the plan, Mr. Whitney's or a
government enterprise? If the government under-
take it, the chances are a thousand to one, that, like
the Cumberland road, it will be broken down by
party strifes. Neither of the two great parties of the
country would, in any probability, risk the respon-
sibility of taking it on its shoulders as a government
work. Shall it, then, be done by a corporate com-
pany, with an adequate loan of public credit, as has
been proposed ? Besides other insuperable objections
to a plan of this kind, of a party political character,
it must be seen, that all transport on a road built on
this plan, must pay a toll to satisfy the interest of the
capital invested ; whereas, on the Whitney plan, no
loll will be exacted, except to keep the road and its
machinery in repair. This difference, in its opera-
tion on trade and commerce, w'ill be immense, suffi-
cient, as any one may see, to decide the question at
once and forever between the two plans. The com-
pany proposed will have to borrow its capital, the
interest of which must be provided for by tolls. This
tax on trade and intercourse will necessarily prevent
that grand movement of commercial exchanges be-
tween the Atlantic and Pacific states, between
the United States and Asia, and between Europe
and Asia, which is the great object of the enterj)rise.
But the Whitney plan does not borrow, but creates,
by its own progress, out of the increased value of the
lands through which it passes, the cai)ital required to
build the road; and thus dispensing with all tolls to
pay for the use of capital, it will invite and secure
450 THKEE VEAKi l.\ CAI.IFORMA.
the passage on this line of the great bulk of commerce
around the entire globe, and between the great
masses of the industrial and producing portions of
the human family, which, as will be seen, lie on one
great belt of the earth, demanding precisely the di-
rect and cheap channel of intercommunication here
proposed, instead of the circuitous, long, and expen-
sive routes of commerce heretofore used.
Moreover, on the company plan, the increased
value of the lands on the route, will all go to the
corporation ; whereas, on the Whitney plan, it wnll
go to the people of the United States, whose property
it is, and to the benefit of that trade and commerce
which it sets in motion.
The Whitney plan, once executed, will merge in
one the interests of our population on the Pacific
slope of this continent and those of our population on
the Atlantic slope, and by that means they will re-
main one forever. But the failure of this enterprise,
by the neglect of Congress to authorize it, would
make the interests of these two vast regions forever
independent of and opposed to each other. Such a
dereliction of duty, so apparent, would ere long, as a
natural if not necessary consequence, create . an in-
dependent nation on the Pacific.
THE EXD.
451
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THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA UBRARY