Sandboxes open.
Hello, Asiaticus/sandbox, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:
I hope you enjoy editing here and being a
Wikipedian! Please
sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out
Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}}
on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions.
Hi Asiaticus, your contributions to military history is valuable and highly regarded. I think you probably may do with some help with referencing. Instead of using bullet points for each tag for citation e.g. *. You can actually use common citation templates such as {{ Cite book}}, {{ Cite news}}, {{ Cite journal}} and {{ cite web}}.
{{cite news |title= |author= |url= |newspaper= |date= |accessdate=22 March 2012}}
{{cite book |title= |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |year= |publisher= |location= |isbn= |page= |pages= |url= |accessdate=}}
{{cite journal |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |year= |title= |journal= |volume= |issue= |pages= |publisher= |doi= |url= |accessdate= }}
{{cite web |url= |title= |author= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=March 21, 2012}}
hope this helps you with your referencing of future military history articles. -- Visik ( Chinwag Podium) 02:00, 23 March 2012 (UTC)
Place of publication: Mariposa, Cal. Geographic coverage: Mariposa, Mariposa, California Publisher: W.T. Whitacre & A.S. Gould Dates of publication: 1854-1855 Description: Vol. 1, no. 1 (Jan. 20, 1854)-v. 2, no. 7 (Mar. 2, 1855). Frequency: Weekly
Monterey, 1846-1848
San Francisco, 1847-1891
Sacramento 1849-1899
Marysville, 1850-1876
Succeeding Titles:
Preceding Titles:
Succeeding Titles:
Santa Rosa, 1857-1916
Red Bluff, 1857-1922
San Rafael, 1861-1922)
Mariposa, 1861-1922
Healdsburg, 1865-1886
A stream or arroyo:
Mariposita, California, was a small California Gold Rush mining camp, populated mostly by Mexican and French miners in the early 1850s. [113] It was located about 7 miles south of Mariposa, California along Mariposa Creek. [114] The site is still referred to as late as April 5, 1925, on pg. 10 in The Fresno Morning Republican. [115]
History
In the summer of 1852? there was an attempt to drive out the Mexican and French miners. [113] Mariposita was possibly destroyed in the anti-foreign miner violence of the time or abandoned due to the tax on those miners.[ citation needed]. [116]
References == reflist}}
=
34°10′08″N 107°18′21″W / 34.16889°N 107.30583°W, source 34°10′13″N 107°27′08″W / 34.17028°N 107.45222°W
Citation: N.M. Office of Historic Preservation, supplied list of historic sites, *Elevation: 4623/1409, 34°06′05″N 106°53′47″W / 34.10139°N 106.89639°W
ONE, and a very significant, effect of the foreign miners' tax law and the prejudices against foreigners, of which it was the evidence, was to deprive many of them of employment As a natural consequence, being thus rendered destitute of the means of purchasing food and clothing, they became desperate and were driven to theft, robbery and sometimes murder.1 For several years after the persecutions of this kind began, the otherwise waste regions of the upper San Joaquin valley, and particularly that portion of it west of Tulare Lake, were ranged over by gangs, amounting in the aggregate to several hundred, of Spanish-speaking vagabonds, whose ostensible occupation was running mustangs but whose real business was believed to be robbery and the protection of robbers. In October, 1855, on account of the great increase of crime and the consequent strengthening of the opinion that the criminals were the pretended mustang-runners, a company of rangers was organized on the Merced river and undertook to relieve that region of the marauders; and a fight was said to have taken place between them and a party of Mexicans having charge of a large band of horses and mules near the Chowchilla river, in which a number of the Mexicans were killed.2 There were many expeditions of this kind, sometimes in charge of sheriffs and sometimes without them, and not unfrequent bloody fights, until in the course of years the country was cleared of the bandits and it became safe to travel through it.
The famous brigand chief, Joaquin Murieta, and many of his bandit companions, who were second only to him in their bad
1.Wood's Sixteen Months at the Gold Diggings, 142. 2.San Joaquin Republican, November, 1855.
---
eminence, were said to have been driven into their career of crime and blood by anti-foreigner persecution. Joaquin, according to the best but still to a great extent unreliable reports about him, was born in Sonora and came to California soon after the discovery of gold. He was said to have been mining on the Stanislaus river in the early spring of 1850, when he was driven off by an anti-foreigner mob, which treated him very roughly and abused his wife or mistress, whom he had brought with him from Mexico. He then proceeded to a spot on the Calaveras river and again commenced mining; but was again driven off by a mob. He then took up his residence at Murphy's Diggings in Calaveras county and became a monte-dealer. While so engaged, he had occasion to visit a half-brother, who lived not far distant, and borrowed a horse from him to ride back. The horse appeared to have been stolen; and, upon Joaquin's return, the owner, happening to see the animal, not only claimed it but called upon the crowd to help him punish the supposed thief. Joaquin protested that he had borrowed the animal and that his half-brother had honestly paid for it; but all the effect his remonstrances produced was simply to induce the mob to go after the half-brother also. A sort of lynch-law court was convened and trial held, at which defendants, however, were unable to bring forward any testimony except their own; and the result was that the half-brother was hung upon the nearest limb and Joaquin, being tied to the trunk of the same tree, was publicly flogged. Upon being released and told to leave the place, he swore vengeance upon those who had wronged him and the Americans in general.1
Though it is not at all probable, judging from Joaquin's subsequent career, that he was ever anything but a vicious and abandoned character, low, brutal and cruel, intrinsically and at heart a thief and cut-throat, it is not unlikely that the anti-foreigner persecution, from which he suffered, made him much worse than he would otherwise have been; and it is pretty certain that the same cause had much to do in rendering it possible for him to gather and keep together for so long a time so many men preferring brigandage with all its toils, privations and perils to easier
1 The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta, &c., by John R. Ridge, San Francisco, 1871, 5-10.
---
and securer life in the mines. However this may have been, highway robberies and murders became very frequent; and in the course of 1851 it was perfectly well known that a band of organized banditti was ranging the country, though it was not for some time known who was the leader of them. It was said that the first victims were persons, who had been parties to the lynching of Joaquin's half-brother and the flogging of himself; but no one for some time supposed that the young monte-dealer was the chief and governing spirit of the organization. Among the band was Manuel Garcia, better known as "Three-fingered Jack" from the fact of having lost a finger at the time of the Mexican war. He was said to have been the leader of the guerrilla party that in 1846 tortured, murdered and mutilated Cowie and Fowler near Santa Rosa. Another member of the combination was Reyes Feliz, said to be a brother of Joaquin's female companion; another a man called Claudio; a fourth Joaquin Valenzuela, and a fifth Pedro Gonzales. All these were more or less prominent; and several of them were at different times taken to be chief. Altogether the band numbered about fifty persons and was continually increasing. Joaquin, meanwhile, without being suspected, lived much about the towns and kept his subordinates posted about everything of interest to them that was going on. They were obliged from the nature of their occupation, which in addition to highway robbery was horse-stealing on a large scale, to travel from place to place; and Joaquin himself moved about a great deal. At one time in the summer of 1851 he was at San Josd and was said to have there murdered a deputy sheriff of Santa Clara county, who had rendered himself obnoxious by his persistent and determined efforts to arrest some of his band.1
From San Jose, Joaquin moved to what was known as the Sonorian Camp, a cluster of tents and canvas houses about three miles from Marysville; and in a very short time a number of very daring robberies and murders took place in that neighborhood. Seven men were murdered within three or four days. One of the most usual methods of assassination was to throw a lariat around the neck of an unsuspecting traveler, drag him
1 Ridge's Life of Joaquin Murieta, 10-15.
---
into the chaparral by the side of the road and there dispatch him and rob the body. Suspicion was soon directed to the Sonorian Camp; and some attempts were made to fasten the crimes on individuals. But though these attempts were without success, Joaquin found it necessary to remove again; and on this occasion he led his band to the wild and rough but romantic and beautiful country to the west of Mount Shasta, where the chief object seems to have been to keep out of harm's way, occasionally cut a throat and once in a while descend into the Sacramento valley and steal horses. In the spring of 1852 the band, having collected some two or three hundred stolen animals, drove them down to a secluded and delightful little valley in the Coast Range of mountains opening by a narrow gorge into the plains west of Tulare Lake, about midway between the Tejon and Pacheco Pass. There it appears Joaquin divided most of his band, then consisting of about seventy members, into three parties and sent them out to commit depredations—one headed by Claudio, one by Garcia and one by Valenzuela. He himself, with Reyes Feliz and Pedro Gonzales and three females dressed in male attire and well-armed, went to Mokelumne Hill, where the women appeared in proper dress and attracted much attention by their quiet and modest deportment; while the men gambled and stole but more particularly devoted their time to the collection of information to aid in planning new robberies or protecting the band from trouble on account of old ones. By that time the name of Joaquin had begun to be connected with the numerous outrages committed in different parts of the country; and, though he was personally known to but very few persons, his villainous reputation spread far and wide; and he became a sort of terror in all exposed places. Meanwhile murders and robberies continued to multiply; and, notwithstanding various efforts that were made to put a stop to them, the criminals, partly because of their own abilities and partly because protected by certain of the old rancheros, managed for a time to escape arrest.1
After leaving Mokelumne Hill, Joaquin and his party returned to their secluded valley for a short time and then again took the
---
road. One day on this expedition Joaquin overtook a young man, named Albert Ruddle, who was driving a wagon on the highway. Riding up he asked the loan of what change he had about him; and, upon Ruddle's refusal and effort to protect himself, Joaquin whipped out his bowie-knife, slashed him in the neck, cut his throat from ear to ear, threw the dead body on the ground, robbed it of about three hundred dollars and left it lying in the dust. This all took place in sight of his special party above mentioned and may have been intended as an object lesson. About that same time Captain Harry S. Love, deputy sheriff of Los Angeles county, a Texan who had served as a scout and express rider in the Mexican war and was experienced in all the hardships and dangers of border hostilities, headed a party to pursue the cut-throat and his band and tracked them by their murders and robberies to the rancho of San Luis Gonzaga in Mariposa county, where they were passing the night in a canvas house. Love and his party came up in the darkness; but, as they pressed in at the door, Joaquin and his male companions cut through the canvas at the rear and escaped, leaving the women. who however joined them in a day or two afterwards, while Love, having other engagements, gave up for the time any further pursuit. It appears that the robbers proceeded next to the Tejon; and it was said that they were there themselves robbed not only of their horses but also of their arms and even clothing by the Tejon Indians and had to travel for a day or two on foot and naked. It was even added that the captain of the Indians had them whipped as vagabonds and that Joaquin was so amused at the absurdity of the incident that he refused to take, or allow any of his party to take, revenge.1
But this story, as well as much else that was told about Joaquin, does not comport with what is known of the man and was doubtless only one of the many incredible reports that were invented and repeated by irresponsible scribblers for the purpose of investing Joaquin with a magnanimity of character that did not belong to him and thereby pandering to a vitiated taste in certain lower levels of the reading community.
The next place in which the outlaws committed depredations
---
was Los Angeles county, where all the different parties came together, including Claudio who had just returned from driving a large number of the stolen horses into Sonora. While sojourning there, Pedro Gonzales appears to have operated to some extent in the neighborhood of the Camulos rancho, one of the places of refuge of the band, and fell into the hands of Captain Love, who had been on the watch. While Love was conducting him to Los Angeles, where he would undoubtedly have been hung, Joaquin, Claudio and a few others, hearing of the arrest, determined to overtake Love and release Gonzales and set off on their mission at once. By riding all night and with the utmost urgency, as their bloody spurs and the foam on their horses attested, they came in sight of Love and his prisoner just at daybreak. Gonzales, anticipating a rescue, looked back and waved his handkerchief, whereupon Love, comprehending at a glance the situation, drew his pistol, shot Gonzales through the heart and then, putting spurs to his own horse, was soon far beyond the reach of the pursuers. Not long after that, while Joaquin and Garcia or Three-fingered Jack were traveling at night near the mission of San Gabriel, they came across a couple of Chinamen, who were camping by the roadside. Three-fingered Jack woke them up and seems to have richly enjoyed the terror he caused in frightening them with his pistol. Upon examining their purses, which they were only too glad to relinquish, and finding that they contained not more than twenty or thirty dollars, the fiendish monster drew his knife and cut their throats. And not long after that and in the same neighborhood Joaquin and Garcia together waylaid and, after a desperate fight, killed General Bean, at that time a resident of San Gabriel, who had made himself very active in attempting to run down and capture the outlaws.1
From Los Angeles county the band moved to Calaveras county and was said to have thence crossed over the Sierra Nevada to the Mono Lake region and from there made its way around, by the way of Kern river, to the San Joaquin valley again. About this time it was learned that Reyes Feliz, Joaquin's so called brother-in-law, had been seized and hung at Los Angeles.
---
Not long afterwards a desperate fight occurred near San Luis Obispo between the outlaws and a party of pursuers from Santa Barbara county, in which a number of persons on both sides were killed and among them Joaquin's lieutenant Claudio, though other accounts say that he was not killed until afterwards. The band then moved over again to Mariposa county and on the Merced river robbed a company of miners of fifteen thousand dollars. From there they went to Stockton, near which, in the slough leading to the San Joaquin river, they attacked a schooner, killed the crew and several miners who were passengers, and robbed their bodies of twenty thousand dollars. About the same time it appears to have been determined to move to Sonora in Mexico, whither a remittance of fifty thousand dollars was despatched under charge of Valenzuela and a drove of nearly a thousand stolen horses under charge of Garcia. The intention, according to report, was to collect the entire band, then over a hundred in number, and march them openly like a hostile army of marauders, relying upon their celerity of action to escape overhauling, except by such force for which their armed strength would be more than a match. Meanwhile robberies and murders continued in Calaveras and El Dorado counties; and on one occasion, when a member of his band was being examined for a capital offense before a justice of the peace, Joaquin coolly strode into court, pretended to be Samuel Harrington of San Jose, a man whom he had shortly before murdered, presented letters he had taken from Harrington's person in proof of his pretensions, and succeeded by his perjury in procuring the discharge of his minion.1
The early part of the year 1853 was full of dastardly and mysterious murders and robberies, all planned by Joaquin and all apparently intended as a finishing up of his career of crime in California. They took place now in one quarter and then in another, sometimes in different places at the same time. But they were principally in Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa counties. In January a desperate fight took place among the cliffs of Chaparral hill, about four miles southwest of San Andreas, between Joaquin with a number of his men and a party of citizens
---
led by Deputy Sheriff Charles H. Ellas, in which one or two citizens were killed and three of the robbers killed or fatally wounded; and soon afterwards a vigilance committee hung a friend of the robbers and tore down and burned up several houses where they had been harbored. Not long after these events Joaquin and Garcia killed two men at the Phoenix Quartz Mill; when, finding Ellas and his party hot on their trail, they were obliged to skulk from cover to cover, but still kept up their practice of murder and robbery upon lone travelers or unarmed mining parties. Near Murphy's Diggings they killed and robbed two miners, who had just made fortunes and were on their way home, and threw their bodies in a prospector's hole. And a little further on they robbed a camp of six Chinamen, on which occasion Garcia got the trembling Mongolians together; stood them up in a row before him; tied their queues to one another, and then, drawing his immense blacksmith-made bowie-knife, commenced slowly and deliberately cutting their throats one after another and enjoying their frantic shrieks. He had previously remarked that he loved to smell the blood of Chinamen— and, besides, it was such easy work to kill them; it was a kind of luxury to cut their throats.1
By this time the whole country was alarmed. Numerous parties began to organize for the purpose of hunting them out, as they would hunt out rattlesnakes. But curiously, though the name of Joaquin was in everybody's mouth, very few persons knew him or could point him out And therefore he often went into the towns and even talked with citizens about himself, without their having any idea with whom they were talking. Among other citizens greatly interested in, and very desirous for, the capture and punishment of the outlaws and the security of life and property in the country, was Caleb Dorsey, a prominent lawyer and sawmill proprietor of Sawmill Flat in Tuolumne county. Hearing one day that Joaquin was at a Mexican fandango at a little place called Martinez in the neighborhood, he and a friend went there. All the Mexicans, however, denied that Joaquin was present and affirmed that he was many miles distant. Dorsey fell into conversation with a very ordinary
---
looking man, apparently a Mexican, whom he found there, upon the subject of Joaquin's whereabouts. The man remarked that it would be very foolish to attempt to arrest the brigand, as he would certainly never allow himself to be taken alive. Dorsey replied that it did not matter much how he was taken, whether alive or dead; for all that the Americans wanted was to put an end to him and that they were bound to have him at any rate. But no information could be gained as to where Joaquin was; and Dorsey and his friend returned home. Upon further information, and to their great disappointment and disgust, they learned that the man with whom Dorsey had been talking about Joaquin was Joaquin himself!
Very soon after the above mentioned conversation, and probably in consequence of what Dorsey had said about the feeling of the Americans towards Joaquin, an attempt was made to kill off a portion at least of the people of Sawmill Flat by poisoning a spring, which furnished them with water; but fortunately, on account of the extreme diffusion of the drug used, the villainous project failed. It became known, however, that Dorsey and a friend of his, named Ira McCrea, who kept a store at the Flat and was equally obnoxious to the robbers, together with a few others, had been marked out by Joaquin and their death resolved on. So certain was this, according to general understanding, that several of the marked men moved away, though Dorsey and McCrea continued at their ordinary occupations and were only more careful to be always on the alert and always ready for an attack. In the midst of the excitement, it was reported one day that McCrea's store was to be robbed that night; and on the strength of the report a messenger was despatched to Columbia for help. In response to the summons, a military company of that place, under command of Colonel Thomas N. Casneau, hastily collected, burnished up their arms, decorated their hats with feathers and, taking along a little brass cannon used for firing salutes and good only for making a noise, which they discharged every hundred yards, marched to Sawmill Flat. It is doubtful whether any attack upon McCrea's store was in fact ever contemplated; but, whether so or not, none was made. The military, however, had to be provided for; and, as they were very
---
hungry and especially thirsty after their march, they made such a raid upon eatables and drinkables as to completely clean out the entire supply; and, according to common talk, it was ever afterwards a question whether it would not have been cheaper to have been robbed by Joaquin's men than it was to be protected by Casneau's.
Not very long subsequently Dorsey, while attending to law business in Sonora, was appointed by the court to defend a prisoner under arrest for horse stealing. Upon investigation the attorney found that his client was one of Joaquin's band and one of those who had been specially commissioned to kill Dorsey. On further investigation it appeared that the man had on several occasions since the Sawmill Flat incidents met Dorsey in out-ofthe-way places and would have killed him, if he had known who he was. All this he was willing to admit But now, he said, circumstances were different He had been unlucky and was in trouble. But, if Mr. Dorsey would defend him and so manage matters as to free him, he promised that Mr. Dorsey should in future receive no harm from the robbers and that Joaquin would ratify the agreement Dorsey consented and succeeded by extra effort in having the accused discharged; and from that time he considered himself safe. On several later occasions he met some of the robbers and once or twice befriended them; and they on their side appear to have kept their engagement. On one special occasion, after the robbers had informed him of their intention of leaving the country and proceeding to Mexico and promised him the present of a splendid horse and trappings for favors received, he suddenly and unexpectedly on a lonely road met Joaquin himself magnificently mounted. Both upon the first impulse drew their pistols; but the next moment Joaquin, recognizing Dorsey, lifted his hand and crying out, "We keep our word: you are safe, sir!" passed on; and from that time forward, it was Dorsey's opinion that he had thus seen the "splendid horse and trappings" promised him and that he would have received them if it had not been for circumstances which prevented the gift as well as the contemplated march of the robbers to Mexico.1
It would be impossible, on account of the numerous contra-
---
dictory as well as apocryphal accounts of the doings of Joaquin and his band, to affirm with certainty as to many of the murders and robberies attributed to him. It is certain, however, that he was for several years at the head of a desperate band of villains and that, though he did not hesitate to rob and murder Americans and fight officers of the law and others who went on the hunt for him, he and his band did not disdain but rather enjoyed depredating on the Chinese and other helpless persons who were most exposed to their cowardly and despicable attacks So great were his misdeeds and so extensive the terror produced that the legislature of the state of 1853 was obliged to take notice of them. Among other propositions before that body was one to offer a reward of five thousand dollars for the arrest of Joaquin "dead or alive;" but J. M. Covarrubias of the committee on military affairs, to whom the matter was referred, presented a report to the effect that to set a price upon the head of an individual, who had not been examined or convicted, was to proceed upon the assumption of his guilt—implying that such was not exactly the correct mode of procedure of a great state. He further said that it would require superhuman power to do all that had been attributed to Joaquin and to be in all the different places at the times stated. Besides, the offer of so large a reward might stimulate cupidity and so magnify fancied resemblances that a dozen heads, similar in some respects to that of Joaquin, might be presented for identification. It would not be difficult to fraudulently palm off the head of another person for that of Joaquin, just as it had been easy to mistake Burdue for Stuart. And still further, he added, it was to be remembered that one of the supposed names of Joaquin the robber was Joaquin Carrillo and there were several respectable citizens in the state of that name. This report, which was presented on April 14, prevented the proposition of a reward.1 But not long afterwards, the legislature passed an act authorizing Captain Harry S. Love to raise a company of mounted rangers, not to exceed twenty men, and muster them into the service of the state for three months unless sooner discharged by the governor, for the purpose of capturing the party or gang of robbers commanded
---
by the five Joaquins, whose names were Joaquin Murieta, Joaquin Ocomorenia, Joaquin Valenzuela, Joaquin Botellier and Joaquin Carrillo; from which it appeared that even at that time it was not known for certain who the head of the brigands was or what was his real name. This act was approved by the governor on May 17, 1853. 1
In accordance with this act, which provided that the men should be paid one hundred and fifty dollars a month each, Love immediately organized his company of rangers and at once took the field. Among his men were several noted for desperate conflicts—one being Walter H. Harvey, the slayer of Major Savage of Yosemite fame, and another Philip T. Herbert, afterwards a congressman from California, who distinguished himself by shooting down a waiter in one of the hotels at Washington. Others of this company, though not so noted, were more reliaable. They all, upon taking the field, started directly on the tracks of the robbers and followed them, branching in some places and coming together in others, to the plains of the San Joaquin valley west of Tulare Lake. They there on Sunday morning, July 25, 1853, suddenly came upon a party of men, evidently Mexicans, sitting around a fire, with their horses some little distance off—all but one who had his horse by him. Love, who with a few others was in advance of his company, addressing one of the Mexicans, asked where they were going and received an answer that they were going to Los Angeles; when the man with the horse spoke up and said, if any more questions were to be asked, to address him as he was the leader of the party. Love replied that he would address whom he pleased. The man advanced a few steps towards where his saddle lay on the ground, when Love ordered him to stop. He walked on without heeding the order, when Love drew his revolver and said that, if he did not stop on the instant, he would blow his brains out; whereupon the man, grating his teeth, turned around and, seeing that Love was in earnest, stepped back and again laid his hand upon his horse's mane. As a matter of fact this man, who was armed at the time with only a bowie-knife and whose object in going towards his saddle was to get his pistols,
---
was Joaquin Murieta, though Love did not know him; and one of his companions was Garcia or Three-fingered Jack. Joaquin and his party, being unknown to Love, might possibly have managed to get away; but at that moment William Wallace Byrnes of Love's company, who knew Joaquin and whom Joaquin knew, rode up; and the moment Joaquin's eyes fell upon him he called out to his men to make their escape. On the instant Garcia bounded off, and a number of the rangers followed, firing at him as he ran. Attention being thus diverted, Joaquin sprang upon his horse and without saddle or bridle made a dash for a rough and rocky ravine not far distant. A dozen shots followed; but they only added speed to Joaquin's horse, which coming to the ravine plunged down a bank some ten or twelve feet high and fell violently, throwing his rider. Both however recovered their feet and Joaquin, again mounting, was again flying as if on the wings of the wind. One of the rangers followed so close that his horse also made the plunge and the tumble; but before he could recover himself Joaquin was far ahead. Another of the rangers, however, taking a deliberate aim with his rifle at the horse, sent a ball through its body; and with a sudden gush of blood from mouth and nostrils it fell dead. Joaquin, jumping to his feet, attempted to run; but he was soon overtaken by several of the rangers and was shot several times, as was said, by Byrnes. When the third ball struck him, he turned around and, facing his pursuers, said, “Don’t shoot any more: the work is done!” He stood for a few moments and then, slowly sinking upon his right arm, expired. Garcia, meanwhile, was running with desperation in another direction, pursued by Love and other rangers. He is said to have run nearly five miles before he fell, pierced with nine balls. He leaped over the sandy ground like a chased wild beast, while the horses of his pursuers frequently stumbled. When nearly overtaken he would wheel and, with glaring eyes, discharge his revolver; but, though usually a good marksman, his shots went wide of their mark. Love, who had hit him twice before in the long chase, finally shot him through the head; and the desperado fell with his pistol in his hand, which he had emptied of
---
every load except one. Two others of the robbers were killed and two taken prisoners, while two or three escaped. A number of horses were recovered, six elegant Mexican saddles and bridles, a number of pistols and spurs and five or six broadcloth cloaks. No money or gold-dust was found; but it was supposed that considerable had been thrown away. Of the two prisoners, one escaped from his captors near the San Joaquin river and drowned himself; the other was taken to the Mariposa county jail, where he was one night seized by a mob and hanged; and the report at the time was that he was hanged not by citizens but by Mexicans who were afraid of his disclosures. Whatever may have been the truth as to this report, it was certain that Joaquin's band was completely broken up; and, in addition to the ordinary prejudices against all foreigners, it was especially dangerous to be suspected of having been one of or in any way connected with Joaquin's banditti.
Such, as near as can be ascertained, seem to have been the main facts about Joaquin. It was supposed at the time of his death, as soon proved to be the case, that there would be much doubt thrown upon the subject as to whether the right man had been secured. To make as sure as was possible under the circumstances, his head was cut off and carried to the nearest place where alcohol could be procured, and there placed in a jar of that liquid. Garcia's head and three-fingered hand were also cut off with the intention of preserving them; but the head, mutilated by Love's pistol-ball, would not keep and had to be otherwise disposed of; and only the hand was preserved. Joaquin's head, in its jar of alcohol, was afterwards exhibited in various places and among others in San Francisco at the "saloon of John King, Sansome street," accompanied by several affidavits of identification, one of them by Father Dominic Elaine. Notwithstanding various stories that the real Joaquin was never taken and the uncertainty thrown upon the subject by the remarkable act of the legislature of 1853, which spoke of "five Joaquins," there can be little or no reasonable doubt that the man killed was the right one or that the right man was killed. He at least gave no further trouble. And subsequently the governor of the state paid to
---
Captain Love a reward of one thousand dollars, which he had offered for the capture of the bandit; and the legislature of 1854 by an act, approved May 15, 1854, gave an additional sum of five thousand dollars.1
1.Ridge's Life of Joaquin Murieta, 68-81; Stats. 1854, 170; San Francisco Morning Call of April 3, 1892.
Latest from Stockton.
The Stockton Journal of the 27th has reached us. It speaks rather harshly of the conduct of some of their dignitaries. The court has granted Stockton corporate powers, and the Journal congratulates the citizens that the place is about to emerge from its "chrysolis state into a full winged city with all the honors, dignities, privileges &c, thereunto belonging," and hopes that in less than two weeks it will have the pleasure of congratulating his Honor the Mayor and the city Fathers, whoever they may be. The Journal states that although the Georgina was thirteen hours in performing the trip between Stockton and Sacramento, still that hereafter it can be performed in ten easily. It proposes that the Georgina should be placed on the route between Sacramento City and Stockton, as it deems that Stockton would he much benefited should this be done. At a mass meeting of the citizens holden at the Hotel de Mexico on Sunday evening July 26th, 1850, J. H. T. Chapman was called to the chair and E. W. Colt was chosen Secretary. At the meeting the following report of a nominating committee was unanimously adopted: For Mayor, Capt. D. S. Terry. For Council, John W. O'Neil, James Warner. E. B. Bateman, M.F. Sparrow. J. J. Holliday, Dr. J. W. Reins, Julius H. Pratt. The Commitee recommend that the other officers be left to the electors at the time of election. The election is to be held on the 1st day of next mouth, at which time a mayor, a recorder, seven councilmen, one city marshal, an assessor and a treasurer. Will be elected.
SAN JOAQUIN INTELLIGENCE
Doings about Sonoma — Later intelligence from Sonoma brings information of the recent holding of a Mass Meeting there, by American citizens, at which it was resolved that all foreigners should leave the Southern Mines, within fifteen days, except those who could give Americans as security for their peaceable character and honesty; and those giving such security, were further bound to deliver up their arms into the hands of the authorities, and resume possession of them at any future period by special permit. A large number of Mexicans have left the mines, and numbers are preparing to depart. We heard of one Mexican trader who employed fifty of his countrymen as an escort to conduct himself and his money to old Sonora. He gave as his reason for recruiting this force, that he knew there was a strong band of guerillas in the mines who had recently arrived here for the purposes of murder and robbery. The determined attitude assumed by the Americans in this district, will soon rid the country of the desperate band of assassins who have been spreading terror throughout this whole region. A few nights since a physician and his companion were attacked in their tent near Sonora, by two Mexicans, who attempted to cut the throats of the Americans. Both of the latter were wounded, but neither fatally. An alarm was given by one of them, and the two assassins were pursued and captured. Of course their trial, condemnation, and execution will be summary ; no doubt the whole business of their existence has ere this been brought to a conclusion.
FROM THE MINES. — Murphy's Diggings. — We have received the most favorable report of the receipts in the above named placer. A company of seven men have taken out, in one spot, in the above-named location, in Iess than seven weeks, $15,000 in gold dust. This is their nett proceeds, clear of expenses. They have bored the earth in their hole, which is now for-ty-six feet deep, a distance of thirty feet further to sound for rock, but have not touched it at that depth. It is their intention to dig to the rock, if it continues to yield as heretofore, if which there is little doubt. Another company of six took out, in the same diggings, last week, forty-two pounds of dust. The company is working fifty-four feet beneath the surface. We hear the Sacramentonians boast now and then of a ten or twenty pound lump ; but such small pebhies are bagged unnoticed in this district. At Murphy's a miner has in his possession a lump weighing ninety-three pounds, of which it has been ascertained at least one half is pure gold. Two thousand four hundred "holes" are registered at Murphy's as preemption claims. Those not present at the first of August to answer to their names in the matter of preemptions, will forfeit their claims. .
Mercedes.—We hear it reported in town that a lucky hombre, on the head waters of the Mercedes, has extracted a lump weighing eighty-three pounds, nearly all pure gold. Big lumps of gold in this district are actually becoming a common commodity.
San Antonio.— At this point, which was deserted last winter, five men have been taking out, on an average, seven ounces each for the past eleven days. The report is favorable from ail the mining region south; and the yield is undoubtedly greater than at any previous season. If the troubles which agitate our district were only at an end, which we feel assured they soon will be, the San Joaquin district would rapidly distance any other section of the State. — Stockton Jour.
Labor upon the Tuolumne.
We have received the following communication from Stockton relative to the condition of affairs upon the Tuolumne River, and the condition of the "cut off's " and mining prospects generally, at the present time. It will be seen that labor is in great demand there, and the writer urges strongly upon persons out of employment here to repair to that district, holding out the inducement of constant employment and good wages. TUOLUMNE RIVER, July 19, 1850. Gentlemen --- Permit me through the medium of your paper to announce to the public the following facts ; That the Tuolumne River is almost wholly monopolized by companies formed for the purpose of turning the river at low water by daming and mining in its bed : that the canals and side dams upon almost all the bars and places expected to be turned this summer, have been completed and we are only awaiting the falling of the waters, that we may put on the main dams. Judging from last years experience the river must fall so as to permit us to go on with our operations in two weeks at farthest but it will be impossible for the owners of the shares in the several dams to work out their Interests without assistance. At least five thousand men can find employment at good wages on the river from the 15th of August until the commencement of the rainy season. It has been represented to me that San Francisco and Stockton are literally crowded with persons, who, lately arrived, and out of employment, are dispirited and dlsgusted by the rumors of different kinds from the mines, such as sickness starvation, murder, robbery, etc., and are actually afraid to venture further, but prefer remaining in your city, a tax upon the people. Now to all such I would beg leave to say, that there is not in the world, a more healthy spot than the banks of the Tuolumne. The situation is high --- the air pure, and the country beautiful ; the water is perhaps the purest in the world, and up to this time (although the thermometer ranges from 106° to 110°,) is as cold as snow. Provisions are plenty, and can be had with or without money. True, there have been some murders perpetrated, and some robberies committed ; but the accounts you receive are greatly exaggerated, and should receive little or no credence. As a further inducement to those seeking employment I would add, that it is the intention of almost ail upon the river to return to the United States next fall, should they be successful in their operations, and the river not being worked out, they will have a fine opportunity of purchasing shares at a reduced price, thereby securing a fine field for the next summer's operations, free from the labor or expense to which we were subjected last winter. Yours, etc. . GEORGE HENRY.
Late and Very Important from Sonora.
We have not yet received the "Sonora Herald" of the 27th, but by means of the "San Francisco Herald," we are enabled to obtain the following interesting extracts from the Sonora Herald, in relation to the present serious condition of affairs at the extreme South.
"The most intense excitement [says that paper] still prevails among the population of the mountains, and God only knows in what it will end. Our county and township divisions are so large; we have so many ravines and fastnesses in the hills and mountains around us; so many bad men of all climes in our midst, and so great security for the criminal, that it is not surprising the better class of citizens have found it necessary to organise in each camp or diggings local police for the protection of property and life, and by acclamation adopt and carry out resolutions more effective and speedy than our criminal code provides for. It is not proposed to reject the laws which our recent legislature has furnished, but to supply deficiences in that law, to substitute something more effective at this juncture of affairs, and we wish with all our power to assist in directing the action of the people, that nothing unbecoming American citizens be done. A solemn—deeply solemn responsibility rests with the leaders of this movement. May they wisely use the power with which the people have invested them!"
On Sunday a meeting was held in the Plaza of Sonora, and was addressed by M. Van Buren, M. Cave, and others. The resolution adopted on that occasion, we have already given.
On the same day mass meetings were also held in other parts of the county, to consider the state of the country, and to advise as to what had better be done. At the Mormon Gulch, the following was the string of resolutions:
1st. That for the safety of the lives and property of the citizens of this portion of the county, notice shall be given immediately ordering all Mexicans and South Americans to remove from Township No. 2, in one week from this date.
2d. That it shall be the duty of Captain F. Borringer to have the necessary notices served on such persons as come under the above resolution.
3rd. That one and all of us will lend all necessary aid and assistance in our power to carry the notices to be served generally through Township No. 2.
4th. That we are ready and willing, whenever any plan of co-operation with other Townships or Counties shall organise, to join them for the purpose of clearing said Mexicans and South Americans out of the county or counties, and to such a distance therefrom as may hereafter be determined upon, and we do heartily solicit a union throughout the whole Mining Distriot.
Another Robbery.—A gentleman residing at Sonora, had a bag, containing seventeen and a half ounces in gold dust, stolen from under his pillow, in the night, at the El Dorado in this town. It has become a well ascertained fact, that one of the plans of the guerillas is as follows. A Mexican enters a tent upon which he has some design, and engages the owner in conversation. Some minutes afterwards, another enters as if to purchase merchandise; a third follows, then a fourth, and so on. The attack is made when the victim is not on his guard. This ruse has been practised in many instances. Hundreds of Mexicans, Chilians, and others passed through Sonora from various points eastward, on their return home. There are men, women and children. The heart of every feeling man was touched at the sight. It is expected that every camp in the neighborhood will be deserted shortly. In many instances the wealthy portion of the foreign population is becoming alarmed, and all are in haste to sell their property. One wealthy Mexican has left the country with $100,000. Nearly two hundred foreigners called at the office of the Sonora Herald on Monday; for copies of the resolutions passed at the mass meeting; and they betrayed great anxiety on the subject. The feeling is universal amongst the Spanish portion of the population that the Americans wish to drive them away from the country altogether. We fear that the money-making merry old times of Sonora are gone forever!
Another Meeting in Sonora.—On Tuesday evening, the 23d ult. another meeting was held in the public square of .Sonora,— Richard C. Berry, Esq., was called to the chair, and M. Robert L. Murphy appointed secretary. The resolutions of the mass meeting of the 21st inst., were explained by Major Elkins, Messrs. Theall, Shepherd and Brown were appointed Selectmen of the Camp of Sonora. Messrs. Elkins, Shepherd, Van Buren, Murphy and Collins addressed the meeting. The following resolutions were unanimously adopted:
Resolved, 1st, That the selectmen shall proceed immediately, without any delay, to carry out the spirit of the mass maeting held on Saturday, 21st inst. Resolved, 2d, That the Selectmen shall have power to raise such force as may be necessary, in their opinion, to carry out the measures adopted in the resolutions of the mass meeting of the 21st instant, and that such persons as may be so employed, shall be recompensed for their services by those who do no participate in such labor, and that the selectmen shall procure such funds by subscription of the citizens of Sonora and its vicinity. Resolved, 3d. That the proceedings of of this meeting be published in the Sonora Herald.
Robery at Curtis's.—On Monday the 22d, a daring robbery was committed at Curtis's by a negro. He stole from under the head of another negro, while the latter was asleep, a bag of gold dust. Both he and the man who abetted him in the act have been arrested. We understand that they will be brought before no court of justice, but be tried by a jury of the people, and punished according to the old regime.
Murder at the Mormcn Gulch.—An American was murdered on Monday at the Mormon Gulch, and another fatally wounded, by five Mexicans, who are under arrest. Their object was to commit a robbory.
Trade was never so depressed throughout the Southern mines as at present. The frequent robberies and outrages committed have cast a gloom over business prospects which even the daily increasing success of most of the Diggings is incapable of removing. The tax law is undoubtedly driving hundreds from the mines, while it has incited the desperate men of so large a foreign population to deeds of plunder and revenge. Stockton, one of the first cities of California, prosperous and thriving under ail the circumstances which attended her early growth, has become of late infected by lawless and dangerous characters, who patrol the streets at midnight loaded down with implements of assassination and outrage. There is a better day fast approaching for this beautiful city on the San Joaquin, we are gratified in believing. The order loving and the resolute of her good citizens are arising in their might. They have triumphed in the recent election of city officers, under the charter extended over them, by appointing sound and intelligent men to control the destinies of their municipality, in the face of opposition of a most violent character. The ballot-box was redeemed from the midst of contending parties, assembled, and fast assuming the boisterousness of a mob. The following gentlemen were declared elected.
Tuolumne City.—A gentleman who has just returned from the above named place, gives the following particulars of a frustrated attempt at robbery: Four suspicious looking men, were seen prowling about Tuolumne city, always about dusk, or after, for some three or four nights, and had excited considerable suspicion. On approaching the house of Mr. Thos. McGuire, three different times one night last week, he finally hailed them, and remarked that if they did not answer, and tell their business, he would fire. No answer being returned, he fired at the nearest man, who was stauding close to a tree. The man staggered as though he would fall, when his two companions ran up and he was borne off. The next day two Sonorans were killed, about eight miles from Tuolumne city. Justice G. Swasey proceeded to the spot, held an inquest, and they were buried. Verdict, "Death by violence, persons unknown." Since the above occurrence, although the inhabitants of the town have searched the bottoms and fastnesses in the vicinity, they have been unable to discover any clue to their lurking place. Mr. Montgomery, (firm of Scott & M.,) from the Merced river, thinks, from the description of the marauders, they were the same who robbed his tent of $7000 some time since.—[Stockton Journal.
Encouraging.—We find the following item of news in the leading article of the Stockton Journal of Aug. 14th: "The troubles which have of late existed among the mountains, and which have been colored, magnified, and distorted, by every blundering letter writer, and wisely descanted upon by several respectable old grannies in San Francisco, have ceased."
A Chapter of Horribles from the South.—We sincerely regret that it becomes our duty as faithful chroniclers of passing events, to give to the public the following sad items of intelligence. When we reflect upon the quiet and harmony which, as a general thing, pervades the northern placeres, we cannot but hope that a more orderly and safe state of affairs will soon exist in the southern diggings. The Sonora Herald of the 10th inst., has just reached us. From it we learn that the commercial interests of the county have been suffering under the effect of the late disturbances at the rate of $10,000 a day. The editor calls on his fellow-citizens to act, to quiet the alarm amongst the populace, and to use their power lightly. Gen. Besancon has issued a notice that he is authorized to receive $20 from each foreign miner for the privilege of laboring in the mines until the last day of December next. The Herald comes loaded with the following items:
On Monday last our Express rider, Mr. Avery, and Mr. Cressy, of Stockton, were attacked between Angel's and Murphy's. Mr. Cressy, unfortunately, was unarmed, and Mr. Avery had but one indifferent pistol in his possession. The circumstances were as follows: Mr. Avery, in a lonely part of the road, saw two negroes and a South American, each behind a tree, with rifles pointed at him. Immediately he rode up to one of the negroes and threatened to shoot him. The negro prayed him not to do this, as he was only hunting antelopes. Mr. Avery passed on, but ere he was three yards distant, a ball whizzed by him close to his ear. Seeing two other rifles yet undischarged, the two gentlemen put spurs to their horses and escaped.
On Friday evening last, two Americans near Don Pedro's Bar, were attacked while asleep, by three Mexicans and severely wounded. One of them less injured than the other, sprang out of bed and clenched an axe, and rushed out of his tent for the purpose of self defense, and his companion followed him, but the robbers had disappeared. The men attacked made the best of their way to Don Pedro's Bar, bare-footed, over the sharp rocks, and arrived there with lacerated feet. The people at Jacksonville raised and armed a posse and repaired to the place of the attack, but were unable to discover the Mexicans who attempted the murder. Six Mexicans had been at work on Friday at the place, but on the evening of this day three of the number pretended to go away, and it is probable that they returned in the evening for the purpose of murder and robbery, but were foiled in their attempts. On Saturday the three remaining Mexicans were examined as to the occurrence, but no facts were elicited. The midnight assassins are still at large.
A correspondent at Sullivan's Creek writes as follows: On the night of the 6th inst., three Mexicans or Chilians entered the store of two Americans, about one o'clock, and attempted to crush out their brains with massive stones, weighing from thirty to forty pounds each. Fortunately, however, only one took effect, which mangled the mouth, chin, and severely bruised the left shoulder of one of them, leaving him senseless. The other awoke from the noise, gave an alarm, which caused them to retreat without accomplishing their object. The wound of the one is severe, though pronounced by Dr. Fletcher not to be mortal. When will these outrages cease?
A few days since, an American who claimed to be a tax collector, called on a Mexican who had about 40 peons at work in the mines, and demanded that he should pay their taxes. The collector called two or three times, and at length was met by the Mexican, who was armed and refused to pay on the ground that he and his men were about leaving this country: and they did leave the same afternoon. This man then proceeded to Don Pedro's Bar, where he recruited a force of five Americans and went in pursuit, overtaking the Mexicans the next morning, near Dr. Trensill's ranch on the Toulumne, where a battle ensued, in which two Mexicans were killed and left on the ground, and three others badly wounded. The Americans were not injured. One of their horses was shot in the mouth. We are apprehensive that this collector is an imposter as the authorities here disclaim having any collector in that part of the county.
We learn that a party of Americans on the Stanislaus, under pretext of carrying out the resolutions which have been lately passed by the people in the various diggings, have gone out and not only demanded the arms of the Mexican but his gold dust also. Shame—shame—we cry eternal shame on these miscreants. We will not call things by their wrong names, but pronounce these acts foul wrongs and robberies. Americans, look to it, for the honor of your glorious country! Seize these men as traitors to you and your country, and punish them as they deserve. If you find them in the act, treat them as you would treat villians. Our readers will have learned from an advertisement published in last week's paper, that the owners of bars on the Stanislaus have entered into an arrangement to keep all interlopers off their claims. It appears that several companies have been notified by men who have never put in a spade to turn the river that they should, when the work is finished, reap a portion of the harvest. Morally such conduct, in our estimation, would be theft. To us it appears that the man is just as vile who would steal our purse as rob us in this manner of the fair proceeds of our labor and capital.
Another Murder.—Information has been received by the authorities of Monterey, of the murder of two Yagtuies Indians, near the ranch of Pacheco, which was perpetrated in a canon, on the night of Sunday last. The object was robbery, as the Indians were returning from the placer with a large quantity of gold. An investigation is about being held at Monterey, but as yet there is no clue to the murderers.—[News.
SAN JOAQUIN INTELLIGENCE
From the Sonora Herald, 1st inst.] A rich silver mine has been discovered near Carson's, by Dr. Brown. The vein is a foot in width, and is supposed to extend over a distance of 10 miles. We have a specimen in our possession which contains 80 per cent. of silver.
Robbery. — A few days ago Judge Marvin and Sheriff Work were stopped on the banks of the Stanislaus by a Mexican who informed them that an American had broken into a caral and driven off a mule, his property. The Mexican attempted to stop him, when the American attacked him with a knife and stabbed him in the arm. The two gentlemen started in pursuit of the scoundrel, but their horses giving out, they were compelled to give it up.
Horrible Murder. — Mr. Geo. Work, our active sheriff, has just informed us of another horrible murder which was committed near Waters's ranch, on the Merced, on Tuesday last. On the evening of that day the bodies of Major Baldwin and his companion were found in a horribly mutilated state, their skulls having been completely smashed with rocks. It appears that the companion of the Major must have attempted to fight his way out with a sabre, his body being found some distance from the Major's, and the drawn sabre, covered with blood, lying by his side. No clue has yet been obtained for the discovery of the murderers.
Fatal Affray at Hawkin's Bar. — On the afternoon of the 27th ult., S. R. Elmendoff, while in an intoxicated state, went to the tent of J. W. Seamen while the latter was absent, and commenced a gross abuse of his wife. In a day or two afterwards he returned and begged the lady's pardon — the husband being still absent. In a day or two he returned, and when informed of the acts of Elmendoff, stated that he must hereafter keep away from his premises or he would shoot him. A few days afterwards Elmendoff entered the house and was immediately shot down, receiving two balls from a revolver, and expiring in a few minutes. Seamen then gave himself up to the authorities, and entered bail for his appearance at court. Mr. Elmendoff, when sober, was much respected and esteemed by all who knew him.
From the Southern Mines.
....
Robbery in Sonora. — Three Mexicans entered the store of Don Jacinto Barretto, on the evening of Sunday week, and while one engaged the proprietor at the counter, the other two ran off with his money box. One man had been arrested as an accomplice.
Indian Outrage. — A German was shot in the back and also in the left arm by two Indians on the night of Thursday, 19th inst. He was sleeping under a tree about two miles from Sonora when attacked. His wounds are not dangerous.
....
The Sonora Herald, from which the above items have been compiled, says in reference to mining:
☞ We regret that many of the damming companies on the Stanislaus and Tuolumne rivers are becoming discouraged and giving up their claims after bestowing so much time and labor upon them. We hear of several claims being entirely abandoned.
Salmon are said to be very abundant in the Tuolumne.
Attempted Murder and Robbery.
On Sunday night last, a German came to the Twelve Mile House, on the Auburn road, and put up for the night. The next morning, he left, taking the road towards this city. Shortly after he left, another man passed the same house, having with him a mule and some baggage, who was also travelling towards this city. It appears that he overtook the German after travelling three or four miles, when they both came on together. After they had continued in company a short time, the German drew a pistol and shot his companion in the back of the head. The pistol was loaded with buck shot, which took effect in several places, and completely stunned the man, causing him to fall to the ground, as if dead. The German then commenced rifling the baggage. Before he had finished, a team hove in sight, and he fled. The teamster came up, found the wounded man, and then returned to the Twelve Mile House, where he gave the alarm. Several men immediately started in pursuit of the assassin, but they did not succeed in finding him. He was seen afterwards, however, on the way to this city. The wounded man has been brought to town, and we understand is like to recover. He had but a small amount of money with him when assassinated, which the German did not find before he was frightened away.
Degeneracy.—The events of the day prove quite clearly that there is a degeneracy among the people. A year ago a miner could have left his bag of dust exposed to full view and absent himself a week—his tools might have remained unmolested in any ravine for months—and his goods and chattels, bed and bedding, might have remained along the highway for an indefinite period, without being subject to the secreting of any one. Now, however, it requires the utmost diligence to keep the "dust" from being stolen; the cabin of the miner is requently entered, examined, and articles thieved; the implements of his trade are not secure out of sight; and indeed a perfect relaxation of morals seems to have taken place. We have been informed of several cases where men who had been engaged in throwing up dirt in dry diggings, awaiting the rainy season, have had their thrown up earth completely riddled of every discernible particle of the oro. This is certainly a speedy way of acquiring means, but most reprehensible, and is a matter of exceeding regret, as it is a sad reflection on the honesty of mankind.
Attempted Murder and Robbery.
The statement relative to the attempted robbery and murder which we published yesterday, contained several inaccuracies, as we are informed by a gentleman familiar with the circumstances of the case.
It appears that on Monday last, between ten and eleven o'clock, a miner who was on his road to to this city, with a mule packed, stopped to rest himself under the shade of a tree, about half a mile beyond the "Letup and Jingle House," on the Auburn road. A German was under the tree, with whom he entered into conversation. As he rose to leave, the German drew a pistol loaded with buckshot and fired it, striking him in the neck, and carrying away the largest part of his left ear. The miner left his horse and ran for the public house, where he made known the attack. A company of men, among whom was Mr. S. F. A. Shonnard, of this city, started immediately in pursuit, following him as far as Norris' Ranch—the robber being a little in advance on the opposite side of the river. Mr. S. crossed the river, but owing to the difficulty in getting over, the fellow eluded the vigilance of those in pursuit. He was followed to the city, but Mr. S. has not been able to discover him, although he has been seen.
The miner came on to this city, and is not dangerously wounded. He had some $4,000 on his person at the time the attack was made.
It will be seen, when the above account is compared with the one we published yesterday,that there are two ways of telling a story. Both accounts, however, are in exact accordance with the information given us by individuals who thought themselves right. As the last account is most explicit, we believe it correct.
SACRAMENTO INTELLIGENCE
Murders, — A gentleman just down from Marysville informs tin that two bodies were found near the town of Linda, on Wednesday. The throata were cut. and they hnd been thrown over the bank. Appearauces indicated that the deed had been committed while they were encamped, and it is likely money was tho object of the murderers, as nothing valuable was left on their persons. From the clothing, it is supposed that one only was an American. — The faces were ao disfigured, that no chance for recognition remained.
It was reported that three persons had been murdered, also, at Yuba City; but the stage left too soon to ascertain the truth of the rumor.
A man, just in the suburbs of Marysville, was stopped a day or two since, and pistols were fired upon him; he escaped, however, without injury. The frequent occurrence of these high handed attempts at robbery and murder evince the existance of a degree of desperation most lamentable to realize, and we fear that circumstances do not portend any mitigation of its prevalence. — Ib [Placer Times, Oct. 5, 1850]
Robbery in Stockton.— In Stockton if possible, more than elsewhere, there seems to be a regular band of organized robbers, who make it their business to ascertain who has money, where he keeps it, and then to obtain it at any risk or sacrifice of life. A gentleman whom we know well, informed us yesterday, that he came down from the mines in company with another, who had $600 in dust on his person, that this miner went into a drinking shop in Stockton after dark last Tuesday night, and drank, and when got into the street was attacked by two men, knocked down, and while stunned, thrown into the slough. The cold water restored him to consciousness, and he swam ashore to the opposite side, where he remained all night. He had been robbed of every dime he possessed.
Murphy's New Diggings.— This placer has disappointed many persons who have spent their whole summer in waiting for the water so far to dry up in the creek and leach out of the flat as to enable them to sink their holes. We have been informed that very few of the claims have paid. A large portion of them could not be sunk sufficiently deep to obtain the deposits at the bottom. After a little distance springs would burst up with great force.
By the first of last May some six hundred claims had been recorded on the Alcalde's book, and in the anticipation of a great summer's work there over forty stores and selling houses had been erected. This place is about 70 miles from Stockton, among the mountains to the north of the Stanislaus river, 8 miles from Angel's camp, 6 from Carson's Creek, 9 from San Antonio, and 10 from the Stanislaus river.
MURDER AND ARSON AT SAN JOSE. -- We are indebted to the indefatigable Mr. Hackett, of Berford & Co.'s Express, for the interesting items of news from San Jose, furnished below:
-- On Sunday night last, at Digby Smith's Ranche, were found the bodies of three murdered men, two of them proving on investigation, to be Digby Smith and partner, each pierced with two balls, and the third, a stranger, having his head split open. The house was burned down, and it is yet unknown if robbery was also committed. It is surmised that the stranger was one of the attacking party, and lost his life in the struggle that ensued. Mr. Smith was from Burlington, N. J., and was the cultivator of an extensive farm about two miles this side of San Jose. The store of Baker & Co. was robbed last week during the middle of the day, while the clerks were at dinner. We are not informed of the amount abstracted.
It cannot fail tn be noticed that there are many most desperate characters in the country, who, failing to realize their expectations in the mines by honest labor, are determined to grasp the earnings of other men at all hazards. It has been observed that at one period most of these outrages were committed at the North, about Coloma and that region; then they became frequent at Sacramento, were known here, and now they have passed to the southward. It cannot be doubted that there is in this country more than one systematic gang of villains, whose actions thus far can only be traced by the bloody stains they have left after them, and whose extirpation is only to be effected by a better organization of police throughout the country than we yet possess.
Murder and Arson at San Jose.—We extract the following account of a wholesale murder committed at San Jose, from the correspondence of the Pacific News, San Jose, Dec. 17. Editors of the Pacific News:
It becomes my painful duty to inform you of a most horrible murder, or series of murders, committed in this valley on Sunday evening last, on the person of Bigley Smith, Esq., formerly rof New Brunswick, N.J., Dr. Zarinsky, a Pole, and a young Englishman in the employ of Dr. Smith, whose name I could not learn, and was from Sydney, N. S. W. What the circumstances were attending this wholesale massacre, can never be fully known, as the building in which it was committed, the residence of Dr. Smith; situated on the Guadalupe, about three miles from the Pueblo, was fired and consumed, with all its contents, saving portions of the mutilated remains of the murdered victims. This is the most horrible tragedy ever committed in the country; and every effort will be made on the part of our citizens to ascertain and ferret out the perpetrators. On the same evening the store of Baker & Co., near the Madison House, was entered by burglars, and relieved of a portion of its contents to the amount of $300.
The Horrible Murder at San Jose.
No. 2 of the California State Journal is before us. We gave in our last the news that a most revolting murder had been committed; the following contains additional intelligence extracted from the Journal:
Horrible Murder and Arson.—On Sunday evening last, our citizens were alarmed by the information that Messrs. Bester & Smith's house, about two or three miles from this city, on Los Gatos Creek, was burnt, and some two or three persons had perished in the flames. Early the next morning a number of our citizens, ourselves among the number, started for the scene of disaster. On arriving there, we found the building entirely consumed, and in one corner, and near where the door of the building was, lay the blackened and charred remains of three persons, who had been in full health less than twenty-four hours previously. The Coroner was sent for, but had not arrived at the time we left. In the meantime we made an examination of the premises, and the position of the bodies, and we were satisfied that murder and not accident, as was generally supposed by those present, had done the work of death. In one corner of the room lay a body, supposed to be that of Mr. Digby B. Smith, with the legs and arms nearly burnt off, the entire abdomen destroyed and the top part of the skull appeared to have been crushed, and was lost. In a parallel line with this body lay another, supposed to be Mr. Wood, the cook, with the legs and arms similarly burnt, and the entire skull wanting. Between these two bodies lay the blade of a sheath dirk about six inches in length. Nearer to the door, just below the body last referred to, lay another, since recognised to be Mr. E. G. Barber's. The skull was also broken as by the blow of an axe. At the feet of this body lay an open jack-knife, the blade of which had the appearance of being corroded with blood.
The following are the facts, as nearly as we have been able to gather the particulars. About 7 o'clock on Sunday evening, the family of Mr. Hamilton, who resides near Mr. Bester's house, heard the explosion of gunpowder, and in a few moments afterwards their attention was attracted by a light of the burning house. They immediately hurried to the scene, but the outside of the building was entirely consumed, and the victims, beyond the reach of help. A Coroner's inquest has been held upon the bodies, and an examination of them proved conclusively that murder had been committed. No clue to the murderers has been discovered. The design was evidently the murder of Mr. Bester; but he had left the house late in the afternoon of the murder. We had the pleasure of a visit from him yesterday. He has taken measures to have the bodies decently interred, and the funeral services are to be performed at the new Presbyterian Church, by the Rev. Mr. Brayton.
SAN JOSE INTELLIGENCE. [From the State Journal] ....
Another Murder!. — from the same paper of yesterday we gain the following particulars of the murder which we mentioned in our last issue:
On Wednesday evening a Californian, whose same we are unable to learn, came to San Jose, and purchased a number of articles of clothing. He started for his home some three miles from this city, and when near the rancho belonging to Mr. Kell, within a short distance, of the scene of last Sunday's tragedy, was assailed and literally cut to pieces. A number of our citizens started on Thuriday morning to arrest the assassins, if possible. A court under the jurisdiction of Judge Lynch, personated by W. Claude Jones, Esq. was organized on the spot, and a suspected Mexican threatened with a cravat made of a riata, without he told who the murderers were. He revealed the name of two or three persons, among whom was his own father, as being concerned in the murder. Efforts are now being made to arrest those implicated.
A public meeting is talked of for the purpose of organizing a mounted band of volunteers to scour the valley and mountains, and drive the assassins from our vicinity or exterminate them.
The Sand Hills Murder. — The State Journal contains the following particulars of the murder of Mr. Harrington on the 5th inst. It proves conclusively what has seemed apparent for some time past, that organized bands of robbers exist in a state of complete banditti discipline among us.
We are indebted to Wm. D. Harrington, Esq., for the particulars of the murder of his nephew on the night of Dec. 5th. The name of the murdered man, Wm Dudly Harrington, Jr., son of Thomas Harrington, residing at Independence, Mo. Mr. Harrington states that about noon of the day previous to the night on which the murder and robbery were committed, three men one of which was the leader of the band of robbers, went to Dr Marsh's house and inquired for stray horses. They spent the afternoon in pleasant conversation, and left the bouse about 3 o'clock. They returned about 8 o'clock, some 14 or 2O in number, surrounded the house, and detached a party to surround the tent of Mr. Harrington, which was occupied by Mr. Mortimer Wilson and Mr. Seaburn Abernethy. The noise of the approaching party attracted the attention of the inmates of the tent. Three guns were then immediately fired into it. Mr. Harrington stepped to the door, and the other two gentlemen escaped from the back part of tbe tent, in the hope of reacbing the house. They discovered, however, that it was surrounded by horsemen. At this moment Mr. Harrington was seen by his companions to emerge from the tent, pursued by two horsemen. He was shot in the shoulder by them, pierced with eight lance wouuds, and is supposed to have died instantly. He was found dead next morning, lying upon his face. At the same instant that the firing upon the tent commenced, the doors of Mr. Marsh's house were broken in, the inmates knocked down and bound, and the house rifled of money, watches and guns. The leader of the band or robbers, in his conversation on the afternoon before the murder, stated that he was a native of the Argentine Republic, that he had traveled to Europe, and had resided for some time in Mexico He speaks Spanish fluently, and French and English imperfectly. He is a young man of short stature, very fair complexion, and black eyes and hair. His manners are pleasing, and his appearance rather prepossessing. Look out for him.
During the whole affair, the robbers, who appeared to be Mexican, with faces blackened, and who stated that they were 120 in number, obeyed implicitly every command of their 1eader, who was not disguised. A statement of the whole affair has been put in the hands of Governor Burnett, and it is to hoped that he will adopt such measures as will secure the arrest of the villains and give that protection to our farming population which, their isolated situations from our cities requires in this emergency.
A Mexican Hung.—The Alta contains a letter which states that a Mexican named Pablo, aged about forty years, who was found guilty of the murder of an American, was hung at Aqua Frio, on the 7th inst. There were about 500 Americans and 200 foreigners present at the execution.
...
169
170
William Perkins experienced an encounter with Mexican bandits who had murdered and robbed a teamster the road from Sonora to Stockton on April 4, 1852, 21 days before the Ruddle murder occured in a similar fashion.
William Perkins described his return from San Francisco to Stockton, aboard the steamer "Sophie" on the evening of Saturday April 3, 1852. Arriving before he awoke on Sunday morning, April 4, he was delayed a day getting his goods shipped to his place of business in Sonora. [138]
from Seecrest, The Man from the Rio Grande, p.97-98,98 n.1-2
The steamer Sea Bird, Capt. Hillard, arrived here ay morning at 11 A. M., after a passage of four daya from San Diego. She brings thirty passengers, a list of whom, together with their memoranda, will be found in another column.
We have received a copy of the Los Angeles Star of Dec. 4th, being one week later. The news shows that Los Angeles county has been infested with a gang of robbers and murderers for a long time past, and have succeeded in eluding detection until the present time. Some discoveries have been made as to the murder of Gen. Bean, and the crime is fixed upon one Cipriano Sandoral, who has fled.
Reyes Feliz, who was arrested upon the charge of being a party to the assassination of Gen. Bean, was executed by the people of Los Angeles on Tuesday, the 27th ult., at 12 M. It was not proved that he was concerned in causing the death of Gen. Bean, but he acknowledged to being a robber and a murderer. The following is the confession which he made :
After the confession was made known, a public meeting was held, and the deceased unanimously condemned to death. He was carefully guarded, and next day taken to Prospect Hill and executed. Just before he was launched into eternity, he addressed a few words to the assembly, saying that his punishment was justly merited, and advising them never to put faith in woman. Ho persisted to the last in knowing nothing of the death of Gen. Bean.
The woman Ana, who was arrested and placed in charge of Dr. Osburn, upon the supposition of knowing something of the death of Gen. Bean, was cited up before the Investigating Committee and uniformly told the same story. Her statement regarding Cipriano Sandoval is believed to be true. The following is her evidence on the subject:
My name is Ana Benites, twenty-two years old, born in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Reside in Los Angeles. Did not know Gen. Bean. Heard him mentioned. Know who killed him. Know from the mouth of the person the manner in which he was killed. Cipriano (don't know his other name) told me that he had killed him. Know Cipriano; cannot mistake him on seeing him. I saw him when I came from San Gabriel to Los Angeles, where he overtook me and Joaquin Murieta, which was the time when he told me that he had killed Bean. There was a performance of the maromas the night Gen. Bean was killed; I was present with Joaquin Murieta. I left the moromas with him, returned to my house and went immediately to bed. All the people of the house went to sleep. Extinguished the lights. Rico, Rico's wife, and family, also a certain Sancedo and his woman — the name of the latter I do not know — were in the house; some of them slept in the house and others slept outside. Me, Joaquin, Juanito Rico, and a young lad whom I do not know, slept in the " Ramadita." After I laid down and before I went to sleep, heard no noise nor voices that attracted attention. At a later part cf the night, I heard shots, and during the three shots heard voices; could not, however, distinguish whether they were Americans or Mexicans. A short moment afterwards I heard more shots, the voice of Gen. Bean, who arrived crying, "Rico! Rico! Rico!" I then sat up and saw Bean, who came dragging a cloak. Senora Jesus opened the door, and Juanito Rico was already holding him in his arms, and said, "Mother, it is General Bean." The shots were fired in the direction between the house cf Rico and Pena. First, three were fired; then a single shot, which was fired when the General came crying out towards the house.
I told Joaquin Murieta to go in search of a doctor, but in the first place an alcalde, in order that they might see what had takes place. The moment Joaquin left, a man by the name of Cipriano approached, and ran bsck. I asked B. who had killed him, whether it was an American? He answered. No. Sonoran? No. Californian? Yes, sir — in English, in an affirmative manner. I again asked him — A Califorian? to which he pave a negative nod with his head. Then Donna Jesus came, took me by the shoulders, and said to me: " You meddle in things that you have not to care about There is also Christoval wounded, asking for a confessor." Then different persons arrived, also the doctor and the alcalde. This took place on the night of a Sunday. The next day Murieta and myself came to Los Angeles, and after having passed the little ditches, close to the Mission, Cipriano overtook us, and spoke to Murieta. He said: "Hombre, I confide or charge you with the secret of what I have done. There is no danger here; and request and charge your woman to act the same as yourself, in order that among the Americans they may not get anything out of her against us." Cipriano came very much excited. Wore a serape on his shoulders and a six-shooter in his waistband. Then I asked Joaqain: "Is that the one that killed Bean?" " Yes," he said. "And why?" "Because the General was very much intoxicated, dragging the Indian woman; and she is with a sister of Christoval. And so I earnestly charge you with the secret. If by chance they should call call on you as a witness, say that you do not know. They shall not get any thing out of you; neither shall they harm you. Moreover, if I learn that you say the least thing, I shall be your worst knue. If you should even put yourself into the guts of the Yankees, I shall take you out. They shall not take from you what I shall do to you."
The woman Ana subsequently stated that Benito Lopez, one of the prisoners, and a member of Solomon Pico's band, acting generally as a messenger to bring provisions, &c. She stated Lopez came to her house in Los Angeles on his arrival from above, bringing with him a roan mare, a black mule and a rifle, all of which he told her he had taken from two Americans. She also accused him of having stolen some handkerchiefs in town a week or two ago, for which he was severely flogged; and of telling her he intended to rob some three or four Americans that same night.
Upon this declaration of the woman, a more rigid examination was had of Lopez. He made several contradictory statements, but finally wound up with the following:
I told Sandoval that they might let them all go, that I (Lopez) would be responsible for them. On the road from the mines I met with an Indian and an Indian woman. The Indian told me that he belonged to the Comanche tribe, that he had stolen a mule, a mare, a rifle and a pistol from two Americans whom he had killed and that the woman had killed another man in Coloma. I killed the Indian and the woman. It is about twelve days since— the bodies may still be found. I joined them in San Antonio. The mule is a horse mule of black color and the mare a roan. The Indian's name was Sosa. Took the rifle and the pistol from the Indians after I had killed them - left the bodies on this side the Cahuenga Ranch, on the plain, three or four thousand paces from the gulch. I had suspicion of them both. First killed the Indian. The woman perceived it and seized a knife. I then killed her. I killed them with a club. They told me they had killed the Americans in the camp of Coloma, in the mines. I left the rifle at Ana's house, in charge of a Sonoranian, who was to take it for me to the Mission. The pistol was taken from me at the hotel, and they kept it. The Indian was dark complexioned, the woman whitish, but spoke neither English nor Spanish. The Indian had on a shirt, pantaloons and boots. They had only a saddletree to ride on. There is a blind man here by whom I can prove that I did not come from Comula, but from the mines. I knew that Ana belonged to the gang of robbers, because she herself told me that she was the woman of Joaquin. She told me that Joaquin had gone to the Tulares to sell about 30 horses that he had stolen, and that be would be back in about 20 days. Another man was with Ana when I went to her house. He was a tail, thin, white complexioned man, had pantaloons, a jacket and a white hat. I went to her house twice; once in the morning, and once early at night.
The prisoner offered to substantiate what he had said by pointing out the bodies of the murdered persons. He was taken at his word, and the citizens proceeded to the place designated. Two skeletons were found, as he had described, at a place about 18 miles from the city, on the Santa Barbara road, near a ranch called the Encina. Various articles of men's and women's clothing were lying scattered about, also a saddletree and a canvas bag were found near the bodies. The clothing evidently belonged to Americans whom they had killed. The bones of the murdered persons were buried, and the articles of clothing and the club brought to town. It has since been ascertained that the two murdered persons were an Indian named Sosa, and a mulatto woman named Mary, the property of a Mr. Thompson, in the northern part of the State. The prisoner was convicted by a jury of the people, and has probably been executed ere this.
On the night of Tuesday, the 25th ult, the entire stock of horses belonging to Messrs. White & Courtney, consisting of about one hundred head, together with some few owned by emigrants who have recently arrived in the country, were stolen from San Gabriel. At first the robbery was supposed to have been committed by Indians but from present indications it seems more probable that the same band of outlaws who have so long infested this county, and a part of whom, there is every reason to believe, are now in the hands of the people, are the guilty ones in this instance. Four or five men have started on their track, prepared to follow them even to the mines, if they have gone in that direction. Now while so many of these scamps, are known to be in this vicinity, our farmer, and ranchero, cannot be to careful of their stock.
FROM MARIPOSA.—Steels' Express has furnished us with the following further particulars of the capture of Joaquin. Joaquin was taken by surprise, being unarmed and just coming into camp, leading his horse. As soon as he got sight of the Rangers, he jumped on his horse and fled, but was not quick enough. The hand brought in by the Rangers is the maimed hand of Three-fingered Jack. A glass jar is to be procured to put the head and hand in, when the people of Stockton can have a sight at them.
•--●--•-----
JOAQUIN NOT DEAD.—It appears from the following they have got a Joaquin of their own down in Los Angeles. The Star says:—"Joaquin is in the neighborhood of San Fernando, with twentyfive men, all armed with revolvers, double-barrelled guns, swords and lances. The robbers have visited several ranchos in that vicinity. We give this on the very best authority, to wit: Don Andres Pico."—S. F. Herald.
JOAQUIN, THE BEHEADED.— The Joaquin whose head has been taken off, is now said to be Joaquin Valancuela. As there are some half a dozen Joaquins, there is no certainty we have the right one until the whole gang is captured. Joaquin Carillo is said to be the most desperate of the name, and as news of his whereabouts has been received, his head will probably be coming in next.
•--●--•-----
CONFESSION OF DAWSON THE ROBBER. —The man Dawson, who was concerned in the Mormon Island robbery, and who is supposed by some to have been the real Joaquin, made an important confession before his death. Amongst other things he said "that be was principal in the robbery alluded to, and believed he was the greatest rascal the world ever saw."
•--●--•-----
•--●--•-----
MANSLAUGHTER.—At San Andreas Camp, in San Joaquin County, says the Sacramento Union, a Mexican who has greatly aided the Americans in detecting horse thieves. received caution that he was to be assassinated. While playing cards on the same afternoon the assassin entered the room, with his hand on his pistol. This was instantly perceived by the Mexican, who instantly dropped his cards, saying, "I cannot play any more", and went into another room. Procuring a long knife he went directly up to the bandit challenged him with his intention, and before he could use his pistol plunged his knife through and through him. The Mexican then stripped his victim and taking his things with him, went and delivered himself up to Judge Talliaferro, who, on hearing satisfactory evidence to substantiate the above, discharged him. -----•--●--•-----
•--●--•-----
It has been ascertained that the Americans from San Diego, who were missed near Encinadas, some five months since, were murdered by Mexicans near that place, and robbed of $5,000. Desperadoes abound in that vicinity, who cross to the American side of the line, commit their depredations, and return. It is proposed to raise a party of Californians, take San Tomas, their rendezvous, and hang the miscreants. --------------
Later from Southern California.
By the steamer Sea Bird which arrived on Sunday morning from San Diego, we have later and important advices from Southern California. The U. S. Commissioners, Hon. Hiland Hall, and Messrs. Robert Greenhow and Geo. Fislier are among the passengers; also, Scnor Don Tomas, Captain of the Diguenos Indians. The U. S. sloop of war Portsmouth was at San Diego bound for Panama. The murder of Gen. Bean had created the greatest excitement — the Star of the 27th ult. says:
Ever since Gen. Bean's death, his friends, of whom he had many and true, have been unremitting in their exertions to ferret out the circumstances of his assassination. We stated in our last that a man had been arrested on suspicion. but it has since transpired that he had no connection with the affair. His examination, however, has led to the arrest of six persons, named Eleuterio, Cipriano Sandoval, Juan Rico, Jose Alvisu, Reyes, and ____ , some one of whom, there is every reason to believe, was guilty of the murder. These persons are supposed to belong to the gang of the noted Solomon Pico, the band referred to above. They were brought into town on Thursday and Friday, and taken charge of by a guard of citizens. Yesterday afternoon a public maeting was held at the Court House, at which J. O. Wheeler, Esq.,presided, and Don M. C. Rojo and Wm H. Rand acted as Secretaries. It was resolved by the citizens present that as the county jail was too insecure for the safe detention of the prisoners, they should be conducted to some suitable place, and there guarded until their connection with the murder of Gen. Bean could be ascertained, and Mr. D. W. Alexander was charged with and became responsible for their safe keeping, the citizens generally agreeing to assist.
A committee was then appointed, who were to take the whole matter under advisement, and report some plan to be pursued in its further investigation.
In the meantime, other persons are suspected, and strong efforts are being made to have them arrested. It is not improbable that these persons will be tried by a people's court, and the guilty ones punished as they deserve. There can certainly be no objection to this mode of procedure, when we hear our very court officers acknowledge that the law is utterly incapable of bringing them to justice.
If these proceedings should lead to the detection of Solomon Pico and any of his party, our citizens will be well repaid for their exertions, though no atonement can be made for the many travelers who have been the victims of these desperadoes between San Diego and Monterey. It is to be hoped, however, that passion will not get the better of justice and judgment, but let everything be conducted in a manner worthy of an American community.
The Alta states that the day of the sailing of the Sea Bird was the same as that fixed by the Vigilance Committee of Los Angeles for the execution of the parties mentioned above. Of seven arrested and tried three were found guilty and condemned to death. The others were turned over to the people, and from the evidence against them, in connection with the murder of Bean, it was thought that they also would be condemned.
The steamer Sea Bird, Capt. Hillard, arrived here ay morning at 11 A. M., after a passage of four days from San Diego. She brings thirty passengers, a list of whom, together with their memoranda, will be found in another column.
We have received a copy of the Los Angeles Star of Dec. 4th, being one week later. The news shows that Los Angeles county has been infested with a gang of robbers and murderers for a long time past, and have succeeded in eluding detection until the present time. Some discoveries have been made as to the murder of Gen. Bean, and the crime is fixed upon one Cipriano Sandoral, who has fled.
Reyes Feliz, who was arrested upon the charge of being a party to the assassination of Gen. Bean, was executed by the people of Los Angeles on Tuesday, the 27th ult., at 12 M. It was not proved that he was concerned in causing the death of Gen. Bean, but he acknowledged to being a robber and a murderer. The following is the confession which he made :
After the confession was made known, a public meeting was held, and the deceased unanimously condemned to death. He was carefully guarded, and next day taken to Prospect Hill and executed. Just before he was launched into eternity, he addressed a few words to the assembly, saying that his punishment was justly merited, and advising them never to put faith in woman. Ho persisted to the last in knowing nothing of the death of Gen. Bean.
---
Jacksonville, was a mining town on Woods Creek near its confluence with the Tuolumne River. It now a ghost town that lies beneith the Don Pedro Reservoir, in Tuolumne County, California.
37°50′56″N 120°22′44″W / 37.84889°N 120.37889°W
Tuolumne County, California}} California Gold Rush}}
Category:Mining communities of the California Gold Rush]] Category:Populated places established in 1849]] Category:1849 establishments in California]] Category:Former settlements in Tuolumne County, California]] Category:Former populated places in California by county|Tuolumne]] Category:History of Tuolumne County, California]]
TuolumneCountyCA-geo-stub}}
Murder and Arson at San Jose.—We extract the following account of a wholesale murder committed at San Jose, from the correspondence of the Pacific News, San Jose, Dec. 17. Editors of the Pacific News:
It becomes my painful duty to inform you of a most horrible murder, or series of murders, committed in this valley on Sunday evening last, on the person of Bigley Smith, Esq., formerly rof New Brunswick, N.J., Dr. Zarinsky, a Pole, and a young Englishman in the employ of Dr. Smith, whose name I could not learn, and was from Sydney, N. S. W. What the circumstances were attending this wholesale massacre, can never be fully known, as the building in which it was committed, the residence of Dr. Smith; situated on the Guadalupe, about three miles from the Pueblo, was fired and consumed, with all its contents, saving portions of the mutilated remains of the murdered victims. This is the most horrible tragedy ever committed in the country; and every effort will be made on the part of our citizens to ascertain and ferret out the perpetrators. On the same evening the store of Baker & Co., near the Madison House, was entered by burglars, and relieved of a portion of its contents to the amount of $300.
The Horrible Murder at San Jose.
No. 2 of the California State Journal is before us. We gave in our last the news that a most revolting murder had been committed; the following contains additional intelligence extracted from the Journal:
Horrible Murder and Arson.—On Sunday evening last, our citizens were alarmed by the information that Messrs. Bester & Smith's house, about two or three miles from this city, on Los Gatos Creek, was burnt, and some two or three persons had perished in the flames. Early the next morning a number of our citizens, ourselves among the number, started for the scene of disaster. On arriving there, we found the building entirely consumed, and in one corner, and near where the door of the building was, lay the blackened and charred remains of three persons, who had been in full health less than twenty-four hours previously. The Coroner was sent for, but had not arrived at the time we left. In the meantime we made an examination of the premises, and the position of the bodies, and we were satisfied that murder and not accident, as was generally supposed by those present, had done the work of death. In one corner of the room lay a body, supposed to be that of Mr. Digby B. Smith, with the legs and arms nearly burnt off, the entire abdomen destroyed and the top part of the skull appeared to have been crushed, and was lost. In a parallel line with this body lay another, supposed to be Mr. Wood, the cook, with the legs and arms similarly burnt, and the entire skull wanting. Between these two bodies lay the blade of a sheath dirk about six inches in length. Nearer to the door, just below the body last referred to, lay another, since recognised to be Mr. E. G. Barber's. The skull was also broken as by the blow of an axe. At the feet of this body lay an open jack-knife, the blade of which had the appearance of being corroded with blood.
The following are the facts, as nearly as we have been able to gather the particulars. About 7 o'clock on Sunday evening, the family of Mr. Hamilton, who resides near Mr. Bester's house, heard the explosion of gunpowder, and in a few moments afterwards their attention was attracted by a light of the burning house. They immediately hurried to the scene, but the outside of the building was entirely consumed, and the victims, beyond the reach of help. A Coroner's inquest has been held upon the bodies, and an examination of them proved conclusively that murder had been committed. No clue to the murderers has been discovered. The design was evidently the murder of Mr. Bester; but he had left the house late in the afternoon of the murder. We had the pleasure of a visit from him yesterday. He has taken measures to have the bodies decently interred, and the funeral services are to be performed at the new Presbyterian Church, by the Rev. Mr. Brayton.
SAN JOSE INTELLIGENCE.
....
Another Murder!. — from the .same paper of yesterday we gain the following particulars of the murder which we mentioned in our last issue:
On Wednesday evening a Californian, whose same we are unable to learn, came to San Jose, and purchased a number of articles of clothing. He started for his home some three miles from this city, and when near the rancho belonging to Mr. Kell, within a short distance, of the scene of last Sunday's tragedy, we assailed and literally cut to pieces. A number of our citizens started on Thuriday morning to arrest the assassins, if possible. A court under the jurisdiction of Judge Lynch, personated by W. Claude Jones, Esq. was organized on the spot, and a suspected Mexican threatened with a cravat made of a riata, without he told who the murderers were. He revealed the name of two or three persons, among whom was his own father, as being concerned in the murder. Efforts are now being made to arrest those implicated.
A public meeting is talked of for the purpose of organizing a mounted band of volunteers to scour the valley and mountains, and drive the assassins from our vicinity or exterminate them.
The Sand Hills Murder. — The State Journal contains the following particulars of the murder of Mr. Harrington on the 5th inst. It proves conclusively what has seemed apparent for some time past, that organized bands of robbers exist in a state of complete banditti discipline among us.
We are indebted to Wm. D. Harrington, Esq., for the particulars of the murder of his nephew on the night of Dec. 5th. The name of the murdered man, Wm Dudly Harrington, Jr., son of Thomas Harrington, residing at Independence, Mo. Mr. Harrington states that about noon of the day previous to the night on which the murder and robbery were committed, three men one of which was the leader of the band of robbers, went to Dr Marsh's house and inquired for stray horses. They spent the afternoon in pleasant conversation, and left the bouse about 3 o'clock. They returned about 8 o'clock, some 14 or 2O in number, surrounded the house, and detached a party to surround the tent of Mr. Harrington, which was occupied by Mr. Mortimer Wilson and Mr. Seaburn Abernethy. The noise of the approaching party attracted the attention of the inmates of the tent. Three guns were then immediately fired into it. Mr. Harrington stepped to the door, and the other two gentlemen escaped from the back part of tbe tent, in the hope of reacbing the house. They discovered, however, that it was surrounded by horsemen. At this moment Mr. Harrington was seen by his companions to emerge from the tent, pursued by two horsemen. He was shot in the shoulder by them, pierced with eight lance wouuds, and is supposed to have died instantly. He was found dead next morning, lying upon his face. At the same instant that the firing upon the tent commenced, the doors of Mr. Marsh's house were broken in, the inmates knocked down and bound, and the house rifled of money, watches and guns. The leader of the band or robbers, in his conversation on the afternoon before the murder, stated that he was a native of the Argentine Republic, that he had traveled to Europe, and had resided for some time in Mexico He speaks Spanish fluently, and French and English imperfectly. He is a young man of short stature, very fair complexion, and black eyes and hair. His manners are pleasing, and his appearance rather prepossessing. Look out for him.
During the whole affair, the robbers, who appeared to be Mexican, with faces blackened, and who stated that they were 120 in number, obeyed implicitly every command of their 1eader, who was not disguised. A statement of the whole affair has been put in the hands of Governor Burnett, and it is to hoped that he will adopt such measures as will secure the arrest of the villains and give that protection to our farming population which, their isolated situations from our cities requires in this emergency.
San Joaquin News.
We have seen a letter, addressed to a gentleman of Kentucky which states that at Yorktown Gulch, near Campo Seco, a lawless land of fifty Mexicans have started for the lower country in a plundering expedition. They have stolen about eighty animals in that part of the country, committed several robberies and two or three murders, and are now on the way to Los Angeles to join a party who are waiting for them at that place. They are headed by a Mexican named Cloudy who was in jail in Sonora last winter, and who is represented as one of the most desperate villians in the country. He had a brother named Reyes now in jail in Monterey, and it is said that Cloudy and his party have it in view to release him by force. This is the same party who a few days since stole Col. Douglass's animals, and four belonging to Mr A. B. Beaural. It is rumored that four men have been murdered and robbed at Camp Flores. It is feared that a serious difficulty between the Americans and Mexicans may yet arise.
Santa Clara News. .... A Villain Shot. — We learn that Claudio Feliz for a Iong time known to be at the head of a gang of desperate thieves, was shot dead by a Californian a few days since, at a fandango near the Mission of San Jose. This fellow broke jail from this city a few months since. He was charged with murder at the time he escaped.
On the 1st of June the Foreign Miners' Tax of twenty dollars per month, went into effect, and its results upon the growth and prosperity surpassed even the most un- favorable predictions. Multitudes of foreigners — who, by the way, formed the majority of the settlers at Columbia —
HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY. 27
left immediately, and the tax, coupled with the scarcity of water for mining purposes, acted to almost extinouish the new place. Rapid as had been her rise, her decadence was more sudden. The only water in the camp was two "tom-heads," running from Matelot, or Sailor Gulch, so that few of the miners could prosecute their labors, and the yield of gold was very much curtailed. Grambling and saloon-keeping still held their own, and traveling musicians, a newly-found source of amusement, prospered beyond belief.
In a like manner, Donna Martinez settled at the camp which bore her name. Her location was in the midst of very rich deposits, and the camp increased rapidly, soon containing over a thousand miners. Its downfall soon commenced, however, owing, in great part, to the Foreign Miners' Tax. This place was settled in May or June, 1350.
Effect of the Miners' Tax.
The Foreign Miners' Tax of twenty dollars per month went into operation on the 1st of June, 1850, by formal act of the Legislature. Its principal result was the almost immediate depopulation of certain camps, and the great injury of all. Sonora and Columbia suffered enormous losses, estimated, in the case of the former town, at four- fifths of the entire population; while the latter, whose growth had been so rapid, was reduced, through the Tax Iiaw and the scarcity of water, to a communitj' of only nine or ten persons. So it is credibly told. Of the se- ceding miners, some went to their homes in foreign lands, while others sought diggings in secluded places, where the
HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY. 29
obnoxious law would probably not be enforced. Otiiers there were who resisted the collection of the tax by the officers appointed to collect it. The impression got about in Columbia that the foreigners meditated forcible re- prisals on the Americans of that camp, resulting in a stam- pede from that town to Sonora of the whole American population, with the exception of Charles Bassett and a few others. A rumor having reached Sonora that Bassett was murdered, a band of armed men marched upon Columbia, headed by "Frenchy" Kochette, carrying the American flag. This statement is given upon the authority of Cap- tain Stoddart, who further adds that the only destruction effected by this warlike band was upon the liquors and eatables of the said Bassett, who was nearly eaten out of house and home by his zealous friends.
Walter Murray, who subsequently became editor of the Sonora Herald, related graphically his impressions of the scenes consequent upon the first attempt to enforce the tax, and as a vivid picture of affairs at that time, it may be well to give it place in this work. He says :
"It was a hot summer's day in June, when a man on horseback came tearing into the little encampment at Mor- mon Gulch, at full speed, evidently big with exciting in- telligence. The miners, who happened to be scattered in groups, talking over the events of the past week, eagerly rushed forward and gathered around the messenger, from whose broken exclamations they at length learned that there was something very like war approaching. It ap- peared that the Collector appointed by the State Grovern- ment to receive the Foreign Miners' Tax had arrived at the county seat and issued his notice, calling upon all foreign- ers to come forward and pay their first month's assessment of twenty dollars. The attempt to collect this exorbitant impost put the immense foreign population, with whom the
30 HISTOEY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY,
country was literally overrun, into a state of intense fer- ment. Meetings liad been held upon the subject, inflam- matory speeches had been made by Spanish and French orators, and at length it appeared that some great demon- stration had been made against the odious tax. The mes- senger averred that the county seat was in the hands of the excited foreign mob, numbering two or three thousand, all armed; that the safety of the place was menaced, and that the American citizens were fleeing from it. Furthermore, that the principal citizens had sent couriers to the sur- rounding camps asking for assistance.
"There had previously been so many rumors afloat of the expected insurrection of the Spanish- American pojDU- lation against the 'proprietors' of the country, and the 'boys' had in this way been kept in such a continual state of excitement, that the arrival of this intelligence operated at once like dropping a spark of fire in a tinder-box. Mes- sengers wei-e inimediately dispatched hither and thither, calling upon the miners to assemble within an hour, at a given spot, on the way to the county seat, and the 'Gulch' was in a moment alive with busy, bustling men, getting out their rifles and pistols and preparing for the expected con- flict.
"Being unarmed, and therefore forming no part of the expedition, I started, with a few others, ahead of the main body, which consisted of about one hundred and fifty men; but all were so eager to get on, that it was with the utmost difficulty we could keep the smallest distance in advance. "We met several persons on the way with later intelligence from the seat of war, but their accounts were all contra- dictory, some saying that the excitement was all over; others, that there was immediate need of our services. However, we pressed on, ^^termined not to stop short of the place for which we set out. On ariiving at a camp of
HISTORY or TUOLUMNE COUNTY. 31
Mexicans, one mile short of our destination, we were sur- prised to see its motley inhabitants very quietly seated in front of their brush hovels, playing monte and other games, as if nothing unusual had transpired. They, too, were none the less surprised to see the column of armed men advancing on them in close order — especially as they heard the general yell that was joined in by the American party as they advanced toward Sonora. Eeassured by this apparent calm, I hurried on to the town, reaching it five or ten minutes in advance of the party. All appeared quiet and peaceful as ever. * * * * j waited to see the little procession enter town. Soon it came along, headed by fife and drum — which, by this time, had been scared up — and, first and foremost, by the glorious stars and stripes, borne aloft and waved very gracefully to and fro by an inhabitant of the big city. Thus, with music sound- ing and banners waving, the little band marched through the whole length of town, vociferously cheered all the way by the American inhabitants, who turned out en masse to see them. On arriving at the other end of town, the word, 'Forward, by file left; march,' was given, when the fore- most man found himself headed off by a well-stocked bar, whereat each one, as he arrived, was 'liquored up.' They were then countermarched through town again, the same hospitality being extended at several places on the route, and were at length halted in front of the principal hotel where the Collector of Foreign Miners' Taxes made them a speech. After speaking for about ten minutes, he informed them they might rest that night and the morrow 'to busi- ness.' Accordingly, all was soon bustle and scurry at the big hotel; waiters went hurrying to and fro, and ail was busy preparation for a general meal. After an hour or bo, which seemed an age to the hungry miners, the long tables were loaded down with eatables, and the word given to
32 HISTOBT OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
fall to; and fall to they did, in a manner only to be par- alleled in California and in the mines.
"After supper, the arms were all stored away in a build- ing temporarily devoted to the purpose of a guard-house. A watch was set during the night, with regular reliefs; patrols were organized, and the city speedily assumed the appearance of being under martial law.
"Many and various were the reports circulated on that eventful night. According to some, the town was to be attacked and set fire to at different points. Rumors of assassination and massacre were fearfully rife; but at length morning dawned, and the country was discovered to be safe. Breakfast was spread out for us at the same hospita- ble board, and then all were assembled on the main street, and divided into companies, headed each by its own cap- tain and lieutenant. A column of some three hundred armed men, in all, was thus formed, which, headed by the Collector and Sheriff of the count}-, commenced its march through the disaffected camps.
"Alas, as we marched along, what a scene of confusion and terror marked our way ! Mexicans, Chileiios, et id genus onine — men, women and children — were all packed up and moving, bag and baggage. Tents were being pulled down, houses and hovels gutted of their contents; mules, horses and burros were being hastily packed, while crowds upon crowds were already in full retreat. What could have been the object of onr assembly, except as a demonstration of power and determination, I know not; but if intended as an engine of terror, it certainly had its desired effect, for it could be seen painted upon every countenance and im- pelling every movement of the affrighted i)opulation. How- ever, on we marched, through this dire confusion, peace- fully pursuing our way, until we reached what was deemed to be the headquarters of malcontent— a camp containing
HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY, 33
some thousand Spanish Americans — about four miles from the county seat. Here we halted for the last time (liquored up, of course, for it was the month of June, and the roads were dry and dusty), and, after bein^ paraded through the main street, and held for an hour or more in readiness, awaiting the report of certain officials dispatched to inquire into the truth of a rumor that a foreign flag had been hoisted somewhere in the vicinity, were finally discharged. Every man then fired his rifle in the air, reloaded his piece, and started homeward, each on his own particular way. I, too, started for the ' Gulch,' and until I reached there never lost sight of the train of fugitives scattered along the roads in every direction. Some were going north, some south. The great body were probably bound for home; some by way of the sea, othei's by way of Los Angeles and the Great Desert. Others, again, were scattering them- selves over the country, to commence the career of blood- shed and cold-blooded atrocity which for months afterward stained the pages of California history . Even those who were bound for home often left behind them, along the way, bloody traces of their deep-set hatred to Americans, or, perhaps, their natural thirst for massacre and pillage." Even at this late day, it is not difficult to form accurate conclusions as to the causes and effects of the movements above portrayed. Undoubtedly, at that time much pardon- able excitement was occasioned, much bad feeling was en- gendered, and many causes for hostility and strife were given on either side. The weight of evidence does not ex- onerate the Americans in any particular from the charge of violent and premeditated wrong. On the other hand, the ignorant, priest-ridden foreign classes betrayed their nat- urally revengeful dispositions, in many instances commit- ting robbery and murder on innocent individuals in revenge for the acts of a whole community or State. When, how-
34 HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
ever, the evil effects of the tax were clearly seen, even the most pronounced of its former advocates became dubious about the wisdom of the measure; and those who only tol- erated it as a measure of political wisdom, finding it the precursor of serious evils, withdrew their tacit support. Efforts were finally made for a repeal of the obnoxious law; but sentiment being divided, no great headway was made, until, the foreigners of the several mining counties uniting, the obnoxious measure was repealed. <^revious to this, however, public sentiment suffered such a change in their behalf that a fund for testing the legality of the Act was created in Sonora, many merchants and others contributing to it. On the list we find the names of Joshua Holden, Theall, Perkins & Co., Charles F. Dodge & Co., G. S. Evans, and Charles Bruce, who donated for counsel fees, etc., on behalf of the foreigners, sums ranging from ten to one hundred and twenty-five dollars. This, it has been, observed, makes it clear that only those traders of Sonora who transacted business with the foreign element, and so profited by their presence, were in favor of a repeal; while the American miners, generally, were, for selfish reasons, in favor of the law as it stood.
Affairs are represented as remaining in a state of com- parative inaction until the foreign element began to return to and work in the mines; and by the next spring a large number of those who left had come back and resumed operations. But neither of the two principal camps ever recovered the entire bulk of their population.
Martinez, lying a short distance east of Columbia, was a distinctively Spanish camp, named, as has been already said, in honor of Dona Martinez. It had been discovered previously, and up to the time of her arrival had been known as the "New" or "Spanish" camp. The lady seems to have been influential and wealthy, as she brought with
HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY. 36
lier a large number of "peons" (Mexican servitors) and considerable money and jewelry. Apropos of the latter, the Mexicans attach great importance to the possession of jewelry. Indeed, the predominant characteristics of Mexi- can families are children, jewelry and dirt. Dona Martinez had veiy good success in her mining operations, having taken up a considerable tract of ground, on which her bondmen were set to work.
The population of the town from being at first ex- clusively Spanish speaking, began to contain a sprinkling of Americans, who crowded in, while the invariable result of the crowding out of the less energetic Mexicans and Chilenos followed. These tactics prevailed, as they always have where the grasping, combative Anglo-Saxon comes in contact with the more decent and mild men of Spanish descent. Dona Martinez, however, was left in peace, the infringing outsiders, with a rude, though not ineffective idea of gallantry, regarding her sex as entitled to the fullest protection.
... as early as the summer of 1850.
A Riot in Sonora.
The deep feeling of jealousy and distrust that had, through one cause and another, been daily increasing, with its attendant ills of threats and violence, culminated in July of this year in a series of extraordinary outrages, and the lynching of certain parties, and the attempted execu- tion of others. Nothing could exceed the state of excite- ment into which Sonora, and the Southern Mines in general, were thrown by certain events which took place near the county seat during the fortnight ending July 20. The circumstances which gave rise to such a condition of affairs were these: On the morning of Wednesday, July 10, four Americans arrived in Sonora, having in custody three Mexi- can Indians and a Mexican, named Pablo Martinez, Dio- nisio Ochoa, G-abino Jesus, and Ruiz Molina; and the re-
40 HISTOKY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
port immediately became circulated that a liorrible murder, the third or fourth within a week, had been committed at Green Flat Diggings, about eight miles from town. Im- mediately the entire population of Sonora crowded in front of the house of Justice Barry, and demanded the particu- lars of the affair; and as some who possessed, or thought they possessed, the desired information, related the horri- ble details, the angry exclamations and flashing eyes of the mob told plainly of a deep determination to avenge the crime that their countrymen had suffered. The prisoners were arraigned before Justice Barry, and then commenced a scene of tumult and confusion then unparalleled. In the tumult the predominant cries were, "string them up!" "hang 'em!" "we'll have no mistake this time!" and a rope was produced and a knot tied in it, that there be no delay. The utmost efforts of the officers of the Court produced no impression on the crowd. George Work, the redoubtable Sheriff, a man of the steadiest courage and iron nerve, who never quailed in the discharge of his duty, was as one without influence on the reckless mob. Judge Marvin, As- sociate Justice of the Court of Sessions, addressed the people, but ineffectually. While these things were trans- piring in front of the house, Justice Barry was engaged in taking the deposition of the four Americans who brought in the prisoners. They testified that on the previous evening a Mexican boy had informed them that two Americans had been murdered at the Green Flat Diggings, but they took no notice of the report. In the morning, however, another Mexican called and corroborated the boy's statement. Witnesses immediately proceeded to the spot indicated, and found there the four prisoners, in the act of burning the tent and the bodies of two men. They were immediately taken into custody, and brought to So- nora. There also appeared in evidence the shovel and
HISTORY or TUOLUMNE COUlsTY. 41
pickax belonging to the prisoners. The defense set up by the prisoners was to the effect that it was a custom of their countrymen to burn the dead; that the bodies, having been dead several days, had become offensive through de- composition, and in order to remove the nuisance, they attempted to burn them. The prisoners, of whom the three Indians were described as uncouth, and the Mexican, on the contrary, of gentle and pleasing appearance, main- tained a calm and becoming demeanor that aroused the sympathies of some in the audience. By this time it was resolved by the authorities, as the best that could be done, to immediately impanel a jury and proceed with the trial. But Mr. McAlpin and others who were drawn upon the jury, refused to serve, and the case became still more per- plexing. While in consultation the officers had withdrawn, and the opportunity was taken by the people to elect a Judge from among themselves; and Peter Mehen was chosen pfor the office. A rope was then put around the neck of each of the supposed culprits, and they were led to a hill in the vicinity of the town, where the trial was commenced anew. A jury was impaneled, the trial concluded, and the prisoners sentenced to be hanged. The rope was passed over the liinb of a tree, and the Mexican, chosen as the first victim, was given a few moments in which to pray. He knelt down, prayed affectingiy, kissed the cross he had in his bosom, and with the gentlest resignation gave him- self into the hands of his executioners. Another moment, and Judges Marvin, Tuttle and Eadcliffe, together with William Ford, County Clerk, and others arrived, and by flinging themselves boldly into the crowd, succeeded in effecting a diversion that enabled the proper officers to regain possession of the prisoners, and contrary to expectation they succeeded in lodging them in jai].
The affairs above described occurred on Wednesday.
42 HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
The prisoners remained in the jail, without any indication of an attempt at mob law, until the following Monday, which was the day on which it had been anderstood their trial was to come off. On the morning of this day a mob of eighty men, armed with rides and shotguns, and march- ing in military style, and presenting a most imposing ap- pearance, arrived from Grreen Flat, intent on seeing justice done on the murderers of their neighbors. Besides this band, there poured in from Jamestown, Shaw's Flat, Co- lumbia, Woods' Creek, from mountain, gulch and ravine, hundreds of miners, armed with rifles, shotguns, revolvers, knives, lances, etc. All were highly excited, and would not submit to delay. They halted opposite the Court House, when Judge Tuttle appeared and addressed the throng, urging them to be moderate, and assuring them that justice would be done; if the men were found guilty they would surely meet their deserts, and if they were inno- cent they would surely be acquitted. He further urged them to respect the law and acquiesce in the verdict of the jury, whatever it might be. At the conclusion of this sound advice, some one proposed three cheers for the speaker, but the crowd silently marched away to their en- campment, first posting a guard over the jail.
Judge Creaner, of the District Court, was waited upon by a delegation who informed him in unmistakable terms ■iihat the trial must go on that day. The Judge, not in the least intimidated, warned them calmly that they were in conflict with the law, and announced that no dejaarture from the regular order of business would be suffered in his court.
In consequence of a rumor that the Mexican prisoners had colleagues in a camp several miles distant, Sheriff Work proceeded there with a posse of twenty men and arrested nearly the whole adult portion of the inhabitants.
HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY. 43
numberinij one hundred and ten men ; whom he brought to town and confined in a corral, under a strong guard.
During Monday evening several hundred men arrived in town, swelling the ranks of the mob to nearly or quite two thousand armed men. To oppose this force, of whom the greater part were bent on summarily executing the pre- sumed offenders, the county officers stood alone, But these were men who had the heart and nerve to do their duty in any situation. Judge Creaner's firmness has passed into a proverb; and than George Work no man was ever better qualified to act in times that try men's souls. The remain- der of the officers, notably William Ford, the Clerk, and Mr. S. A. Booker, the District Attorney, acted bravely.
When, in the order of business, the case of the four Mexicans was called and they were arraigned, a most excit- ing scene took place. When the plea of " not guilty " was heard, one of the guards, standing on a bench, dropped his gun, and the hammer, striking some object, exploded the weapon. Instantly numberless revolvers were drawn, bowie knives flashed forth and the tumult became inde- scribable. One man, in his haste to get out, accidentally fired his own gun and the terrific melee became tenfold fiercer. The struggle to quit the court-room became inde- scribably violent. Doors, windows, all means of egress were put in requisition. An alarm of fire added to the clamor and even the street was cleared instanter.
Some Mexicans, who were in the crowd, were deliberately fired at by different individuals. One announced that he fired "on general principles;" another said he thought they were trying to rescue the prisoners, so he fired pro- miscuously among them.
It is recorded that the examination was postponed.
During the following evening the army went on a spree of such magnitude that it was seriously feared that grave
44 HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
disturbances would result; but such was not the case, how- ever, and in the morning many of them left for their own camps, leaving Sonora in comparative quiet. The examina- tion of the accused men was resumed, when, there being no evidence against them, they were acquitted. So ended this curious case, which is given mostly to illustrate the peculiar feeling shared by most Americans against the Spanish- speaking population. It seems as if the whole proceedings were merely an outgrowth from the jealousy and distrust which the one race bore the other.
Although the law had been vindicated and the men, un- justly charged with murder, freed from confinement, there was still no abatement of the popular feeling of insecurity, and still fresh reports (mostly fabricated by interested parties) of murders said to have been committed, continued to pour in, and a public meeting was held to devise ways and means for a better protection of life and property. At this meeting, at which A. Elkins presided, Judge Tuttle and Joshua Holdeu, of Sonora; J. W. Van Beuschoten, of Wood's; T>. S. Dikeman, of Jacksonville; Capt. Runnells, of Sullivan's Diggings; W. C. Wade, of Mormon Gulch, and Capt. Stewart, of McLane's Ferry, were appointed a committee to make arrangements for holding a mass meet- ing of citizens for a consideration of the grave state of affairs. This meeting was called for Sunday, July 21, 1850, and was held in the plaza. The following resolu- tions were adopted:
" Whereas, The lives and property of the American citi- zens are now in danger from the hands of lawless marau- ders of every clime, class and creed under the canopy of heaven, and scarce a day passes but we hear of the com- mission of the most horrible murders and robberies ; and as we have now in our midst the peons of Mexico, the rene- gades of South America, and the convicts of the British Empire; therefore:
HISTORY OF TDOLUMNE COUNTY. 45
jResolved, first, That all foreigners in Tuolumne county (except those engaged in permanent business, and of re- spectable characters) be required to leave the limits of this county within fifteen days from date, unless they obtain a permit to remain from the authorities hereinafter named.
Resolved, second, That the authorities referred to be a committee of three, to be chosen or selected by the Ameri- can citizens of each camp or diggings.
Resolved, third, That all the good citizens of this county shall resolve themselves into a committee of the whole, to carry out the objects of this meeting.
Resolved, fourth, That the foreigners in this county be, and are hereby notified to turn over their firearms and deadly weapons to the select-men of each camp or diggings forthwith, (except such as may have a permit to hold the same;) such select-men shall give a receipt to such for- eigners for the same, and each and every good citizen shall have power to disarm all foreigners.
JResolved, fifth. That the select-men of each camp or diggings shall promptly carry out the duties assigned to them.
Resolved, sixth. That five hundred copies of these reso- lutions, in English and Spanish, be published and forth- with distributed throughout the county.
Resolved, seventh. That the select-men from each camp, or diggings, take up subscriptions to defray the necessary expense of such publication, and remit the money thus collected to the proprietors and publishers of the Sonora Herald."
The publication of these resolutions, together with the decided action taken by the people of other camps, had a good effect. There was at once a perceptible lull in the social atmosphere ; and the Herald, the mouth piece of the American faction, was moved to say:
46 HISTOET OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
" The prompt action of the people in the late emergency has had the effect of teaching certain hombres a lesson that they will not soon forget. * * * It by no means has been proven that the laie guerilla acts were committed by Mexicans or South Americans alone. The outcasts of every nation under Heaven have combined to disturb us; and we think that now they have been effectually silenced. We pray the mining population to assist us in restoring public confidence, to return to the old regime, to silence the tongues of Sydney convicts and boisterous inebriates, who delight in tumult and " braggadocio," who palm them- selves off as American citizens, and stain a privilege whose honor every American citizen should guard with jealous care.
" Real estate is rising in value, and everything is looking up. The commercial interests of the country have been suffering at the rate of $10,000 per day, and our merchants' time lies idly on their hands. * * * Action, action! gentlemen. Fold not your hands, but quiet the alarm among the men on whose labor your future depends. The jealousies of sects and the rivalries of men of different countries are small matters at times like this. Let us beg the people to use their power mildly. To protect the good of what country soever, while they punish the evil disposed. Americans! greet kindly the stranger who asks your hospi- tality and protection. You may entertain angels unawares. The burden of the tax on foreign miners has been rendered less obnoxious. The following notice has been distributed throughout the county:
" Notice. — The Collector of Taxes for foreign miners an- nounces that he is now authorized by the government to receive $20 for the privilege of laboring in the mines until the last day of December next, and to issue a license for that
HISTORY of TUOLUMNE COUNTY. 47
period. He is instructed to protect all who comply with this requisition, and punish all others as violators of the law. The Collector's office is at the head of Washington street, Sonora. L, A. Besa>xon.
"Aug. 3, 1850.
"The effect that we long ago prognosticated has taken place. The miners are rejoiced, and in one or two in- stances there have been public manifestations of joy. Hundreds who had made preparations to leave the country have resolved to make Cahfornia their homes."
The improved state of affairs indicated in the above edi- torial, may be regarded as the beginning of a more healthy and settled condition, which took its rise from the ener- getic measures of the American population at the time when it seemed as if the foreign element were about to usurp the functions of government even, and by terrorism rule or ruin the country.
[This is filled with BS. Date of Summer of 1853 mentioned as date of Battle of Sawmill Flat, presumably a typo of 1852, as Joaquin was nowhere near there in 1853. Claudio was his own man not with Joaquin. If anything Joaquin has been thought to be with Claudio in 1851-52 by Seacrest, p.79.: because of Claudio's "confession" to a fellow prisoner Vasquez in San Jose jail, wherein he mentioned a Joaquin Gurietta being a confederate, along with brother Reyes, Trinadad, Gabriel, Solis. Also this says Claudio was hung in Los Angeles, when it was his brother Reyes. Claudio died in Monterey Co., shot by Justice of the Peace Henry Cocks, when he was found by Cocks posse at a hideout on the Salinas River.]
36°18′55″N 120°27′11″W / 36.31528°N 120.45306°W, ele. 3,520 feet / 1,073 meters
History: Named for Joaquin Murietta (1830-1853), an early California bandit who used this region as a rendevous. (US-T121) Description: 10 miles long. Bound on the northeast by Big Blue Hills and on the southwest by Portuguese Canyon, highest elevation 0.64 km (0.4 mi) east of Spanish Lake. (US-T121), w end 36°19′48″N 120°34′09″W / 36.33000°N 120.56917°W, e end 36°18′15″N 120°24′11″W / 36.30417°N 120.40306°W, Elevation: 4,701 feet / 1,433 meters
User:Asiaticus/sandbox/John "Red" Irving
Bibliography: p. 153-154. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site. Gift of Lessing J. Rosenwald, 1943-1975.
29 --- 10 The Cahuillas have not had a head-chief, I believe, since the death of the one they called “Razon” (White). He died within two or three years past, at an advanced age. They gave him his name, as they told me, from his always acting so much like a white man, in staying at home and tending his fields and flocks, for he had both. When a young man, he went off to Sonora (under what circumstances, is not known), and returned a farmer—which is all the early history we have of him. He was always a quiet, good, industrious man, and rendered material service to the authorities, in arresting the half-civilized Indian outlaws who have sometimes fled with stolen horses to the mesquit wilds of his village. Cabezon, too, is a good old Indian chief, as also another named Juan Bautista.
--- 11
30
---
...
Make Pancho Daniel a redirect to Francisco "Pancho" Daniel
User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Francisco "Pancho" Daniel
California Gazette, February 21, 1852 Confession of Teodor Basquez (association with the Daniel brothers)
"Flores" Linares tried to betray Joaquin Juan Murrieta to a posse in San Luis Obispo, then tried himself to assasinate Joaquin Juan Murrieta when he visited SLO in Spring 1858. However Joaquin Juan killed Flores instead./ Latta Horse Gang, p.114-115
Victor died in Feb. of 1852 or 1853. There are two records of death and burial Died Feb 1852 or 1853 San Luis Obispo, Alta California Buried 6 Jun 1852 or 1853 Mission San Luis Obispo, Alta California
Victor died in Feb. of 1853 not 1852. He had been counted in the 1852 census and an 1852 tax assessment for him exists in Angels History of SLO Co.
During the his confession about the San Juan Capistrano murders, Luciano Tapia, El Mesteno, discribed Herrada:
However an advertisement of a reward for El Huero appeared Page 3, Column 2 of the 3 July 1858, Los Angeles Star, which suggests El Huero was still at large.
... slender, has large sleepy eyes, and without beard. EL HUERO (light, or empty headed) RAFEAL is tall, slender, and ...
[323]
In this Garcia implicated Jack Powers along with Pio Linares, Nieves Robles aka “Eduriquez” and others as part of the murder of the 2 Basques/Nacimiento murders in 1857.
According to Murray, one of the Chico Martinez band of horse-runners and was the murderer of Mr. Baratie. Hung in his cell, for murders of Baratie and Borel and Gilkey on identification of servant Silvas, no confession.
They visited the Rancho San Juan but left and stayed the night at the Agua de los Codornices in sp.Water of the Quails, [codorniz=quail, codornices = quails]
--
Killer of John Gilkey, hung for murders of Baratie and Borel and Gilkey, said to have made a full confession in his death sentence, before hanging, no written confession
Step Nephew, of Pio Linares. Killer of Borel, wounded Baratie. Born Feb. 1840 Miguel Blanco, full name Jose Miguel Blanco, was the son of Victor Pantaleon Linares's step daughter Maria Jesusa Villa [Maria de Jesus Patricia Villa] born 17 Mar 1816. On Jan 17, 1830, at the age of 13 years 10 months, she married Joaquin Blanco [Jose "Joaquin" Crecencio Blanco] a Mexican soldier in San Diego Presidio. Jose Miguel was a step grandson of Victor Linares, a step nephew of Pio Linares his step uncle.
Joaquin and Maria Jesusa Blanco, had five children that survived, the second was Jose Miguel Blanco. As a consequence of a divorce of his parents, on November 3, 1851 W. J. Graves, SLO County Judge, appointed Victor Linares their guardian, with the exception of the eldest, Jose Merihildo Blanco, age 16, who is to choose his own. In the event he chose Victor also. Jose Miguel Blanco, was 11 years old at the time.
He would be 17 years of age in 1857 when he robbed W. W. Twist in Los Angeles. He would have been 18 when he was hung in SLO for the murders of Borel and Baratie of Rancho San Juan.
BLANCO, Jose "Joaquin" Crecencio
San Luis Obispo County, California]
Date of original research is unknown.
Obispo County.
spelling , language or data will be made.
Blanco, who is to choose own.
inventory for creditors as he cannot pay admin expenses.
Miguel Blanco hung for murders of Baratie and Borel and Gilkey, said to have made a full confession in his death sentence, before hanging, no written confession/ Joseph Hall-Patton, p.150
...
CAPTURE OF ONE OF THE "FIVE JOAQUINS" — HANGED BY THE PEOPLE IN BROAD DAYLIGHT.
The party that went in pursuit spent a week of fruitless search in the hills. The murderers being well mounted, easily eluded them. At the rancho of San Emilio, however, they took one Joaquin Valenzuela, alias Joaquin Ocomorenia, who was identified by several persons as one of the five Joaquins, who were mentioned in the Act of 1853, authorizing the raising of Harry Love's company of rangers. This man is also an old accomplice of Jack Powers, spoke of him as his patron, and is a man steeped to the lips in guilt. He is well known at the mouth of the River Merced, and on the San Joaquin, and owes justice a score which fifty lives can never pay. He was hung in full sight of the whole people of San Luis, in broad daylight, by the voice and assistance of all the respectable men of the county, and died acknowledging his guilt, asking pardon of his friends, and warning all malefactors not to tell their secrets, even to their own countrymen. "Porqite asi se pierde" said he — that is: "Thus you loose yourself." [151] : 296
THE MURDER OF GEORGE FEARLESS, IN 1856.
All this time rumors have always been afloat in the community, criminating this or that resident of San Luis, in connection with these matters. No proof could be obtained, because no lives were ever spared, and so nothing was achieved. Good men walked about, whispering and breathing vengeance, but no definite result was obtained. At length, early in 1856, a man of the name of George Fearless . came down from San Francisco, with about $2,000, and went into partnership with a New Mexican named Jesus Luna, establishing a ranchito near the Nascimiento, on the road to Watson's about fifty miles from San Luis. In a few months. Fearless disappeared. Luna stated that he had gone to the States.
Luna sold out all the cattle and other animals even the New Foundland dog and gold watch of his partner and removed south with his family, and is now in New Mexico. About three months afterwards, the body of a man bearing every resemblance to George Fearless was found near the deserted rancho. Then men talked hard about Luna, but it was too late. This man was compadre to Pio Linares, whom we are now seeking. [152]: 294
Read more here: Dan Krieger - San Luis Obispo - The Tribune , July 20, 2013 4:50 PM
Read more here: [8]
Read more here: [9]
We are indebted to the Echo du Pacifique for the following particulars of a horrid tragedy in Tulare valley: Mr. and Mrs. Baratier, a French couple, formerly of Oakland, established a ranch in Tulare ralley, at a place called Pulvadera, forty miles from any other house. They there had a number of cattle, in partnership with a Mr. Borel; and had two Spanish vaqueros. On the 12th instant, seven Mexicans, or Spaniards, came to the house, at 1 o'clock, P. M. Messrs. Baratier and Borel were in the garden, and went to the bouse when they saw the strangers. When they got to the door, the Mexicans fired a volley at them, killing Borel instantly, and wounding Baratier in the shoulder. Mrs. Baratier threw herself on the body of her husband, and begged for his life, weeping most piteously. The murderous gang tore her loose; took the husband into the house, made him tell where his money was ; then took him out to a tree, to which they tied him, and then they killed him. Soon after the vaqueros came to the house, and they were shot down. It was proposed to kill Mrs. Baratier, and one of the party proposed to take her to a distance, and murder her. He tied her on a horse, took her far off, and told her to flee, and prayed her to keep his secret, for his life might pay for his pity. Mrs. Baratier, ignorant of the roads and country, wandered about four days in the mountains, without food, and finally after ten days of intense suffering, arrived at Oakland yesterday afternoon, in a most miserable condition. The robbers obtained £2,000 in money.
THE LYNCHING AT SAN LUIS OBISPO.—The Los Angeles Clamor Publico gives a long account of the lynchings in San Luis Obispo county, and is very indignant about them. We translate a portion of a long editorial on the subject, as follows: "Thus it is that justice is executed in this country, where they pretend there are laws, and rights and liberty. They lie! Here when they pretend to punish a crime, they commit another still greater." "Following the example of the other towns of California in similar cases, a Committee of Vigilance was formed [in San Luis Obispo.] Parties of men started out in all directions to arrest suspected persons. A few days afterwards, this rabble, styling itself "The People," publicly executed, in San Luis Obispo, an innocent man, named Joaquin Valenzuela, generally known by the nickname of "Nacamereno." Don David W. Alexander, who has just arrived in this city, on whose ranch the unfortunate man was employed, says he was torn from his labor and the bosom of his family, and that he had never left his home for a moment. Here then is another deed of blood which will be a mark of infamy forever on the reformers of the morality and law in San Luis Obispo. "But this is not all. The Committee, composed of about forty persons, went to the house of a certain Pio Linares, who resided about a mile distant from Santa Barbara. The Sheriff was at the head of the party. They told Linares that they came to search his house. He answered that they might enter, but not until he should be unable to defend it. They told him they would set fire to it, unless he would surrender, and so they did; and Linares escaped in the confusion, and his wife and innocent children, endangered by the flames, escaped as if by miracle. The house was reduced to ashes. It is possible that Linares is a criminal, but, if so, this was not a proper method to proceed against him. His family, at least, were innocent. Without doubt the band of saints must have used aguardiente freely before commencing their fiesta, for they gave two bullets to one of their party, believing him to be a thief."
LATER FROM THE SOUTH.
From San Bernardino. — A correspondent of the Star, writing from San Bernardino, August 3d, furnishes the appended news: Day before yesterday, three men (Americans) who had been at work on Fernando Sepulveda's ranch, cutting wood, for about a month, stole three fine horses from said Sepulveda, one worth, it is said, $500. Don Fernando Sepulveda, accompanied by Joaquin Valenzuela, followed them into the Cajon Pass, 'en route' for the Mohave river, when they met an expressman coming into San Bernardino, who brought information of the robbers having attacked and robbed the house of one Highmore, at the head of the Mohave; and also that they had attacked two Mexicans connected with a pack train, who were returning from Beale's Crossing. These two Mexicans they robbed and wounded, leaving one of them for dead. The express rider advised Sepulveda to return to San Bernardino for assistance, as there was another party of several white men camped lower down on the Mohave river, with a band of horses, who were probably connected with and waiting for the party who stole the horses from Sepulveda to join them, He accordingly turned back, and arrived in San Bernardino this morning. Vanluven, the Under Sheriff, accompanied by G. N. Whitman, G. H. Williams, and several others, left here in pursuit of the robbers.
Notes Murray's thoughts about Andrea's treatment by Tapia. Other private commentary on the situation at SLO before and during the vigilance campaign.
A Chapter of Crime Unparalleled — Former Murders and Lynching — Terrible Times in San Luis Obispo— The Murder of George Fearless, in 1856— The Dark and Bloody Grounds— The Mur- der of two Frenchmen, in December, 1857 — Light Dawning — -An Organized Gang of Murderers— One of the Murderers Caught— He Escapes the Gallows — Causes of His Escape — .Antagonism of the Native Californians and Americans- The Murder at San Juan Capistrano — Disposal of the Prisoners - Return of the Two Servants — One of the Gang Discovered — Hanged by the Citizens — Fruitless Pursuit of the Gang — The Motto of Linares and Jack Powers — "Dead Men Tell no Tales" — Capture of One of the "Five Joaquins" — Hanged by the People in Broad Daylight — Murder of Jack Gilkey by the Gang — Another of the Gang Caught and Hanged — Another Arrest — His Confession — His Execution — Letter to His Mother — Parties in Pursuit of Remaining Murderers — The Huero and Jack Powers in Distress — Corraling Some of the Gang in a Wood — Pio Linares Reorganized — Engagement with the Mur- derers — The Dead Buried — Execution of Blanco and Grijalva — How the Murderers' Account Stands — What Became of the Huero — The Native Californians Rising — Pursuit by Pacheco's Party after the Huero — Francisco Zuniga Discharged — The Value of Native Californians in the Matter — Growing Strength of the Vigilance Committee — Wholesome Result of the Move- ment — Prosperity Prostrated by Crime — "There's a Good Time Coming," 293 — 300
THE following vivid narrative of crimes of the early days of the county, and of the acts of the Vigilance Committee of 1858, is from the pen of Hon. Walter Murray, in a series of letters written contemporaneously to the San Francisco Bulletin: —
294
A CHAPTER OF CRIME UNPARALLELED.
San Luis Obispo, June 6, 1858. There are various conflicting accounts in regard to a murder lately committed in this county, falsely reported to have taken place on the Tulares. This county has enjoyed a very unenviable reputation for years past. It is now about being cleansed. I propose to lay before your readers as short a history of the annals of crime in San Luis Obispo as can be made out of ten years of bloodshed.
FORMER MURDERS AND LYNCHING.
I shall pass over the by-gone times of Solomon Pico and Joaquin Muriata, and commence in the fall of 1853, when I first arrived here. In October of that year, some eight or ten men passed through here, after murdering a peddler near San Juan; and, after flourishing around town for a few days, boasting of their misdeeds, levied on a lot of horses and decamped for Los Angeles. A pursuing party from this place overhauled them there, with the stolen property and that belonging to the murdered men, upon them. One was killed in the taking. Three of them were brought up to this place and hanged on landing. Another was taken in town and hanged. The rest escaped.
TERRIBLE TIMES IN SAN LUIS OBISPO.
I came to this place just after this affair happened, and I know that ever since then scarcely a month has passed without the disappearance of some traveler, or the finding of dead bodies or skeletons on the roads leading out north and south from here. 'Many a cattle-dealer from the upper country has come south to invest, and has never returned. As many as four dead bodies have been found on the road at one time, and scarcely a man has gone above upon business, without hearing of a new transaction of the kind. It seemed as though there was an organized band of murderers, with spies posted, who never failed of obtaining intelligence when a man passed with money, or in murdering him if found off his guard.
THE MURDER OF GEORGE FEARLESS, IN 1856.
All this time rumors have always been afloat in the community, criminating this or that resident of San Luis, in connection with these matters. No proof could be obtained, because no lives were ever spared, and so nothing was achieved. Good men walked about, whispering and breathing vengeance, but no definite result was obtained. At length, early in 1856, a man of the name of George Fearless came down from San Francisco, with about $2,000, and went into partnership with a New Mexican named Jesus Luna, estabhshing a ranchito near the Nascimiento, on the road to Watson's about fifty miles from San Luis. In a few months. Fearless disappeared. Luna stated that he had gone to the States. Luna sold out all the cattle and other animals — even the New Foundland dog and gold watch of his partner — and removed south with his family, and is now in New Mexico. About three months afterwards, the body of a man bearing every resemblance to George Fearless was found near the deserted rancho. Then men talked hard about Luna, but it was too late. This man was compadre to Pio Linares, whom we are now seeking.
THE DARK AND BLOODY GROUNDS THE MURDER OF TWO FRENCHMEN IN DECEMBER, 1857.
Well, things passed on. New bodies were discovered, but nothing known as to the perpetrators. Then a light broke upon us. In November last, two Frenchmen, Pedro Obiesa and Graciano, collected a band of cattle and started for the upper country. They hired a Californian named Froilan as their vaquero. This man, as also the great Sporting character, hcleped Jack Powers, saw the two Frenchmen receive money just before leaving. On Monday, the 30th day of November, a horse-race took place at Santa Margarita, twelve miles north of this place. At break of day the two Frenchmen received cattle from Froilan and another man at Paso Robles, fifteen miles further on, and paid for them. Froilan had then left their service. At the same time a man named Nieves Robles made his ppearance in their camp, and asked permission to accompany the party to San Jose. He did so, and pointed out that night a camping place, on a road pointed out by him, at a place near the mouth of the Nacimiento. This river and the ground for miles on each side is "the dark and bloody ground " of this section of country.
That night some horses were missed from the Frenchmen's caballada. In the morning they both went out to look for them— and never returned. Nieves Robles, the spy, on the day of the disappearance, left camp twice, returning with his horse sweated. In the morning he made some excuse, and returned to San Luis. Weeks afterwards, the body of one of the Frenchmen was found and identified, the flesh almost gone, and the skull perforated with bullet holes. The other was never found. They left camp in opposite directions. The horses were afterwards recovered. An Indian witnessed from a distance the murdering of one of the men, the one found. He recognized no one, but testified that it was done by two men on horseback, with pistol and riata.
LIGHT DAWNING AN ORGANIZED GANG OF THE MURDERERS.
The day before this murder a horse-race took place at Santa Margarita. That evening, at that place. Jack Powers was present, together with two or three greaser companions, particularly Huero Rafael, alias Rafael Money, alias Rafael Herrada, the same man who since assisted Powers as groom at his great match against time in San Francisco. That night Linares, Powers, and Rafael disappeared; the first returning after several days' absence, flush of money, the two latter going to San Francisco. Late discoveries, made by accessories after the fact, show that these three worthies, with other two or three, waylaid the two Frenchmen singly and killed them, taking from one of them $3,500. Powers was the planner and assistant, Pio Linares and Rafael the principal actors, and others aiding and abetting. So daring and impudent had long impunity made these men that the murder was almost openly talked of between the bad characters at the horse-race the day before; and on the very night before the murder Juan Pedro Oliveras, a worthy well known in San Jose, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles, committed it in town to another rascal, and mentioned every actor in it as above named.
ONE OF THE MURDERERS CAUGHT.
The day after the body was found, viz., on the 20th day of December, Nieves Robles was taken from the gambling table in San Luis, and lodged in jail. He was examined and committed for trial. Linares, as we are informed, went above immediately to warn Powers. Powers, however, came down on the next steamer, and immediately conferred with the prisoner. Powers was intimate with him beforehand. Now he furnished him with coffee, liquors, and other comforts, and urges his attorney to get him released in some way or other. It is right now to say that Powers is, and always has been, a gambler by profession, and a boon companion of the lowest and worst Californians and Mexicans. This Huero Rafael, a
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 295
man who fled from Los Angeles to escape the reward of crime, and who is now recognized as an actor in two late murders, captain in the last, Powers designated as his "right arm," Tu eres mi brazo derecho! These were his words.
HE ESCAPES THE GALLOWS.
Well, Robles never confessed. He was a Californian. The Americans did not move. It was nobody but Frenchmen who had been killed. The French talked lynch; the Californians threatened that in case they did it, every Frenchman in the county should be killed. The best lawyer in the county, the Hon. W. J. Graves, was appointed District Attorney. The proof was light. The jury, a packed California one. One of the jurors was, at the time, a fugitive from the charge of murder. Another was an accomplice in the very crime for which Robles was tried, and since is recognized as one of the actors in the late tragedy at San Juan Capistrano. The man was cleared.
ANTAGONISM OF THE NATIVE CALIFORNIANS AND AMERICANS.
You will say, perhaps, that we are to blame. That the American citizens in this county should attend juries, support the laws, etc. Sir, the American citizens of this county are but a corporal's guard. The Californians and their Mexican defendants are the great bulk of the community. We are helpless. At an election, or at the empanelling of a jury, it is very easy for an unwashed greaser to swear that he came to this county before the treaty with Mexico. That oath makes him a citizen, and he takes his seat in the jury-box. The Frenchman, the Englishman, the Irishman can't do this. His conscience won't permit it. Therefore, although the good men of this community are in the ascendancy, as far as numerical strength and acknowledged respectability are concerned, yet at the ballot-box and in the jury-room they are powerless. When Nieves was cleared, the public voice declared him guilty. The Californians admitted it, but to justify him, justified the deed. They said: —
Ladron qui mata a ladron Merecer cien anos de perdon.
Which being interpreted means.
The thief who kills a thief Deserves a hundred years' relief —
.i.e. from the pains of purgatory. They said that the two Frenchmen had received stolen cattle; therefore, deserved killing. This argument needs no comment. The few Americans laid low and said nothing; but they kept up a devil of a thinking. They felt it was getting hot, and that it would soon be time to stir. They said: "The time is not yet come, but it will come." It did come.
THE MURDER AT SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO.
On the 12th of May another horrid assassination was committed. Please note well the facts stated, dates, names, places, etc., for they are all correct this time. Two Frenchmen, Bartolo Baratie and M. J. Borel, had come down from Oakland to settle on the Rancho San Juan Capistrano. They had been there but ten days. That place is forty-five miles from San Luis; fifteen miles from Captain Mallagh's; six miles from the Camate, the residence of Jack Gilkey. These two Frenchmen had two Californian servants, named Ysidro Silvas and Luis Morillo. On the morning of Monday, the l0th day of May, eight men came along, representing themselves to be horse runners, and wishing to buy food. The open-hearted Frenchmen refused to sell, but gave. That night the men slept in a hut apart with the servants, and on the morning of the 11th went off. Early on the 12th one of the men, since recognized as Miguel Blanco (well known to the Sheriff and Constables of Los Angeles) came back alone, and said that his partners were off running horses, and that he had left them, not wishing to tire his horse. He asked permission to unsaddle his horse there, which was given him. The Frenchmen were several hundred yards from the house, cleaning out a well hole. The Californians were a short distance from them, but hid from their sight, cutting hay. Miguel Blanco stood on a small hill overlooking both parties, and, on a sudden, went down towards the Frenchmen. One of them, Baratie, left his partner and went round to speak to the two servants. Just as he reached them shots were heard where Borel and Miguel Blanco were, at the well hole simultaneously. The balance of the robber party made their appearance on horseback, and Blanco, coming round from his first victim, fired a shot at Baratie, hitting him in the shoulder. Others of the party also fired, one of them singeing the hair of Luis Morillo, the servant, but not injuring him.
The party then bound Morillo, Silvas, and Baratie, and drove them up to the house at point of pistol. Here they found Madame Baratie, the wife of M. Baratie, whom they also threatened with death. Baratie was then forced to point out the trunk which contained his money, and the captain of the band, who proved to be none other than the Huero Rafael, spreading out a blanket on the floor, divided out the money, $2,700, into eight portions, afterwards giving to each his share. Both husband and wife begged for mercy, which was promised them.
DISPOSAL OF THE PRISONERS.
Two of the band, to wit, Luciano, the Mesteno (who has since, God be praised, paid for his crime by his life), and Froilan — still at large — were then ordered by the captain to take the two Californians at a distance and kill them. These two men then placed the servants, still tied, on horseback, and took them out a distance of about a league, and, after some discussion, finally agreed to spare their lives on condition that they should stay there until dark. The two robbers then returned. In the meanwhile, two of the men had been detached by the captain to dispose of Baratie and his wife. They were taken a few hundred yards from the house, to a patch of willows, still under promise of mercy. Here Mrs. Baratie saw one of the men draw on her husband, and kill him with pistol shots. She herself covered his body with his cloak and hat, in which position it was afterwards found.
They then brought Mme. Baratie to the house, and Luciano having returned, it was agreed that he should take her off to the "Cuevas," his resort. He mounted her on a mare, with a side-saddle, and started off with her. This man, from the first, promised to take her to a place of safety, and, in fact, did so, for, after about a week's travel by a round-about road, traveled evidently only by these miscreants, passing by the ranch of Hernandez, called the "Pulvaderas," kept by a wretch well-known as the harborer of thieves, and where she slept one night. She dared not speak here, or at the place where the fellow left her at San Juan, because she saw he was among accomplices. At San Juan he left her at a house about half a mile from the center of the town, kept by a man named Chavez. From here she went to the stage office and took passage for Oakland.
RETURN OF THE TWO SERVANTS.
The two servants of the Frenchman, at about 5 o'clock P. M., returned to the house and saddled up. They found M. Borel lying dead by the well hole, with
296 HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
three shots in him. They did not find M. Baratie's body. The house was all in confusion; all the clothing picked over, and the best of it carried off. No horses were gone, except a black horse which the Mesteno had taken off, and a mare which the woman rode. Silvas and Morillo, the servants, went that night to the Estrella, where they slept. On the morning of the 13th, Silvas went to Mallagh's rancho Paso Robles. Captain Mallagh immediately saddled up and came into town with the witness. Silvas made his declaration in accordance with the above facts, before Justice White, no names being yet known, and warrants were issued to take John Doe, and Richard Roe, etc., on the charge of murder.
ONE OF THE GANG DISCOVERED HANGED BY THE CITIZENS.
While the papers were being made out. Captain Mallagh and the witness, with the Sheriff, in walking round town to look for the murderers, stumbled on one of them, whom the witness immediately identified. He gave his name as Santos Peralta, and was recognized as one of the Chico Martinez band of horse-runners. He denied his guilt, but could give no account of himself, except what was immediately proved to be false, and part of the stolen articles of clothing was found on his person. That night a party of citizens, infuriated by the enormity of the outrage committed, and satisfied of the determination of the greaser population to set justice at defiance by means of the mock forms of law, entered the jail and hung him. After revelations proved more conclusively even, if that were possible, his damning guilt.
FRUITLESS PURSUIT AFTER THE GANG.
In the morning information was given that a part of these rascals, in number four, were hid in a ravine back of town, where Pio Linares, the arch-conspirator of this place (a Califoruian whose father before him was a robber and murderer, and whose whole family is tainted with crime), had a receptacle for stolen horses, termed a ranchito. A party of fifteen men was formed under orders of the Sheriff, who traced the men up, and even got within two hundred yards of them, on the mountainside. Ysidro Silvas went with them, and there identified the whole four — Rafael, the Huero, as being the captain, Miguel Blanco as the man who killed one Frenchman and wounded the other, Froilan as the one who took the two servants out and afterwards spared them, and Desiderio Grijalva as another of the party.
THE MOTTO OF LINARES AND JACK POWERS — DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES.
All these men are well known as intimate friends and accomplices of Pio Linares and frequenters of his house in town. After revelations have proved that this Linares, a sort of chieftain among the young Californians, had accompanied the party on the expedition as far as the rancho of San Juan Capistrano, and had then, without showing himself, returned without taking part in the murder, because he wished to murder the whole party, including the woman, to which others would not agree. His motto is: "Dead men tell no tales." Jack Powers' motto is the same, hence their former impunity. A departure from this rule in this last murder is, under providence, the cause of our detection of these incarnate fiends.
CAPTURE OF ONE OF THE "FIVE JOAQUINS" — HANGED BY THE PEOPLE IN BROAD DAYLIGHT.
The party that went in pursuit spent a week of fruitless search in the hills. The murderers being well mounted, easily eluded them. At the rancho of San Emilio, however, they took one Joaquin Valenzuela, alias Joaquin Ocomorenia, who was identified by several persons as one of the five Joaquins, who were mentioned m the Act of 1853, authorizing the raising of Harry Love's company of rangers. This man is also an old accomplice of Jack Powers, spoke of him as his patron, and is a man steeped to the lips in guilt. He is well known at the mouth of the River Merced, and on the San Joaquin, and owes justice a score which fifty lives can never pay. He was hung in full sight of the whole people of San Luis, in broad daylight, by the voice and assistance of all the respectable men of the county, and died acknowledging his guilt, asking pardon of his friends, and warning all malefactors not to tell their secrets, even to their own countrymen. "Porqite asi se pierde" said he — that is: "Thus you loose yourself."
MURDER OF JOHN GILKEY BY THE GANG.
I will now relate a trifling episode in the San Juan Capistrano tragedy. At the Camate, six miles from that place, lived Jack Gilkey, a hunter, well known in Tuolumne and San Joaquin Counties, and a man as far as known here, without a vice. His only fault was, being a gringo, or huero, that is, having a light skin. When this band of murderers left the scene of their guilt they went to his place. He was hoeing in his field. The Huero, Rafael, rode up near him, and unseen by him let his pistol drop; then, dismounting, pretended to find it, and made the remark: "What a fine pistol I have found!" Jack went up to him to see, and the villain then fired at him. He missed, but another of the gang, Desiderio Grijalva, came behind and put a ball through his head which killed him instantly. It is supposed that he was killed because he knew them, as they had shared his hospitality the day previous. They knew the murder would be discovered; that parties would go in pursuit; that Jack would, like an honest man as he was, tell whom he had seen, and that they would be detected. Hence his untimely end.
The pursuing party came back without finding any of the criminals in the murder. However, they were determined to persevere to the end. During their absence, Pio Linares had remained in his house, feeling the public pulse, and safe, on account of his complicity in the last murder being hidden. After discoveries show that when the Huero Rafael returned from the murder, he gave Linares for his share $140, and $65.00 to Linares' wife. Rafael lived in their house. The party on entering town searched several houses for the culprits, and at length came to the principal one, Pio's. They surrounded it, and demanded entrance to search for the Huero Rafael, under the arrant. Pio Linares placed himself on the defensive, and refused admission. They therefore demanded that he should come out, which he refused. A light was then put to his roof, the rest of the inmates having voluntarily come out, and at length the head culprit broke, and became a target for a volley of balls. He, however, escaped, and is now in hiding — it is thought, wounded.
ANOTHER OF THE GANG CAUGHT AND HANGED.
Another party was formed, with good trackers among them, who, taking up the trail of the Mesteno and Madame Baratie, traced them two or three days' journey, at length encountering the villain on his return. He was immediately taken, and brought into town. He confessed everything. His story tallies with that of all the other witnesses, and the above statement. He was hung in broad daylight also, as a warning to all miscreants.
By the last boat Madame Baratie came here, at the instigation of San Luis Obispo gentlemen, who wished to see her and to prove to her that, although her fortune had been entirely wrecked by a pack of hell-hounds,
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 297
fostered and favored by the natives of the soil of San Luis Obispo, yet that the American population would do her justice. Her account tallies with all the rest. We hear that stories against her have been circulated above, but here no one has a breath of suspicion against her. It is too ridiculous. It is too infamous to assail a poor woman who has had her husband murdered before her eyes, and the bulk of their property divided among a lot of bandits, with suspicions as to her complicity in a crime which would not advantage her one jot or tittle.
The people of San Luis, who did not know this lady until she came down on the steamer, since the occurrence above detailed, appeal confidently to her friends in Oakland, who have known her for five years, to rebut all attacks on her character. We can only say that those facts show her to be the victim of Spanish atrocity and cupidity, backed by Californian affinity and crime. One word in regard to the Californians. Of those who interest themselves to pursue the criminals of this county, two or three are of the native race. The rest are all Americans or foreigners. Romualdo Pacheco, our Senator, and Jose Maria Munoz, our County Judge, have been appealed to for their assistance, and to use their influence to get the Californians to stir, who are the best riders and have the best horses, who are in fact those who can take the criminals. They have replied formally: —
"Gentlemen, ourselves, our arms, and our animals are at your disposal. The Californians will not be influenced by us, however, to go in search of these men. Some of them are their countrymen, and claim kindred with them."
That is enough; they will not stir. Now this is the fact, the Californians in this country claim the right to rob and murder hueros and gringos with impunity. They do not oppose us openly, but they breathe "curses not loud but deep" against us. They would tomorrow clear the whole gang in a court of law.
ANOTHER ARREST. San Luis Obispo, June 14, 1858. Events come thick and fast in San Luis at this time. In my last I recounted the progress of matters after the execution of Luciano, the Mesteno — the man who took Madame Baratie to San Juan, after the murder of her husband. On Sunday, the 6th June, another of the malefactors, one Jose Antonio Garcia, was brought into town by a party who had been sent after him into Santa Barbara County. This man, like the Mesteno, confessed his fault and disclosed the names of his accomplices. The crime of which he was accused was that of complicity in the murder, on the 1st of December last, on the Nacimiento, of the two Basque Frenchmen, Pedro Obiesa, and Graciano. His confession, translated, reads as follows: —
HIS CONFESSION.
On the 28th day of November last, in Albarelli's billiard room, in San Luis Obispo, Jack Powers invited him to rob the two Frenchmen. After some persuasion he consented to assist in the job, and that morning went to the Santa Margarita, to the Paco horse-race, there to await Jack's arrival. On the 20th saw Jack arrive at Santa Margarita, at Joaquin Estrada's house, and talked with him. On the 30th he. Jack Powers, and a man named Eduviquez went out and slept at the corner of Estrada's fence together. In the night Powers complained of the tardiness of his two other companions, Pio Linares and the Huero, Rafael Herrado. -However, about break of day, the two last named arrived, and all four then galloped over the main road towards San Miguel. Thence taking the Peach-tree Road, they went six miles to a spring, near which the body of Graciano was since found. Here they all stopped to water their horses. Powers, Eduviquez, and Garcia riding on ahead a couple of miles — the other two lagging behind — the first mentioned arrived on a side-hill where there was plenty of grass, and Powers proposed to stay and feed their horses.
While they were doing so, they saw one of the Frenchmen coming along in the distance, and Rafael and Pio making for him. Heard shots fired, and Powers said: "What are they doing? That's very bad." They waited a little longer, and heard more shots, whereupon they saddled up and went in that direction, where they found the two bodies stretched out on the road, about fifty yards part. Garcia then expressed his horror at the deed that had been committed, which was so great as to make him feel sick, and, after taking a drink of water, to leave the place and return. At San Miguel, Eduviquez overtook him and handed him $200, which Jack Powers had sent him of the proceeds. This he took and disposed of.
HIS EXECUTION LETTER TO HIS MOTHER.
This Jose Antonio Garcia, with Eduviquez, were intimate companions here of Jack Powers, and for a short time lived in the same house. The Huero, Rafael, who was also in the San Juan Capistrano murder, was so much a friend of Jack's as to be termed by the Spaniards here "Hermano de Jacky Powers." Powers brought him up from Los Angeles because he found him to be a ready and daring tool to carry out Jack's enterprise. Jose Antonio Garcia paid the penalty of his crimes, at 3 o'clock on Tuesday afternoon, 8th June, surrounded by the united population of San Luis Obispo. The padre administered to him the last rights of the Catholic Church. He was the only one of the culprits lately executed who died to all appearances truly penitent, and exhorting all his friends to take warning by his fate, and to avoid evil companions. The following is a letter sent by Jose Antonio to his mother, in Santa Barbara, just before his execution. It was written in Spanish, but the following is the translation: —
"San Luis Obispo, June 6, 1858.
"Beloved Mother: Providence has ordained that this shall be my last day, on account of my crimes. I conform to it, and at the same time remain entirely repentant (and trusting) in the goodness of our sovereign God, that he will pardon me. The last request that I ask of you, my mother, is that you pardon me my faults, and at the same time, that you, in my name, ask pardon of the whole people, and that they pray for my soul. Give the last adieu to my father and to all my family, and tell them that I died as a good Catholic, entirely repent- ant, and with the firm hope that God will pardon me. The priest will be at my side up to the last moment. Pardon and pray for my soul. Your son,
"Jose Antonio Garcia, "In presence of the Reverend Father Juan Comapla, Parish Priest."
PARTIES IN PURSUIT OF THE REMAINING MURDERERS.
On that night a party of ten men, armed and equipped, set out for the tules, with two horses each, furnished by well affected rancheros, and determined not to return without finding some trail of the remaining villains. On Wednesday evening, 9th June, another party, after paying a visit to the ranchito of Pio Linares, and bringing in all his horses, as a preventive measure, started out towards Santa Ynez and La Purissima, where the robbers were said to be. They were on a false scent, for the rascals were upon a hill overlooking San Luis at the time, and spied the party going out, taking it to be two parties, as when it started to visit Pio's ranch it was seen, but
298 HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
not on the return; while it was again seen on the final start. The thieves thus supposed that it was two parties. This frightened them. They began to think the San Luis people were in earnest; and at night moved down into an immense wood of willows, situated on the Osos Rancho, Captain Wilson's, about ten miles from San Luis. Here we got wind of them.
THE HUERO AND PIO LINARES IN DISTRESS — CORRALING SOME OF THE GANG IN A WOOD.
On Thursday morning, l0th June, Captain Wilson sent word that one of the murderers had been seen. The Captain's shepherd had been accosted near the wood by the Huero Rafael, and after inquiring for his uncle who had formerly lived on the rancho, he offered the shepherd $22.00 to go and purchase for him some food. He said Pio Linares was with him, and that they had nothing to eat for several days. The shepherd at first refused to take the money, but upon being threatened, agreed to accept the commission. He came immediately to his employer. Captain Wilson, gave up the money, and gave information. As soon as the news reached San Luis, a force of about thirty men was raised, who in about two hours' time arrived on the ground. Search was made on horseback through the wood, but no one was found. At length, at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, a party of about fifteen dismounted, and commenced searching where the wood was too dense for the entrance of horses. Tracks were found; then three horses tied under some willow bushes, then two saddles, and a small bag of provisions. Night was coming on, and it was deemed proper to guard the Wood until morning, then to prosecute the search further. A cordon of sentries was formed — wide apart, however, on account of the extent of the wood in comparison to the small number of men. At about 10 o'clock in the evening a shot was heard, and one of the sentries received a ball, fired from the brush, through the instep. The guards were then withdrawn, trust being placed in our trackers, and it being deemed advisable to let the robbers get out of the wood and take to the open country.
PIO LINARES RECOGNIZED. 11th In the morning it was found that they were still in the wood, and a party of about twenty men started in to hunt them. Taking up the trail where it was left the day previous, they came upon the saddle-bags of the principal villain, to wit, Pio Linares. These were recognized by his coat, which was found in them, and his wife's portrait. Going on a few steps further, the party was fired upon from the thicket of the brush, and then for the first time a glimpse was caught of them. One of the party was shot through the arm, and another had his coat ripped up from the collar to the waist by a rifle ball. Several shots were fired in return, one of which, as was afterwards learned, shot the above-mentioned Pio Linares through the leg.
ENGAGEMENT WITH THE MURDERERS.
Prudence again prevailed over valor, and the pursuing party again took position outside of the wood. Attempts were made to fire the brush, but with little success. Couriers were then sent all over the county, and by night from 100 to 150 men were on the ground. A close line of sentries was placed on the points most likely to be used for an escape. All that night the hungry and thirsty malefactors could be heard breaking their way through the wood. As we afterwards learned they had almost reached the edge of the brush on the side opposite to that on which they had entered, and were ready to break through when morning interrupted them.
12th A party of twenty-four men was then formed under Captain Mallagh, all volunteers, and mostly Americans, who entered the wood, and crept along on their bellies, for several shots from the robbers again pointed out their vicinity. Position was then taken as near as possible to them. In about a quarter of an hour, the head villain, Pio Linares, was shot through the head, and the other two, to wit, Miguel Blanco and Desiderio Grijalva, captured. The pursuers lost one man killed, John Matlock, a well-borer, late of San Jose, and two wounded, William Coates and a Mr. Cross, late of Santa Cruz.
It was learned from the two prisoners that they had eaten no food for four days; and that Linares had kept them from giving themselves up, which the rest had been willing to do for some days past. The prisoners stated that they had suffered so much from hunger, thirst, and fatigue, that they had come to the conclusion that death was preferable to such a state of misery. Linares, however, wanted to sell life for life. He it was who did most of the shooting.
THE DEAD BURIED EXECUTION OF BLANCO AND GRIJALVA.
The dead men of both sides and the prisoners were brought into town. The wounded men were left at Captain Wilson's house, who voluntarily cared for them. Next day, Sunday, 13th June, Matlock was interred in the Catholic burying-ground, it being proved that he had received Catholic baptism. All the population of San Luis Obispo were present at the funeral ceremony, Padre Juan Comapla officiating. Next day, Monday, 14th June, Miguel Blanco and Desiderio Grijalva, after receiving the consolation of religion at the hands of the priests, were led out to execution, and were hung at the hour of 1 o'clock p. m., in presence of the entire people of San Luis. Both the prisoners made a full confession of their guilt, both before the Notary Public and at the scaffold; and each of them exhorted their countrymen and friends to keep from bad company, and to preserve themselves from following the paths of sin. Both acknowledged the justice of their sentence, and expressed themselves as content, in their own words, "to pay their debts." They did pay it.
HOW THE MURDERERS' ACCOUNT STANDS
Of the eight persons who were accomplices in the San Juan Capistrano massacre, five have now expiated their crime by cord or pistol, to wit: Santos Peralta, Luciano Tapia, Pio Linares, Miguel Blanco, and Desiderio Grijalva. Three yet encumber the earth, to wit: Rafael Herrado, Jesus Valenzuela, and Froilan Servin. Of these six accomplices of the Nacimiento murder, two have paid the forfeit - Pio Linares and Jose Antonio Garcia. There remain Jack Powers, Nieves Robles, Eduviquez, and the Huero Rafael Herrada. We are on their track, and some of them, at least, will yet pay for their crimes with their lives.
WHAT BECAME OF THE HUERO - THE NATIVE CALIFORNIANS RISING SAN LUIS OBISPO, June 22, 1858. It appears, from the testimony of the two men captured and hung, that the Huero Rafael, after giving the money to the shepherd to buy provisions, had not rejoined his accomplices. He probably stayed on the lookout until he saw the party after him, and then had not time to rejoin his companions, but sought refuge in another part of the wood, after shooting the guard. The same shepherd says that he saw and fired at him after Linares was killed and the party and prisoners had retired. The taking of these three men, I am happy to say, at length stirred up the Californians, and a party of them started on the Huero's trail. On Monday, the 14th June, after the hanging of Grijalva and Blanco, a commission as Deputy Sheriff was given to the Hon. Romualdo Pacheco, our Senator, who, with a party of eighteen Californians and New Mexicans, started in search.
PURSUIT BY PACHECO'S PARTY AFTER THE HUERO On Tuesday afternoon, we again got wind of the Huero. A Mexican peon, who had gone out on business to Linares ranchito, where these villains were first scared up, came in and gave intelligence that he had there tied his horse in order to get a drink of water, and that the Huero had suddenly appeared from behind a tree, and taken possession of the horse, afterwards riding off. The Mexican is a man of very suspicious character, but, in evidence of the truth of his statement, he produced a double-barrelled shot-gun, which was left behind by the Huero, and a twenty-dollar gold piece, which he had received for the horse. The horse was a fine one, worth $150, and belonged to Fernando Linares, brother of Pio. Of course complicity in the flight is suspected, either on the part of the peon, or Fernando, or both; but all hands are still at liberty and unmolested, as a standing reproach to all who maintain that the San Luis Obispo people take notice of light offenses, or pursue crime with too much rigor. Information of the flight was soon sent to Pacheco and his party, who immediately started for Santa Barbara, on the Huero's trail. The last news heard from him is that on Friday last, 18th of June, at 11 A.M., he started from Los Angeles, still on the Huero's trail, and twenty-four hours behind him. Pacheco had with him the Sheriff of Santa Barbara, and five other men. We have strong expectations here that Pacheco will catch him.
FRANCISCO ZUNIGO DISCHARGED On the 19th Mr. Blackburn came down on the steamer from San Francisco, bringing with him Francisco Zunigo, charged with participation in the San Juan Capistrano murder. Madam Baratie is unable to recognize him, and there is no evidence, except that of one of the servants, who at present is in San Francisco. The murderers who have been caught so far speak of no such man. They only implicated in that deed seven men, to wit: Mesteno Luciano, Desiderio Grijalva, Huero Rafael, Miguel Blanco, Santos Peralta, Jesus Valenzuela, and Froilan Servin, besides Pio Linares who backed out in the sight of the scene of murder, and returned without assisting. Zunigo has been discharged for the present, but kept in surveillance in care of two of his countrymen until further news. I am confident that the man is innocent.
VALUE OF THE NATIVE CALIFORNIANS IN THE MATTER In view of the remarks made before in this article, touching on the supineness and neglect of the Californians to act against the murderers, without retracting what was then said, I am happy to state that a portion of them, with the Hon. Romualdo Pacheco at their head, have in good earnest set about doing their part of the work, being the best horsemen, they are the men who can do more in a chase than any of us. Furthermore, if they interest themselves, it will cut off a great deal of the comfort and assistance given to these fellows at the native ranchos. We are all rejoiced that the better portion of the Californians have taken the opportunity, however tardy, to set themselves right before the community. It gives us hopes for better times hereafter.
GROWING STRENGTH OF THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE Every day brings more aid to the committee. Every rogue that is taken and hung brings an accession of from twenty to thirty more names to the Vigilance Roll. These men know the villains and their crimes, and it is nothing more than fear of assassination that has kept them off. Besides, many half-honest Spaniards have heretofore lain quiet and tolerated, and even cloaked the crimes which have been committed, because they saw no hope for a redressal of them, and had not the energy to stand alone and aloof from them. Now that the united Americans and foreigners of the place have stretched out a strong hand to their succor, they embrace the opportunity to avail themselves of their protection, and to come out from the paths of sin.
WHOLESOME RESULT OF THE MOVEMENT The excitement heretofore reigning in the public mind is now partially allayed. The horses which the committee had stabled up in town ready to pursue the assassins, have been returned to their owners. All the parties have been called in, except one which we have lost track of in the Tulares, and three or four men under Pacheco, who are in pursuit of the Huero. Men walk about unarmed, transact their business, and feel at their ease. I have heard many a man say: "A load has been lifted from my mind!" It is true that business does not flourish so much. There is less money spent now in the billiard-rooms and drinking houses, and on gambling tables. And it was time that this should be. The fame of San Luis Obispo has long ago gone forth as being a place sustained and fostered by the fruits of assassination and robbery. All this must now change; and it will be a glorious change, although half the business done in San Luis should perish in consequence.
PROSPERITY PROSTRATED BY CRIME The damage done to this county by the incarnate fiends who have infested it heretofore is incalculable. The county was, at the time of the perpetration of these atrocities, in a critical period of its existence. It was then attracting attention all over the State as being a section of country presenting peculiar advantages to the settler. It is essentially a stock country. When there is no grass in any other county, here it is found in abundance. It is sufficiently well watered for stock. It is not an agricultural county, and therefore there is more room for the stock-owner than elsewhere. There is a large quantity of public land within its boundaries. Mr. Henry, Deputy United States Surveyor, had lately arrived, and was busily engaged surveying the public land, and dividing it from that belonging to the Spanish grants. Many beautiful little spots were being, by his survey, demonstrated to be public land, which before had been claimed by the old grantees. The fame of all this was getting abroad, and not a month passed without bringing one, two, or three persons, good American citizens, looking for a place to locate. Old ranches were changing owners. Senor Pujol, a very worthy gentleman, a native, I believe, of old Spain, had purchased the San Simeon Rancho. A respectable Californian named Castro, from Santa Cruz County, had purchased part of the rancho of San Geronimo. The Messrs. Blackburn, of Santa Cruz, had purchased the Paso Robles Rancho, and quite a colony of Americans had settled in around them, and between them and Captain Mallagh's rancho, the Huer-Huero. Finally Borel and Baratie, two worthy Frenchmen from Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, were about to follow their example. Now how changed! Ten days after their arrival, a band of cut-throats, living right among us, and breaking bread at our tables, lighted upon them and wiped them out of existence, and the poor woman, a respectable and educated lady of mixed Spanish and English blood, was compelled to flee with a bandit to a
300 HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
more hospitable country, without knowing there existed a county seat within forty miles of her, with an American county organization, and a corps of officers whose duty it is to prevent and punish crime. What wonder that immigration to this county is temporarily stopped? What wonder that intended settlers pause before they trust themselves in such a nest of brigands? What wonder that the county has bean set back years in the path of progress?
THERE IS A GOOD TIME COMING But there is a good time coming. The people of San Luis have arisen and cast off this leprosy. They have determined to be vigilant in the repression of crime. They have stricken at its vary root. They have hanged and shot the known leaders in the work of bloodshed. Soon we shall have no more need for this spasmodic action. The committee will disband, but every member of it will hereafter continue vigilant in the support and execution of the laws. The laws are good. No one but skeptics in American progress doubt this. They only want administering by trustworthy man, and sustaining by a healthy population. That healthy population we have not; but we have the nucleus of it, and confidently hope that, now the late tumult has about subsided, a new stream of immigration will set in. With but fifty more good American settlers, we shall have enough to see that American laws are observed and respected and enforced. Than San Luis Obispo may be looked upon, as she really is, one of the most desirable counties of the State. Her soil and climate are almost unrivaled. What she lacks in is population.
WALTER MURRAY
The undersigned citizens of San Luis Obispo have read the foregoing statements, and find them to be substantially true:
S. A. POLLARD, JOHN M. PRICE, H. G. ABBEY, DAVID P. MALLAGH, W. J. GRAVES, FREDERICK HILLIARD, THOMAS GRAVES, THOS. R. THORP, M.D, CHARLES W. DANA, C. H. JOHNSON, F. CASTRO, I. H. HILL, WILLIAM L. BEEBEE, TOMAS DE HERRERA, A. ALBARELLI, H. M. OSGOOD, JOHN PATTON, PATRICK MCMIST, P. A. FORRESTER, NICOLO RAVELLO, ANTONIO CAQURIO, D. D. BLACKBURN.
N. B. It is worthy of note that the assassins of San Juan Capistrano were taken exactly one month after the committal of their crime - May 12th, the murder; June 12th, the arrest.
Anti-Vigilance Newspapers — Review of the Evidence — A Veteran Bandit — The Case of Pio Linares — Defense of the Committee — Desperate Acts of Linares — The Necessity of a Vigilance Committee — The Criminal Element — The Vigilance Pledge — Roll of Members — Vigilance Subscriptions — The Evidence — Murder of the Basque Frenchmen 300 — 304
In the period when the events related in the preceding chapter transpired, there was a paper published in Spanish in Los Angeles, called El Clamor Publico, the organ of the native Californians and Mexicans, which animadverted severely upon the acts of the Vigilance Committee of San Luis Obispo, charging it with hasty action and executing men without evidence. The Spanish paper was supported in its attacks by the San Francisco Herald, which was at all times exceedingly bitter against any acts or organization styled Vigilance Committee. El Clatnor Fublico was read by the native population of San Luis Obispo, stimulating the people to hatred of Americans, and threatening dangerous consequences. This necessitated a reply from Hon. Walter Murray, who prepared and published a review of the evidence upon which the criminals were convicted and executed. From this review we glean the following:—
REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE.
The editor of El Clamor Publico says that Peralta, or, as he calls him, Robles, was suspected, etc. Peralta was recognized on the instant by one of the Californians whose lives had been spared by the miscreants, as being one of them. This was on the 13th day of May, the day after the murder. He was asked to give an account of himself. He declared that for four nights previous he had slept in the house of a relative named Dolores Cordova. Cordova was sent for and interrogated. He declared that he had not seen the culprit for four days. All this, although done before a Justice of the Peace, was extra-judicial, for our laws do not permit such interrogating. Finally, a pair of handkerchiefs and other articles were taken from him and recognized as part of the property stolen. This much-wronged innocent died mute — not denying his guilt — but refused to disclose his accomplices. He felt himself supported by the law. His accomplices — when, at the cost of fatigue and money, and American blood, freely poured out by brave men, they were dragged from their retreat in the dark recesses of an almost inaccessible wood — when they stood face to face with men who knew the main facts, and who, strong in the rectitude of untroubled consciences, dared to deal out quick justice in the name of self-preservation — when all the paraphernalia of paid lawyers and perjured jurymen was thrown on one side — when Vigilance had hunted them down like wild beasts to their lair, and had demonstrated to them that neither subterfuge, nor fleet horses, nor the law's delay, nor cocked pistols, nor sympathizing countrymen, could longer avail them — then these accomplices voluntarily declared the truth, and disclosed that this very Santos Peralta was the man who shot down poor, wounded Baratie, in cold blood, before his wife's eyes, having purposely led her down to witness the atrocity. Then one of them, Miguel Blanco, confessed freely, what we knew before, that he (Miguel) was the man who killed Borel, and who gave Baratie his first shot. Then Grijalva disclosed how that he himself had shot poor Gilkey from behind, and stretched him lifeless upon the ground he had been tilling, and that Jesus Valenzuela had aftewards dragged him fifty yards at the end of his riata.
Could law have extracted all this from these men? No. But Vigilance did, and that without torture of any description. No impending power was used but the exhibition of an unswerving determination and resistless power. The above facts show the nature of the suspicions against Santos Peralta.
A VETERAN BANDIT.
Now we come to the innocent Joaquin Valenzuela. This man has never been charged with either the Nacimiento or the San Juan Capistrano murders. But he was an acquaintance and comrade of the murderers — brother to one, chum to another, and was proven before the committee to be as full of crime as an egg is full of meat. In 1853 he was a partner of Joaquin Murietta — the veritable Joaquin. It is notorious that he was one of the five Joaquins upon whose heads Governor Bigler
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE, CONTINUED. 301
set a price, and to catch whom Capt. Harry Love's Company of mounted rangers was organized.
Just before that time he kidnapped an American child, Anne, daughter of an American named Smith, and brought her down to the San Joaquin River, where he and his Mexican female partner brought her up to learn Spanish and hate the Gringos. The Americans living there took the child away, and advertised for her relatives. The father made his appearance and claimed his child. He accompanied this Joaquin across the ferry on the San Joaquin, at the mouth of the River Merced. Joaquin returned; Smith never. The inference is that Smith was killed by the black villain. A skeleton supposed to be his was afterwards found a league or two from the ferry. I refer for these facts to D. P. Brown, of Stockton; to the mother of the child who lives there now, and to those who lived at and near the mouth of the River Merced, in the years 1853-54.
When the Harry Love's Ranger Law was passed, this Joaquin Valenzuela, alias Ocomorenia, came down to the Tulares and to Santa Barbara County. Here he made acquaintance with Jack Powers. In his company Powers inured himself to fatigue on horseback "in the pursuit of stolen or strayed cattle," as the great Jack's eulogist has it, but which rightly interpreted means, "in stealing his neighbor's cattle." There is evidence before the committee here, which will one day be printed, showing that Powers and Joaquin Valenzuela stole cattle together from Guadalupe, Santa Maria, and Nipomo, and drove them to the mines by way of the Tulares. He has been engaged in this nefarious pursuit off and on ever since he came to this section of the country. He was captain of a band of robbers near Purissima, in Santa Barbara County, nearly two years ago, and committed several robberies there. He is a miscreant of the deepest dye, a hardened sinner, the very type of a criminal. When he was being brought in, he told Captain Mallagh that he thought he ought not to be molested, as he had condescended to be honest for a year past. Creo que Vindes no deben de molestarme ahora, siendo que be condescendido por una ano.
This man was invited by Jack Powers at Santa Margarita, on the night of the horse-race there, on November 30th last, to take part in the murder at the Nacimiento. He replied, "I have formerly been in such things, as you know, but I have given it up." He declined going. When arrested, and asked if he knew Powers, he said yes, he was his patron. He seemed to think that the magic name of Powers would be a tower of strength to him. When brought afterwards before the committee, and when he found out that Powers was compromised, he denied any acquaintance with him. Afterwards acknowledged that Powers had invited him to accompany him above on a "business speculation."
This is the " innocent" man who has been torn from the bosom of his family by a mob and " done to death." Mr. David W. Alexander, of Los Angeles, says that this man " has never been absent a moment from his home." This gentleman forgot, perhaps, to tell the editor of the Clamor Publico, that in November last he loaned this man $100 to bring his wife, from Los Angeles; that he (Alexander) was informed at the time of the arrest, that at that very time when he was supposed to be in Los Angeles, he was here in San Luis in company with Jack Powers and other worthies, at the races in and near this place; that he stayed here several weeks, and that during that time instead of living with his wife, whoever the lady may be, he kept with an abandoned Mexican prostitute, for whose sake two men have been stabbed, and two shot within the last six months. For aught Mr. Alexander knows, this man was at the Nacimiento murder on December last. However, he is not charged with it. Now, as this gentleman has forgotten the above particulars, he has forgotten, doubtless, that this Joaquin s a notorious thief How is it then that Alexander Godoy, of Cuyama, Mr. Alexander's next neighbor, and one of Mr. Fremont's veterans, is thoroughly acquainted with the man's character? How is it that this man's character is notorious to every one except Mr. Alexander? Is not this gentleman, like hundreds of other rancheros in the southern country (not Americans, however) content to hire a vaquero without asking questions as to his character, or even if he knew him to be bad, content if he thinks the man will not rob or murder him? I think this is the gist of the matter.
THE CASE OF PIO LINARES.
Now let us return to the tissue of falsity in regard to the first attempt to take Pio Linares. In the first place, the "committee " did not do this. The committee was not then in existence. Secondly, the Sheriff's posse was composed of fifteen men, not forty men. Thirdly, Linares showed fight from the first to the last. The Sheriff had a warrant for the Huero Rafael, a man who had lived in Linares' house. He asked Linares to come out with a light. The intention was doubtless to arrest him, not to kill him, for no man has yet been killed here without a full trial, even by this bug-bear "committee;" no, not even when our men lay blood-stained around us on the cold sod. Then, in the height of the excitement, two of the head villains were spared, brought into town, and confronted by the priest. Well, Linares' reply made to his wife, his brother, and another man — all of whom were allowed freely to pass and repass by the Sheriff and his posse — made to their urgent solicitations that he should surrender, was simply this : No! yo no salgo me!" No; I'll not go out ! They'll ____ me !
The editor of the Clamor can supply the blank. It is fit only for assassins and their defenders.
This man, Linares, knew his weight of guilt. He was confident that he deserved instant death. He feared it. When he came out he came armed and running like a hound. He was fired upon as a criminal fleeing from justice, and two lives would have been saved since, had he fallen then. The roof only was burned. That was fired after timely warning, in order to get him out and to avoid such a catastrophe as happened in Monterey in 1856, when poor De la Torre and others were killed in the fruitless attempt to take Anastasio Garcia. His wife and children made no miraculous escape. His wife was repeatedly begged to come out, but stayed in only to cover his flight, and then came out at her leisure. The very posse assisted her to save her clothes and furniture. Furthermore, his wife, who has been his accomplice from the first, and has always shared in his plunder, and is a woman of notorious bad character, would, in any other county in the State, now be adorning the inside of a jail, instead of running at large as she now does here. As for the children, they are a mere myth. They do not exist. Neither Linares nor his wife ever had any. Truly one can quote here the very expressive words of the Clamor, "They lie."
DEFENSE OF THE COMMITTEE.
Now as to the whisky. These men who accompanied the Sheriff had been out for more than a week on the Tulares. They had returned home on an unfrequented road on purpose to avoid observation. They had not even seen liquor for three days. Every man of them is a better citizen than the Clamor editor ever can be until he plucks out that Mexican heart of his and substitutes an American one in its place. One of the men, a New Mexican, named Julian Garcia, a brave fellow, followed Linares in the darkness and fired his pistol at him as he
302 HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
ran. Returning, he was seen by some of the party who had been behind the house and had not seen him before. They took him for Linares. It was a mistake. He was tenderly cared for, got medical attendance, and over $100 for his loss of time. No one is more ready than he to pursue cut-throats and to shoot them down. Such men as he put to shame all such men as the Clamor editor. The Clamor thinks that San Luis authorities are sufficiently strong to protect the laws if they desire to do so. Now, we do not want his opinion, nor mine, nor yours, sir, on this subject. We will just state the facts: This Linares, after committing the Nacimiento murders, almost openly bragged about them. In a month's time the whole of the details were openly talked about by his own countrymen, and all acknowledged him to be one of the parties.
DESPERATE ACTS OF LINARES.
Before this, he ran one of our Justices of the Peace all over the town, on account of some trifling misunderstanding. Shortly afterwards, he drew his knife and attempted to stab a very peaceable Mexican for interfering to stop a quarrel. On the night that Nieves Robles, his spy, was arrested, he stabbed two Sonorians in a dance-house, one of whom narrowly escaped with his life. After this, this man and his loose wife were invited to a ball given by the J. P., above mentioned, at the opening of a new hotel. They attended, and some of the first folks, and most, if not all the Americans of this place attended, too. At this ball, this Linares laid in wait for D. D. Blackburn, late of Santa Cruz. That night, he and a party of young Californians, armed, came down to Mr. Murray's house with the intention of firing through the windows at the unsuspecting Americans assembled there. After the matter was adjusted, Linares said to his fellows, "Well, if you come here to fight, why don't you go in? We are stronger than they!"
Miguel Blanco, before dying, was questioned as to whether Linares ever mentioned this last affair to him. Blanco is Linares' nephew. Blanco detailed a conversation which took place between them during their hiding. Linares said that under certain circumstances he could get a portion of the Californians to sustain him. Blanco said, "How can you expect our countrymen to sustain us, who are so criminal?" "They can be brought to do it," said Linares, "they backed me then," referring to the night of the ball. "To this end I have always taken up for them in any petty quarrel. Don't you know that I have always been at the head of all the revolutions in San Luis Obispo?"
This man, Pio Linares, has never been prosecuted for any of the crimes above detailed. He has sat on juries since all of them. The above dying declaration of his accomplice, Blanco, gives the key to it. He was a reckless man, ready for murder in open daylight — murder from behind a bush — in fact, murder in any shape. Every one knew it.
THE NECESSITY OF A VIGILANCE COMMITTEE.
The acquittal of Nieves Robles was before every one's eyes. The Californians were disposed to resist or resent any violent means, and to defeat any legal ones. The mover in any abortive attempt against this criminal was liable to be assassinated at any moment. Good men waited for a bond of unity. The natural bond of self-preservation at length presented itself, and they caught at it, and have, with God's help, succeeded now in right ing matters; in creating a healthy spirit in the community, and in preparing the way for another trial of the law. Here, as in San Francisco, I am confident that the law will hereafter work all the better for the quickening spirit infused into it by vigilance.
THE CRIMINAL ELEMENT.
The law-abiding citizens of San Luis Obispo occupied a very delicate position in the period preceding 1858. From Monterey to Los Angeles was the lonely coast road, with occasional ranchos and the villages of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara widely separated, with many mountains in which were dark canons, pretty valleys, and park-like potreros offering concealment and seclusion, and to this region gathered the worst bandits of California. If not numerous, they were by their boldness and desperation enabled to overawe the majority and maintain a reign of terror. A few Americans like Jack Powers and the infamous ex-Judge McGowan, commonly known as Ned McGowan, of San Francisco, who had fled from the Vigilance Committee of that city, had exerted a baneful influence over the native population, and had been harbored and protected by some of the most respectable people, through fear and in the hope that such a course would protect them from depredation. They thus, in a measure, dominated in politics, ruled the courts, and rendered trials abortive. This made it necessary to organize an extra-judicial power, and the Vigilance Committee of 1858 was the result. It was a bold and honorable movement, and the names of those who participated in it are worthy of the perpetuity of history. Following is the Vigilance Pledge, with the signatures attached, the Vigilance " Roll" and the amounts contributed for the public safety : —
THE VIGILANCE PLEDGE. The undersigned hereby pledge ourselves, each to the other, that in the case of the murder of the two Frenchmen, Bartolo Baratie and M. Jose Borel, we will stand together and will by all means whatsoever, discover the truth and punish the guilty. The first step shall be the application of personal restraint and intimidation to the prisoner now in jail, even if necessary to the danger of life. Walter Murray, A. Albarelli, Francisco Lertora, Luis de la Cella, Francisco Brizzolara, Domingo Garcia, Charles Pellerier, Nicolo Ravello. B. Block, T. P. Commayi, P. A. Forrester, J. J. Simmler, Jacob J. Scheiffarley, Rudolph Blum, B. F. Hamilton.
ROLL OF MEMBERS. The undersigned, citizens of San Luis Obispo, sign our names as members of a body to be called the San Luis Obispo Vigilance Committee, the object of which is and shall be the repression and punishment of crimes by all means whatsoever.
Walter Murray, Manuel Otero, Fredk. Hilliard, Thomas Herrara, S. A. Pollard, N. Amas, Thos. Graves, J. J. Simmler, Labat Pere, Thos. R. Thorp, P. A. Forrester, Leonardo Lopez, G. Leemo, Ramon Baldez, Jules Baume, J. A. de la Guerra, Chas. Johnson, Pedro Ruperez, Wm. Coates, Trinidad Becerro, Bernardo Lazcano, John Matlock, Jose Cantua, Cayetano Amador, Carl Dietz, Fabian Dastas, Ferdinand Quievreux, B. P. Brown,
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE, CONTINUED. 303
Miguel Serrano, A. Farnsworth, Joseph Stutz, Domingo Garcia, Dolores Herrara, Henry Pandee, Wm. L. Beebee, Daniel McLeod, B. J. Jones, Guadalupe Gonzales, David P. Mallagh, Basilio Castro, John Patton, A. Albarelli, J. T. Zamorano, Ysidro Balderama, Ysidro Silbas, Jerome A. Limas, John Bains, Albert Mann, Calistro Morales, L. H. Morrison, Capt. John Wilson, F. Laburthe, Enrique Galindo, Feliz Buelna, Jose M. Topete, Manuel Serrano, Selustriano Rojas, Bias Castro, Bentura Lopez, Fernando Martinez, Jose Canet, Francisco Salgado, Ardadio Borgnes, Jesus Olgin, Miguel Herrara, Francisco Huares, Apolonio Cordova, Jose Maria Ordunio, Modesto Carranza, Byron Olney, Lugardo Aguila, Wm. C. Dana, Antonio Paredes, James A. Wright, S. O. Sweet, Francisco Brizzolara, D. D. Blackburn, Pedro Ortega, J. A. Chaves, Antonio Capurro, B. Clement, B. F. Davenport, Alexander Murray, Dr. Ed. Albert, A. Elgutter, Estevan Quintana, Ynocento Garcia, Didelot, W. W. Gilfoyle, James White, F. Wickenden, Charles Pellerier, Benj. Williams, Luis de la Cella, R. Holford, T. W. Slaughter, Nicolo Revello, Chas. W. Dana, Rudolph Selm, Alexander MuUins, Isaac H. Bunce, G. F. Bauer, Reyes Enriquez, Antonio Stanusich, Peter Forrester, Robert Johnson, Chas. Varian, W. J. Graves, John Daley, Oscar Granie, Juan Stanusich, Ygnacio Esquerre, Hypolite Dallidet, Victorino Chavey, C. Dockes, Manuel Vanegas, Wm. Church, Wm. T. Gilkey, V. Mancillas, A. Herrara, C. G. Abbey, Bonifacio Manchego, B. F. Hamilton, John M. Price, Ricardo Durazo, J. Roth, Biceinte La Rey, S. Mora, Julian Garcia, Jose Antonio Garcia, Mariano Lazcano, Sandy Martin, Francisco Garcia, T. Ph. Schring, Augustin Garcia, Jose Carlon, Peter Wm. Williams, P. Z. Taylor, A. P. Hartnell, Angel Barron, Valentin Mancillas, Wm. Snelling, Noracio Carroso, AVm. E. Borland, Gabriel Labot, W. C. Imos, Jas. McNicol, J. M. Martinez.
VIGILANCE SUBSCRIPTION.
Murray $50, Thos. Herrara $50, Alberalli & Co. $100, Pollard $50, Beebee $50, Lafayette $20, Johnson $30, Stone & Barnes $65, Thorpe, M. D. $25, F. Wickenden $30, Davenport $40, Elgutter $20, Alex. Murray $25, Pedro Labat $5, Solano Rodriguez, John Wilson $500, Cash $5, Capt. F. Hilliard $30, Joaq. Estrada $200, F. Z. Branch $300, Letora & Co. $50, Juan Price $50, D. P. Mallagh $22, Horse $37, ditto $26, Brizzolara $50, Stanish $30, Block & Co. $25, Danas $20, Lazcano $50, Domingo Garcia $10, Tabian Dastas $5, Dolores Herrara $10, Ramon Valdez $10, J. H. Hill $10, Simmler & Co. $20, C. F. Roman $20, Limass $50,
Total amount received, $1,525; Disbursements, $1,487; Balance in fund $38.
THE EVIDENCE.
The convictions and executions by the Vigilance Committee were after conclusive evidence had been taken, and supplemented by evidence taken at a later date. The records of the evidence and confessions have been preserved, and are such as show the most depraved and heartless characters, long series of crimes and contempt of law, and leave no doubt of guilt that could be expiated only by death and eternal punishment.
MURDER OF THE BASQUE FRENCHMAN.
Testimony in this case was taken by Jose Maria Munoz, County Judge; W. J. Graves, Notary Public, and J. J. Simmler and James White, Justices of the Peace.
Francois Abadie testified that he was in the employment of Pedro Obiesa and M. Graciano, two men natives of the Basque Provinces of southern France, and known as the Basque Frenchmen, and was driving catde for them in November, 1857. He related the circumstance of their receiving some cattle in a suspicious manner near Paso de Robles, and afterwards the disappearance of the two Basques. These men he had never seen again alive, but at the time of his deposition, in December, 1857, recognized the remains of Graciano, one of them, having a bullet hole in the head. After this Nieves Robles was arrested, and recognized by Abadie as one of the men who had sold the cattle.
Jesus Zamorano testified to robberies and murder in which Nieves Robles had participated in San Mateo County in 1852 and 1853.
Juan Herrada testified, confirming the previous witness, and told of Jack Powers, Pio, Linares, the Huero Rafael, Nieves Robles, Jose Antonio Garcia, and Eduviquez following the Basques.
Nieves Robles confessed his crimes, and stated the agreement with Powers and the others to murder the Basque Frenchmen, and detailed the manner of the murder as told him by Linares, who, with the Huero Rafael, had committed the deed. This confession was made and sworn to before W. J. Graves, Notary Public, June 28, 1858.
Jose Antonio Garcia confessed to participating in the spoils of the murder, but was horrified upon being shown the dead bodies, and fled to his home in Santa Barbara.
Robles had been tried for this murder and acquitted by a jury in the court of San Luis Obispo. One of the jury was one of the murderers, and another was a fugitive under the charge of murder. Mr. Murray, in his account of the Vigilance Committee, has related the main facts of the murders on the San Juan, in the eastern part of
304 HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
the county, extended particulars of which are given in the depositions and confessions taken at the trials, confirming all his statements, and justifying all the acts of the Vigilance Committee.
LOS ANGELES ORGANIZATION. 489
THE SAN GABRIEL AFFAIR.
Two men left the steamer Savannah at San Diego, on its way up the coast, for the purchase of cattle, having considerable sums of money with them. When camped near the San Gabriel River, they were murdered by Zavaleta and another native, the murderers making their way to Santa Barbara, where they commenced spending money very freely among the lowest houses. A copy of the Los Angeles Star, giving a description of the murderers, was brought into town, and they were recognized and arrested by a number of citizens acting with the Sheriff, Valentine Hearne. It is said that the Americans were more than willing to assist in arresting criminals, provided they were Mexicans, while the natives themselves were considerable less than willing to arrest their own countrymen accused of crime. After the arrest, without a warrant, and, perhaps, on what then seemed insufficient evidence, the chief families, among whom was Captain Noriega, protested against the summary treatment of the men. Serious ill-feeling resulted between the law-and-order party, as the natives and their American friends called themselves, and the boys on the other part. A mounted guard of twenty-five men was made up to accompany the men back to Los Angeles, among whom were the following persons, Henry Carnes being the Commander: John Bowers[John Powers], P. H. Dun[ne], John Dun[ne], John Scollan, Thomas Ganon, Valentine Hearne, Carter, John Robinson, John Vidal, Theodore McCarty, Thomas Martin, Theodore Smith, and Geo. D. Fisher. [ ]
[Charles Frernald was appointed Aug. 9th, to fill Herne's term. Twist was, elected Nov. 2, 1852. Mason, p.82. Mason overlooks his own work here.]
[If one replaces John Vidal with John Powers here as the party that acquired the property this account would at least be in conformity with the at least four news articles about the incident.] See: Los Angeles Star, Number 52, 7 May 1853, p.2,col.2, Bloody Affray in Santa Barbara — Deplorable State of Affairs., Daily Alta California, Volume 4, Number 126, 7 May 1853, p.2, col.1, FROM SAN DIEGO AND LOS ANGELES., Los Angeles Star, Number 3, 28 May 1853, p.2,col.2, From Santa Barbara., Daily Alta California, Volume 4, Number 126, 7 May 1853, p.2, col.1, FROM SAN DIEGO AND LOS ANGELES, Daily Alta California, Volume 4, Number 143, 24 May 1853, p.2,col.3 FROM SAN DIEGO. and Daily Alta California, Volume 4, Number 158, 8 June 1853, p.2 col.2; The Riot In Santa Barbara, Full Particulars of the Affray — Statement of the Sheriff
The American population were not always disposed to acquiesce in the large land holdings of the natives, and of the Americans who had intermarried among them. John Vidal, a member of Carnes' Company, of the Stevenson Regiment, was one of the dissatisfied. He bad rented for a time a tract of land on the Arroyo Burro, a small creek which runs into the ocean, west of Santa Barbara. When the lease expired he claimed the land under the preemption laws as Government land. Suit was brought in the proper courts, and the title adjudged to rest in Dr. Den, of whom Vidal had rented. The Sheriff (Twist) was ordered by the courts to oust Vidal and put Den in possession. Vidal was known to have many friends among the gamblers, who often numbered a score or more, among whom was the, even then, notorious Jack Powers, and the matter of dis-
83 NEW ALLEGIANCE.
the posse comilatus. and an hour set for the departure of the army the next morning. A surgeon (Dr. BriiikerhofT) was employed to accompany the force. The party was to assemble at the Egerea House, then used as a Court House, at 9 o'clock. A small cannon was on the plaza, to be taken and used if necessary in knocking down the fortifications. Before the party had assembled Vidal and some of his companions came riding up as if to commence the fight there. Old residents differ materially as to the incidents. Some say that Vidal had come to avert the war or aflfect a compromise; that he stayed in town all night to answer a summons if need be; while others say that his whole party had come out from the fort that morning with the intention of capturing the cannon and thus break up the proposed attack. As Vidal came riding up, two men, one called "Little Mickey," and the other a short, swarthy Spaniard almost covered with a serape, lassoed the cannon and commenced to drag it away. It is said that Mickey was drunk, and that this part of the affair was mere fun or bravado on his part. Whatever it might be, Twist fired upon them, and firing immediately became general. Vidal was shot, by whom is unknown, but he fell ft-om his horse near where Rhynerson's Mills are. The swarthy man in the serape drew a long knife from his belt and rushed at Twist, and apparently plunged the knife through him. The knife was turned by a rib and the wound did not prove dangerous. Twist, however, shot his assailant dead. A running fight ensued for a few minutes, without any more serious casualties. Vidal lived fourteen days, without being able to speak, attended by Dr. Brinkerhoff. He had a ring on his finger, which he was evidently anxious to leave to some one, but he was never able to say to whom and it was buried with him. Vidal was much the best of the party, and seems to have been almost forced into the affair by his companions. He was a Justice of the Peace at the time of his death, and had been Associate Justice with Joaquin Carrillo. In a well-settled community he would undoubtedly have been a valuable citizen. Twist soon recovered.
The affair caused a great deal of excitement, and there was serious talk of driving out the whole gang of "hounds," as they were sometimes called. The slightest affair would now have produced a bitter and relentless war between the Powers crowd and the de la Guerra party. Pablo de la Guerra went to the fort the next day with a flag of truce, and induced Powers and the others who were with him to submit to the legal authorities, and the affair ended, though, by the advice of the de la Guerras, the citizens of Santa Barbara generally remained in their houses the following evening. The next morning a ship-of-war was found anchored in the offing, having sailed from Monterey the day before to enforce order if necessary.
GAMBLING.
The discovery of gold and its easy acquisition, by almost every one, made a harvest for gamblers. It is said that every one gambled. This was not quite true; but a stranger looking through the town would think that it was the principal business of the inhabitants. This was not true of Santa Barbara more than other California towns. From Siskiyou to San Diego, the abundance of gold had the same effect, to demoralize man, and make him seek fortune by chance, rather than hard work. Mining itself, is, or was, a kind of gambling. No amount of experience would insure one against ill-luck, and sometimes the greenest boy would •• strike it rich." A few days' work in the mines sometimes resulted in acquiring thousands of dollars. Would not a successful run on a monte bank do the same? So those who were constitutionally disinclined to work, would risk dollars in the hope of making their thousands. Gold was seen everywhere in glittering piles, to tempt the weak. Men gambled then, who have since sat high in the councils of the nation. Merchants, who in the East would as soon have stolen money, as gamble for it, would first risk a quarter on a card for fun, then a dollar to see how their luck run, and in a little while were as keen gamblers as though they had run on a Mississippi steamer for years. Preachers, finding their profession at a discount, would lay aside their prayers and deal a monte game. The lawyer without briefs thought gambling a brief way to fortune. The ranchero, who spent a dull life among his herds liked the excitement, and so nearly all gambled more or less. Gold lay in thousands upon the table, and the reckless and thoughtless helped to swell the piles to a greater size. Strange theories were in circulation about the chances of winning. The theory of chances by a mathematician and an enthusiastic votary of the card-table would not harmonize. A favorite rule was, double your bet every time you lose and you are certain to get your money back and eventually break the bank. This is true; but the certainty of breaking, even a small bank
84 HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
"Late one night I was accosted by a man by the name of , who asked me for twenty dollars. I at first refused, but he begged so hard I let him have it. The next day he came to me and returned the money saying, that he had won six thousand dollars and entirely cleaned out the bank," (meaning the monte bank).
The gambler with his " store clothes," and high-toned style, was the envy of the men and the admiration of the women. Colton says of them they first seek a mistress and then a horse. All kinds of crime followed in the wake of gambling. Prostitution, drunkenness, robbery, and murder seemed but the legitimate fruits of the gambling saloon. It was said of the profession that no man could take another's money without a consideration any length of time, without preparing himself for the halter.
FROM GAMBLING TO HIGHWAY ROBBERY.
Soon after the discovery of gold it became apparent that a new era of crime as well as of money was inaugurated. The southern portion of the State was traversed by cattle buyers who carried as high as $50,000 at a time. Many of these traveling south from San Jose were never seen again, or if seen were recognized by shreds of clothing when the winter rains should expose their decaying skeletons.
SOLOMON PICO'S GANG.
This band flourished in the early fifties, and in its best days numbered forty or more, composed mostly, if not entirely, of Californians or Mexicans. The leader or principal was Solomon Pico, a cousin of Andres and Pio Pico; so that he had the prestige of aristocratic blood. The headquarters of the gang for a long time were the Los Alimos and Purissima Ranchos. Though driving and trading in stock was the ostensible object of the company, it soon became apparent that the robbery of men, who came to the southern part of the State to purchase cattle, was the most flourishing part of their business. Many parties of two or three in number with saddle bags well filled with gold coin, were never heard of after passing San Luis Obispo; and in subsequent years, numbers of human skeletons found in out-of-the-way places with the ominous bullet hole in the skull, told the story of violence in a former day, and accounted for the mysterious disappearance of so many cattle traders. Their victims were mostly Americans whom the native population felt were natural enemies, and thus the crimes which they committed were never divulged, or if brought to trial, resulted in an acquittal, for blood was thick, and to testify against one's countryman, when an American or Gringo was the prosecutor, was something that few, who boasted of Castilian blood, would be guilty of, and thus none of the gang were ever convicted. They generally avoided contests with county oflicials, who, perhaps, with a prudent regard for consequences, were quite as willing to let the banditti alone.
He was considered the best rider in the State. In a match at San Jose2 he rode 150 miles in six hours,
1 The reader may wonder that the two classes are thus mentioned together, but he may feel assured that the moral worth of either one was nothing to speak of.
2 The race was held at the Pioneer Racecourse just south of Mission Dolores in 1858. See
86 HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
MURDER OP THE BASQUES.
Two brothers, who were Frenchmen (Basques), had bought a drove of cattle in Ventura County, and passing through Santa Barbara on their way north, attracted the attention of Powers' gang, and were attacked by some of the party under the leadership of Powers. By some means the attack was not planned with Powers' usual skill, for he found him- self in a desperate hand-to-hand conflict. A shot from one of the brothers passed through his leg, through a portion of the saddle, and killing the horse which he rode, which was a fine black charger, belonging to Miguel de la Guerra, of the San Julian Raneho. The Basques were killed and the cattle driven by Powers' band into the San Joaquin Valley and sold. Notwithstanding Powers' wound, he was in San Francisco the same night, when a circus proprietor, who was a great admirer of Powers for his horsemanship, procured a schooner and sent him to Cape St. Lucas, where he remained until his leg was healed.'*'
could he trace the report to any reliable source.
[This voyage is a garbled ripoff of the escape of Powers in 1858 to Guaymas, reported in the Daily Alta California in Aug. 1858.]
instructions, as before, to shoot both Powers and Dunn, if any attempt to rescue him was made. Russel Heath, the Sheriff, assured him that in case any attempt was made, that he, Powers, would be the first to fall. Powers' friends numbered about forty, as was supposed, so the fight was likely to be serious if it once commenced. The men followed the van containing the prisoner, from the jail to the boat, where he was put on by means of a lighter. Powers and his friends, to the number of thirty, were on the beach on horseback, but the transfer was effected without any interruption.
To add to the difficulties of maintaining law and order, a strong and active element among the Americans practically denied the authority of any officer, American or native. Jack Powers and his crowd, together with the Dunns, would have been troublesome customers even in the older States, where law and order were crystalized into custom. The daring and recklessness of such men begat a kind of admiration among the people, which, while it could not be considered esteem, was not wholly the result of fear, but was rather the respect paid to power. It must not be thought of Santa Barbara that that place alone had hero worshipers of that kind. The respect and sympathy for the James Brothers, in Missouri, one of the oldest settled States in the Union, are more deplorable than the actions of the "hounds" in Santa Barbara. In the first case the admiration for the men extended, in some degree, all over the Union; in the latter case the demoralization was but small in comparison, and, to some extent, excusable in a country just emerging from the chaos incident to war. Santa Barbara was no worse than other Californian towns, perhaps not quite so bad as San Francisco, where the hounds had several "runs."
In the election of 1853, the roughs laid a plan to capture the whole Legislative and other officers by petting the watches and clocks around the town back, so as to organize the election boards with their own men as officers. They succeeded so well, that there were two sets of officers returned as elected. The Legislature at the capital recognized the law and order officers.
The elections generally went Democratic. Huse was, however, a Whig, and oftentimes received the entire Democratic vote, the highest compliment that could be paid him.
them; desired counsel, and was taken to the office of Eugene Lies, who undertook his defense. Lies asked that a writ of habeas corpus might issue to bring out any evidence which existed against him. Mr. Lies asked that Power should be left with him in his office for a short time, agreeing to be responsible for his appearance. In the course of the evening, however, he left without notice. The Sheriff blamed Lies for the escape, and he, in turn, laid the blame on Power, who had given his word not to attempt an escape. Many persons thought that the whole affair was irregular; that a Sheriff should put a person charged with a criminal offense into the custody of a lawyer, and that a lawyer should take his word not to escape, was bad practice. It was believed that Power was concealed in the town, and the Gazzette, as it had often done before, appealed to the citizens not to harbor criminals. An ex parte hearing of the matter was had before Judge Fernald, who decided that there was sufficient ground for detaining Power. Lies inserted the following notice in the Gazette: —
hung on Fort Hill, with others of the gang. In this case, as in the Las Cruces' affair, the native Californians cooperated with the Americans in exterminating the bands of murderers, thus helping to secure protection for life and property and bring about a good feeling between the different races.
THE SAN GABRIEL AFFAIR.
Two men left the steamer Savannah at San Diego, on its way up the coast, for the purchase of cattle, having considerable sums of money with them. When camped near the San Gabriel River, they were murdered by Zavaleta and another native, the murderers making their way to Santa Barbara, where they commenced spending money very freely among the lowest houses. A copy of the Los Angeles Star, giving a description of the murderers, was brought into town, and they were recognized and arrested by a number of citizens acting with the Sheriff, Valentine Hearne. It is said that the Amer- icans were more than willing to assist in arresting criminals, provided they were Mexicans, while the natives themselves were considerable less than will- ing to arrest their own countrymen accused of crime. After the arrest, without a warrant, and, perhaps, on what then seemed insufficient evidence, the chief families, among whom was Captain Noriega, pro- tested against the summary treatment of the men. Serious ill-feeling resulted between the law-and-order party, as the natives and their American friends called themselves, and the hoys on the other part. A mounted guard of twenty-five men was made up to accompany the men Sack to Los Angeles', among whom were the following persons, Henry Carnes being the Commander: John Bowers[John Powers], P. H. Dun[n], John Dun[n], John Seollan, Thomas Ganon, Valentine Hearne, Carter, John Robinson, John Vidal, Theodore McCarty, Thomas Martin, Theodore Smith, and Geo. D. Fisher.
Santa Barbara for horses, with threats of retaliation if the horses were not forthcoming. The horses were furnished. (See account of the proceedings on the bills in Court of Sessions, October 11th.) The men confessed the murder, even to the details, and pointed out the place where the bodies were buried. The people of the town (Los Angeles) took the men to Castle Hill and hung them, the guard of twenty- five staying until the work was done. Hearne was Sheriff, and his part of the transaction not pleasing Dr. Den and the de la Guerras, who were his prin- cipal sureties, they withdrew from his bonds, thus forcing him to resign. W. W. Twist, a native of Nova Scotia, and, as some say, not a citizen, was appointed to succeed Hearne.
The American population were not always dis- posed to acquiesce in the large land holdings of the natives, and of the Americans who had intermarried among them. John Vidal, a member of Carnes' Company, of the Stevenson Regiment, was one of the dissatisfied. He bad rented for a time a tract of land on the Arroyo Burro, a small creek which runs into the ocean, west of Santa Barbara. When the lease expired he claimed the land under the pre- emption laws as Government land. Suit was brought in the proper courts, and the title adjudged to rest in Dr. Den, of whom Vidal had rented. The Sheriff (Twist) was ordered by the courts to oust Vidal and put Den in possession. Vidal was known to have many friends among the gamblers, who often num- bered a score or more, among whom was the, even then, notorious Jack Powers, and the matter of dis-
83 NEW ALLEGIANCE.
possessing Vidat was considered hazardous. Wiicthcr wisol)- or not, Twist called out a posse comilatus to execute the writ of ejectment. The people bejuan to take sides as thej' ftivored the gamblers or the law-and-order, or respectable party. Vidal's friends gathered t<i the place in dispute and fortified it, wiih the determination of holding the ground at all Iimz- ards. It is said by some of the partisans of Vidal that the presence of his friends at the Arroyo Burro was merely friendly; that no resistance to the law was contemplated. Some 200 men wore enlisted in the posse comilatus. and an hour set for the departure of the army the next morning. A surgeon (Dr. BriiikerhofT) was emploj-ed to accompanj' the force. The party was to assemble at the Egerea House, then used as a Court House, at 9 o'clock. A small cannon was on the plaza, to be taken and used if necessary in knocking down the fortifications. Before the party had assembled Vidal and some of his com- panions came riding up as if to commence the fight there. Old residents differ materially as to the inci- dents. Some say that Vidal had come to avert the war or aflfect a compromise; that he stayed in town all night to answer a summons if need be; while others say that his whole party had come out from the fort that morning with the intention of captur- ing the cannon and thus break up the proposed attack. As Vidal came riding up, two men, one called " Little Mickey," and the other a short, swarthy Spaniard almo.st covered with a serape, las- soed the cannon and commenced to drag it away. It is said that Mickey was drunk, and that this part of the affair was mere fun or bravado on his part. Whatever it might be, Twist fired upon them, and firing immediately became general. Vidal was shot, by whom is unknown, but he fell ft-om his horse near where Rhynerson's Mills are. The swarthy man in the serape drew a long knife from his belt and rushed at Twist, and apparently plunged the knife thi-ough him. The knife was turned by a rib and the wound did not prove dangerous. Twist, however, shot his assailant dead. A running fight ensued for a few minutes, without any more seri- ous casualties. Vidal lived fourteen days, without being able to speak, attended by Dr. Brinkerhoff. He had a ring on his finger, which he was evidently anxious to leave to some one, but he was never able to say to whom and it was buried with him. Vidal was much the best of the party, and seems to have been almost forced into the affair by his companions. He was a Justice of the Peace at the time of his death, and had been Associate Justice with Joaquin Carrillo. In a well-settled community he would undoubtedly have been a valuable citizen. Twist soon recovered.
The affair caused a great deal of excitement, and there was serious talk of driving out the whole gang of " hounds," as they were sometimes called. The slightest affair would now have produced a bitter and relentless war between the Powers crowd and the de la Guerra party. Pablo de la Guerra went to the fort the next day with a flag of truce, and induced Powers and the others who were with him to submit to the legal authorities, and the affair ended, though, by the advice of the de la Guerras, the citizens of Santa Barbara generally remained in their houses the following evening. The next morning a ship-of- war was found anchored in the offing, having sailed from Monterey the day before to enforce order if necessary.
GAMBLING.
The discovery of gold and its easy acquisition, by almost every one, made a harvest for gamblers. It is said that every one gambled. This was not quite true; but a stranger looking through the town would think that it was the principal business of the inhabitants. This was not true of Santa Barbara more than other California towns. From Siskiyou to San Diego, the abundance of gold had the same effect, to demoralize man, and make him seek fortune by chance, rather than hard work. Mining itself, is, or was, a kind of gambling. No amount of experience would insure one against ill-luck, and sometimes the greenest boy would •• strike it rich." A few days' work in the mines sometimes resulted in acquiring thousands of dollars. Would not a successful run on a monte bank do the same? So those who were constitutionally disinclined to work, would risk dol- lars in the hope of making their thousands. Gold was seen everywhere in glittering piles, to tempt the weak. Men gambled then, who have since sat high in the councils of the nation. Merchants, who in the East would as soon have stolen money, as gamble for it, would first risk a quarter on a card for fun, then a dollar to see how their luck run, and in a little while were as keen gamblers as though they had run on a Mississippi steamer for years. Preachers, find- ing their profession at a discount, would lay aside their prayers and deal a monte game. The lawyer without briefs thought gambling a brief way to fort- une. The ranchero, who spent a dull life among his herds liked the excitement, and so nearly all gambled more or less. Gold lay in thousands upon the table, and the reckless and thoughtless helped to swell the piles to a greater size. Strange theories were in circulation about the chances of winning. The theory of chances by a mathematician and an enthusiastic votary of the card-table would not har- monize. A favorite rule was, double your bet every time you lose and you are certain to get your money back and eventually break the bank. This is true; but the certainty of breaking, even a small bank.
84 HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
has been known to win or lose twenty-five bets in succession without a change of luck. What if that number of bets should go against a man. Doctor Brinkerhoflf relates in his notes an incident of the kind illustrating the mutation of fortunes.
"Late one night I was accosted by a man by the name of , who asked me for twenty dollars. I at first refused, but he begged so hard I let him have it. The next day he came to me and returned the money saying, that he had won six thousand dollars and entirely cleaned out the bank," (meaning the monte bank).
The gambler with his " store clothes," and high- toned style, was the envy of the men and the admi- ration of the women. Colton says of them they first seek a mistress and then a horse. All kinds of crime followed in the wake of gambling. Prostitution, drunkenness, robbery, and murder seemed but the legitimate fruits of the gambling saloon. It was said of the profession that no man could take another's money without a consideration any length of time, without preparing himself for the halter.
FROM GAMBLING TO HIGHWAY ROBBERY.
Soon after the discovery of gold it became appar- ent that a new era of crime as well as of money was inaugurated. The southern portion of the State was traversed by cattle buyers who carried as high as $50,000 at a time. Many of these traveling south from San Jose were never seen again, or if seen were recognized by shreds of clothing when the winter rains should expose their decaying skeletons.
SOLOMON PICO'S GANG.
This band flourished in the early fifties, and in its best days numbered forty or more, composed mostly, if not entirely, of Californians or Mexicans. The leader or principal was Solomon Pico, a cousin of Andres and Pio Pico; so that he had the prestige of aristocratic blood. The headquarters of the gang for a long time were the Los Alimos and Purissima Eanchos. Though driving and trading in stock was the ostensible object of the company, it soon became apparent that the robbery of men, who came to the southern part of the State to purchase cattle, was the most flourishing part of their business. Many parties of two or three in number with saddle bags well filled with gold coin, were never heard of after passing San Luis Obispo; and in subsequent years, numbers of human skeletons found in out-of-the-way places with the ominous bullet hole in the skull, told the story of violence in a former day, and accounted for the mysterious disajipearance of so many cattle trad- ers. Their victims were mostly Amei'icans whom the native population felt were natural enemies, and thus the crimes which they committed were never divulged, or if brought to trial, resulted in an ac- quittal, for blood was thick, and to testify against one's countryman, when an American or Gringo was the prosecutor, was something that few, who boasted of Castilian blood, would be guilty of, and thus none of the gang were ever convicted. They generally avoided contests with county oflicials, who, perhaps, with a prudent regard for consequences, were quite as willing to let the banditti alone.
He was considered the best rider in the State. In a match at San Jose he rode 150 miles in six hours,
86 HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
MURDER OP THE BASQUES.
Two brothers, who were Frenchmen (Basques), had bought a drove of cattle in Ventura County, and passing through Santa Barbara on their way north, attracted the attention of Powers' gang, and were attacked by some of the party under the leadership of Powers. By some means the attack was not planned with Powers' usual skill, for he found him- self in a desperate hand-to-hand conflict. A shot from one of the brothers passed through his leg, through a portion of the saddle, and killing the horse which he rode, which was a fine black charger, belonging to Miguel de la Guerra, of the San Julian Raneho. The Basques were killed and the cattle driven by Powers' band into the San Joaquin Valley and sold. Notwithstanding Powers' wound, he was in San Francisco the same night, when a circus proprietor, who was a great admirer of Powers for his horsemanship, procured a schooner and sent him to Cape St. Lucas, where he remained until his leg was healed.'*'
could he trace the report to any reliable source.
[This voyage is a garbled ripoff of the escape of Powers in 1858 to Guaymas, reported in the Daily Alta California in Aug. 1858.]
instructions, as before, to shoot both Powers and Dunn, if any attempt to rescue him was made. Russel Heath, the Sheriff, assured him that in case any attempt was made, that he, Powers, would be the first to fall. Powers' friends numbered about forty, as was supposed, so the fight was likely to be serious if it once commenced. The men followed the van containing the prisoner, from the jail to the boat, where he was put on by means of a lighter. Powers and his friends, to the number of thirty, were on the beach on horseback, but the transfer was effected without any interruption.
To add to the difficulties of maintaining law and order, a strong and active element among the Americans practically denied the authority of any officer, American or native. Jack Powers and his crowd, together with the Dunns, would have been troublesome customers even in the older States, where law and order were crystalized into custom. The daring and recklessness of such men begat a kind of admiration among the people, which, while it could not be considered esteem, was not wholly the result of fear, but was rather the respect paid to power. It must not be thought of Santa Barbara that that place alone had hero worshipers of that kind. The respect and sympathy for the James Brothers, in Missouri, one of the oldest settled States in the Union, are more deplorable than the actions of the "hounds" in Santa Barbara. In the first case the admiration for the men extended, in some degree, all over the Union; in the latter case the demoralization was but small in comparison, and, to some extent, excusable in a country just emerging from the chaos incident to war. Santa Barbara was no worse than other Californian towns, perhaps not quite so bad as San Francisco, where the hounds had several "runs."
In the election of 1853, the roughs laid a plan to capture the whole Legislative and other officers by petting the watches and clocks around the town back, so as to organize the election boards with their own men as officers. They succeeded so well, that there were two sets of officers returned as elected. The Legislature at the capital recognized the law and order officers.
The elections generally went Democratic. Huse was, however, a Whig, and oftentimes received the entire Democratic vote, the highest compliment that could be paid him.
them; desired counsel, and was taken to the office of Eugene Lies, who undertook his defense. Lies asked that a writ of habeas corpus might issue to bring out any evidence which existed against him. Mr. Lies asked that Power should be left with him in his office for a short time, agreeing to be responsible for his appearance. In the course of the evening, however, he left without notice. The Sheriff blamed Lies for the escape, and he, in turn, laid the blame on Power, who had given his word not to attempt an escape. Many persons thought that the whole affair was irregular; that a Sheriff should put a person charged with a criminal offense into the custody of a lawyer, and that a lawyer should take his word not to escape, was bad practice. It was believed that Power was concealed in the town, and the Gazzette, as it had often done before, appealed to the citizens not to harbor criminals. An ex parte hearing of the matter was had before Judge Fernald, who decided that there was sufficient ground for detaining Power. Lies inserted the following notice in the Gazette: —
hung on Fort Hill, with others of the gang. In this case, as in the Las Cruces' affair, the native Californians cooperated with the Americans in exterminating the bands of murderers, thus helping to secure protection for life and property and bring about a good feeling between the different races.
...
Thomas Herrara. N. Amos, J. J. Simmler, Thos. R. Thorp, Leonardo Lopez, Ramon Baldez, J. A. dc la Guerra, Pedro Ruperez, Trinidad Becerro, John
User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Walter Murray
Walter Murray was born in Gloucestershire, England in 1826. Apprenticed to a lawyer, he was sent to America in 1842; by 1846 he was living in New York, where he learned of the California Volunteers, a regiment commanded by Col. Jonathan D. Stevenson of New York. The regiment was intended to serve in the Mexican War with the understanding that, following the American possession of California, the Volunteers would be discharged and provided with settlements in the newly obtained land. Murray’s company was one of the few to see actual battle, as most of Stevenson’s Regiment arrived in California too late to take part in military service. Following his duties with the Volunteers, Murray tried his hand at mining gold in Sonora and, finding it unsuitable, made his living providing miners with supplies from San Francisco. Murray also established and published the Sonora Herald. Having married, Murray moved to San Luis Obispo, where he studied law, served as a Justice of the Peace, and published the San Luis Obispo Tribune. At the time of his death in 1875, Murray was the District Judge of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties.
By Rachel St. John
---
---
--- p.57
--- p.58
---
p.285
--- p.286
--- p.82-84
if the horses were not forthcoming. The horses were furnished. (See account of the proceedings on the bills in Court of Sessions, October 11th.) The men confessed the murder, even to the details, and pointed out the place where the bodies were buried. The people of the town (Los Angeles) took the men to Castle Hill and hung them, the guard of twenty-five staying until the work was done. Hearne was Sheriff, and his part of the transaction not pleasing Dr. Den and the de la Guerras, who were his principal sureties, they withdrew from his bonds, thus forcing him to resign. W. W. Twist, a native of Nova Scotia, and, as some say, not a citizen, was appointed to succeed Hearne.
---
wisol)- or not, Twist called out a posse comitatus to execute the writ of ejectment. The people bejuan to take sides as thej' ftivored the gamblers or the law-and-order, or respectable party. Vidal's friends gathered t<i the place in dispute and fortified it, wiih the determination of holding the ground at all Iimz- ards. It is said by some of the partisans of Vidal that the presence of his friends at the Arroyo Burro was merely friendly; that no resistance to the law was contemplated. Some 200 men wore enlisted in the posse comilatus. and an hour set for the departure of the army the next morning. A surgeon (Dr. Brinkerhoff) was employed to accompany the force. The party was to assemble at the Egerea House, then used as a Court House, at 9 o'clock. A small cannon was on the plaza, to be taken and used if necessary in knocking down the fortifications. Before the party had assembled Vidal and some of his com- panions came riding up as if to commence the fight there. Old residents differ materially as to the inci- dents. Some say that Vidal had come to avert the war or affect a compromise; that he stayed in town all night to answer a summons if need be; while others say that his whole party had come out from the fort that morning with the intention of captur- ing the cannon and thus break up the proposed attack. As Vidal came riding up, two men, one called " Little Mickey," and the other a short, swarthy Spaniard almost covered with a serape, las- soed the cannon and commenced to drag it away. It is said that Mickey was drunk, and that this part of the affair was mere fun or bravado on his part. Whatever it might be, Twist fired upon them, and firing immediately became general. Vidal was shot, by whom is unknown, but he fell ft-om his horse near where Rhynerson's Mills are. The swarthy man in the serape drew a long knife from his belt and rushed at Twist, and apparently plunged the knife through him. The knife was turned by a rib and the wound did not prove dangerous. Twist, however, shot his assailant dead. A running fight ensued for a few minutes, without any more seri- ous casualties. Vidal lived fourteen days, without being able to speak, attended by Dr. Brinkerhoff. He had a ring on his finger, which he was evidently anxious to leave to some one, but he was never able to say to whom and it was buried with him. Vidal was much the best of the party, and seems to have been almost forced into the affair bj' his companions. He was a Justice of the Peace at the time of his death, and had been Associate Justice with Joaquin Carrillo. In a well-settled community he would undoubtedly have been a valuable citizen. Twist soon recovered.
there was serious talk of driving out the whole gang of "hounds," as they were sometimes called. The slightest affair would now have produced a bitter and Powi .w(| and tl relentless war betwi la Guerra party. Pablo ih- la (^utim wont to tiie fort the next da\' with a flag of truce, and induced Powers and the others who were with him to submit to the legal authorities, and the affair ended, though, by I he advice of the de la Guerras, the citizens of Santa Barbara generally remained in their houses till' following evening. The next morning a ship-of- war was found anchored in the offing, having sailed from Monterey the day before to enforce order if necessary.
public ground, but the courts were undoubtedly cor- rect in deciding that Vidal was a naked trespasser, the adverse party having had peaceable possession for years, a fact acknowledged by Vidal in the pay- ment of rent for it.
---
p.85
of the remnants were gathered up by Jack Powers, who became one of the most successful and noted bandits of the time. He belonged originally to Ste- venson's Regiment, Company F, commanded by Captain Lippett, and was said to have been a man of considerable character and standing when ho was enlisted into the regiment. Shortly after being mus- tered out he commenced his career as a gambler, making it a decided success. It is reported that he was at one time in possession of a quarter of a million in coin, but this is probably untrue. His first opera- tions were in San Francisco, where he made many friends among the sporting men and politicians of the time.* He made his appearance in Santa Bar- bara in an early day, and managed, as the phrase goes, to "pretty much run tho town" for a while; at least he exerted an influence which was greater than that of any other man. Looking back thirty years from our present stand-point of security for life and property, it seems astonishing that one man, or even a few men, should overawe a communitj- and prevent the efl'ective operations of the courts. There were many.waj-s in which it could be done. Witnesses to a crime were hurried out of a country, or kept mute with the certainty of a desperate quarrel if they testi- fied to the facts. A solitary juryman in the interest of a criminal can hang a jury and render a conviction impossible. Lawj-ers, able ones, can be found to shut their eyes at perjury, or even approve of it, and make an effective defense on known false testimony.
a match at San Jose he rode 150 miles in six hours,
but he may feel assured that the moral worth of either cUsa was nothing to speak of.
---
86 HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
gray mule which would carry him 100 miles in twelve hours. He was in Santa Barbara within ten hours after a robbery committed near San Luis Obispo. The number of his robberies is unknown. He continued his career for nearly four years, his operations extending from San Diego to San Jose. Like the banditti of Italy or Greece, he robbed only those who were strangers to the country, spent his money freely, and kept on the good side of the people. His operations were so shrewdly conducted that for years many people believed that he was a persecuted and slandered man.
---
had bought a drove of cattle in Ventura County, and passing through Santa Barbara on their way north, attracted the attention of Powers' gang, and were attacked by some of the party under the leadership of Poweirs. By some means the attack was not planned with Powers usual skill, for he found him- self in a desperate hand-to-hand conflict. A shot from one of the brothers passed through his leg, through a portion of the saddle, and killing the horse which he rode, which was a fine black charger, belonging to Miguel de la Guerra, of the San Julian Raneho. The Basques were killed and the cattle driven by Powers' band into the San Joaquin Valley and sold. Notwithstanding Powers' wound, he was in San Francisco the same night, when a circus pro- prietor, who was a great admirer of Powers for his horsemanship, procured a schooner and sent him to Cape St. Lucas, where he remained until his leg was healed."*
Gabriel murder, was about to be hung, he expressed a desire to be executed in a new suit of clothes. Jack Powers, who was present, ordered a suit in accordance with the wishes of the condemned, and enabled him to make his exit with the dignity and decency of a Castilian.
named Alisal, was to be hung for murder. »While the sentence was pending, a petition was sent to the Governor to have the sentence commuted to impris- onment for life. The day for execution having arrived, and no order for a mitigation of the sentence having been received, the Sheriff proceeded to perform his duty. When the Indian was about to be hung. Jack Povvers moved a stay of proceedings on the ground that the commutation of the sentence was probably on the steamer which was then overdue. A vote of the spectators was taken and the hanging
Santa Barbara the same night, that Dr. Brinkerhoff privately attended him: but the writer found nothing in Dr. Brinkerhoff's notes respecting it, neither could he trace the report to anyyrellable source.
---
postponed. The expected paper was on the steamer, so the Indian, instead of being hung, was subjected to imprisonment for life. Twist was much blamed for this, and his sureties withdrew from his bonds, compelling Twist to resign, when Brinkerhoff, by virtue of being Coroner, became Sheriff, a position he held until Russel Heath was elected.
PLAN TO RESCUE DUNN.
As Patrick Dunn was fbr years a prominent citizen of Santa Barbara, the following bit of biography from the Arizona Miner, of May 23, 1866, will be of interest: —
1825. At an early age he learned the trade of a printer, principally, we believe, in the office of the New York Repress. Subsequently he was connected with Mike Walsh's celebrated paper, the Subterranean, and at one time was the editor of it. He reached California in a whaling vessel in 1846, and ran away from the vessel, taking refuge in Sonoma County, where among the first persons he met was Theodore Boggs, now of Prescott, a son of ex-Governor Boggs of Missouri. Mr. Dunn was one of several daring men who went to the rescue of the Donner party of emigrants from the East, who were snowed in near the Sierra Nevadas, in 1847. At that time his feet were severely frosted, and he suffered more or less from them to the day of his death. We believe that Mr. Dunn worked as a printer in California, and once published a paper in Sonoma. He came to Sonora, Arizona, in 1857, and settled at Tucson, where, for a time, he edited the Arizonian, a paper printed for a year or two, in the interest of the Cerro Colorado and Santa Rita Mining Companies. As may be said of most men who have lived in Arizona, he had sev- eral desperate fights with the Apaches. In one, at Cook's Cañon, on the Messilla road, he was severely wounded. Mr. Dunn came to this part of the territory with Jack Swilling, in May, 1863. After remaining here for some time, working in the placers, and acquiring an interest in the Chase Mine, he returned to Tucson, and has since, excepting an occasional absence in California, remained there. He was elected to the Upper House of the first Legislature of the Territory. Upon the resignation of Mr. Hay- den, as Probate Judge of Pima County, he was appointed to his place."
Dunn had the reputation of belonging to Power's gang. He was, when sober, rather companionable, but when in liquor, a fiend, and a man without fear, and reckless to the last extent of personal safety or reputation. He got into a quarrel with a passenger from a steamer, who was said, however, to have been a gambler and rough; one who, like Dunn, always carried his life on the toss of a dime. According to the traditions, the difficulty commenced something like this: —
business."
fell dead at the first fire. The shooting occurred on
---
witnessed by several of the ladies of the family, but such was the dread of incurring the enmity of the gang, that oiilj^ the solemn assurance, by the Court, that they should be protected, induced thom to tes- tify. Dunn was tried for murder, and plead justifiable homicide in self-defense. The trial lasted twenty- one days, and resulted in a disagreement of the jury. He was tried a second time at Los Angeles, with similar results. While the trial was in progress at Santa Barbara, the Sheriff, Judge, and District Attor- ney, each received a warning that they would be killed if they prosecuted the case. Six deputies were privately sworn in, with instructions to instantly shoot Dunn and Powers if any attempt was made to interfere with the proceedings. The cer- tainty of becoming targets for half a dozen revolvers probably kept them quiet.
and, as usual, Dunn "went for" the object of his wrath. He loaded a double-barrelled shot-gun with slugs, and commenced hunting Tom, and, on coming up with him, .snapped both barrels without effect. For this he was arrested, tried, and sentenced to the State's Prison for a term of years. Powers determined to rescue Dunn in his passage from the jail to the boat. Twenty-five men were sworn in as deputies, with instructions, as before, to shoot both Powers and Dunn, if any attempt to rescue him was made. Rus- sel Heath, the Sheriff, assured him that in case any attempt was made, that he, Powers, would be the first to fall. Powers' friends numbered about forty, as was supposed, so the fight was likely to be serious if it once commenced. The men followed the van con- taining the prisoner, from the jail to the boat, where he was put on by means of a lighter. Powers and his friends, to the number of thirty, were on the beach on horseback, but the transfer was effected without any interruption.
The crowds of well-dressed people, who now flock to the steamer to welcome returning friends, or bid adieu to those about leaving, have little idea of the stirring scenes there thirty years since.
Dunn died in Arizona in 18G6. Powers left Cali- fornia about 185(5, and, with most of his gang, went to Mexico, where he soon stocked a ranch with stolen cattle. He was shot in some difficulty with his own men, and was found in hia corral half devoured by hogs.
---
p97 LAWLESS ELEMENT AMONG THE AMERICANS.
To add to the difficulties of maintaining law and order, a strong and active element among the Amer- icans practically denied the authority of any officer, American or native. Jack Powers and his crowd, together with the Dunns, would have been trouble- some customers even in the older States, where law and order were crystalized into custom. The daring and recklessness of such men begat a kind of admir- ation among the people, which, while it could not be considered esteem, was not wholly the result of fear, but was rather the respect paid to power. It must not be thought of Santa Barbara that that place alone had hero worshipers of that Itind. The respect and sympathy for the James Brothers, in Missouri, one of the oldest settled States in the Union, are more deplorable than the actions of the "hounds" in Santa Barbara. In the first case the admiration for the men extended, in some degree, all over the Union; in the latter case the demoralization was but small in comparison, and, to some extent, excusable in a country just emerging from the chaos incident to war. Santa Barbara was no worse than other Cal- ifornian towns, perhaps not quite so bad as San Francisco, where the hounds had several "runs."
In the election of 1853, the roughs laid a plan to capture the whole Legislative and other officers by setting the watches and clocks around the town back, so as to organize the election boards with their own men as officers. They succeeded so well, that there were two sets of officers returned as elected. The Legislature at the capital recognized the law- and order officers.
The elections generally went Democratic. Huse was, however, a Whig, and oftentimes received the entire Democratic vote, the highest compliment that could be paid him. ---
SANTA BARBARA AND HEALDSBURG, 411 SQUATTERISM.
In May 1853, one of the frequent disputes arose as to the possession of a certain piece of land at Santa Barbara. Jack Powers had settled upon a tract about two miles from town, which Nicholas Den claimed to have leased for a number of years from the government. The case was decided in Den's favor in the district court, and afterward in the supreme court. Nevertheless, Powers refused to give up possession, claiming that as it was government property, it was free to all American citizens. Sheriff Twist deter- mined to eject him by force. Powers then collected fifteen of his friends, and formed a sort of barricade on the rancho,.by felling trees, piling up logs, and ar- ranging wagons for the purpose. They had liquors and food provided for a number of days, and several pieces of music to enliven the time. - Well armed with revolvers, rifles, and shot-guns they were pre- pared to resist the officers. Three of Powers' adher- ents, on the way to his place, encountered the sheriff and others, who were trying to take out the spikes that had been put in the cannon the previous night. Words ensued as to their intended use of the cannon, which resulted in a serious melee with several wounded and some killed on both sides.
-- SOURCES --
The Confession of Doroteo Zabaleta. About the 5th of July, myself and Jesus Rivas went to San Juan to see my brother, for the purpose of obtaining means to go away from this part of the country. We arrived at San Juan on Wednesday, [7th July] and on the next day Rivas came to me and said he had seen two Americans stopping at a house; the house has old walls. Afterwards, when I was at my brothers', Rivas told me he had spoken to these gentlemen, the Americans, and that they wanted to buy thirty or forty mares.— Myself, Rivas and my brother went to see the, Americans, and we asked them if they wanted to buy mares. They said they would buy twelve at that place. My brother told them if they would buy twenty or twenty-live mares they could trade. They replied that they had not money enough, but that they had the intention of going to Los Angeles to buy thirty or forty. My brother told them that he would not sell twelve, and we went away without the Americans, to a tavern, and remained there all day. Afterwards, Rivas said to me " Let us go and do something : let us go and overtake these Americans and kill them, and take their money." Then I said, " I have never committed a murder, and there is no reason why you should do such a thing." Rivas told me that I was wanting in valor. Something was said about conscience, and Rivas said, " Have you never done such a thing?" Rivas told me he, he had committed some murders above. We. we're disputing the matter about two hours, and in the afternoon, about 4 o'clock, we saddled up. After we had saddled up. I told Rivas I had compunctions, and was afraid; that there was no necessity of our throwing ourselves away; and that I had brothers who would help him to go away without prejudicing myself in the business I had with them about obtaining money. I had bid farewell to a sister, but not to my brothers. I had told Silvedia (a brother) that I wanted some animals, and he told me I might have two at San Joaquin if I would go for them. When I set out I did not tell my brothers what I was going to do. We left the Mission of San Juan together, and Rivas said, "let us go as fast as we can and overtake these men." After traveling a short distance, I stopped behind to talk with some friends, and Rivas went on alone. When I arrived at the Alvisos I had gained some on Rivas, and enquired of a woman if she had seen him pass. She directed me to where he was, and I found him encamped under, a sycamore. From thence we went together, and Rivas said that the Americans were far ahead, for he had enquired of persons who saw them pass. We rode on slowly—sometimes we galloped - -until we had overtaken the Americans within 400 yards, when we struck off from the road to one side and came on ahead of the Americans to the Cienega, and stopped there and commenced conversation Rivas asked what was the best method to kill the Americans. I told him it was not necessary to kill them, but that it would be better to hunt the manada of my brother, and sell to them. Rivas objected, and said he calculated the men were bringing with them a $1000 or more. Rivas proposed to kill a calf, which was done, and after we had made the meat, the Americans passed on the high road which leads to the lower Santa Ana. I said to Rivas, "call the Americans to come and eat meat, " and he went out and returned with them, and I saluted them and invited them to eat some meat that I had roasted. Both the men spoke Spanish - one a little better than the other. There was no water there. I had a bottle of aguadiente mixed with water, I invited them to drink of it, which they did. Then Rivas was making signs to me to kill them, and I said "no," with signs. We came on from there with them, by the other side of the Santiago creek, and Rivas was making signs to me every moment to lasso them. We fell back to converse, and I told him my conscience would not let me kill the unhappy men without any motive. Rivas went to Patricio Banello and got a fresh horse, and I remained with the Americans talking about buying horses. When Rivas returned, he proposed to decoy these men to cross some hills to another ranch. I replied "no," in a loud voice, and we came on all together to the Santa Ana. Rivas did not want to go to any house, for he did not wish to be seen in company with the Americans. I told him I had no intention of committing murder. I had no embarrassment in calling at a house where I was known. Rivas replied, "you are a coward." We went on and arrived at a rancheria, where were some Indians, the Americans still with us looking for pasture for their horses. I told them I was born in that section, and they trusted me to procure pasture for them. The Americans encamped near the milpa of Don Teodocio Yorba, and Rivas and myself went to the house of Patricio Banello and slept. In conversing about the murder of the Americans, Rivas said he had been in company with four men above, who were good men, and that they made the conditions that if any of the party was to disclose the least little concerning their actions the balance would kill him. I consented to the same conditions, and it was agreed that we should go to Sonora together with Francisco Carmillo, who had agreed to similar terms.
---
--- (p.1,col.5)
---
Daily Alta California, (6/3/1858) p.1,col.5 ---
---
---
San Luis Hill U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: San Luis Hill Class: Summit
Red Bluff Daily News; Jean Barton: A tour of southern California’s Rancho Pecho
Posted: 06/02/17, 1:44 PM PDT | Updated: on 06/02/2017
When I accepted the invitation to accompany California CattleWomen President Cheryl Foster to the spring meeting of Santa Barbara CattleWomen with a tour of Rancho Pecho hosted by Sue Bench and PG&E, I had forgotten that Bill and I had toured Pecho Ranch in May of 2005 on the California Beef Cattle Improvement Association (CBCIA) tour.
Sue Bench shared the history of the ranch with the cattlewomen before the pot luck luncheon. “Rancho Pecho Y Islay was 8,880 acre portion of a larger Mexican Land Grant conveyed to Francisco Padilla in 1843.
“It was sold to Captain John Wilson and patented in 1869. Originally it included the coastal terrace and adjacent hills generally from just north of Islay Creek to Pecho Creek near Port San Luis.
“The ranch was passed to his granddaughter Ramona Hillard in 1872. In 1892 she sold 3,660 acres from ‘Devils Creek Canyo to Pecho Creek’ to Luigi Marre who owned the neighboring Rancho San Miguelito to the south. Part of the deal included a right of way along a wagon trail to Port Harford (today’s Port San Luis) which was an important shipping point for crops and supplied. She then leased the remainder of the ranch to the Spooner and Hazzard families. Spooners and Hazzards were not always best of friends with right of ways occasionally contested.
“Around the turn of the 19th century, Hillard borrowed money using the remaining 5,200 acre ranch as collateral. When the loan came due in 1902, Henry Cowell took ownership of the ranch and then sold Rancho Pecho to Alden Spooner Jr. in 1902.
“Sooner was primarily a dairyman but crops such as beans and barley were grown on the coastal terrace. After Alden Spooner died in 1920, his three sons continued their tradition of dairying through the ‘30s. During the ‘20s and ‘30s much of the Coastal terrace was leased to Japanese farmers where they grew bush peas, Brussel sprouts and artichokes.
“Oliver Chapin Field purchased Rancho Pecho in 1941. He was born in California but spent much of his teen years in Ketchikan Alaska where his father owned a general store. He graduated from Stanford as an engineer and then served in the Navy in 1920 aboard an 1890 vintage battleship. In 1922, after his service in the Navy, he formed his own business and eventually developed an asphalt from heavy crude oil at a plant in Casmalia. Rancho Pecho was one of the first of many properties he purchased with his new wealth. His three children spent their summers working at the ranch. Beef cattle and a variety of crops were grown. OC Field died in 1974, and the heirs continued the ranch operation until 1984.
“PG&E purchased the ranch in 1985.”
It is the site of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, an electricity-generating nuclear power plant near Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County.
After the permanent shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in 2013 it is the only nuclear plant operational in the state.
Since 9-11 there are no tours, and we were inside a locked gate on the ranch, at a barn high on a hill above the ocean, with no view of the power plant.
In 2005 I had written “After a lunch prepared by the Cal Poly Young Cattlemen we boarded the buses for a trip through the scenic Montana de Oro State Park enroute to PG&E’s Pecho Ranch and Bob Blanchard who rents the ranch.
“Pecho Ranch covers 4.5 miles of coastline near Los Osos, behind a locked gate, since south of the corrals is Diablo Canyon. Bob uses high density, short grazing instead of continuous grazing, and PG&E financed the changes (fences and water systems) they needed to make.
“We could see the difference between the grazed land and the park, which hasn’t had grazing for over 40 years. The ground was rocky with gravel on top of the soil since the wind and rain had eroded away the litter. There were no new shrubs in this area and no wild animals.
“On the PG&E land, Bob had grazed cattle, sheep and goats in March and April. We couldn’t see bare ground since the hooves make a better seed bed, and there were pocket gophers and rabbits in the four native perennial grasses. He said that the field had been farmed until 15 years ago and now native perennial grasses and shrubs were coming in.
“The first 25 acre pasture across the fence from the park had been grazed for three weeks in April by 400 sheep and goats with 500 lambs and kids. Then the pasture is rested at least 45 days.
“The livestock won’t eat salt here because of the salt in the atmosphere that clings to the grasses. We were on a shelf above the ocean with brushy hills in back of us.
“Bob and his wife raise 25 acres of avocados and eight acres of oranges on the inherited family ranch at Cayucus. Mrs. Blanchard sells at the local farmers markets the organic beef, lamb and goat meat, avocados and oranges.
He said it takes 30 months to get a steer to harvest on grass. They are processed near Creston, three head at a time. Last year they sold 25 steers at farmers markets, since the customer isn’t price sensitive.
“He can sell an 80 pound goat for $ 100 in the local area. Bob has Boer goats and three or four Anatolian guard dogs to protect them from predators.
“The sheep are a meat breed instead of grown for their wool. He has Barbado- Dorfort cross ewes. He would like more Dorfort ewes, but ewe lambs are expensive.
“His cowherd numbers 70 head and he likes the smaller framed cattle with larger capacity for eating grass. He acknowledged the weaning weights aren’t as good, but profitable for him.
“We saw a fresh water pond with a group of steers nearby on green grass and the ocean below, when we got off the bus for a closer look behind the locked gate.”
After Sue Bench concluded the history of the ranch, Sally Krenn, a retired PG&E Biologist that worked with Bob Blanchard told more about how Cal Poly students had developed forestry and grazing plans for the ranch. In the fall, they plan to work with Cal Fire on a controlled burn on the brushy hill sides.
Jean Barton has been writing her column in the Daily News since the early 1990s. She can be reached by e-mail at jbarton2013@gmail.com. Copyright © Red Bluff Daily News Copyright
---
---
549 [155]
Jose Antonio Carrillo, was sent with a force to occupy San Buenaventura.10 This occupation was effected probably on March 12th, without disaster, and soon Castaheda was instructed to advance and attack Santa Barbara before it could be reinforced from the north. He was to form his own plan of attack, but was to lose no time. He must allow no conditions, but insist on immediate surrender at discretion, after which the leaders were to be kept in close confinement. "No more consideration must be shown for those faithless rebels."11
---
---
[155]: 16, 549, 652
---
---
adding more GFS
The following report was made by the grand jury to the court of sessions September 17, 1859:
SANTA BARBARA. 483
"In the case of the people of the state of California versus J. Nidever and others, charged with murder, there were thirty witnesses sought for and obtained in different parts of the county, and all the testimony that could be brought to bear upon the case, either directly or indirectly, was obtained. There were such numbers of contradictions and alibis proven as rendered the testimony in favor of the state entirely worthless; consequently there was ; no bill found. In the cases of F. Sayba, J. Guticruz, Lugo and R. Zuriba, charged with assaulting and shooting George Nidever, there were no bills found. The positive evidence given in respect to two of those cases by Russell Heath and James L. Ord was positively disputed in toto by the evi dence of Jose Dolores Garcia. The undersigned believe the testimony of the first two witnesses to be true; we also believe the testimony of the latter to be false. The persons who a little more than a year since robbed and mur- dered the Basques on their way up the country would not have been punished but for the people of San Luis Obispo, who summarily hanged them by the necks. Cases of horse and cattle - stealing, almost without number, have within the last five years been brought to the notice of our courts; yet in almost every instance unprincipled petit juries could easily be drummed up who would not hesitate in bringing a verdict of not guilty, though the offence had been so clearly proven that it did not admit of a single doubt. Even those who seek office, with now and then an exception, absolutely humiliate and degrade themselves, either by lavish promises to the corrupt, who hold the influence, or by pandering to a set of ruffians. Our elections are a farce, and an insult to common-sense; scores of hombres, of all grades and colors, are brought in front of the polls, whose intelligence and education would not compare with the slaves of the southern states; yet these same hombres re- ceive sealed votes, either from the hands of the influential or their employes, and without opening them or examining their contents put them in the ballot-box. Since the sitting of this grand jury the foreman has had his life threatened by outside vile ruffians. In conclusion, we propose to allude to the state of society as it here exists in connection with the execution of the laws. In a republican government like ours, our system of jurisprudence is established on the broad supposition that at least the majority of the people are notoriously honest, and always ready to maintain the supremacy and majesty of the law, and to assist the courts in its execution. In most com- munities such is the case. We deeply regret to be obliged to assert that in this county it is widely different. We are of the unanimous opinion, so far as this county is concerned, that the courts, in consequence of the notorious bad characters that are frequently summoned and impanelled to serve as petit jurors, are entirely powerless in punishing crime. Thieves and villains of every grade have been from time to time upheld, respected, fostered, and pampered by our influential citizens, and if need be, aided and assisted in escaping from merited punishment due to their crimes. Characters similar to those just named have frequently been seen sitting beside the wealthy and influential in their carriages traversing our streets, or mounted on the richly caparisoned steeds of these same persons. The virtuous and the prostitute, the cattle-thief and the influential, have been too often seen mingling to gether at parties and balls. In fact it is with deep regret that we are com-
484 COUNTRY COMMITTEES OF VIGILANCE.
pelled to publish the fact to the world that the ruling population make little or no distinction as to the character of their associates; if there is any preference it is in favor of the vicious. Offences, thefts, and villainies in defiance of the law, of every grade and character, from the horse and cattle- thief to the highway robber and midnight assassin, have dwelt, to our knowl- edge, for the last five years in our very midst. Whenever those crimes have been perpetrated on the persons of honest, industrious, and good citizens, the tranquillity of the public mind, so far as the ruling population was concerned, would not be disturbed.
Only three years since, an American by the name of Moore had quietly settled in Montecito, had erected his humble cabin, and had industriously engaged in fencing a field and sowing a crop in order to gain an honorable support. He was basely murdered while asleep by having his throat cut from ear to ear, and left to welter in his gore; yet the tranquillity of the ruling population was not in the least disturbed. Neither they nor their officers appeared to take the least interest in ferreting the perpetrators of the crime and bringing them to justice; and had it not been for private American citizens, who had him buried with their own means, so far as the authorities are concerned he would have been left like a wild beast to rot where he was murdered. One of the perpetrators of that crime has since been hanged, not by the actions of our courts, to which he fled for protection for other crimes, but by the sovereign people of San Luis Obispo. Previous to his execution he confessed to that and a number of other heinous crimes. We could go on from page to page and enumerate the evils under which we suffer; suffice it to say, good, independent, industrious, and honest citizens are not wanted here by the ruling powers. Could they accomplish it, they would drive us from the country, unless we would degrade ourselves by pandering to their wishes, obeying their orders, and affiliating with their ruffians.
"Cyrus MARSHALL,"Foreman of Grand Jury.
"R. Forbush, A. M. Cameron, William Brick, G. Abadie, L. Loomis, Juan Hill, John M. Haskell."
This report was published in the San Francisco Herald, as the Santa Barbara papers refused it a place in their columns. Serious disturbances were constantly occurring, and the law seemed powerless to protect the rights of citizens. The Santa Barbara Gazette says: "Law there was plenty, law-craft enough and to spare, but organization none at all, save a shadowing of that worst of all organizations, suggested by the example of righteous Los Angeles and law-abiding San Francisco, a Vigilance Committee. The sheriffalty was vacant. The mayor had resigned, assigning as
SAN LUIS OBCISPO. 485
his motive his incapacity to preserve order. No justice of the peace had qualified. A county judge re mained, fully determined to maintain the law: but not a constable was there to execute a warrant. The treasurer and county clerk alone stood over this universal wreck of unfilled office as fitting emblems of a costly system of anarchy. At this juncture General Clark was called upon to bring a small detachment of troops with him to Santa Barbara, the people urging that the mere appearance of the military would carry sufficient moral suasion without resort to arms. The request was complied with and confidence restored.
Jose Felipe Badillo was baptized Mission Santa Barbara Presidio 10 September 1835 #01118. Father stated as Francisco Badillo, origin Mejico and mother is stated as Rafaela Garcia. Godparents are Quirina Cordero and Tomas Garcia. Officiant and Recorder is Antonio Jimeno.
"The undersigned Pastor of the Catholic Church of Santa Barbara certifies that on the Second Book of Burials of the parish of Santa Barbara on page # 8 and with with number 68 is found the following record: On 23 of July A.D. 1874 I gave Ecclesiastical burial to the remains of Felipe Badillo, aged 36 years, married with Maria Antonia Cota, who died on the previous day and been administered the Sacraments. The above is a correct translation of the original in testimony and witnesses thereof. I have hereonto set my hand this the 3rd day of May A.D. 1892. Rev. James Vila"
User:Asiaticus/sandbox/José María Quintana
José María Quintana and Tomás Herrera led a detachment of 30 New Mexicans and other Mexicans in the small army of Manuel Castro
Bankroft, [162]p. 363 n.? "... Alvarado, Hist. Cal., MS., v. 256-8, says the army was organized in three divisions or companies of over 30 men each: 1st, veterans under Gabriel de la Torre; 2d, militia under Jesus Pico; 3d, Mexicans and New Mexicans under Herrera and Quintana."
Ranchos granted S. Juan Capistrano del Camote, 10 1., 1846, T. Herrera and G.
Quintana. Bankroft,
[162] p. 637 n.?
Oct. 23d, Gen. Flores appoints Manuel Castro comandante of brigade for operations in the north, with Francisco Rico as second in command. Castro, Doc., MS., ii. 147. [162], p.321 n.?
Americans at Natividad: Co. G, Bluford K. Thompson, capt.; D. A. Davis, 1st lieut; James Poock, 2d lieut. Charles Burroughs, capt. [162] pp.357-
Castro led that force northward to harass the force of Freemont by guerilla war, cutting off supplies and reinforcements, to delay and oppose when an opportunity offered, the advance of Freemont southward from Monterey. They were engaged in the November 16, 1846
Battle of Natividad.
[162], pp.357-372 637 n.?
On Sunday, the 15th of November, Captain Charles Burroughs, a newly arrived immigrant who had taken an active part in recruiting, arrived at San Juan Bau-
tista from the Sacramento with about 34 men and a
drove of several hundred horses. The same day there
arrived Captain Thompson with about the same num-
ber of men from San Jose, and all camped for the
night at San Juan. Knowledge of their presence,
and especially that of the horses, was promptly for-
warded to Castro's camp on the Salinas. It was also
on the 15th that Thomas 0. Larkin set out with one
attendant, William Matthews, from Monterey for
Yerba Buena. He had previously sent his family
there for safety, and had just received from his wife a
letter makins^ known the illness of his child, ton^ether
with a message from Captain Montgomery, who de-
sired an interview. Larkin had no suspicion of dan-
ger, and stopped for the night at Los Verjeles, the
rancho of Joaquin Gomez, sending Matthews on to
San Juan, and intending to follow him next morning.
But news of his trip reached Castro's camp,^*^ and Chavez conceived the project of capturing the consul. The other officers, while admitting the advantage of such a capture, seem to have opposed the act as likely to make known their presence prematurely and pre- vent the success of their main purpose; but Chavez either overcame their fears, or, as some say, undertook the enterprise without their consent; and at any rate, he appeared about midnight at Gomez's rancho with a dozen men. Larkin was roused from sleep, obliged to dress in haste, and carried on horseback as a pris- oner to the Salinas camp; but he was treated with the greatest kindness by all the Californian officers from the beginning to the end of his captivity. The plan was to utilize the possession of so important a man in later negotiations for a truce, exchange of prisoners, surrender, or escape from consequences of broken paroles, as circumstances might require. They also tried at first to induce the prisoner to aid their attempt on San Juan by writing letters to put the garrison on a false scent; but Larkin refused to write; and they in turn refused his proposition to be ex- changed for Pablo de la Guerra and others under arrest at Monterey. On the 16th the whole force started northward in four divisions, Larkin being taken along closely guarded. The plan, as he under- stood it, was for a small party to attack San Juan in the night, and by a retreat to draw out the garrison in pursuit, to be cut off by the main body.^^
As had been feared, Larkin 's capture resulted in making Castro's presence known to the Americans. So far as can be determined from the complicated and contradictory testimony. Captain Thompson started from San Juan early on the 16th for Monterey, to consult with Fremont, accompanied by a small guard and leaving the rest of his men in camp. He seems to have taken a short cut; while Captain Burroughs with all his men and horses, set out a little later by the main road. At Gomez's rancho Thompson not only learned what had happened there in the night, but saw and pursued ineffectually two scouts who had been sent by Castro to make observations. Fail- ing to capture these, Thompson sent a warning to Burroughs and hastened back to San Juan to bring up his men. Meanwhile Burroughs reached the rancho, learned what had occurred, and sent out a party of six or eight scouts southward into the plain to learn the enemy's whereabouts and numbers. ^^
The Californians advanced northward, Joaquin de la Torre with a dozen horsemen as scouts in advance. Then came the vanguard under Castro, followed by Chavez's company, with Larkin in charge, while Rico commanded the rear guard, including a party in
charge of horses and munitions under Sergeant Ld- zaro Soto. It was perhaps 3 o'clock p. m., or even later, when the advance arrived at the Natividad rancho and met the American scouts. These were the men, six to ten in number, who had been sent out by Burroughs before Thompson's arrival. They included George Foster, often called captain, John (or James) Hayes, the two Delaware Indians, Tom Hill, and James Salmon, and several Walla Wallas. I think they had been in the vicinity several hours. On seeing the foe, two or three of the Indians fled to the rancho to give the alarm, while the rest posted themselves in the encinalito, or little grove of oaks, close at hand, where they were presently attacked by Torre, and completely surrounded as soon as Castro and Chavez came- up. The fight at the grove lasted an hour, according to the estimate of Larkin, who was a spectator. The consul was desired to go to the Americans and induce them to surrender; but refused to do so unless he could offer a safe retreat to San Juan or Monterey, to which Castro would not consent. The riflemen behind trees had an advan- tage notwithstanding the disparity of numbers against the horsemen with their few ineffective muskets. Lieutenant Chavez and Alferez Juan Ignacio Cantua were badly wounded,^^ and probably two or three Californians were killed, to be scalped by the Indian warriors. But Foster, riddled with musket-balls, at last fell dead at the foot of the tree that had pro- tected him; and Hayes was disabled by serious wounds in the thighs. Then the main body of the Americans appeared in sight; 25 or 30 men were left
68 NATIVIDAD AND SANTA CLARA.
to besiege the few remaining scouts; Rico's rear guard was moved up; and the Californian army, about 65 strong, was drawn up on the plain to the right or east of the grove, to meet the enemy.^^
When Thompson arrived with reenforcements from San Juan, after the scouts had been sent out but be- fore the encinahto fight began,^^ there arose a discus- sion as to what should be done. Thompson and many of the men in both companies favored an advance to attack the Californians; but Burroughs with much reason hesitated to incur the needless risk of engag- inof in a conflict which misfht result in a loss of his horses and the failure of all Fremont's plans. The controversy became heated as time passed on, and taunts of cowardice were flung at the captain by the irresponsible volunteers, Thompson, a reckless fire- eater, becoming extremely violent in his remarks.^® If any further incentive was needed, it came presently in reports from the Walla Walla scouts of what was going on at Natividad.^' ' Detaching fourteen men to guard the horses in Gomez's corrals, and committing 369
to their care a field-piece found at the last moment to be unserviceable for the fight, Burroughs gave the order to advance, and the little army of about fifty men began their march, perhaps half an hour or more after the encinalito fight had begun.
The Californians were superior in numbers and were skilful horsemen; but their weapons were a miscella- neous collection of improvised lances, reatas, ineffective escopetas, and pistols, with powder for only a few dis- charges of the fire-arms. The Americans were, most of them, but indifferent riders; but they were well armed with rifles and had plenty of ammunition. Coming in sight of the enemy, Burroughs' men advanced rap- idly over the plain. Castro's men fired their muskets at long range, doing no harm. The Americans, halt- ing, discharged their rifles, and at once charged upon the foe at full speed, with wild shouts, in a manner more creditable to their valor than to their discipline, each man for himself, with Captain Burroughs in ad- vance on his gray charger ^Sacramento.' The charge was a blunder like that committed at San Pascual a little later, and with similar results. ^ The Californians feigned flight, in accordance with their usual tactics ;^^ but presently turned to attack their pursuers, as they came at full speed over the plain in disorder and armed with empty rifles. At the same time apparently the 20 or 30 men at the grove rushed up to attack the Amer- icans on the rear or flank.-^^ Some writers describe what followed as a desperate hand-to-hand fight, last- ing from ten to twenty minutes; but this is shown by the results to be an exasfoferation. In such a conflict a large number of Americans must have fallen. But
^^ Indeed, 30 or 40 of them ran away in good earnest, according to Larkin, who was still a spectator. These were probably men who were serving against their will. During the fight, Lorenzo Soto, in his wrath at seeing a relative fall, rushed upon Larkin to kill (or scare?) him, but L. saved himself by backing his horse behind others ! L. was, however, compelled to change ani- mals successively until he was reduced to a *$1 horse and $2 saddle.'
^' Henry Marshall, Statement, MS., 2-3, was wounded by a lance in this f)art of the fight, which he describes more fully than any other, being fol- uwed by Lancey. 'E. C. K.' also mentions this movement, stating that 2 Americans were killed and one wounded. [162] pp.363-369
370 NATIVIDAD AKD SANTA CLARA.
I suppose that only the foremost pursuers, and a few of Castro's men, came actually to close quarters for a very brief period. The brave Burroughs, however, leading the charge, fell dead, pierced by a pistol- bullet;^^ two or three others were killed; and several were wounded. Very soon, however, the Americans fell back into a more compact body; some of those in the rear, who had either reserved their fire at first or had time to reload, fired upon the advancing foe, killing and wounding several; and Castro's men again fled.^^ The Californians remained in sight until night- fall, and may have indulged in some charges and evo- lutions at a safe distance; but there was no more fighting, and at last the enemy disappeared in the distance. Larkin describes the fight as having lasted some twenty or thirty minutes, and says the Califor- nians disappeared in successive detachments. The Californians say that the Americans finally dis- mounted and took refuge among the trees, which is not unlikely; and that they retreated because they had no possible chance of success against the rifles, especially as they had no more powder. Captain Thompson withdrew his force to Gomez's rancho to bury his dead, care for the wounded, and make prep- arations for defence, since a renewal of the attack
^•' 'E. C. K.' says: 'He fell headlong from his horse, his unloaded rifle in hand, shot down by a swarthy New Mexican, in the act of turning upon him.' 'K.' says the dashing 'hidalgo rode up abreast, and flourishing a flag in one hand, with the other sent his bullet through our leader's body.' Chris- tian Chauncey, an eye-witness, tells us that Burroughs was shot by 'Three- fingered Jack,' who wished to get his horse and saddle, though the horse es- caped. S. F. AUa, Aug. 8, 1853. Lancey identifies the 'swarthy New Mexi- can' with 'Three-fingered Jack, 'as Bernardino Garcia, the murderer of Cowie and Fowler at Sta Rosa in July. According to Sta Cruz Times, Torre waa the man who killed Burroughs ; Alvarado says it was Juan de Mata Boronda; and Swasey, who gives one of the best accounts of the battle, is positive that it was Manuel Castro himself. Clearly it is not known who fired the shot. Swasey notes that B. had in his pocket a packet of letters for men at Mon- terey, the corner of each being cut off and blood-marked by the ball.
^^ It is said that Burrouglis had at first ordered every alternate man to fire; but in the excitement little attention was paid to the order. Thompson, however, induced some of his men to reserve their fire, and was thus able at last to repulse the enemy. Wm M. Boggs, in Napa Beijister, May 4, 1872, following Gregson — see also Gregsoii's Statement, MS., 4-5 — says that the arrival of Weber with reenforcements put an end to the fight ; but this ia only a confused reference to Thompson's arrival at an earlier hour.
KILLED AND WOUNDED. 371
was feared. Tom Hill, with perhaps another Indian named Mcintosh, was sent to Monterey with a mes- sage for Fremont, and is said to have had a fight on the way, in which he was wounded. ^^
The Americans lost at Natividad four or five men killed, including Burroughs, Foster, Ames, and Thome ;^^ and five or six wounded, including Hayes, Hill, Marshall, William McGlone, and James Cash. At least, these are the losses reported ; but it is possi- ble that they were more numerous, though the Cali- fornians doubtless exaggerate in their narratives.^* Foster was buried at the foot of the tree where he fell ; the others were interred at Gomez's rancho, and a salute fired over their graves. The Californian loss was perhaps about the same as that of the Ameri- cans, though really little is known about it beyond the wounding of Chavez and Cantua at the grove. That so few were killed on the American side is accounted for by the short duration of the fight at close quarters; but that the rifles did so little execution, especially at
22 The Delaware's arrival is noted (incorrectly ^as on the morning of the 16th) in Coltoii's Three Yearn, 96-7; also his fight on the way, in wliich he met 3 Californians, killing one with his rifle, another with his tomahawk, while the third fled. Swasey implies that Hill's wound was received in the fight before he started for Monterey, from the fragments of a bullet. Lancey has it that he got a lance through the hand from the Indian he tomahawked on the way. 'E. C. K.' says Charles Mcintosh and an Indian were sent to Monterey. See also Californian, Nov. 21, 1846, for adventures of the Walla Walla messengers.
^^ ' Billy the Cooper ' is mentioned by several authorities as having been killed. His real name was not known; but he was possibly the man called Thome by ' E. C. K.' and others.
24 « Pioneer ' (John A. Swan), in reminiscences called out by * K.'s ' article, Savage, Doc, MS., iii. 20 et seq., was personally acquainted with the killed and wounded, and many others who took part in the fight, and he thinks the loss was heavier than reported. 4 killed and 5 wounded is ' E. C. K.'s 'state- ment. Larkin says 4 killed and 2 or 3 wounded, perhaps not including the grove fight; and again he says there were 10 or 12 killed and wounded on each side. Gomez states that 4 dead and 9 wounded were brought to the rancho, 6 more dead found and buried at the grove, and 3 bodies found later by the people of Natividad. Jos6 Ant. Alviso, Campanade Natividad, MS., son of the owner of the rancho, who claims to have first informed Castro of the presence of the Americans at S. Juan, says 4 Amer. were killed and 4 wounded. Rico says that in the main fight he saw 8 or 9 Amer. killed, and heard of more, besides those killed at the grove. In a report of the time, Castro claimed to have killed 21 of the enemy. Fernandez, Doc., MS., 53. Pico says the Amer. lost 2 officers and several soldiers killed. Flores in Dec. reported that 11 Amer. had been killed
372 NATIVIDAD AND SANTA CLARA.
the grove, where the enemy came near enough to rid- dle Poster's body with musket-balls, is remarkable;, and, indeed, it is not unlikely that the loss may have been greater than represented. From a dozen to twenty was the estimate of the Americans, who of course had no means of knowing the truth.^^ The dead were probably buried at Alisal rancho. Lieu- tenant Chavez was cared for secretly at some of the ranchos, and finally came to Monterey in January, where for a long time he eluded the vigilance of offi- cials, largely by the aid of prominent ladies.^^ The Californians after leaving Natividad dispersed for the most part as they advanced southward. Rico with a small party hastened with Larkin to the capital, where Castro also made his appearance later with 25 or 30 of his army. Though the Americans were the attacking party, and were content to remain on the defensive after the fight, yet the result was practically a victory for them, since the Californians were forced to abandon their projects of seizing the horses and harassing the battalion by a guerrilla warfare.^^
Frdmont and his men left Monterey November 1 7th as soon as the news arrived from Los Verjeles. He
2^ Alviso says the Cal. lost 4 wounded. Rico says he lost 4 killed and 4 wounded, besides several killed before at the grove. Loss about same as the Amer. according to Alvarado. Vallejo gives the loss as 3 killed and 4 wounded; including Vicente Soto and Bautista Garcia. 3 killed and 5 wounded according to Castro's report. Mrs Ord says 2 killed. Inocente Gar- cia, Hecho-^, MS., 97-8, says his son Bautista was wounded; also heard from a fugitive at S. Luis that a cholo and a cook from S. Luis and several from Monterey had been killed. Pico says several of his own men were killed and wounded. Nidever, Life, MS., 129-30, says an Italian cutthroat named An- tonio was killed on the Cal. side. Larkin says 3 Californians were killed, besides Jos6 Garcia from S. America; and 7 wounded. Gomez says the Walla Wallas scalped 4 Californians.
2'"' Many stories are told of Chavez's adventures in trying to avoid arrest. Once be was concealed in bed between two women, which prompts Bev. Wal- ter Colton, Three Years, 145, to wickedly quote a verse from Don Juan. See also Oi^d, Ocurrencias, MS., 152-4; Gomez, Lo Que Sabe, MS., 95-6. Lancey, Cruise, 151, tells us Chavez was taken on board the guard-ship at Monterey and had his wounds dressed.
^^ Besides the references already given on the Natividad affair, see Honolulu Friend, iv. 190; Martin's Narr., MS., 35; Osio, Hist. Cal, MS., 479-80; La- rios^ Vida, MS., 23-4; Amador, Mem., MS., 170-2; Upham's Life Fremont, 242-5; Taylor^a Eldoradoy i. 194; and many of the county histories.
MARCH OF THE BATTALION. 373
made some expeditions in different directions in search of such parties of the enemy as might still be lurking in the district; but found no Californians, and in four or five days united his forces at San Juan, where he remained till the end of November. Some parties of recruits joined the force there, and one from the Sac- ramento did not arrive until the army had started southward. At San Juan the organization of the bat- talion, as already described, was completed; and on the 29th the army started on its march to cooperate with Stockton against Flores. The march was for the most part uneventful, and requires no extended description. Bryant's diary is in print, and is supple- mented by many other narratives more or less com- pleted^ The rains of an extremely wet season had begun, and progress was consequently slow and diffi- cult along the muddy way. The old grass was spoiled by the rain, and the new was not sufficient to keep the horses in strength. Many of the animals had to be abandoned on the way, and still more could barely carry their saddles without the riders, so that a large part of the march was performed by the men on foot. Luggage was carried by pack-mules. Beef was almost the only article of food, cattle being driven along with the army and killed at each halt as required. Many of the men were ill, but only one death occurred. The route was up the San Benito, over the hills to the Salinas, up that valley and past San Miguel to San Luis, where they arrived the 14th of December.
There is no reason to doubt that Fremont and his officers exerted themselves to prevent disorders and outrages on the march, and with a high degree of
2® Bryant\'i What I Saw, 365-91 ; itinerary of dates and distances in Grigs- hy^s Paperfi, MS., 9-12; weather record in Frdmont^s Geog. Mem., 41-2. Other narratives will be mentioned in later notes on special points; but the follow- ing may be named as not requiring further mention, though some of them are accurate enough: *S'. F. Star, Jan. 9, 1847, copied in other papers; S. F. Alta, Dec. 18, 1852; Martin's Narr., MS., 3G-8; Lancey's Cruise, 15G-G5; Tuthill's Hist. Cal., 200-3; Upham's Life Frdmont, 24:2-9; Dice. Univ., yiii. IGO; Cutts* Conq., 160-2; Honolulu Friend, iv. 190; Yolo Co. Hist., 20; and several other local histories.
374 NATIVIDAD AND SANTA CLARA.
success, considering the unfavorable circumstances. There was some complaint and insubordination among the men and subaltern officers, requiring a court-mar- tial for the trial of certain offenders on December 7th. ^^ The trail of Castro's retreating force was crossed; and on the 8th two Californians were arrest- ed, as were several later. An Indian servant of Jesus Pico was taken on the 12th, and next day shot as a spy after trial. The evidence against him has never been made public, but the act was doubtless an un- justifiable compliance with a bitter popular feeling in the army. On the same day the ranch o of Ojitos was plundered, its buildings being burned by a scouting party.^*^ At San Luis Obispo it was thought there might be an armed force, and the place was accordingly surrounded and taken by a sudden assault on the 1 4th in the rainy darkness of night; but only women, chil- dren, and non-combatants were found.^^
The house of Pico, the former commandant, was
^^Bryant, 371. Swasey, Cal. 1845-6, MS., 21, mentions James Savage as one of the worst malecontents, and says that several officers were reduced to the ranks, there being also several desertions. Swasey, p. 24—5, notes that on one occasion shots were heard in advance, and the men were found engaged in a battle with grizzly bears, of which 26 were killed. Boggs, in Napa Reg- ister, May 4, 1872, notes a mirage by which a madrono tree was made to ap- pear a large force of the enemy. Also in Id., June 1, 1872, is described a practical joke in which the bugler, Butler, was made to blow his morning blast and rouse the camp, mistaking the moon for the sun.
"^^ Pico, Acont., MS., 70, says the Indian, named Santa Maria, had been sent out by him to watch the Americans. It is generally stated that papers were found on his person, perhaps communications to the enemy. H. Jose Pio- neer, Jan. 27, 1877. Paso Robles is mentioned by several as the place where he was arrested. Swasey says the shooting of the Indian was opposed by many of the officers, but it was deemed unsafe to disregard the feelings of the undisciplined men. Janssens, Vida, MS., 197, says that Fremont farther south mentioned the different outrages as the acts of detached parties, whom he could not control. Serrano says Los Ojitos was burned because the owner had two sons in the Californian army; also that the bell-ringer of San Luis was threatened with death for having rung the vesper bells, and soon died of fright. Gonzalez, Mem., MS., 42-3, denounces these acts as cowardly, and notes that an American tried to mount a wild colt and was killed, probably an error.
^^ Swasey, Cal. ^4^-6, MS., 21-2, graphically describes the amusing scenes of this night assault, including Capt. Sears' valiant charge over adobe walls into a sheep corral. He also notes that many were made ill by eating rav- enously of the pumpkins and frijoles found at San Luis. There have been re- ports that the inhabitants were surprised at a ball, but this seems to have no foundation in fact. See Bryant, ^ll:, Jansaens, Vida, MS., 193; Pico,Acont,f MS., 71; Lancey's Cruise, 160.
[162]pp 370-374
Besides their home on the Portrero, the Quintanas maintained a home in town. An 1855 deed on page 105 of Book A of the San Luis Obispo County deeds makes reference to Estevan owning a home on Chorro Street north of the Mission. The deed isssued to Nicolas Carbio was described as being on “the western side of Choro St.; fronting thereon 10 varas and running back 5 varas more or less to the graveyard of the Church and lying between the house of Augustin Garcia on the south, called the Lafaette house, and the house of Estevan Quintana on the north. The houses of García and Carbio separated his home from an adobe that Estevan later owned on the northwest corner of Monterey and Chorro streets, the site where the Plaza fountain and the statue of Father Serra sit today in front of the Mission.
Besides the new rancho, Estevan had been acquiring lots and building on them in the town of San Luis Obispo. The 1874 Assessor’s List shows that Estevan was assessed for a total of 6,997 acres of ranch land; 3 houses & lots in SLO, value $3,500; 1 house [actually the Quintana Building] under construction by Blás Castro, value $100; 1 lot in SLO, value $25; Rancho Potrero, 3,166 acres, value $1,266.40; part of Rancho San Bernardo, 2,438 acres, value; $1,219; improvements on the Rancho Potrero, value $800; improvements on San Bernardo, value $50; 500 Spanish cattle, 400 Spanish sheep, 10 tame horses, 15 manada [herd] animals [probably untamed horses]; 1 wagon and harness, value $100; furniture, value, $50; total assessed value [not market value], $8,620.40; tax assigned, $280.15, marked “paid.”
In 1874 Estevan constructed a new brick building on the northeast corner of Monterey and Chorro Streets. It was called the “Quintana Block,” but now it is generally referred to as the “Quintana Building.” There he operated a general merchandise store that Pedro ran for him and later inherited. In the 1890’s Pedro remodeled the building, removing the sections that jutted out into Chorro and Monterey streets. After Pedro’s death in 1921, his son Thomas Quintana inherited the building. He hired a cheap but inept contractor to remodel the building and to add a third story to the structure. He then opened it as the “Blackstone Hotel.” Thomas later acknowledged that his remodeling of the building was one of two worst blunders he committed in his life. It was due to be demolished in 2009.
Now ensconced in his upstairs apartment in his new building, Estevan donated his old home on Chorro Street to Tadeo Amat, Bishop of Monterey, by deed in the middle 1870’s [Deed Book “F,” pages 353-354], presumably for the proposed eastern extension of the mission church.
On January 11, 1877, the Quintanas lost their granddaughter, Guadalupe Herrera de Sauer, age twenty-three. Her death was probably caused by childbirth, but, if so, the child did not survive. Guadalupe was buried in the increasingly populated Quintana Plot at the cemetery.
In March of 1878 Estevan’s foot had become ulcerated. He was told that amputation was necessary. At least half of amputations of younger, healthier persons resulted in death in that era, so Estevan made out his will carefully and then underwent the operation. These deeds, executed at the time of Estevan’s crisis were recorded with the county clerk:
Deed Book “J,” page 539, Estevan Quintana to Luis Gardello, 5 November 1878
Deed Book “J,” page 316, Pedro Quintana to Luis Gardello, 5 November 1878
Deed Book “L” or “J,” page 539, Guadalupe Quintana to Estevan Quintana,
22 March 1878
Deed Book “L,” page 54, Estevan Quintana to Guadalupe Quintana, 22 March
1878
Among these deeds was the sale of Estevan’s new brick building on the northwest corner of Monterey and Chorro streets, no doubt because he could not navigate the stairs to his upstairs residence. It is unknown where in San Luis Obispo Estevan lived during the last two years of his life. It is known that he was seen walking around town on his wooden leg conducting his business. That is stated in his obituary.
At age seventy-seven he surprised everyone and probably himself by surviving the operation. He proudly sat for a photograph prominently displaying the healed leg stump about a year after the surgery. But the bout had severely weakened him; he was an old man, and death came the following year. He died August 4, 1880, the day before his seventy-ninth birthday. His obituary appeared in the Saturday, August 7, 1880 issue on page 1, column 3 of the San Luis Obispo Tribune:
On Wednesday lastMr. Francisco E. Quintana died at his residence in this city at the advanced age of eighty years less one day[sic]. Mr. Quintana has resided in SLO nearly, if not quite half a century. He was a native of New Mexico. He came to this country poor, but by industry and frugality acquired a competency. For a number of his later years Mr. Quintana was afflicted with a diseased leg which incapacitated him from active business, and two years ago he had the limb amputated. His strong constitution and nerve enabled him to undergo the operation, and during the past year he has been able to get about. The funeral took place from the Catholic church, and the remains were followed to the grave by a large number of surviving relatives and sympathizing friends.
Don Estevan’s funeral Mass was held at the Old Mission Church in San Luis Obispo. From there his body was taken to the Old Mission Cemetery. After his burial, the Quintana family adorned the large family plot. Black and white marble tile walkways lead to Estevan’s white marble sarcophagus and the tall obelisks of family members. Although the site has been vandalized and is showing its age, it still is elegant after these many years.
In 1854 José María and Tomás deeded away six tenths of the rancho. In these transactions, recorded in Deed Book A, pages 87,100-101, the partners deeded six of their ten “ganado mayores” to a William Carey Jones of San Francisco, who immediately deeded half of his interest to Albert Packard “in consideration of his taking charge of the cause during my absence, and assisting in the cause as may be necessary.” Signing as a witness to the transactions were John C. Fremont and José de Jesus Pico, whom Fremont almost executed in 1846. This appears to be the case of an attorney
William Carey Jones using an agent
Albert Packard to win portions of ranchos for representing cash-poor Californios at the U.S. Land Commission hearings. Fremont’s role in this is suspicious. Perhaps he received kickbacks for persuading rancheros to agree to these arrangements. Suspecting this to be true, I plugged in the name “William Carey Jones” into the Internet. On the Internet is reference to a document written by Jones in 1851 entitled “Subject of Land Titles in California” written in 1851 with
William M. Eddy. The full title of the work was “Report to the Secretary of the Interior, Communicating a copy of the report, Carey Jones, special agent to examine the subject of land titles in California.” A special agent of the government gaining title to ranchos through mediaries smacks of corruption. Yet later I discovered that Jones was also a son-in-law of U.S. Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, which means that he was Fremont’s brother-in-law.
After the above transaction, José María was listed in the 1854 tax assessment as owning no land, only $500 of personal property. His tax was $7.50.
of information here, reading between the lines!
General's Office. Subtitle State Archives--Spanish Records, v. 1.
(Note: I have modified the format so it's easier to post as an email.) "O" indicates a transcribed copy of the original document. "T" indicates an English translation of the transcribed copy.
O - 8- 106 T - 8 - 106 Petitioner: Herrera, Tomas and Residents
(If you would like me to copy and send you these documents, just let me know.) Tomas HERRERA is identified as "Alcalde of the Second Instance" of the Pueblo of San Luis Obispo. The "Residents" petitioning with him are not identified by name, but are described as "all, with Second Alcalde, from New Mexico". The date of the petition is 28 July, 1845.
California. I would roughly equate this position with that of Justice of the Peace. (Can someone else on NORCAL elaborate?)
expedientes, p. 197, I found information stating that the petition of Tomas HERRERA and residents for Laguna San Luis Obispo should not be granted, because there was a prior claim of a grant of the property to the Catholic Church. ( A cross-check of the Item 1 Index by Patent shows both HERRERA and the Catholic Church as petitioners.)
volume number), p. 203, I found the following. In the body of the petition, Tomas HERRERA is named as well as Jose Maria QUINTANA as petitioner. The land is described as "ten square leagues" and as "a tract of land contiguous to the tulares". This land was in fact granted to "Tomas HERRERA and Jose Maria QUINTANA and their families" on 11 July 1846. (A crosscheck of the Index by Patent shows Tomas HERRERA and Geronimo QUINTANA as petitioners.)
Los Angeles Star, Number 28, 24 November 1855, p2c2, FIRST DISTRICT COURT
This article originally appeared in the Branding Iron, Los Angeles Corral of The Westerners, Fall 2009, Number 256.
---
In 1856, Mrs. Mary Holland Hamilton Sparks (wife of the scandalous Quartus Strong Sparks) had an affair (or at least was “overly intimate”) in San Bernardino CA with Dr. Ira Burrus or Barrus, a Mormon (from Boston?); see Edward Leo Lyman, San Bernardino: The Rise and Fall of a California Community, (Signature Books: Salt Lake City, 1996) Chapter 4, p.159: 159
--- p.301
--- p.302
Post Office, D. N. Thomas ---
---
The exodus of the Mormons from San Bernardino, is giving an opportunity to those who are desirous of fixing themselves permanently, in one of the most desirable localities in the State, to accomplish their wishes under the most favorable circumstances. That our readers may judge for themselves, we give some items of sales recently made. One tract of eighty-two acres, that cost $10.50 per acre, fenced with a good picket fence, which cost two dollars per rod, the entire tract under cultivation, with good ditches for irrigation, was sold for $500. One lot of two and a half acres, in the city, with a good dwelling house, blacksmith's and wagon maker's shops, out houses, and one hundred and fifty fruit trees, forty of which are bearing, was sold for $300. Another tract, containing 600 acres, under fence, on which were 7,500 grape vines, and was assessed last year it $10,000, sold for $1,500. A tract of 300 acres, under fence, having 500 peach trees, in fruit, and 55 0 young trees, assorted fruits; a good distillery, which cost $17,000; a flouring mill, with two run of stones ; a saw mill; all in first rate condition, with unfailing water power, was sold for $6,000. This property cost not less than $75,000. The titles to all this property is unexceptionable. There cannot be less than one hundred improved farms, with comfortable dwellings, now for sale in that county.
---
--- p.361
--- p.362 new dr in bold, A. S. St. Clair no longer appears at Jarupa
---
The Los Angeles correspondent of the Daily Alta California visited San Bernardino soon after the event and reported what had happened in some detail naming the instigators Dr. Gentry and Dr. Ensworth [Ainsworth] and named the Monte as the town in Los Angeles County that had sent men to intervene:
---
+ "on D St. south of 3rd St." 1872 to 1887, 237 D St.
The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California · Page 14] "on D St. south of 3rd St." 1872 to 1887
+ 237 D. St. [182] ---
---
---
"...eight young men..." [187]: 343–344
---
"One of the notable events of these exciting days occurred in 1859, and has been known locally as "The Ainsworth-Gentry affair." As described by an eye-witness in Ingersoll's Century Annals of San Bernardino County, is occurred as follows: "San Bernardino County at this time had two physicians, one of whom was Union in sentiment, the other a Southerner. This fact, mingled with a feeling of professional rivalry and perhaps with other causes not made public, produced a rancor which finally led Doctor Gentry to attack Doctor Ainsworth with a horse-whip. Doctor Ainsworth seized the whip and struck his assailant in the face. The next day Gentry, on meeting his rival, fired his pistol at him. Ainsworth escaped the shot by dodging, and returned the fire— but no one was hurt. Gentry collected his friends and they began to make serious threats against Ainsworth. The friends of the latter determined to protect him and eight young men armed themselves, removed Ainsworth to an old adobe house on the corner west of the South Methodist Church and there kept guard over him for two or three days. The Gentry party sent word to El Monte that the Mormons had attacked them and about fifty men from that settlement armed themselves and rode over to San Bernardino. On learning that the Ainsworth party were simply protecting their man, the better class of these visitors returned home. But a few of the more lawless under the leadership of a desperado —one Green, remained and paraded the streets, firing their guns, terrorizing the citizens and defying the authorities. They loaded the old cannon which had looked so formidable in the Fort Benson affair and hauled it into place, announcing their intention of burning down the house where Ainsworth was in hiding and shooting his guard. One of the guards succeeded in reaching the cannon unnoticed and spiked it with a rat-tail file. When the attacking party became too aggressive the guard prepared to fire. Word was passed to 'save fire and shoot low'—and most of the attacking mob suddenly vanished. A few shots were exchanged, however, and one of the Ainsworth party, Bethel Coopwood, was wounded in the shoulder." The intruders were driven out when Sheriff V. J. Herring called upon the citizens to aid him in restoring order." [188]: 148
In 1860, San Bernardino was not a shopper's paradise. Its three general stores offered no more than what the residents needed. But when it came to entertainment of the bawdy sort, the city was a virtual goldmine. From the red-light district to "Whiskey Point," residents and travelers visiting downtown could quench almost any thirst. Shoppers seeking the usual fare patronized Lewis Jacob's and Calisher's general stores, both on Arrowhead Avenue near Fourth Street, and Lewis Ankers, on West Third. Other establishments included James A. Brazelton's livery stable, a feed store and Miller's and Pine's hotels, along with innumerable saloons, which changed owners overnight.
George A. Atwood, who came to the city at age 7 in 1860, owned the adobe at 234 West Fourth St. bearing his name (razed "by mistake" by city crews in 1975) later recalled: "San Bernardino was but a little town when we arrived here. I remembered they claimed about 500 people altogether, Mexicans, Indians and whites. "The business of the town was little and was mostly done on four corners; Fourth Street and Arrowhead Avenue, which was then known as C street; the corner of Third and Arrowhead; the corner of Third and D and the corner of Fourth and D. Between these corners there were some scattered buildings, but very few.
"One corner, Third and D, was known as 'Whiskey Point' There was a saloon where the Bear Market (later owned by Billy Berk, who renamed it the 'Market Spot') now stands, and one across the street where the Towne Allison drug store now stands." Stage line depots were on both sides of "Whiskey Point," along with a cluster of saloons all within easy reach of miners and loggers returning on the stage from the desert and mountains. The corner was a hangout for men down on their luck, sharpies, drunks and prostitutes. It also served as a sort of outdoor lyceum, or sounding board, for disgruntled citizens and would-be . politicians, who could get up on the proverbial soapbox and speak their piece. But now and then things got a bit flaky.
"I remember well," continued Atwood. "When some other boys and I were playing on D Street, between Third and Fourth streets, when we heard a noise and uproar down on the corner of Third and D. "We looked down that way and saw a lot of men running out of the saloon. They all seemed to be afraid; some of them were trying to hide around the corner. Presently a couple of men ran out into the street. They pulled their revolvers and went to shooting. "When the smoke cleared away, two men were lying dead in the street. We boys traveled back in the opposite direction. There wasn't much excitement over the shooting, because that was a common occurence. "We had no city officers at that time and no city government. Of course we had a county sheriff. His time was spent mostly in running after horse thieves and wild Indians ... He let the town take care of itself."
South of "Whiskey Point," on D Street, was the red-light district, started shortly after the Mormons left in 1857. According to local historian was the red-light district, started shortly after the Mormons left in 1857. According to local historian Martha Gaines Stoebe, "It grew and prospered for years. It was a lively and colorful part of town, with hurdy-gurdy music at 2nd and D Streets, saloons open day and night, and poker games in progress at all times." The accompanying photograph of a street parade in San Bernardino in 1887 shows Knights of Pythias marchers turning left from Third Street onto North D, directly in front of "Whiskey Point." Across the street on East Third is Meyerstein & Son drygoods on the corner with George M. Cooley hardware to the immediate left. Looming up in the right background is South D Street.
The first shots in one of San Bernardino's most celebrated gun battles the Gentry-Ainsworth affair were fired just around the corner from "Whiskey Point" on a scorching summer's day in September 1851. The feud was between two local physicians; A. Ainsworth, a Northern sympathizer and G. Thomas Gentry, a Texan, ardent secessionist and pro-slavery advocate. It all started when Gentry, becoming incensed during a hot political argument, struck Ainsworth with his horsewhip, only to have the latter snatch the whip away and lash him across the face. The following day, Gentry emerged from the "Old Corner Saloon" on North D and fired his pistol at Ainsworth, who was passing by on the street. In turn Ainsworth drew his own weapon and fired back, but neither was hit. By now Gentry was thoroughly chagrined by his inability to do Ainsworth in and sent word to some of his Texan friends living at El Monte that he had been "corraled by Mormons" in San Bernardino and needed help immediately if not sooner. Meanwhile, Ainsworth and about eight of his friends already had been warned about Gentry's actions and holed themselves up in a house owned by Bethel Coopwood across the street from Lugo (now Pioneer) Park. When the El Monte "vigilantes" arrived and discovered the whole episode was a personal affair between the two men, most of them returned home. The rest, numbering almost 50 and led by Frank Green, milled about in the park, drinking and carousing until darkness fell. Then, hoping to surprise their opponents, they dismounted and quietly advanced toward Coopwood's residence. But the Ainsworth party, by now secreted in a tall cornfield surrounding the house, had just watched the Texans' every move. As Green and his cohorts crossed E Street, the crackle of small-arms fire filled the air. Before the skirmish ended, four persons were wounded, including Coopwood, who was shot in the shoulder. The Texans, extremely vulnerable in their exposed position, quickly withdrew and the mini-civil war was over as far as Gentry and Ainsworth were concerned. Green and a few other Texans remained in San Bernardino for several days, riding through town and terrorizing residents, while the sheriff was off "chasing wild Indians."
Today "Whiskey Point," once coveted by wild and desperate characters, is occupied by the downtown offices of Pacific Savings Bank. And, if there are any would-be politicians still hanging around, they probably can be found within the confines of the City Hall standing just a few yards away to the West. Fred Holladay Is president of the City of San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society.
street parade turn left off Third Street onto D, in front of 'Whiskey Point.'
---
Daniel Burns KIA in Mexican War, James Ellington from Louisiana killed in Monte 1854, Thomas J. Gentry Married in 1855 abandoned her 1858, divorced for abandonment 8/1860.
Married THOMAS GENTRY, 1855 MONTE
Notes DIED Oceanside: age 75
_FA1 DATE 1835 PLAC Navarro, ,TX age 10: Move from AL w/parents.
_FA2 DATE 1854 PLAC CA: Move from TX: Tahachapi Cemetery:
EVEN TYPE Census 3 DATE 1850 PLAC Navarro, ,TX Hd 25 Wd AL 750: 10/12/1850
EVEN TYPE Census 8 DATE 1900 PLAC San Diego, , CA M/L 74 Wd Aug 1825 TN KY SC:
EVEN TYPE Census 4 DATE 1860 PLAC CA: LA: Hd 34 Farmer -/1000 AL: 271/27/187/181: Asuza Twp 7/23/1860
EVEN TYPE Census 6 DATE 1880 PLAC CA: LA: Hd 54 Wd Keep House TX KY AL: 34/34/290/291: El Monte Twp 6/23/1880SOURCE: (1) Deven Lewis dlewis@@earthlink.com 5/2/2000
CA: Los Angeles: 1860 Census: 271/27/187/181: Asuza Twp 7/23/1860 GENTRY, Mahala: Hd 34 Farmer -/1000 AL: GENTRY, Elias: Son 15 School/Day Labor TX: GENTRY, Sarah: Dau 13 School TX: GENTRY, James: Son 12 School MO: GENTRY, Daniel: Son 11 School TX: GENTRY, Thomas: Son 8 School TX: GENTRY, George: Son 6 School CA: GENTRY, John: Son 4 CA: GENTRY, Valentine: Dau 2 CA:
CA: Los Angeles: 1880 Census: 34/34/290/291: El Monte Twp 6/23/1880 HICKS, Mahala J: Hd 54 Wd Keep House TX KY AL: HICKS, Mary: Dau 18 S CA GA TX: HICKS, Lee R: Son 16 S School CA GA TX:
CA: San Diego: 1900 Census: 186/6A/112/112: Oceanside San Luis Rey Twp 6/8/1900 HUBBERT, Benjamin F: Hd 29 m13 Jun 1860 R/W Farmer Owns TX GA GA: HUBBERT, Mary E: Wf 28 m13 2/2 Jul 1861 R/W CA GA TN: HUBBERT, Mary E: Dau 12 Jul 1887 R/W School CA TX CA: HUBBERT, Ethel A: Dau 11 Sep 1888 R/W School CA TX CA: HICKS, Mahala J: M/L 74 Wd Aug 1825 TN KY SC:
My g.g.grandmother, Thomas' daughter Mahala Jane Mackey, married a Daniel Burns in Robertson County, in 1844. He is believed to have died in the Mexican-American War about 1848. In the 1850 Navarro Co. census, I find Mahala Burns (as a widow, I'm sure) from Alabama with her Burns children and "Sarah McKey", age 55. I believe that this is the correct age, for Sarah, placing her birth in 1795 or 1796. I suspect the 1835 memorandum should have given her age as "39" instead of "29".
In 1851, Mahala Mackey Burns, married her second husband, James Ellington. In 1854, they caught a wagon train to El Monte, CA, where he was murdered shortly thereafter - I have the Los Angeles Star issue containing the story. She would marry two more times, the last being my g.g.grandfather, Homer Blair Hicks, a Georgian.
Is there any chance that Sarah Ward Murphree could have been part Cherokee? My problem is this: our family verbal history is that Mahala was 1/2 Irish and 1/2 Cherokee, and she looked it (I have a photo of her). I'm close to proving that Thomas was Scottish and both parents were definitely from Scotland, if I'm looking at the right line. Deven Lewis
By Deven Lewis July 13, 2002 at 02:56:06]
We are trying to determine if James Ellington, who was married to Sina Huff and lived in Ellington, MO, is the same James Ellington who was married to my gggrandmother (James was her 2nd husband); James was murdered by bandits in El Monte, CA on Sept. 21, 1854, shortly after arriving there from Texas.My gggrandmother, Mahala Jane MacKey, married a James Ellington in McLennan County, TX on January 26, 1851 (the McLennan Co. marriage records misspell Ellington as "Ellenton"). Mahala had inherited a portion of her late father's property in Hill County, TX and sold her share in March of 1845, when we believe she and James left for CA, arriving and establishing a ranch in El Monte, CA (known as "Little Texas"). Mahala had two sons, Tom Ellington b. 1852, before the couple left TX, and George Ellington b. 1854. (Mahala went on to marry a Thomas Gentry in El Monte, CA; after his death, she married Homer Hicks in El Monte, CA).
According to a story we've heard, James Ellington, who was married to Sina Huff, left for the California gold rush via Texas and took some of his children from his marriage to Sina with him, however, the children later returned to MO. This James is also said to have been murdered in CA in 1854.
In the 1850 census (2 years before the marriage of James to Mahala) we find a listing on the next page over from our Mahala MacKey Burns:
From: Dardev@aol.com Subject: Mackey/McKey Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2000 11:27:42 EDT
Hello All:
I'm looking for Mackey/McKey in Hill Co. and Ellis Co. - the family's property was along the Brazos River just south of Whitney. Related names: Sevier, Weaver, Wright, Boiles, Foreman, Burns, Ellington. Here's an abbreviated chart:
---
Arrival of the Senator. [by the Pacific Express.] The steamer Senator, Capt. A. M. Barns, arrived from San Diego and intermediate ports, last evening about half-past eight o'clock. The following is her passenger list, for which we are indebted to Mr. Harney. the clerk. (included Messer, Gentry) [193]
(Dr. Barton and Dr. Gentry were probable partners of the Barton & Gentry partnership referenced in the June 18, 1859 edition of the Los Angeles Star concerning a Grand Jury investigation of the books of San Bernardino and the determination of the incompetency of the Board of Supervisors. Among the list of various payments made are these two entries: “Barton & Gentry, for oil and turpentine, furnished for jail, $62.50" and "Barton & Gentry, for oil and turpentine, $60.50".)7 LA STAR 1859 06 18
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
.... 4th. Clouds, clouds; the wind southerly; a sprinkling, and the air cool. Today the escape of Flores is all the rage; Indeed it was an outrage. How glad everybody is that it happened with the Monte men — those frontier savages, who nave spent their whole lives fighting Indians! Thus, the other day they came in here to see what we slow moving citizens were doing! Monte is not popular just now, because just at the moment when they were desired to be ferocious, they took a freak of being kindhearted.
[This article seen by the whole state, had to have been a great humiliation to the Monte and Gentry was in charge of the Monte posse, at the time. This must have dashed his political prospects in the Monte and may been the cause of his move to San Bernardino, later that year as the Mormon Exodus began.]
---
---
In the month following the affair, Frank Gentry seems to have lived elsewhere than San Bernardino, often in the Bella Union Hotel according to its register published each week in the Los Angeles Star. On October 15th, he registers first as being from the Monte. Next on October 21st, from San Bernadino, and lastly from Cucamongo.
Tim thfree48@yahoo.com
I am seeking any info on Pryor Kyle born about 1814 in Tennessee. He is buried in Paskenta Cemetery in Corning, Tehama County, California. His gravestone reads 'Pryor Kyle died Sept 24, 1872 aged 58 years'. If anyone has any info on this man it would be very much appreciated.
---
Franklin Gentry passed away on April 24, 1864. [200] His may be one of the 9 unmarked graves in the Gentry Family Cemetery. [201] It is located 1.5 miles south of Antoine off County Road 301. It is on private property, behind a gate, in the woods about 100 meters off 301. [202]
1860 Census-------
...........
---
---
---
+ Bethel Jr. was 3 months old, not 16.
On Saturday last a difficulty occurred at the Court House, between Bethel Coopwood and Henry M. Willis, of the origin of which I am not informed. It is to be hoped that the officers of our county will act on all such occasions with some firmness and common sense, and for the honor of our county put an end to such disgraceful exhibitions, arising, as they generally do, from some trivial and unimportant cause. Justices Morse and Tyler have been engaged foi the laßt few days in taking the depositions of witnesses in the case of Wm. A. Conn, contestant, vs C. W. Piercy, respondent. Adios. Civis. ---
User:Asiaticus/sandbox/David Coopwood 28 M . . . . Alabama 1832 - 1865
iv. MARTHA L. NOWLIN, b. 1832, Tennessee; m. DAVID COOPWOOD, November 24, 1853, Tyler County, Texas. Descendants of Hugh Or Donough Nowlan
COUNTY: San Bernardino DIVISION: San Salvador Township
The Bell left Reynosa, with cotton, on the 25th instant, and when about one mile below the Dona Estefena Rancho+, we -- says Mr. ELLIOTT -- were hailed by a party of men, and rounded to. We landed on the Mexican side. Immediately a Captain and squad of men, acting under authority of CORTINA, came on board. They first overhauled and examined the boat's papers, after which a general search for arms was instituted. All the trunks were ransacked. Some arms belonging to passengers were found and taken, as was also a fine saddle belonging to a Mr. COPELAND, of San Antonio. During these investigations and explorations, there was a force on the shore estimated at about 200 men.
Under pretence of going to CORTINA to obtain permission for the Bell to proceed, the Captain left, giving the boat in charge of the squad of soldiers who first went on board with him.
After on absence of about two hours, the Captain returned with orders for the Bell to go up stream and land on the Texas side of the Bio Grande, at the Donna Estefena Ranche.
When about one hundred yards distant from the landing, a fire was opened on the boat from the men on shore. The passengers, supposing that a general massacre had been ordered, commenced leaning into the river, and endeavored to reach the Texas side. Two gentlemen were known to be drowned, viz: Messrs. COPEWOOD and STEPHENSON, of San Antonio; the former is supposed to have been shot while attempting to reach the shore.
The steamer went up to and landed at the Rancho, as directed, when CORTINA and several of his officers came on board. A parley was had with the Captain of the steamer of about thirty minutes' duration. The first question asked by them, was: "Do you recognize the authority of the United States?"
During the parley CORTINA said he would report the case under consideration to the Federal Major-General (supposed to be STEELE) before he could allow the steamer to proceed. This, however, was not exacted, as the following will show: CORTINA returned to the Rancho, and in about half an hour orders were received by the Captain of the steamer to report at the headquarters of CORTINA, which he did, at the Rancho. In a short time be returned with written orders releasing the boat and allowing her to proceed, which she did, without further molestation, arriving at Matamoras yesterday morning.
From the Matamoras Commerce, June 27.
The so-called Libero-Yankee party has had a jolly [???]; but their pranks are at an end.
[???] for awhile!
[???] steamer Belle has escaped a most outrageous and [???] attack, but three innocent victims have been [???]. The steamer Senorita has been captured, and she is now lying on the other side of the Rio Grande, at about six miles up the river. The cotton-has been landed, and the boat is said to be under repairs, or rather paeparations for active war service.
Is that the so pompously promised neutrality?
Is our friend Mr. BROWN, of Brownsville, going to [???]low the enemies of Mexico a certain and easy refuge [???] the limits of his command?
We have been on board the Belle since her return, [???]nd seen several passengers. All agree in branding the attack as the most cowardly act of barbarity ever perpetrated.
CORTINA has not dared to retain the boat captured by his gang. The stern representations of the Captain, who had been called at CORTINA's headquarters, on the other side, succeeded in sparing another crime to this already too guilty outlaw.
CORTINA and his so-called officers go freely in the Yankee camps. It is from the Rancho de Dona Stefana that he issues his orders. From there, too, supplies, victuals and war instruments are daily passed to the Mexican shore.
How long is that state of disorder going to be suffered?
Three persons lost their lives in the affray. One shot, two drowned or kitled in the water by six men posted on board the Senorita, captured previously.
P.S. -- The Senorita and her cargo have been detained provisionally by the American authorities, until the decision of Gen. BROWN. But her load is on the American soil, and it is a very suspicious kind of repair that she undergoes now.
From the Matamoras Ranchero, June 30.
It has been reported to us that CORTINA, in a recent interview with the Federal Gen. BROWN, expressed his intention to give up his opposition to the Mexican Empire, and retire to his rancho, and there remain in peace and quiet. We presume it makes very little difference to the empire whether or not these are his intentions; for the most he has been able to do, so far, has been to harass and annoy, without power to endanger imperial authority. Judging from appearances, it is about time for CORTINA to make up his mind to pursue some less obtrusive employment than he has lately been engaged in.
From the Matamoras Commerce, June 30.
This newly converted guerrilla and ex-Governor of Tamaulipas, who a few days ago became a member of the order of St. Francis, will preach, Sunday morning next, in a church at Brownsville.
The subject of the discourse will be "On the dangers of being a guerrillero in Israel."
The new reverend is said to be thoroughly acquainted with the text.
---
---
Delila Coopwood
Taney Woodward = Raymond DeLa Monthena Woodward Raymond De La Montaque Woodward, William De La Montaigne Woodward
1860 CENSUS
1850 census
Society and on many patriotic and social occasions she endeared herself by her versatility of talents, ainiability and unselfish disposition to a large circle of friends, for whom mother and father entertained just pride.
---
1860 Census
Temescal San Bernardino Co., Sept. 6, '60. Pursuant to notice, the miners of Temescal met at the residence of Capt. Hanegar, en masse, at 3 o'clock, P.M., for the purpose of forming such laws as they might deem proper for the future govern rnent and protection ol their interests in said mines ; whereupon 0. D. Gass. Esq.. was called to the chai r; Mr. J. M. Greenwade, Secretary. Mr. Gass explained the object of the meeting in a brief, clear, and impressive manner ; after which the meeting proceeded to business. Whereupon Capt. Hanegar offered the following, which, after some discussion, was unanimously adopted, to-wit ; ART. l. It shall be necessary in order to constitute a legal and valid claim in the mines of metaliterous ores in the vicinity of Temescal—that, any person or persons, being the original discov erers. and taker up of any of said veins of mineral shall first sink a hole, and pile the mineral thus extracted about it, and place a notice in some conspicuous place on the lead or load, and keep or cause the same to be kept thereon, to the best, of his ability. The above shall be deemed valid so long as the party in interest shall, in person or by agent, remain in said Tin district. ART. 2. It is further considered that the best kind of notice is a stake with the claimants' name legibly written thereon. ART 3. Any person selling an interest, who may be the original discoverer, and receive a consideration therefor—or legally the successor there of, shall be entitled to the same rights and privileges of that proportional part he may purchase, so long as be may comply with the requisitions of Art.. 1st, ART. 4. The above shall co into effect from and after publication, and the Secretary is hereby requested to send a copy to the San Bernardino Herald, one to the Los Angeles Star, and one to the Southern News. for publication. The meeting then adjourned sine die. 0. D. GASS, Chairman. J. M. GREENWADE, Secretary. Los Angeles Star, Number 19, 15 September 1860, Miners' Meeting at Temescal, p.3, col.2
---
---
United States Census, 1860
---
---
"Jo See got an unusual load on and his efforts to get out of town were only successful after he had collided with the family carriage of one of our townspeople, and ripped every spoke out of one wheel. Why there were no further disastrous results is a problem as the carriage was full of ladies and children, and it was drawn by a team of spirited horses, but so it was."
s 351509N 1204616W Elevation: ?/? m 351121N 1204253W Elevation: 33/10
[216] Originally published in El Defensor Chieftain newspaper, Saturday, March 3, 2012.© 2012 by Paul Harden. Article may be cited with proper credit to author. Article is not to be reproduced in whole or placed on the internet without author’s permission.Copyright:By Paul HardenFor El Defensor Chieftainna5n@zianet.com
---
Fort Conrad (1) History
---
---
Among the Troops in New Mexico, STATISTICAL REPORT ON THE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY IN THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES, COMPILED FROM THE RECORDS OF THE SURGEON GENERAL’S OFFICE; EMBRACING A PERIOD OF SIXTEEN YEARS, FROM JANUARY, 1839, TO JANUARY, 1855. PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF BREVET BRIGADIER GENERAL THOMAS LAWSON, Surgeon General of the U. S. Army, by Richard H. Coolidge M. D., Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army, A. O. P. Nicholson, Printer, Washington, 1856, pp.414-419 [228]
The prevailing winds are from the W'., S.W., and N. W., and the atmosphere is seldom in a state of quietude. In consequence of the absence of rain here, artificial irrigation has to be resortei to by means of acequias, factitious canals, or ducts running from the river to the cultivated ground. The acequia is taken out of the river high enough to give the water sufficient elevation to overflow and inundate the land at the pleasure of the ranchero who cultivates the soil. Rain is not at all depended upon. Very little dew falls here; the atmosphere is exceedingly dry. Occasionally, during the winter months, a slight fall of snow occurs; but this is rare, and what falls immediately disappears.
Fort Conrad [229]pp.102,
Following the valley of the Rio Grande southward, we come successively to the military station at Socorro, and to Fort Conrad,.... Next in order is Fort Craig, at the northern terminus of the Jornada del Muerto, nine miles below Fort Conrad and southward on the river. [230] : 414
The latitude of Fort Conrad is about 33° 34’ 19” N., and the longitude 107° 9’ 39” W.; the altitude above the ocean 4,576 feet.
[230] That location
33°34′19″N 107°09′39″W / 33.57194°N 107.16083°W
is located southwest of Fort Craig and must be in error. However 9 miles above fort Craig on the west bank of the river the altitude is close.
aka Capt. Santiago Hubbell: Jerry D. Thompson, A Civil War History of the New Mexico Volunteers and Militia, UNM Press, Albuquerque, 2015 [231] p.33-35
Report of Capt. Robert M. Morris, Third U. S. Cavalry, of skirmish near Fort Thorn.
Fort Craig, N. Mex., September 29, 1861.
Captain: In obedience to your verbal order given me at 9 a. in. on the 25th instant, I moved with Companies C, G, and K, Regiment of Mounted Riflemen, to the relief of Captain Minks' mounted volunteers, at Canada Alamosa. I reached that point at 4.30 p.m. I should state that I ordered Captain Hubbell's company to join my command from their camp opposite Panago[Paraje?], which was under the command of Lieutenant Hubbell, the first lieutenant.
Arriving at Canada Alamosa, I found that a number of ponies were too wearied to proceed at any gait. I therefore left Lieutenant Brady (who was too sick to proceed) in charge of the camp, and resumed my march with 101 rank and file on the trail of the Texan force which had captured Captain Minks, marching until 3 a.m. of the following morning, rested until daylight, then proceeded on the trail.
Lieutenant Cooley, of the Second Volunteer Regiment (who acted as my aide de camp), riding in advance, discovered the Texans encamped. I then formed my command to charge, but upon examining their position I saw it was futile to attempt it at that time.
To test their strength I ordered Lieutenant Treacy with his company (C) to take position on their right flank and attack them, whilst I moved forward to attack them front and left. Taking up my position, a single shot was fired. I immediately dismounted and went into action, which lasted an hour and forty-two minutes.
My ammunition running low, I retired a half mile as a feint to draw them out from their intrenchments, but without success. I then turned their right and camped 2 1/2 miles from them, where I remained till 5 p. m.; then I moved up the creek and encamped, where I remained until dark, and then moved back on Canada Alamosa with my wounded, which place I reached at 4 a. m. on the 27th instant.
Although it may appear invidious to mention names where all behaved so coolly and with unflinching bravery, I will state that Dr. Sylvester Rankin and Lieutenant Cooley performed their appropriate duties to my full satisfaction. To the riflemen engaged I cannot but say that they proved themselves by their coolness and bravery men who will sustain their regimental flag under any circumstances.
Lieutenant Treacy's conduct on the field elicited my highest approbation. *
This report is respectfully submitted.
E. M. MORRIS, Captain, Regiment Mounted Riflemen.
Capt. H. R. Selden, Fifth Infantry, Commanding Post.
Report of Capt. Bethel Coopwood, Confederate forces.
Dona Ana, Ariz., September 20, 1861.
SIR: In obedience to your order of date September 18, 1861, I started from Camp Robledo on the 22d instant to make a reconnaissance of the country around Fort Craig with a detachment of 112 men, including officers, detailed from Captain Pyron's company, B, and Captain Stafford's company, E, Second Texas Mounted Rifles, and my spy company, as shown by lists from the different companies, hereto annexed; also one man, the Rev. William J. Joyce, of Captain Hardeman's company, A, Second Texas Mounted Rifles.
Having obtlined reliable information that a company of U. S. volunteers had started from Fort Craig to occupy the town of Alamosa, 30 miles from Fort Craig, I marched with all precaution to that place, and on the morning of the 23th instant succeeded in getting between that place and Craig without being discovered. I immediately marched my force into town, and after some skirmishing captured Capt. J. H. Minks, Second Lieut. Metiaze Medina, and 23 privates and non-commissioned officers. In the skirmish 4 of the enemy were killed and 0 wounded. The remainder of Captain Minks' company fled early in the action, and escaped by crossing the river and taking to the mountains.
In the camp of Captain Minks I found an amount of public property, and immediately appointed Lieutenant Poore to take charge of the same; and the duplicate of his inventory, hereunto annexed, exhibits the amount of property taken, except four Sibley tents and a number of saddles and other articles of small value, which were burned by my order, not having transportation for the same. Not having transportation for the prisoners, I administered to 22 of them a strong oath, binding them not to take np arms against the Confederate States during this war unless exchanged, <S:c., and then set them at liberty without arms; but I held Captain Minks aud Lieutenant Medina and one sergeant as prisoners, and deliver them to you to abide your order.
From Alamosa I marched along the river road with the property taken to the place known as E Company Grove, and encamped for the night. On the morning of the 27th, while at breakfast, I was informed that my pickets were running into camp, and, rising to my feet, I saw the enemy pursuing them. In less than ten minutes my camp was surrounded by U. S. troops, numbering about 190. None of the ordinary ceremonies of attack were performed. There being no misunderstanding, we at once commenced business. The firing commenced at 7 o'clock and ended at 11 a. m. The enemy began to retreat before 11, and about that hour fled from the field. I lost 2 men killed, and had 2 severely wounded, each in the arm, besides 6 others slightly wounded, all of which will more fully appear from the list hereto annexed. The enemy removed their dead and wounded as they retreated, so as to evade a discovery of their losses; but, from the number of horses led away with bodies apparently lashed across them, there were 12 or 13 killed, but the number of their wounded could not be ascertained.
The principal portion of the battle was fought with the enemy's force formed in two lines, forming the angle of a square, and my forces formed the same way inside of theirs, my lines being much the shorter. One of my lines was composed of the detachment from Captain Pyron's company and a portion of the detachment from Captain Stafford's company, under the immediate command of Lieutenant Poore, Sergeant O'Grady, and Sergeant Browne. My left line was composed of the detachment from my company and a part of the detachment from Captain Stafford's company. This line was under the immediate command of Lieutenant Sutherland, being divided into two platoons, one led by Sergeant Coulter, and the other by Private Tevis, who was named for the special occasion.
I remained upon the field till 10 o'clock a. m. the next day, but was prepared to receive another attack should the enemy return re-enforced. In relation to the men and officers under me I would say to you, sir, that I have not witnessed such a display of manly courage and perfect order during my experience in wars. Each officer and man conducted himself as though he thought the destinies of himself and his country were depending upon his action on that occasion. The wounded would not even utter a cry, lest it would be injurious to the cause. A remarkable instance of this was displayed in the case of Sergeant O'Grady. After being severely wounded, and after having fallen to the ground from loss of blood, he continued to cheer his men and encourage them to fight, telling them not to cease firing until they had avenged his blood. This kind of courage was also displayed by others whose wounds were not so severe. Sergeant Quinn, Sergeant Robinson, and Antonio Lambert, after having each received a wound, continued to fight, if possible, with more courage and determination. The officers and men paid strict attention to every order, and acted more like veteran troops than volunteers. I cannot with words express the esteem I have for all who were with me. Nothing short of witnessing a similar occasion can impress you with an idea of the value of such troops and the credit due them for what they have already done. I herewith annex a list of the names of all who were with me, that you may know that number of men by name who will not flinch under the most trying circumstances.
Regretting much that some of my esteemed fellow soldiers have suffered the fate of war on this scout, I most respectfully submit to you this report of the same.
I am, sir, your most obedient servant,
BETHEL COOPWOOD, Captain, Commanding scout.
Lieut, Col. John R. Baylor. [233] : 31–32
---
---
---
was compelled to leave them and proceed, accompanied by Lieutenant Noble and his command of fifty mounted men. We arrived at the upper crossing of Owens river on the evening of April 6. On the next morning we met with Colonel G. Evans with Lieutenants French and Oliver; Captain Wynne of his command having been left with seven men to garrison the stone fort forty miles below. These were under Colonel Mayfield of Visalia. [253] : 25, Indian Troubles in the Owens River District
"Lieutenant Noble was sent to take possession of the mountain to the left of the canyon. This position he gained with difficulty, facing a destructive fire and, unable to maintain it without severe loss, was forced to retreat. Colonel Mayfield, who accompanied him, was killed.
"The whole party under Colonel Evans were forced to retreat down the valley, the Indians following. Colonel Evans, being without provisions, was compelled to return to his former post near Los Angeles. Lieutenant Noble accompanied him as far as the fort for the purpose of escorting the citizens in this direction out of the valley with their stock, which numbered about four thousand head of cattle and twenty-five hundred head of sheep.
"There were not over twenty-five Indians engaged in this fight but they were well armed and from the nature of their position could have held it against any odds." [253] : 26, Indian Troubles in the Owens River District
Pacheco was once an important inland shipping port for central Contra Costa County. The idea of a major shipping port located six miles inland on Walnut Creek (once known as Pacheco Creek) is for many a fantastic leap of imagination. Today Walnut Creek is a concrete flood control channel that, for most of the year, carries shallow runoff from lawn watering suburbanites and occasional winter storms.
Pacheco is now a sleepy, unincorporated slice of Contra Costa County wedged between Martinez, Pleasant Hill and Concord. However, during the 1850’s and 1860’s, Pacheco was the county’s bustling commercial center. It was the shipping port for the grain grown in the Ygnacio, San Ramon and Tassajara valleys. Warehouses, a flour mill and shops grew up along the creek. Walnut Creek then flowed deep and free into Suisun Bay. For over 20 years, from 1851 to nearly 1873, Pacheco was a major shipping port for central Contra Costa County. This essay is a description of how both Nature and Man combined forces to change the history of Contra Costa County.
The destruction of Pacheco’s Walnut Creek shipping channel occurred gradually over many years and for many reasons. It is an environmental detective story with clues in the historical and geologic records. A complex series of natural events combined with man-made ecologic damage eventually ruined Pacheco's growing prosperity.
In 1828 a grant of nearly 18,000 acres was made to Salvio Pacheco for his services to the Mexican government. He occupied his Monte Del Diablo land grant in 1834 (9). The Salvio Pacheco rancho stretched from Mt. Diablo to the Sacramento River. The Martinez, Moragas, and Welch families also obtained land grants covering most of central Contra Costa County. These large cattle raising operations had unforeseen ecologic consequences. Heavy cattle grazing soon destroyed the native grasses setting in motion further changes to the land.
In 1851 American settlement started in the Ygnacio Valley. Wheat, oats and barley were important crops by 1852-53. In 1854 twenty-five Ygnacio Valley farms were shipping their grain from the Pacheco embarcadero down Walnut Creek to San Francisco (6). Within a couple of years most of the central Contra Costa farms were sending their grain to Pacheco. Initially sailing craft of up to 100 tons traveled six miles up Walnut Creek to take on cargo at Pacheco (9). Eventually even small stern wheelers steamed up Walnut Creek to load grain for the San Francisco market.
During the 1850’s warehouses were constructed at Pacheco to handle the growing grain shipments from the Ygnacio, San Ramon and Tassajara valleys (6). The firm of Lathrop, Fish & Walrath built the first grain warehouse at Pacheco in 1853. Later George Loucks owned the building (8). An additional warehouse was constructed in 1857. A flour mill was built on the creek alongside the warehouses. In 1860 Mr. Fassett with Dr. Carrothers purchased land from Salvio Pacheco near the shipping port and laid out city lots for Pacheco, a growing settlement with a bright future (9).
Wheat growing and cattle raising was not the only important economic activity in Contra Costa. In 1850 Frank Such and W.E. Whitney began quarrying limestone from Mt. Diablo's foothills. The limestone was converted to lime to make the mortar needed to build San Francisco and Stockton. The lime was shipped down Mt. Diablo Creek, a tributary of Walnut Creek (6). On the bank of Mt. Diablo Creek, Frank Such built the kilns that turned limestone into lime. Three thousand barrels of lime a month were shipped down Mt. Diablo Creek and Walnut Creek from 1850 through 1862 (9).
During the 1850’s Mt. Diablo Creek flowed the year round. Small sailing craft traveled up the Walnut Creek slough and entered Mt. Diablo Creek to load their cargoes of lime. Sometime before 1881 Mt. Diablo Creek was filled with mud and silt (9). What could have been the causes of this environmental disaster?
As noted earlier in this essay, major changes to the environment began with the introduction of large-scale cattle raising into Contra Costa County. Native bunch grasses were driven to virtual extinction by overgrazing (2). The delicate native grasses were replaced by more rugged wild oats, mustard and ripgut, all foreign imports. Wild oats evolved in southern Europe alongside domestic cattle and were genetically equipped to handle the grazing pressure from large cattle herds (10). Intense, large scale cattle grazing of native bunch grass during California’s dry summers quickly killed off most of the sensitive native grasses. The shallow rooted wild oats responded to overgrazing by replacing the deeply rooted, native bunch grasses (12).
Cows that before the gold rush sold for four dollars a head, sold for as much as 500 dollars a steer in 1849 (5). Cattle herds were driven from Mexico, Texas and the Middle West to California to satisfy the demands of the expanding mining camps. A pre-gold rush population of half a million head of cattle quickly exploded to over three million (2) (5) producing dramatic overgrazing on California's cattle ranges. Whatever grass the cattle did not eat, the millions of introduced sheep devoured (5). Mutton as well as beef became staple meats of the ravenous gold camps.
Native bunch grass’ deeply rooted, large, matted root system absorbed the heavy winter rains and slowly released more moisture into the county's water table (12)(13). The smaller, shallow root system of the wild oats allowed faster runoffs during the winter rains. The loss of the native bunch grass resulted in increased erosion of Contra Costa’s hillsides, dumping more sediment into Walnut Creek and its tributaries.
Another environmental blow came in the 1850’s with the clear cutting of the redwood forests blanketing the headwaters of Las Trampas Creek, an important tributary of Walnut Creek (12). The rapid growth of San Francisco created an intense demand for lumber. By 1860 the redwood forests were gone. Even the giant stumps were removed for firewood. Now the winter rains and moisture laden fogs were not captured and absorbed by the forest. Heavy rains falling on Contra Costa’s coastal hills were no longer slowly released into Contra Costa’s groundwater system.
Clear cutting of the redwood forests, extinction of the native vegetation and overgrazing led to larger runoffs producing increased erosion, debris flows and landslides (12). During the 1850's, factors gradually increased the sediment load of central Contra Costa's stream system and setting the stage for what was coming.
The next natural environmental disaster was unprecedented and unexpected. California was hit with a Megaflood (3). In early November 1861 the normal winter rains began. But then it continued to rain through November. By December 9th the Sacramento Bee editorialized about the "Deluge of 1861.” The Union troops stationed in Stockton moved to Benicia to escape their flooded camp (7). Yet the rain continued to fall all the way through December. Rivers overflowed their banks and the San Joaquin Valley began to flood. Hundreds of thousands of cattle drowned. Thousands of people perished (3).
But the worst was yet to come. Heavy rains persisted through all of January 1862. When the rains finally ended, San Francisco records show that the city had received around 50 inches. Certainly on Mt. Diablo and the Berkeley Hills equal or greater rainfall occurred. Martinez received 49 inches. In Contra Costa it rained 15 inches in one week. All the county bridges were gone. The mining facilities at Nortonville and Somersville were washed away. At Sonora in the Sierra foothills over 8.5 feet had fallen by February 1, 1862 (1). In the Central Valley a lake 300 miles long and 20 to 60 miles wide formed (1). One could have boarded a steam ship in Bakersfield and sailed to San Francisco. So much rain had fallen that San Francisco Bay became a freshwater lake (3).
On the newly exposed hillsides of Contra Costa, stripped of its native grasses and redwood forests, the overwhelming winter rains proved disastrous. The unprecedented runoff eroded millions of tons of soil from the Walnut Creek watershed. Annie Loucks reported that after the flood, Walnut Creek began to silt up (8). Business records reveal the effect on Walnut Creek. After the megaflood of 1861-62, cargo ships could no longer reach Pacheco’s wharves. George Loucks was forced to move his warehouse three quarters of a mile downstream due to the rapid upstream filling of Walnut Creek (6). The megaflood of 1861-62 flooded Pacheco sweeping away warehouses and homes. But now an even worse disaster was about to begin.
In California a wet winter rainy season is commonly followed by drought. This time was no exception. After the extreme megaflood of 1861-62, there began such a horrendous three year megadrought from 1863 through 1865 that it permanently changed the economic face of California (11). For 1862-63 there was only 15 inches measured in San Francisco. Martinez recorded only around 9.5 inches. In Los Angeles only four inches were recorded. In the following years it was even worse. Los Angeles received only a trace of rain. A usually rainy San Francisco recorded only nine inches (12) (13). Given the current ratio of rain in San Francisco to rainfall in Contra Costa, most of central and eastern Contra Costa probably averaged less than four inches in 1863-64.
For the dry wheat farmers of central Contra Costa County, the drought years were devastating. Wheat was customarily sown from October until March and corn from March to July (9). But without moisture the winter wheat crop failed leaving the plowed fields dusty and barren.
The cattle industry in Contra Costa nearly vanished after three years of extreme drought (12). On California’s cattle range the stench of dead cattle filled the air (14). It became so bad that cattle were dying not only from starvation but from suffocation caused by dust inhalation (5). The over-grazed, drought stricken hills were stripped of their protective vegetation. In Southern California starving steers were sold for thirty-seven and a half cents apiece (14). By the end of the drought, over two and half million California cows had died. Crushed by debt, most of the remaining large ranchos were broken up and sold (11).
Normal rain fall returned in 1865 and 1866. In 1867-68 even heavier rains were recorded. Pounding drought damaged hillsides, rain water cascaded down the slopes turning gullies into deep ravines. This is a quote from the first history of Contra Costa County written in 1882 by Munro-Fraser (9). He begins by discussing two famous Contra Costa pioneers, Elam Brown and Nathaniel Jones, who arrived in the late 1840’s. Then Fraser goes on to note the changes to the Contra Costa countryside.
"The country in its general aspect has been greatly changed since their arrival, especially in the matter of ditches, many of these which now are of considerable magnitude, being then more drains. The prime cause of this we believe to have been the breaking of the upper crust of the soil by the trampling of stock, which increased in number year by year and consequently caused the greater damage as their hundreds were changed into thousands." (Page 427, History of Contra Costa County, 1882).
Less absorption of rain water meant greater erosion stripping the soil from the environmentally damaged hillsides. The filling of Walnut Creek accelerated after the megaflood of 1861-62 and the extreme drought of 1863-65.
During the rest of the 1860’s, continuing deposition of mud and silt into Walnut Creek and its slough made the navigation of cargo ships to Pacheco increasingly difficult. The intense winter rains of 1868 produced more terrible flooding of Pacheco. Faster runoffs and Walnut Creek’s gradual fill up of silt, mud and sand had reduced the creek’s water carrying capacity. Repeated floods and fires during the 1860's crippled Pacheco's prosperity (6)(8).
To add insult to injury, from 1852 to 1883 hydraulic gold mining in the Sierras poured huge amounts of sand, mud and silt down the Sacramento River and into Suisun Bay. Today these deposits are found as far west as San Francisco Bay (3). By the middle 1860's sand and silts formed shifting barriers in the entrance of the Walnut Creek slough making it increasingly difficult for ships to enter Walnut Creek (8).
In 1869 the offer of free or inexpensive land to the flood prone merchants of Pacheco by Salvio and Fernando Pacheco was warmly received. The site of the new settlement lay two miles to the east of Pacheco on higher ground. Many accepted the offer and the new town of Todos Santos (later Concord) was born (9). This was the final blow to the future of Pacheco. By 1873 regular shipments by boat had become nearly impossible because of the silting up of Walnut Creek. With the loss of the port and the decline in Pacheco's population, the Contra Costa Gazette publishers abandoned the town and moved to Martinez (6).
In the Old World this sad story of environmental damage and its consequences has been replayed many times. The great classic ports of Ephesus and Troy were abandoned after their harbors filled with mud and silt. Man’s destruction of native forests and overgrazing caused massive erosion and silting up of some of the great harbors of antiquity.
In summary Walnut and Mount Diablo creeks, two important commercial Contra Costa waterways of the 1850’s and 60’s, suffered the same fate and for many similar reasons. Overgrazing, extinction of the native grasses and destruction of Contra Costa’s first growth redwood forests made the Walnut Creek watershed prone to accelerated erosion and deposition. Together with additional catastrophes in the form the greatest rainfall in the West Coast's recorded history immediately followed by Californian's greatest drought ultimately doomed the navigability of Walnut and Mt. Diablo creeks and with them, Pacheco's commercial future.
(Note: the author is a geologist interested in the influence of geologic forces on human history.)
Romer, Margaret, April 1963, "The Story of Los Angeles - Part III", Journal of the West, vol. II, no. 2.
The climate was bone dry.... There was no moisture and our cattle died off in very great numbers ... Before the year 1864 had passed away, there was perfect devastation. Such a thing was never before known in California. --Juan Forster, Rancho Santa Margarita
Droughts are common in California, always have been. Long before scientists suggested a "greenhouse effect" and the possibility of permanent climatic change, pioneers coped with erratic and disastrous wet/dry cycles.
The drought of 1862-65 was a catastrophe for the state of California--a bitter dry period, preceded by unusually heavy rains and accompanied by an untimely epidemic of smallpox.
The decade of the 1860s began with little hint of the natural catastrophes ahead. For several years in succession, gentle autumn and winter rains had fallen with consistency, supporting vast grasslands that fed immense herds of cattle.
But in the winter of 1861-62, rains of biblical proportions came to California.
The rain fell for almost a month, inundating river valleys, farmlands and towns. The persistence of the rain led the editor of the Los Angeles Star to comment: "On Tuesday last the sun made its appearance. The phenomenon lasted several minutes and was witnessed by a great number of persons."
In San Diego, the flooding washed away soil and timberlands, destroyed vineyards, melted adobe houses, and drowned livestock. At San Luis Rey, the raging floods "cut an arroyo 50 feet across." An estimated 200,000 head of cattle were lost in California.
But in the spring, the rain-soaked grazing lands flourished. Herds of cattle recovered quickly in the abundant pasturage.
Then came three years of intense drought. In the fall and winter of 1862-63, only 3.87 inches of rain fell in San Diego County. As the grasslands dried up, the long-horned cattle grew emaciated and weak. The overstocked ranchers tried to minimize their losses by thinning their herds. The markets became flooded with cowhides and prices fell.
From Santa Margarita (modern-day Camp Pendleton), rancher Juan Forster would write in January, 1863: "We poor Rancheros have had a damned bad string of luck these last two years and if it is going to continue I don't know what will become of us." To cut losses, Forster drove his herds into the mountains, saving perhaps half his cattle.
At Rancho Guajome near San Luis Rey, rancher Cave Couts complained in early spring that there was no grass, that it was as dry as August, and that smallpox was beginning to take a toll.
The outbreak of smallpox in California added human misery to the growing economic toll. Appearing in the fall of 1862, the plague quickly spread throughout Southern California. Effective quarantines proved impossible and vaccine could only be obtained from San Francisco.
Cave Couts reported: "Smallpox is quite prevalent--six to eight per day are being buried in S. Juan Capistrano--Indians generally. . . . I vaccinated the whole rancheria at San Luis some six weeks since, & hope they may escape, thus saving our community of the terrible disease."
By late spring, the smallpox epidemic had run its course, but the drought continued. A little more than five inches of rain fell in 1863-64. More and more ranchers drove their cattle into the mountains in the search for grass and water. Other cattlemen moved their herds to Baja California. From San Luis Rey, Couts would moan: "I am badly in want of money . . . taxes on hand, no goods in my shop & no money."
As the drought lingered, the bad luck of ranchers continued. A violent storm that broke in May killed famished cattle grazing in the mountains. Forster lost 300 head in one night at San Ysabel. When summer came, strong dry winds were reported and grasshoppers appeared, which soon stripped the remaining forage.
The drought finally began to ease in November, 1864. Two and half inches of rain fell, followed by more than five inches in the next two months. Not until the 12-inch season of 1864-65 did the cattlemen feel secure.
The Great Drought virtually ruined the once-great cattle industry of California. Statewide, herds declined by about 46% in the 1860s. The numbers are unknown for San Diego County but in Los Angeles County the loss was more than 70%.
The long-term impact did show a few benefits. Ranchers learned to plant feed crops in order to lessen their reliance on natural forage. The raising of sheep (a far more "drought-tolerant" animal than a cow) became popular. In North San Diego County, a more diversified agricultural economy slowly developed. [259]
It's official. On January 17, Governor Brown declared it so, and in mid-February he stood grim- faced in the San Joaquin Valley dust with President Obama nodding his head in agreement. Were that not enough, the drought has now climbed up onto the signs above Highway 1 usually reserved for capturing kidnappers and drunk drivers. I saw the brake lights ahead before I could read the sign as startled drivers slowed to read the entire message (I'll withhold comment about reading speeds and the effects such signs have on traffic flow).
The Old Timer You might wonder how folks around here knew they were in a drought before highway signs were available to shout it or television could broadcast images of politicians standing in dusty fields looking all worried and serious, or TV weather anchors showed satellite images of a storm track carrying that winter rain northward to places that don't need it.
Back in the olden days residents of this region didn't need to be told. They could feel it, see it and hear it. Those who had been here awhile weren't surprised. If you were a newcomer there was always someone around who had been here longer – we'll call him The Old Timer – who would say, "Yup. This here's a drought. We get them all the time. You think this one's bad? You shoulda seen the one in…" and then he would remind of 1857, 1864, 1877, 1898.
Then, the Old Timer would be put away until the next natural calamity.
Drought. The Elephant that Never Leaves the Room. First off, if you're looking for some precision in this drought business, you'll be disappointed. The definitions are general and have little to do with rain gauges. Basically, as one Australian website states , "it is a dry period when there is not enough water for users' normal needs." The California Department of Water Resources admits that "there are many ways that drought can be defined," and then goes on to describe those many ways. Those definitions all agree: it's all about what happens to people.
It's not tied to rainfall, necessarily. It all depends on where you are and the impact a water shortage has on you.
Since 1769 Euro Americans first came into this region and began writing accounts, the typical California straight line record of fecundity and prosperity was punctuated by a steady stream of natural calamities, most of which were easily identifiable – floods, earthquakes, wildfires, and windstorms. All those were easy to recognize.
Droughts were harder. They began slowly, often punctuated by episodic early-season showers (I call them "teasers"), and then the dry days tightened from south to north, with those living and working in the upper Salinas and San Benito watersheds feeling them first. The mid-autumn grass emerged and then withered and the hills stayed a tawny brown all winter. Stream flows fell. And then an endless parade of bright, cloudless days stretched on for months, shriveling the place.
Eventually, the blessed sound of steady rain on the roof would signal the drought's end, and a feeling of relief washed the drought memory away.
As John Steinbeck wrote in East of Eden about the Salinas Valley: "But there were dry years too, and they put a terror on the valley. They came in a thirty-year cycle…and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way."
Early Droughts – The Great Famine – 1770-1772 The Franciscans who came here to establish their missions had never encountered a climate quite like this one; it took them years of trial and error to figure out how to extract a living from the region's landscape. Father Junipero Serra, for example, had spent his entire New World career in Mexico, and the first thing he noted in June of 1770 when his mission was located on the north side of the Peninsula was the cold. That summertime Monterey fog.
After he was able to warm up a bit by moving his mission over the hill to the banks of the Rio Carmelo, he encountered something a bit more challenging – a drought. There was plenty of water in the river down below the mission, but no way to get it up on the alluvial terraces. By necessity, the Franciscans were the region's first dry farmers, planting their meager crops in the hope that it might rain. But they weren't familiar with the region's dry summers. Their early plantings shriveled and by the summer of 1772, Serra declared their puny garden "miserable." In a letter to Mexico in 1772, he admitted that: "We are starving."
Serra's only recourse was to release the few Indians living at the mission so that they might return to their villages and hunt and forage as before. They brought back enough venison and pine nuts and other local delicacies to see the Spaniards through the drought. (The ultimate solution at Carmel and many of the other mission was irrigation, but it wasn't until 1781 that a canal was completed that diverted the water of the Carmelo up onto the terrace where it could be used.)
The Cattle on a Thousand Hills – the Droughts of the 1820s, 1830s, and 1840s Over the decades the mission herds of cattle, sheep and horses grew and wandered across the hills much to the delight of mountain lions and grizzly bears. Irrigation solved some of the missions' farming challenges, but the herds were dependent on the grasses that were dependent on the rains. In the early 1820s, the accounts tell of a drought that caused the livestock to "suffer dreadfully." Thousands of cattle and horses died of starvation out on the range. Cattle had more value than horses, and according to the accounts, the missionaries at Soledad took matters into their own hands and slaughtered 6,000 horses to release the pressure on the few surviving cattle.
There were stories of missionaries driving herds of wild horses over cliffs and into the sea during dry years to manage the grasslands.
Some droughts stuck in local memory longer than others – everyone that was here remembered the twenty months from 1828-1830 when the countryside was baked in the relentless sun. Watering holes dried up, stream flows dropped and the cattle and horses died by the thousands. Buzzards grew so fat they couldn't fly. This 1828-1830 drought also had other consequences – a sharp rise in lawlessness, as horse thieves roamed the countryside, stealing the few remaining broken horses. Rancheros went into debt to the ever-increasing numbers of foreigners moving into Alta California, and subsequent droughts often resulted in the Californios losing their land.
But, the account of a drought in the early 1840s as retold by the artist and historian Joe Mora was the one that stuck with me. Again the issue was the herds of wild, unbranded horses competing with the cattle for scarce rangeland resources. The Alta California government ordered that makeshift corrals be built and all the horses, tame and wild, be driven in. The vaqueros then rode into the corral, separated the healthy, branded horses and released them until only the wild ones remained. The mounted vaqueros then formed a double file at the corral's gate and as the doomed horses were driven out, the vaqueros rode alongside and drove their lances into their hearts.
No one who witnessed the slaughter ever forgot it, the screams of the horses forever etched into their drought memory.
Every major drought in the region left a unique signature.
My next newsletter will discuss the two most memorable droughts of the 1850s and 1860s.
In his brilliant, landmark 2007 book, Tiburcio, historian John Boesseneker describes in great detail the Monterey Bay Region of the 1850s, characterizing it as a "crucible of crime, corruption and racism." I would mix drought into that crucible. Drought didn't cause racism, but it intensified and exacerbated the tensions between newly-arrived Yankees and resident Californians.
The Dry Years – 1855-1856 Unlike earthquakes or floods, droughts don't come suddenly. They creep in quietly, signaling themselves with harbingers that long-time residents recognize. One measure in Monterey was the level of El Estero, the lagoon that surrounded the community's cemeteries. In the fall of 1855 it was possible to walk directly from Monterey across the dry bed of the lagoon, "which has not occurred but once before since 1826" according to the Pacific Sentinel. By spring of 1856, the rangeland throughout the region was drying up, and hogs and cattle were dying on the Salinas plains, The Sentinel's editor was warning that California would soon be "down in her marrow-bones" leading to a "true crisis of our social, meteorological and political troubles.."
Vigilantism and Lynchings – 1856-57 The drought rubbed nerves raw, intensifying the anger and frustration throughout the region. The Yankees were frustrated by their lack of progress. For most, the Gold Rush had been a bust, and when they turned to the land, it was already owned, usually by someone with a Spanish surname. The drought drove down the price of cattle, and many of the Californio landowners slid into bankruptcy, Yankee lawyers waiting for them just like the vultures waiting for death to come on the plains.
Tiburcio Vasquez, 1874. Vasquez's personality was developed from the late 1840s into the 1850s, and the drought of the mid-1850s contributed to the violence in the region. Vasquez was a product of that period. Photo credit: John Boesseneker. It seemed to the Californios that everything was up for grabs—not only their land, language, culture and way of life. Some of the younger men, like Tiburcio Vazquez, began to vent their frustrations with violence, and the Yankees returned with violence of their own – mob violence and lynchings.
Lynchings Lynchings are a peculiarly American institution, a unique form of extra-legal vigilante justice often beginning with an apprehension by a mob, a mock trial, and an execution usually by hanging. Historians of the genre have tabulated a total of 294 lynching in California between 1850 and 1870, with Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties accounting for 30. The vast majority of those lynched were Indians, Mexicans or Californios. (The late historian Phil Reader and I believe that the number 30 is low, and that there were more examples of summary justice in the region that went unrecorded.)
Watsonville Lynching, October 1856 – One 1856 example will suffice. A group of Spanish-speaking horsemen that were camped along the Pajaro River near Watsonville were suspected of stealing horses. A mob of "Americans" (I would use the term Yankees) rode out to their camp, and killed and captured them all. The following day another group of "Spaniards" rode through town and the mob re-organized and attacked them, driving all of them off except for one man who was wounded. They tied him to a flag staff, and after several discussions about whether to turn him over to the Sheriff or impanel a jury on the spot, he was "hanged without further ceremony."
1856 -- A "Hot, Windy, Dusty, Thirsty" year – 1856 wasn't just tough on the Californios. The grizzly bears in the hills being Santa Cruz were sickly, their hair "loose and falling off" as they came down to feed on a whale carcass that had drifted in to the beach below town. The local newspaper summarized the year as "strange, curious, volcanic, hot, windy, dusty, thirsty, murdering, bloody, lunching, and robbing…" The Yankees, through vigilante groups, had taken the law into their own hands, and by the end of the year the tide was turning in their favor.
The Holy Cross Church that replaced the Santa Cruz Mission church in 1857. This church and the 1892 Gothic edifice that followed reflected the church (and community's) turning away from its Spanish-Mexican roots.
1857: The Hispanic Collapse The year of 1857 began inauspiciously. On the morning of January 9, much of California experienced what seismologists believe was the largest earthquake in California's recorded history. Still commonly known as the "Fort Tejon" earthquake because of the damage done there, seismologists have now determined that it was a magnitude 7.9 with an epicenter near present-day Parkfield. Damage was focused along the San Andreas fault south of Parkfield, but residents in southern Monterey County ran terror-stricken out of their homes, and trees in the Salinas Valley whipped back and forth. The quake was felt throughout the region, though there was little damage in the immediate Monterey Bay Region.
Then, on February 16, the front wall of the mission church at Santa Cruz fell with a "terrible crash." (Some historians erroneously connect the mission wall's collapse with the January 9 earthquake, and it is certainly possible that the structure might have been weakened by the quake, but the two events are over a month apart.) Combine the mission church's collapse with its Spanish name being changed to "Holy Cross," and the replacement church's decidedly Protestant appearance, and all this can be seen as a symbol of the further erosion of the region's Spanish-Mexican culture.
And the lynchings continued. One of the more infamous was the lynching of Anastacio Garcia inside the Monterey County Jail on February 17 (see the chapter in Boesssenecker's Tiburcio on the Roach-Belcher feud). Watsonville had another particularly gruesome hanging in May of 1857, though the victim in this case was an "American."
The Panic of 1857 – Beginning in late 1857, the region's already weakened economy was hammered by the arrival of the effects of the Panic of 1857. Most economists consider the Panic of 1857 to be the world's first global economic depression, and in California, already weakened land and livestock values dropped even farther.
The Mega-Drought – 1856-1862 Some climatologists believe that the drought of the mid-1850s was actually the beginning of a drought that lasted almost a decade. The region's cattle industry was staggered, but hung on until the early 1860s when the region – and all of California – was visited by yet another deadly drought. Only this time it was snuggled between a huge flood and a swarm of fires. [260]
---
Note: For earlier drought stories see: I – The Screaming Horses drought – 1840-41 II - The Lynching Drought – 1855-56
The 1860s – The End of Pastoral California The winter of 1860-61 saw a couple of good storms and enough rain fell in February in the upper San Lorenzo to blow out Isaac Graham's dam and flood the lower parts of Santa Cruz for a time. But the extremes seemed to be leveling out, and attentions were quickly diverted by the attack on Fort Sumter in April, 1861 and the onset of Civil War.
And then it started:A Natural Disaster Smackdown. It's a wonder there was anyone living around here by the end of the 1860s. In its bare bones, with the US Civil War and Lincoln's assassination as the backdrop we have an astonishing sequence of disasters: The Flood of 1862, The Drought of 1863-1864, Wildfires of 1865, two large earthquakes and a Smallpox epidemic to finish off the decade.
The Mother of All Floods – 1861-1862 We're here in the 1860s to re-visit the drought, but we absolutely must spend a minute with the flood that preceded it. This wasn't just any flood. It scarred California's memory so deeply that in 2011, the United States Geological Survey declared it to be the biggest flood event in California's written history. 43 days of rain turned California's valleys into lakes, rivers tore entire town away and killed hundreds of thousands of cattle. The USGS has named it the ARKstorm Scenario – the plume of subtropical moisture swung up like a firehose and locked onto the Pacific Coast.
The buzzards (more correctly termed turkey vultures) grew so fat during the 1863-1864 drought that they could only waddle.
Henry Miller was one of a few cattle ranchers able to survive and even thrive during the 1863-1864 drought by moving his cattle to his pasturage he owned beyond the reach of the drought.
With the rain hammering on the roof, Californians huddled in their churches and prayed for the rain to stop. When it finally did in late January 1862, bridges were gone, and the state was left with a huge bathtub ring of mud, and no funds. California was bankrupt.
We'll come back to the flood of '62 and the huge effects it had on the Monterey Bay Region sometime, but for now, just imagine the locals digging out of the sand and mud, relieved that the hills were turning green for the remaining livestock that hadn't been swept away into the ocean.
Then, once everyone was busy building levees and organizing to protect their properties from future floods, it stopped raining altogether. Again.
THE DROUGHT OF 1863-1864
When it didn't rain that much in the winter of 1862-1863, locals couldn't believe that the natural order had turned off the faucet, so they called that first winter a "dry spell." Yet, a mere 22 months after the '62 flood waters began to recede; churches were filled with congregations praying for rain.
Once again, the sun had baked the earth, the grass shriveled and the cattle bellowed and died "as if they were poisoned." An article in a Monterey newspaper in the summer of 1864 suggested that the rancheros should ride out and kill the cattle to "prevent them from dying." Killing was much more humane than a slow death in a dry water hole. Grizzly bears and coyotes were in heaven, and the buzzards got so fat they could only waddle.
Most California historians conclude that the drought of 1863-1864 was a major turning point in the state's history, marking the end of the dominance of the old, Spanish-Mexican style pastoral economy. It also marked the end for many of the Californio rancheros who had survived the drought and race war of the 1850s, and the mega-flood of '62.
Profiting from the Drought
Some entrepreneurs turned the drought to their advantage, most notably, German immigrant Henry Miller, and recently-arrived New Englander, Loren Coburn. Coburn owned large ranches in both present-day coastal San Mateo County (he owned Pigeon Point, for example) and Monterey County. When his Monterey County pasturage withered away, he drove those herds north into the foothills behind Pescadero where the effects of the drought weren't so severe. Once the price of beef recovered he drove them to San Francisco and enhanced his fortune.
Henry Miller also had far-flung properties across the West, and during the drought he bought cattle for $2 a head and then drove them to his northern properties and sold them in San Francisco in 1865 for $70 apiece.
One person's drought is another's opportunity.
Santa Cruz County's lumber industry was also hit hard by the 1863-1864 drought. The southern slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains had always relied on its dependable year-round streams to drive Santa Cruz's factories and mills. But without the winter rains to maintain the stream flows, the rivers dropped until they could no longer drive the wheels or fill the flumes. By the fall of 1864, for the first time in local memory, lumber was being shipped into Santa Cruz County.
Wildfires – 1865 Locals were not surprised by the wildfires that roared around the Monterey Bay Region in fall of 1865--fires always followed drought. The forests were tinder dry, and with so few residents or developed property in the mountains, fire suppression was usually left to the affected property owners and was meager at best. In September of 1865, after two winters of low rainfall, Monterey Bay was covered by huge clouds of smoke as the forests burned. For most of September, the hills behind Monterey and their signature Monterey pine trees were on fire. Monterey County landowner David Jacks lost thousands of dollars worth of forest and pasturage. At the same time, the Santa Cruz Mountains were also on fire with the local newspaper declaring that the "loss of timber will prove immense."
Earthquakes – 1865 & 1868
At thirteen minutes before 1:00 o'clock on the afternoon of October 8, 1865, the Santa Cruz Mountains were shaken by a 6.5 earthquake that was felt from San Juan Bautista on the southeast to Napa on the north. Modern seismologists put the earthquake's epicenter somewhere in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Damage was relatively light, though the temblor drove many of San Francisco's residents out into the streets. A Santa Cruz County newspaper suggested that the quake was caused by geological flatulence.
One of the interesting consequences of that earthquake was the increased flow of streams throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains. Flouring and lumber mills that had closed during the drought were able to immediately resume operations without any rainfall. copyright © 2015 Central Coast Secrets
Bam! Another Earthquake The October 21 1868 earthquake had an estimated magnitude of 6.8 with an epicenter in the East Bay along what is now known as the Hayward Fault. It killed thirty San Franciscans, and did considerable damage throughout the East Bay, but damage was relatively light in the Monterey Bay Region.
The Final 1860s Smackdown We can forgive the good people of the region in the late 1860s if they concluded that they were being punished. Just as the rumble of the October earthquake died away, a warning came out of San Juan Bautista that a smallpox epidemic had erupted. (The 1868 smallpox epidemic was a global event.) Despite quarantines and even the burning of a bridge to stop east-west traffic, by the end of the year, hundreds in the region had perished and many more had fled to the hills before the epidemic had run its course.
Living here is risky business By the end of the 1860s, those who had lived here and survived that many-splendored gauntlet understood that living here involved a risk. Continual and ever-changing risk. They tried hard to understand the causes, but they knew that their "normal" included flood, drought, and earthquakes, with a helping of wildfire and even pestilence thrown in. There was a strong sense of humility.
Drought was (and is) one of the prices charged for living in this splendid place. Drought is the elephant that never leaves the room. Along with his nasty siblings, flood and earthquake, they tag team the region, smacking us upside the head now and then to teach us a basic lesson in humility. Communities could prepare for flood (organizing and building levees), and earthquakes (building stronger structures and staying off "made land"), but drought was a different matter.
Maybe that's always been the problem. Instead of preparing for a drought, they should have learned how to live with drought and invited him to sit permanently at the head of the table. That way they would never have forgotten he lived here. [261]
Pasture Cultivation — Eastern Grass And Alfalfa
52
So far there has been little cultivation of pasture, but with the extension of farming interests and the consequent limitation of cattle ranges, and the effort to improve the breed of animals for different purposes, the industry is gaining ground. Among the reasons for the neglect is the mildness of the winter, which obviates the need for special winter fodder, and the dryness of the summer, which kills most of the favorite grasses, and obliges frequent replanting.1
1 For this reason the alfalfa, or lucerne, is gaining favor, as it sends down deep roots, and thrives luxuriantly with irrigation. Col. Agric. Soc., Trans., 1877, 150-9; Alto, Cal., June 29, 1851; May 19, 1860; Eureka Times, Sept. 29, 1877; S. F. Bulletin, Oct. 27, 1858; Nov. 20, 1871; Reno Jour., June 18, Sept. 27, 1873; May 23, 1874. Hay worth 12 cents per Ib. in 1849. Woodward's Slat., MS., 7; Kern Co. Hist., 113. Ensilage system introduced by J. W. Green. Hist. Mont. Co., 164. Of wild grasses, the bunch-grass in small detached tufts affords almost perpetual pasture on dry hills, in being proof against drought. The flattened tufts of the alfilleria also endures well. The lupin, which is cultivated in France, grows here wild among the sand hills. The bur clover, mostly in the south, sustains the stock during autumn with its rich oily seed, scattered almost invisibly on the ground. Among sheep it injures the wool, and at times the throat. The most striking pasture is presented by the wild oats, with small grains, and bent, bearded projections, which is frequently cut for hay, yielding on an average one ton per acre. Cultivated oats are preferred to barley, which, like green wheat, is widely harvested for hay. The rough tule-grass saved many cattle during the drought of 1864. The hay harvest occurs about May 1st. One turning and one day's curing is enough. The Census gives the hay harvest for 1850, 1860, 1870, a.nl 1880 at 2,000, 305,000, 551,000, and 1,135,000 tons, the last named from 758,000 acres, Sta Clara leading with 71,000 tons.
MEXICAN BREEDS.
53
Stock-raising was the chief occupation of colonial days, and hides were almost the only medium of exchange. The animals introduced from Mexico, of deteriorated Spanish breed, increased rapidly, until in 1834, the last year of mission prosperity, they numbered scores of thousands. They roamed in untamed freedom, and a portion overran the interior valleys in a wild state, a condition which by no means served to improve the quality, distinguished as it was by 'scrub' colors and light weight; the cattle by long, thin legs, heads high and slender, wide-spread horns; and the sheep by short, coarse wool. The incoming Americans brought at first stock valued chiefly for strength and endurance. A large special importation followed in response to the high prices of early mining days, partly for breeding, and by 1862 the number of cattle had increased to over 2,000,000, as compared with 262,000 in 1850.
> Then came the disastrous droughts of 1862-4, which destroyed several hundred thousand by starvation and forced slaughter, and created so wide-spread a mistrust as to greatly curtail the industry. It made a perfect revolution in the business, by giving prominence to sheep, by changing many cattle districts to farming regions, and by obliging the adoption of more careful methods, such as the better apportionment of cattle to pasture, and the wide introduction of fencing, partly under compulsory laws. But compensation was found in the improved feeding and breeding, marked also by greater and better yield of beef and milk, and by reduced loss from diseases and accidents, with diminished expenses for herding. Cows calve before they are two years old. The business is now mostly combined with farming, with a desire to still further raise the breed. Few of the Spanish stock remain, for the south had suffered most from the droughts. The census for 1870 returned only 631,000 cattle, and the increase since has been slow, partly owing to the increased price of land, under the steady encroachments of agriculture. In 1889 the number was estimated at about 725,000, worth from $13,000,000 to $14,000,000, while the total value of all live-stock might be placed at nearly $60,000,000.*
[266]: 52–55
":An abrupt shift from the Hispanic pastoral to single-purpose American entrepreneurism during the Gold Rush marked the beginning of a spectacular cattle boom throughout California. Prior to 1848 California cattle were commercially valuable only for their hides and tallow, and the average price of full-grown steers seldom rose above four dollars a head. The Gold Rush created an enormous and ever-expanding demand for beef, raising the price of cattle to levels never before dreamed of in the isolated territory, destroying the existing balance of economic and cultural values, and transforming the ungainly Spanish black cattle into four-legged gold nuggets. In response to the urgent demand for livestock in the mines and the new cities of San Francisco and Sacramento, the custom of slaughtering cattle for their hides and tallow immediately gave way to the more profitable practice of driving the animals to market to sell as beef on the hoof."
":Tens of thousands of cattle were driven up the coast valleys and the San Joaquin Valley to market, until the extension of Southern Pacific rail lines to southern California made the practice obsolete. The cattle lived off the country they traveled through, usually after the completion of winter rains when the new grass was well established. The average herd of 700 to 1,000 animals might be a month on the trail from the southern ranchos, traveling about 10 or 15 miles a day. The owner might lease land near the market area where the stock could rest and fatten at the conclusion of the drive, or would sell cattle to agents or buyers who traveled out from the larger cities to inspect and purchase entire herds at the point of departure."
":Cattle prices rose immediately in response to the unprecedented demand, and continued to rise for nearly seven years. Beef cattle sold for as much as $75 a head in San Francisco, or up to $30 or $40 per head when purchased at a distant rancho. Newcomers told of the extravagance with which the Californios disposed of their new-found wealth, and expressed shock and dire warnings that their improvidence in failing to restock their herds would cause them grief in the near future. In fact, the Californio corner on the beef market was soon disrupted with the arrival of midwestern and eastern beef brought in from Missouri by entrepreneuring young drovers. By the end of 1853, 62,000 head had entered the state over the main immigrant roads, and were pastured in the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys while awaiting market."
":California was ideal cattle country, with unending miles of green grass carpeting the hills with the annual winter rains. When the rains ceased in April, cattle found an abundance of nutritious pasture in the dry alfilaria and burr clover that covered the ranges. Beginning in 1862, however, a series of climatic misfortunes paved the way for a major revolution in the dominant economy of the state. Prolonged rains began in December 1861, causing floods that paralyzed business and travel and drowned thousands of head of cattle, destroying possibly a fourth of the state's taxable wealth. The Central Valley became an inland sea with runoff from the coast ranges and Sierra Nevada. The loss of cattle throughout the state ran to about 200,000. When the rains finally ceased, they had produced a rich and luxuriant pasturage that fattened cattle and increased stock in an already overburdened market. The great flood, however, was followed by two years of unparalleled drought. Cattle prices dropped lower and lower as the drought continued, and enterprises such as wealthy stockmen Miller and Lux purchased starved cattle from the ranchos at $8 per head. A few months later, cattle were routinely slaughtered for the trifling value of their horns and hides. Only those who had the means and mobility to drive their cattle to the Sierra Nevada, or in the case of Miller and Lux, to Oregon, were spared nearly absolute losses. In addition to losses caused directly by the drought, thousands of weakened cattle fell easy prey to mountain lions, bears, and coyotes. When the drought ended, the cattle business had passed from dominance in California's economy."
":Following the period of devastating drought, stockmen most able to recoup their losses were those who were principals or contractors with widespread stockraising corporations. Henry Miller, of the partnership of San Francisco based Miller and Lux, was one man that not only suffered few losses but was able to benefit from the abominable economic situation suffered by the majority of California stockmen. The cattle empire built up by Miller and Lux controlled millions of acres in California, Nevada, and Oregon, and profoundly affected the settlement of the San Joaquin Valley."
":Henry Miller was a German immigrant who completed his butcher apprenticeship and left for New York in 1846 as Heinrich Kreiser, worked in New York at the butcher trade, and arrived in California in 1850 as Henry Miller, a name borrowed from the non-transferable steamer ticket he had purchased from a friend in New York. Miller built up a thriving butcher business in San Francisco, purchasing cattle at first from the stockyards in the city, then from stockranchers in the Santa Clara Valley, San Joaquin Valley, and the San Francisco peninsula. He went into partnership with Charles Lux, a former competitor, in 1858, and became the field agent and purchaser for the company while Lux managed the business office in San Francisco. Miller's first land purchase was the Rancho Santa Rita in Merced County from the outfit that had purchased it from the original Mexican grantee. Miller's pattern for later large purchases was to buy out one heir of a rancho, raise cattle on the land as tenant in common with the remaining heirs, then buy the others out. Miller also loaned money to struggling cattle ranchers on future profits, foreclosing on the loans when sales did not meet expectations. The corporation acquired vast blocks of the public domain using ingenious ways of circumventing the letter and spirit of the Homestead Act, and accepted government land script as currency from former soldiers. Miller paid employees of the corporation to file homestead claims under agreement to sell it to him when proved up. Deed records in Merced County indicate that Miller and Lux were Grantees in 287 instances of land transfers, most in 160 acre Homestead blocks, between 1863 and 1887. Under application of the Swamp Lands Act to California in 1850, Miller was reimbursed for the purchase of a continuous strip of land from the Santa Rita to Orestimba Ranch as overflow lands along the San Joaquin River. Miller and Lux monopolized cattle grazing lands on the west side of the San Joaquin, and employed descendants of the earliest Mexican families on the ranch holdings. Consequently, the western part of the San Joaquin Valley retained its Mexican period lifestyle much longer than did many other parts of California after American domination."
":The Miller and Lux holdings in Monterey County included all of Peachtree Valley, and in Kern County they shared the title of the county's largest landowners with the Kern County Land Company of Haggin and Tevis. Both corporations were responsible for nearly all of the major drainage projects and canal systems of the southern San Joaquin Valley."
Passing of Three Well Known People.
COL EYRE LA GRIPPE'S VICTIM WAS ILL A FEW DAYS AND PNEUMONIA CAME. Emanuel M. Heller, the Merchant, Passes Away — Mrs A. W. Scott a Third on the Fatal List. Death the Reaper was busy in this city yesterday, and among his victims were several well known to the general public. The most striking figure among these was Colonel Edward Engle Eyre, who passed away at his late residence on Pacific avenue.
Colonel Eyre since he came to this State in the early sixties had been prominently identified with the large business interests of San Francisco, and California as well. At a time when the Stock and Exchange Board was a great institution Mr. Eyre was its president and one of the leading speculators in the market. He also conducted a large brokerage business, and during the bonanza days he handled the entire stock business of Flood & O'Brien. Deceased was one of the few large operators who had the sagacity to retire at the proper time. He left the stock business with a fine competency, and settled at Menlo Park, where he owned a beautiful estate. The family are among the leading society people of this State. Colonel Eyre continued to take an interest in mercantile affairs and was at the time of his death president of the Germania Lead Works, with offices at 124 Sansome street. He was also one of the first to appreciate the need for the construction of the Valley road and one of the original subscribers to the stock. Deceased was the father of Mrs. Richard D. Girvin of the firm of Girvin & Eyre, Miss Mary, Robert M., E. L., Percy and Perry Eyre. A widow is also left to mourn his loss. Mr, Eyre was over 75 years old at the time of his death. The immediate cause of his demise was la grippe, followed by pneumonia. He was attended by Dr. De Vecchi, but the disease had secured such a strong hold upon his system that there was no possibility of saving him. The funeral will be held from his late residence in this city on Tuesday at 11 a. m. [271]
MARRIED. In this city, March 26th, by Rev. Father Kelly, Capt. Wm. H. Pierson to Miss Hattie McClellan. Bangor (Maine) papers please copy.
01/1866 [282] 5/1866 Daily Alta California, Volume 18, Number 5921, 27 May 1866, p.4 col.8 Isabel add and also add: For Regular Dispatch Line FOR COLORADO RIVER, DIRECT. Connecting with the Pacific and Colorado S.N. Co.'s Steamers ESMERALDA and NINA TILDEN at the Mouth of the River. For Fort Yuma, La Paz, Fort Mohave, and Callville. The Clipper Barque DELAWARE; SHILLABER, Master; Is now loading at Clay street wharf, and will be dispatched on or before June 5th, having most of her cargo engaged. For freight or passage apply to K. C. ELDREDGE. Agent. NE corner Front and Pine Sts. 3/1867 [278] 11/1867 [283] 10/1869 [284] 10/1869 [285] 9/1870 [279] 5/1871 [286] 9/1871 [287] 8/1867 [288]
14 February 1865, p.4 col.8 [281]
Vallecito, San Diego County, California
Green Valley, (Cuyamaca Mountains, California)
Carrizo Creek (Imperial County, California)
Daily Alta California, Volume 22, Number 7341, 27 April 1870, p.1, col. 3, THE SAN DIEGO AND FORT YUMA TURNPIKE COMPANY.
California State Historical Landmark #194, is Mountain Springs Station. Plaque Inscription: In 1862-70, about a mile north of here Peter Larkin and Joe Stancliff used a stone house as a store from which ox teams pulled wagons up a 30% grade. The San Diego and Fort Yuma Turnpike Co. used the site as a toll road station until 1876. The crumbling house was replaced in 1917 by another still visible to its east. But road changes, beginning in 1878 and culminating in today's highway, have left the older stone house ruins inaccessible.
California Men and Events: Time 1769-1890, By George Henry Tinkham
The "South Tank" was located approximately 10 miles east of Gila Ranch and is variously referred to in modern terms as "Happy Camp Cistern" and "Forty Mile Desert Tank". Anhert (1973), ... states that the present cistern "... was built directly across the trail from the [original] tank after Butterfield Overland suspended operations." Anhert correstpondence in 2010 gives location for South Tank/Pima Pass Tank as 33°01′43.388″N 112°29′59.041″W / 33.02871889°N 112.49973361°W. [380]: 131
[357]: 27
and long marches, without water, with the thermometer at 95°.
breakfasting to-morrow at Van Horn's Wells. Our ride this morning has been utterly destitute of interest. The travelling has been most excellent, generally on elevated plateaus, or across broad and level valleys; but entirely without timber of any description. The grass for the most part good, though a little parched and dry. We have travelled for the past lew days parallel with two ranges of mountains, one on each side of us. They present a barren, rugged and repulsive aspect, and are without timber.
of their loads, as we have eaten almost all our forage. In consequence, they frequently reach camp before the wagons, and can always do so, if hurried at all. We shall leave our present camp this evening, and go on fifteen miles further, which will bring us near to Eagle springs. To-night we shall make another dry camp, as the drive would be too far for our animals to go on to the next water, without rest.
At 2 we started again, and found a rolling country, and good travelling all the evening to Ojo de las Muertas, (Spring of the Dead.) We passed the grave of a man who had been killed by the Indians, which had the usual pile of stones, to prevent exhumation by the wolves; a shingle at one end, and a sharp stick at the other. " [357]: 26, July 19.
grass. We encamped here for the night. [357]: 26, July 18.
brackish water, but very clear. The road this morning has been excellent, with plenty of grass, but of a coarse quality, and no timber, but a little dwarf mesquite. Our next camp will be a dry one, the nearest water being forty miles distant. We shall remain here until two or three in the afternoon, and then travel until dark, and camp wherever night overtakes us. The camels came into camp about an hour after us to-day, not having been packed in time to start with us this morning Leon spring was supposed by our guide to be five hundred feet deep; everybody said so. We exploded this popular fallacy by a very simple process, to wit, sounding it. We found it deep enough to save it from any exaggeration, viz., twenty-five feet. We started again at 3 p. m., and travelled until 10 at night, when we encamped on the prairie. At midnight we were awakened by a stampede of all our loose animals, which during the night we had close to the wagons, under a strong guard. When the stampede first took place I thought but little of it, knowing the animals would not run far, and that the guard would soon bring them back; but presently, mingling with the sound of the horses' receding footsteps, we heard in rapid succession two shots. This was startling, as we were in the midst of the Indian country, and it became evident that the Indians had run off our horses. Immediately I ordered all hands called, and taking with me five men, who were quickly mounted on the team animals always kept hitched to the wagons, started out in the darkness to the place where the shots had been fired, and expecting to find some of our horse-guard killed by the Comanches. We had not gone far, however, before we found our men and the animals, with the exception of six, and discovered that the report of fire-arms we had heard was from the accidental discharge of two barrels of a revolver in the hands of one of our Mexicans. Much relieved, and with our animals driven before us, we returned to camp and to our blankets. The stampede has been of service in one respect, it has shown who are willing to fight, and who are not. Some who have been very loud in the desire to see an Indian skirmish were not as forward last night as I could have desired. The grass is excellent, but there is no wood. We have made to-day twenty-eight miles. [357]: 23–24, July 14.
---
---
[468]: 174–175
The wonderful and almost magical growth of California is exhibited, as much as in any other manner, by the increase of the means of steam transportation upon our coast and rivers. Well do we recollect the time, scarcely two years since, when a journey to Sacramento City was a wearisome sail of six or eight day and the only possibility of traveling on our coast was by a transient vessel that was proceeding either up or down, with merchandise. The ?????? enormous rates of transportation were charged the miners and settlers in the country were of course obliged to pay a corresponding price for goods and provisions.
A change came o'er the spirit of the dream of California. One fine day the steamer California came puffing into our harbor, cheered on by the loud huzzas of the people as they crowded the hills that overlook the bay. This was the commencement of steam navigation amongst us. But one year ago at this time tln-re were three steamers, the Oregon, l'aiiiima and California, engaged iv transporting passengers and merchandise between this port and Panama ; and the idea of traveling to Oregon in four days was then uubroached. On the still waters of the Sacramento, between here and Sacramento City, two boats, the Senator aud McKim, made triweekly trips ; aud on the Stockton route not more than two small boats ran. The litth; iron steamer Fire Fly occasionally made trips to Santa Clara, when she was able to baffle the strong winds of the bay, and one or two pony powers had penetrated the banks of the Sacramento and Sau Joaquin above Baciainento City aud Stockton.
The following is a list of the steamers at present engaged in the conveyance of passengers aud merchandise upon our coast and rivers. Most of them are fitted up with regard to neatness aud comfort — many of them with an eye to the beautiful :
Pacific Mail Steamship Company's Line —
G. Meredith, -\_-.nt. TONS. Oregon Pearson, Commander 1100 California Budd, do 1100 Carolina Wliitir% do 600 Northerner Raudall, do 1100 Panama VVatkiu*, do H"0 Tennessee Cole, do 1300 Sarah Sands I»ley, do 1*250 I liii urn Nicholson, do 7UO
Law's Line — Olives Chablick, Agent. Columbus McGoweu, Commander. Antelope Ackley, do. I -ili in n« Ottinger, do. Republic H udsoo, do. Steamers running between San Francisco and Oregon. Gold Hunter Hall, Commander. Sea Gull Eyre, do. Mail Steamere, mouthly. Steamers running to Gold Bluff and Trinidad Bay. Chesapeake Ward Pacific Mining Company. (ien. Warreu Smith J. H. Titcomb. Goliah Thomas Chas. Minturn. Steamers running beticeen San Diego and the Intermediate Ports. Constitution Bissell Cook, Bros. & Co. Ohio Haley Bullitt &■ Patrick.
Transient Steamers.
New Orleans, Wood ; Confidence, Uuiinctt ; Wilson U. Hunt, Bi-uuia, Teliama.
Steamers running beticeen San Francisco and Sacramento City. Major Tonipkniß Mosby Ogdcn & Haynes. New World Hutching*.. Chas. Minturn. Senator Va^n Pelt do. 11. T. Clay Murray Thompson Sc Co. West Point Kelsey George H. Reed. Confidence Gannett Yasaault & Co. Hartford Averell .... J. Blair. California Boobar . Steamers running btttieen San Francisco und Stockton. Baaas Seely T. T. Smith. Capt. Sutler Lamb James Blair. El Dorado Robertson.. . Sail Joaquin Moore Mr. Bartlett. Erastus Corning M' Lean. Man posa Porter . Sauta Clara Saunders.
Steamers running beticcsn San Francisco, Han Jose and Santa Clara. William Robinson , Commander. New Star Sampson, do. Jenny Lind Le Fcvre, do. St 1 amirs running between Sacramento City and Marysvillc. Gov. Dana, Photnix, Lawrence, Jack Hays, Sacramento, Linda, Missouri, Faeliion, Star.
In addition to these we are daily expecting the arrival of the steamers Columbia aud the John C. Fremont, both of which belong to or will be under the control of the P. M. S. Company, the former to run reguliirly with the mails to Oregon, and the latter with the mails to San Diego aud other intermediate ports, thus relieving the large steamers from the annoyance of stopping in at these places.
Thus we find at the present date forty-three steamboats running upon our rivers and coast, where one year ago not more then eight or ten were engaged. The facilities for travel and transportation have necessarily reduced the prices of merchandise among the miners and farmers, newspapers and letters are sent with speed and security, and traveling in California has ceased to be an arduous task. X-Jhere will be room for more boats, but not at present. The wild forests of the Sacramento, San Joarpiin, and their tributaries, are fast yielding to the stroke of the woodman's axe, and cities, towns, and villages, are springing up on the banks of these rivers. As facilities for travel increase, communications will be more frequent, aud California will become a laud closely united by bonds of brotherhood which cannot be broken.
Department of Arizona fort list
Arizona
[546]: 155–156 [547]: 6–8 , [548]: 119 [549] Capital 4,000 shares $200,000 [550]
Eilean Adams contends it was her grandfather who first went down the Colorado River via the Grand Canyon. February 04, 2002|ANN JAPENGA What good is it being the granddaughter of a great adventurer of the West when no one believes you? That has been a dilemma for Eilean Adams ever since sixth grade when she was asked on a test: "Who was the first man to go down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon?" Adams answered: "James White," her grandfather. She flunked the test.
Her teacher believed, as do most Americans, that the one-armed Civil War hero John Wesley Powell was the first white man to challenge the mighty canyon in 1869. At the time, the Grand Canyon was the last big chunk of unexplored territory in the West. There were rumors that the unknown river hid Niagara-type waterfalls and currents that would drag boats under. The first man to survive the journey would be a hero for all time--akin to the first man on the moon.
Indeed, Powell is currently enjoying a resurgence of celebrity based on his 133-year-old conquest. After surviving his canyon trip, Powell went on to a career in Washington, directing the U.S. Geological Survey and founding the Bureau of Ethnology, among other achievements. But it is his descent of the Colorado that gives him enduring appeal. There were four new books published on Powell in 2001, and at least four Powell documentaries produced in recent years.
But was Powell truly the conqueror of the canyon?
Not according to Adams, now a 78-year-old retired technical writer in Seattle. Spurred by her F in the sixth grade, she spent 40 years researching the family story. In her new book, "Hell or High Water: James White's Disputed Passage Through the Grand Canyon, 1867" (Utah State University Press), she asserts that her grandfather actually ran the river two years before Powell.
Except, unlike Powell, he did it by accident.
Adams' book has reawakened an old controversy down on the river, where many boatmen double as historians. "Eilean's book is turning heads," says Brad Dimock, a Colorado River boatman and historian. "James White had been thoroughly dismissed. The river-running world had just about laughed him off. But Eilean's story leaves little doubt that White actually was the first down the Colorado."
In 1867, the few residents of Callville, Nev., came out to watch as a near-naked man on a log raft floated down the Colorado River. (Callville is today submerged under the waters of Lake Mead.) The man, James White, was bruised, scabbed, blackened and babbling.
Once hauled ashore and revived, White said he'd been prospecting for gold in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. One member of his party was killed in an Indian attack, and White and a man named George Strole fled for their lives. Finding no overland escape route, they used lariats to tie together three 10-foot cottonwood logs and launched themselves on the river. Four days later, Strole was washed off the makeshift raft and vanished in a whirlpool.
The lone passenger strapped himself to the raft so he wouldn't meet Strole's fate, then he bounced helplessly down the chaotic river for what he said was 14 days. As the Callville bystanders pieced together the story, they realized their visitor could only have come by way of the unknown gorge, then called Big Canyon or Grand Canyon.
The newspapers picked up White's story, and accounts that a man had survived the canyon journey soon reached the East Coast. At first, White's tale was accepted as fact. But after Powell's expedition two years later, new accounts began to question White's veracity. Among other charges, doubters said the features White described on his passage--rapids, cliffs and distances--did not match the observations of later explorers.
At one point soon after his 1869 expedition, Powell told a reporter that White's adventure was "a complete fiction." Another White critic was Robert Brewster Stanton, the man who claimed to be second to lead an expedition through the Grand Canyon. By the time of White's death in 1927, his claim to being first through the Grand Canyon was cause for smirks and jokes.
Then in 1959, a legendary river historian Otis "Dock" Marston contacted Eilean Adams' mother and said he wanted to tell White's story. Marston did not believe White had made his alleged Grand Canyon journey, but he wanted the details anyway. Adams says Marston's visit to her mother marks the beginning of her 40-year journey to unravel her grandfather's story. "It bothered my mother enormously that people said he didn't do it," she says. "She was furious."
Although Adams had little sentimental attachment to her grandfather (he died when she was 4), she says she, too, was offended that he was called a liar. "I was proud of my grandfather, and I couldn't understand why what he did didn't mean anything to anyone," she says. "Nobody wanted to know about it."
List of Steamboats on the Colorado River
--- Journey north
--- Return to south
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Cañon Del Muerto m 33°10′13″N 107°06′25″W / 33.17028°N 107.10694°W, m Elevation: 4573/1394, s 33°08′39″N 107°07′10″W / 33.14417°N 107.11944°W ele. 4,770 ft / 1,454 m confluence with McRae Canyon 33°11′20″N 107°07′33″W / 33.18889°N 107.12583°W
---
---
---
December 3.—Allen, the volunteer, who was absent five days, and was at one time thought to have deserted, returned to camp yesterday evening. He was very badly off; he had come forward the morning we followed the trail to the brink of the pass, and he came down the trail, and his whole misfortune turned upon his taking it for granted that we could not and would not come that way, but turn to an apparent opening toward the south. He finally struck our road near the dry lake; he describes minutely his having been robbed by a small party of Indians of his musket, knife, and canteen; he ate of the carcase of a dead horse we left near there, and having no knife, had to use his teeth. The village of Apaches first visited by Leroux, have not come in to-day. One man came late, and gave us to understand that they were afraid; but two mules have been purchased or bartered for, and at high prices. The guide engaged, and who went to a village, has not yet returned, but Leroux has confidence that he will not fail us. The hunters have reported the killing of perhaps a dozen wild cattle to-day, and many pack mules have been a longtime out, but have not yet brought any in, (7 p.m.) I have had the provisions which were issued to the companies at Santa Fe, weighed, and find that there is a deficiency in pork and flour both, of six or seven days; it has arisen in part from wastage, and the weighing out of flour by small quantities. I have but fifty-one days' rations, (at 10 ounces flour, If pounds fresh meat, and 10 ounces of pork.) No meat has been issued to-day. I sent this morning a pioneer party on the old Fronteras trail, which will be ours for seven or eight miles through a gap in mountains to the west. They worked as far as water, and a camping place six miles. This old ranche was abandoned, I suppose, on account of Indian depredations; the owner, S. Elias, of Arispe, is said to have been proprietor of above two hundred miles square, extending to the Gila, and eighty thousand cattle; several rooms of the above houses are still nearly habitable; they were very extensive, and the quadrangle of about 150 yards still has two regular bastions in good preservation; in front and adjoining was an enclosure equally large, but is now in ruins. The wild cattle we will find ranging as far as the San Pedro; they support the Indians just as buffalo, on the plains to the east of the Rocky mountains. Fires would have been disagreeable to-day from 9 a. m. until near sundown. It may be worthy of mention that the 1st dragoons are now serving in four States or departments of Mexico, of vast extent, viz: Chihuahua, New Mexico, Sonora, and California. My camp is about seventy miles from a town of three thousand inhabitants—Arrispe. [583]: 31–32
[583]: 32–33
[583]: 33
This camp is at a very good gamma grass; the first good spot seen today in a march of fifteen miles. There is plenty of mezquite wood.
[583]: 39
Emigrants passed through the area along either the Salt Lake Road or the Mojave Road (by then known as the Government Road). Mining developed, attracting people to the area in increasing numbers. Several trading posts were established along the routes of travel, some growing into small settlements. Major suppliers were Lane's (Oro Grande),Grapevine (near Barstow), Fish Pond (Nebo) and Hawley's in Yermo. [600]: 38
N 34° 45.659', W 117° 0.625'
The stay was a brief one, however, as the Protheros soon finished construction of their own homes at the Cottonwoods. The following year Edward and his son, John, are shown in the Auditor's Assessment Book as each having improvements on state land at the Cottonwoods.
From various sources it is known that Aaron was not alone at the crossing. The census shows there were ten people living in two residences on the river by 1860. Listed in Dwelling No. 703 were Aaron Lane, William R. Levick, and the Nicholson family, consisting of George and Frances, and their three children aged 9 to 13. Joseph and Mary Highmoor lived in Dwelling No. 704, with a seven-year-old female named Anna.
In January of 1860 the newspaper, referring to this small group, announced that a settlement was being formed on the Mojave and that "good locations are known to exist." In April of the following year another "settlement" was reported to be in existence:
"On the Mojave river settlements are springing up. The tide of travel is carrying along the hardy and industrious pioneer, with his family, who is now erecting his home on the banks of the river. Fine tracts of arable land exist there, and already broad fields present their luxuriant grain to the astonished gaze of the weary traveler. Fine springs of water thread their silvery course, affording joy and refreshment to the wayfarer, ere lost in the sands of the desert."
Although the author of this article indulged in some rather fanciful rhetoric, it can be seen that he only is referring to a single residence being built on the river for one family. This was most likely the Nicholson home at Point of Rocks, as that property appears on the tax assessment records for 1862, and there are no other candidates.
"To the Sheriff of San Bernardino County -- We the settlers of Mohave River, do sincerely petition to the Citizens of this County for help to drive the Indians off, as they are here in considerable numbers at Camp Cady. They are killing stock of all Brands. We had a fight with them yesterday Evening. They all appear to be armed with good guns and fight desperate.The Citizens of Camp Cady are all at the forks of the Road assembled for self protection."
Mathews received the letter the next day, and sent a notarized copy to the commander of Drum Barracks in Wilmington, Colonel James F. Curtis of the 4th Infantry, California Volunteers. Mathews also wrote a cover letter stating he had no other knowledge of the incident, because the person who delivered the letter had received it from someone else at midnight and he had not bothered to ask the messenger for any particulars of the raid. He added that a small group of armed citizens was preparing to leave in the morning, of a size "sufficient I think to keep the Indians at bay until Government Troops can arrive."
Neither Aaron Lane, nor Pleasants and the other cowboys, were listed on the petition. Just who finally did run the Indians off -- the local citizens' militia or the military -- is unknown, as no further details could be found on the episode.
The site Lane chose for his new home was a splendid one. He had shrewdly decided to turn his sights to agriculture, though he continued to raise livestock, and the land he had selected this time included the most fertile ground along the overflow of the river. Lane praised the superior quality of this soil in an article he wrote for the newspaper:
The land on the Mojave, at the point where I am, is exceedingly fertile, and comparatively free from alkali. It is of that peculiar character which retains moisture well, and consequently I am able to cultivate successfully without irrigation. I do irrigate my garden, this season, but planted in the proper time, it would not be necessary so to do.
Lane described his ranch as being "immediately on the river, seven miles from the Upper Crossing," which today is in the community of Bryman. Though he did not mention it in the article, the ranch sat on a pretty stretch of land along the Mojave River. The surrounding landscape offers a view of the desert mountains and hills. Along the west side of the river a steep bank rises vertically some 200 feet high, and a dense forest of green cottonwoods and creek willows blankets the river bottom as far as the eye can see.
Even as late as 1871 the Mojave River was considered rather remote. One person took a trip to the mines at Ivanpah and thought it enough of an adventure into the wilderness to warrant writing a series of articles for the paper. In the September 9, 1871, Guardian, he writes of his stop at Lane's prospering way station and of Lane's good cheer and benevolence:
After crossing the river we struck a rolling sandy road running parallel with the river six or eight miles; we then reach Capt Lane's ranch; the hearty greeting of the old Capt (who had his title in the Mexican war) was refreshing; he has the good things of this life in abundance, and which he dispenses with a liberal hand to any unfortunates who may pass and there are a good many in this lower country who know from personal knowledge of the fact.
"The Capt has a nice garden growing on the banks of the river below his house with a good crop of corn, melons and vegetables generally. He has also about one hundred acres enclosed in a substantial fence which affords good pasture for his stock, consisting of horses, cattle and sheep."
The fruitfulness of the Captain's garden was a wonderment to many of his guests over the years. One observer said that it had the best turnips he had ever seen, and a squash weighing over 100 pounds.
LANE CONTINUED BEEKEEPING AT HIS NEW RANCH. BEE EXPERT A. I. ROOT STATED THAT ALFALFA, A "SPECIES OF CLOVER," IS ONE OF THE "GREATEST HONEY PLANTS IN THE WORLD."
In December of 1873 Lane's Station was listed in the San Bernardino newspaper as one of the nine principal ranches on the Mojave River, along with Houlton's, Brown's, Kelley's, Atkinson's, Point of Rocks, Lightfoot's, Grape Vine, and Cady.
From the standpoint of acreage, these ranches were modest in size for the time, except for that of Amos Houlton, which at 920 acres was at least in the top 64 in San Bernardino County. There were nine ranches in the county that exceeded 10,000 acres. Former mountain man James W. Waters owned properties amounting to over 36,000 acres, which made his holdings almost feudal in proportion. Total acres assessed in 1873 were 370,880, at a value of $679,001 -- an average of $1.83 per acre.
Gen. Morehead's Expedition.
From this time scouts were sent out daily in pursuit of the Indians. Morehead himself, with his main command, crossed over the Colorado to the point of land between that river and the Gila, where the Indians have their principal settlement. The Indians, perceiving his approach, were busy in packing their little wares upon their animals, preparatory to a hasty retreat. Morehead at once commenced an attack upon them, and followed them so closely that most of them were compelled to throw away every encumberance to ensure their own safety. They were followed for many miles — several were shot, and some of their animals taken. From this time forward, few or no Indians were seen. They retreated up the river, leaving their crops and their possessions to the mercy of their foe. How extensive these are the reader will hardly be prepared to believe. We are assured by one who rode over their fields that they extended many miles.
All these were at once appropriated by Morehead to the purposes of his command. His animals were turned in upon them, as were also those of different companies of emigrants as they came up. Not content with this, he caused the huts of the Indians to be sacked and despoiled of large quantities of musquite beans. These it is well known are a prime article of food with the Indians, in this vicinity. Pounded up and mixed with stewed pumpkins they make a bread that is not only nutritious but not altogether unpalatable. The musquite is very prolific about the Colorado, and the Indiana had stored up large quantities for the winter's consumption, but all that fell in his way were destroyed by Gen. Morehead.
Thus terminated this forray against the Indians. We shall leave the reader to draw his own conclusions upon the wisdom of the mode in which it was conducted. Two results however it seems to us must be inevitable. The first is, most extensive and severe suffering on the part of the Indians from the destruction of their crops, and the other is an ineradicable feeling of hostility will be implanted in their savage natures, which will not fail to wreak itself on every small body of emigrants that fall in their way. Fortunately for travelers the post at the mouth of the Gila is now in the possession of an experienced and discreet commander, who will be able, we trust, to convince the Indians that the Americans will neither sanction robbery from them, nor allow it to as practised upon them.
There remains to be written yet another chapter of this expedition which mast reveal acts more reprehensible than any which have been yet recorded. After Morehead had got rid of the Indians, he turned his attention to the Mexicans. It is well known that some of these people, on their return to their own country, have been in the habit of taking animals from our raucheros, as they have had opportunity, for which, of course, they deserve a severe punishment ; but whether the coarse pursued by Gen. Morehead is the correct one, the reader can form his own opinion. It appears that Gen. Bean — at least so goes the story — has authorised him to take from Mexicans all animals that were not "bented" — that is to say, had not the brand of their original owner duplicated on their right shoulder, signifying that they had been sold. Now the absurdity of this order can be readily seen by noting that, in the first place, many of those Mexicans bring with them their own animals, and of coarse have no occasion to " bent " them. Some of the Sonorians, for instance, that visit the mines, are men of wealth, and bring with them a large number of peons, (I have known one man to have over one hundred) mounted on animals raised upon their own ranches. Secondly — Many of these animals are bought in the mines, and are of American breed, and have never been branded ; and, thirdly, it is by no means an unusual custom with our rancheros to dispose of their animals, and not "bent " them at all. Many are sold with a written certificate to that end, and may as transferred to a new owner, without even that showing. All these facts are sufficiently notorious, and yet we find Gen. Morehead commissioned to take, at the river Colorado, from every returning Mexican, all the animals in their possession not " bented. "
The rascality of the transaction will be better conceived when it is understood that these poor creatures have the past season had more than the usual ill luck of those engaged at work in the southern mines. Most of them being unable to pay the outrageous tax imposed upon them by the ignorant cupidity of our last legislature, have been hunted from pillar to post, and have hardly realized enough to pay their expenses. At the Colorado River they are in the midst of an almost impassible desert. Before they arrive at the first settlement on the way to Alter, the usual route, they have to travel in one instance 100 miles without water, and in another 60 miles. The whole distance to Alter is 300 miles. Many of them live five hundred and a thousand miles beyond it. Now it will hardly believed that, under these circumstances, and from the shallow apology just described, over one hundred animals were taken from returning Mexicans, nineteen twentieths of which, I do not hesitate to say, were in all probability taken from their real owners, and I do not much care if the reader adds, were known to be so when they were so taken. Teodoro
Murder on the Mojave.
On Wednesday morning, Mr. Jones, the express rider from Fort Mojave, arrived here, and informed us that the Pi-Ute Indians had come down from the Santa Clara and the Vegas, and were driving-off the cattle on the Mojave, belonging to Mr. Bachman of this city, and had obtained possession of over twenty head, and several horses, and that as he passed the station, the men in charge were going out to recover the stock. A few hours afterwards, the startling rumor reached town, that Mr. Robert Wilburn, in charge of the cattle, bad "been killed by the Indians, which, unfortunately, proved too true, as the dead body was brought into town same evening. It appears Mr. Wilburn went in search of the cattle and found a dead ox; seeing Indian tracks, he looked around for the Indians, but could not see them, although they were lying concealed very near him. He was pierced by three arrows, and was in a dying condition when joined by his companions. The body was interred on Thursday afternoon, an inquest having been previously held thereon by Dr. J. C. Welsh, coroner. The funeral of deceased was largely attended.
From San Bernardino.
San Bernardino, March 27, 18G0. Editor Star—On Thursday night, an express arrived here from the Mojave river, with intelligence of the murder of Thomas S. Williams, Esq. a merchant of Great Sait Lake city. [The particulars are stated elsewhere so we omit that portion of the letter of our attentive correspondent.] Mr. Jackmao is lying at Lane's, on the Mojave in a most critical condition. Dr. A. Ainsworth is in attendance on him. [629]: p.2, col.4, From San Bernardino.
---
The article by Phil Perretta was only used to supply the first name of Ed Parrish.
156 HISTORICAL SOCIETY oF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA our teams to assist them. I made known to Brother Benjamin Wright, who was in charge of affairs at Voree, my intention of going to Beaver Island, the seat of the First Presidency, and we took under advisement how to dispose of my wagons and horses and procure the necessary outfit, whereupon we came to the con- clusion that I should turn over all I had to Brother Wight (or rather the association) and that he should provide me with such outfit for the island as their circumstances would justify. Brother Whitney concluded to remain at Voree, where he died the succeed- ing spring. On my part, I worked with my might in assisting the brethren in their ordinary labors, until such time as it might be convenient to get my outfit for the place to which my desires in- spired me to go. ‘No one can possibly realize my gratitude to the God of heaven for my safe deliverance from the perplexity of mind and burning anxiety for respite from the misrule of the haughty and arrogant usurpers of authority in the Church and Kingdom of God, and my eager expectations of being in a week or two placed again under the guidance of the true shepherd of the flock of God’s people on earth, but those alone who have passed through such ordeals as I have in the last six years, subsequent to the death of Joseph Smith, and up to the time of my arrival at Voree.
GEORGE MILLER, JR. So much for George Miller, the elder. I now come to the second part of my subject—the life, or, to be more exact, some few inci- dents in the life of the son, George Miller, Jr.—the George Miller who is with us today. He was born February 11, 1850, in Indian Territory, among the Creek Indians, and was the only son of George Miller, Sr., by his second contemporaneous wife, née Boughton, who died in 1851 in Michigan. His father, a Mormon bishop, and, of course, a polygamist, was an intimate friend and a firm believer in Joseph Smith, but he hated Brigham Young as the devil hates holy water, and the compliment was apparently returned, for we have seen that on at least one occasion he vehemently suspected his enemy of compassing his assassination. Of his mother little is known, for she died when he was a baby. He was his own man from the age of twelve—literally and abso- lutely. He started without father or mother and without a red cent, and all that he has he has made by the sweat of his brow. He is thus a self-made man in the highest sense of the term, and is proud of it. The young George had every opportunity and every excuse for developing into a first-class blackguard, as he himself has often
“DE TAL PALO TAL ASTILLA” 157 told me, for he was thrown in those troublous times into the com- pany of as ruffianly a type of humanity as God ever allowed to exist. And around the camp-fire at night he has told me time after time tales of his early life which have made me wonder how an orphan boy, under such circumstances, could have grown up other than an Apache, but the stuff was there—“De Tal Palo Tal Astilla” —and from his parents he inherited that essential integrity for which he has been known in California for nearly sixty years. Lit- erally, George Miller would not betray a trust, tell a lie or do a dirty trick for all the money in the world. An enthusiastic Mason, he simply and unostentatiously subscribes to the high beliefs and tenets of that order, and lives up to them. Unlike his father, he has a simple and old-world faith in the integrity of his brethren— judging others by his own standard. The elder Miller, you will recollect, put Mormonism before Masonry. More than once I have known him seriously imperil his estate financially and socially to help out some old friend who was down and out and in serious trouble, never hesitating for a second to count the cost, but simply practising the golden rule. He is perhaps most widely known to the present generation as an old- time Indian hunter. In fact, his whole life has been that of a hunter. He hunted Indians until they were all killed off, and grizzly bears until he himself, in 1901, killed the last grizzly bear in the San Ber- nardino mountains—and thereby hangs a tale—since which time he has had to be nominally content with the official two bucks per season, except when employed by the proper authorities to secure specimens of the Ovis Canadensis for the Golden Gate Museum of San Francisco, where many of his trophies may be seen. I append a copy of a letter which, at the request of Byron Waters, he wrote to the Pioneer Society of San Bernardino in 1916. In his own language he tells the tale of the life of a pioneer in these regions in the sixties.
158 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COPY OF GEORGE MILLER)S LETTER TO BYRON WATERS IN RE: INDIAN TROUBLES AT SAN BERNARDINO FROM ONWARD
FIRST FIGHT AT MILL Jonathan Richardson, William Kane, George Lish, Tom Welly Henry Law, George Armstrong, Frank Talmadge, A. J. Currey, Thomas Enrufty, George Birdwell, Frank Blair Highland, Cal., July 18, 1916. Byron Waters. Dear Friend: To make good my promise that I would give you a little early history of our Indian troubles in San Bernardino County, I will commence back. In 1863, as near as I can recollect, they began to get quite bold. They came into the valley and killed a man by the name of Polito, a Spanish man, at the mouth of Little ‘Sand Canyon, above Del Rosa, about where Jake Huff now lives. They made their escape over the mountains through Little Bear Valley, and stole a mule from Sam Pine, the father of ex-Supervisor Pine, who was living there at that time with his family. They went on down Willow Canyon below the narrows in a side canyon. They killed a mule and then ate him; they seemed to love mule and ‘horseflesh better than beef. I think a short time after that, at the mouth of Davy James’ Canyon, now known as Cable Creek, they shot a horse and mule of W. F. Holcomb and ‘Pete Smith, while they were hunting. I think about the same time they shot [but did not kill] Dr. Smith in Cajon Pass. This Dr. Smith was the man who first located Arrowhead Hot Springs. Bill Holcomb and others gathered up a party and followed them over into the Rock Creek country. They took no provisions with them; had to live on venison straight, and so had to give up the chase. About that time *S. P. Waite was living in Cajon Pass at the upper toll-house, with his family, having to keep a sharp lookout for Indians. He discovered a bluejay darting down at something up on the bluff above the house; it raised his suspicions that something might be there. He thought he could see an object there, and so he took a shot at it. The next morning he went out to investigate and found an Indian lying there. Now I will go back a little and speak of myself in order to get the date more definite. I went up on the mountain with Justus Morse and old man Wixom to work in the shingle-mill in Dark
“DE TAL PALO TAL ASTILLA” 159 Canyon. Old man James was running a saw-mill at what is known as Knapp’s Flat. Old man Huston was running a saw-mill at the east end of the flat on the creek coming down from Squirrel Inn. We call it Huston Creek. I got one of my fingers cut off in the mill while making shingles, and a bad cut on the leg with an axe; so I came down to the valley for repairs. I then went out to Yucaipa to work for James Waters; stayed there about three months; came back and went to the mountains again, and then went to work for A. J. Currey, who afterwards became sheriff of the county. After I had worked for him about a year, I bought him out. We were living in a little canyon running in Little Bear Valley from the south side, just east of where Lapraix mill stood afterwards. We were living previously for a short time in a house that had been vacated by Frank Talmadge. Bill Holcomb was living in a house close by that had been occupied by Sam Pine. The place is covered with water now of Little Bear Lake. I took Bill Holcomb in as a partner some time after that to finish working up the timber I had on hand. The Indians were very troublesome all this time, stealing cattle and horses. Everybody had to be on their guard. Old man James, just before I went to work for Currey, had moved his mill in ‘Little Bear Valley Canyon, now known as Blue Jay. He sold out to William Caley, Jonathan ‘Richardson, George Armstrong and J. J. Willis. Frank Talmadge was driving a logging team for the company at that time, he buying out Armstrong afterwards, Garland P. Thomas buying out J. J. Willis. Now that brings me up to about 1866. The Indians were very bad, killing stock on the Mohave River, in particular that of the Bemis boys and Dunlap, the owner of the Dunlap & Parrish ranch —the one on the west fork of Mohave, now known as the the Las Flores rancho. It was there, while they were driving up their cattle, the Indians ambushed them and killed Parrish, Bemis and White- side, while they were riding up a small draw, looking for a cow and yearling that had escaped the herd. It was between sundown and dusk they were killed. They recovered the bodies of Parrish and Bemis that night. They were stripped of all their clothing. They found Whiteside the next morning. He had been wounded evi- dently, and had put up a fight from the indications. His body was also stripped of all clothing. He was shot full of arrows, as well as having a bullet hole in his shoulder. His head was smashed in with a rock. This occurred about one mile east of the house, a short distance from the mouth of Grass Valley Creek, west. Just as soon as the horses came in with saddles covered with blood, every- body took the back trail to find the bodies of the men. It being dark made it difficult, and they got only two of them that night, Bemis and Parrish, finding Whiteside the next morning. Then the chase began, driving the Indians into the desert and mountains. I
160 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA do not know how many Indians there were, but I presume there were two hundred and fifty to three hundred all told, old and young. They were mostly Piutes, and a few Chimihueve and rene- gades. They inhabited the north side of the mountain range and desert. The next depredation was in Little Bear Valley, about where the dam runs across the Arrowhead reservoir. There was a little pen stalk water saw-mill standing there—sash saw—turning out about 800 feet of lumber in twenty-four hours, first built by Jerome Benson, and rebuilt by old man Meeks. The Indians slipped in when no one was in, and robbed the houses, and afterwards burned them. They then came up the valley to Bill Kane’s house, just below where Talmadge’s last mill stood, in ‘‘Little Bear Valley. George Lish and John Dewitt had just brought up supplies of pro- visions to go to work, and just turned their horses in the pasture and went across the valley for a few minutes. On their return they found the Indians in possession of horses, guns and provisions. The Indians made a dash for them. They made their escape to Talmadge’s mill, now called Blue Jay Camp. The next morning Talmadge and Richardson, Armstrong and Kane, took two saddle- horses and one pack-animal and started after them. They went down by the house and found it burned to the ground, grindstone broken and everything destroyed they could not carry off. Con- siderable snow fell during the night, about five or six inches, and that made tracking good. So they were determined to find where the Indians were located. They had already sent to San Bernardino for help that had arrived, and gathered all women and children into the mill house, so that they could go on without any fear for the families. So on they went for Willow Canyon. Right at the head in a little flat, just this side of the gate house of Arrowhead Reservoir Company, they saw eight Indians. . The Indians saw them first and ran. Talmadge and Kane were on horses, Richardson and Armstrong afoot, leading the pack animal. Talmadge and Kane, being on horses, ran after the Indians, it being easy to fol- low the tracks in the snow. They chased them on down on the right side of the canyon just below where the first tunnel comes through from Little Bear Lake. The Indians, being pressed too closely, got in behind a big log. Talmadge kept above the trail a little; Kane followed right after them. He ran right on them be- fore he knew it. They shot his horse several times; his horse threw Kane off, and he got behind a tree. The horse went back to the pack animal. The Indians were trying to get Kane, he having dropped his gun in the fall. Talmadge had got off his horse, and shot and killed the one just drawing a bead on Kane. Kane had lost his gun when he fell from his horse; he had nothing but a pistol left. Talmadge had a double-barrel, muzzle-loading gun. The Indians then turned their attentionlto Talmadge. Kane ran
“DE TAL PALO TAL ASTILLA” 161 back to the other boys. Talmadge fired another shot. He could not hold his horse any longer and hold his gun. The Indians scat- tered. Talmadge went back to meet the boys. They all went back to the mill. That ended the first round. The next day they gath- ered in what guns and ammunition they could; one or two more men from San Bernardino came up; they moulded up all the lead they could get hold of; got powder and caps, for all we had was muzzle-loading guns in those days, and started to locate the Indians once more. They left with the women four men: J. J. Willis, G. P. Thomas, G. Birdwell and one other man. They decided not to go the wagon road down to Bear Valley for fear of being way-laid by the Indians. More snow had fallen by this time, almost two feet, I think. In the party that day were Frank Talmadge, Jonathan Richardson, I think; William Caley, A. J. Currey, Thomas Enrufty, better known as “Noisy Tom”; Henry Law, George Lish, Tom Welty, Frank Blair, Bill Kane, George Armstrong, I think, and Joab Roar. It was so long ago that I am not positive as to those two. As I said, they decided to go down the canyon on the left side toward Bear Valley. They left the road about two hundred yards below the mill and started up over the first ridge. Just as they reached the top they met about sixty Indians. The timber being thick, the fighting was done mostly from behind trees. I think the Indians opened fire first. They must have had about forty guns, and some had bows and arrows. The firing lasted some time, several hundred shots being fired. Tom Welty got shot through the shoulder, Bill Kane in the leg. Two men being wound- ed, and about four men and two guns being all they had left to protect the women folk, they went back to the mill. They left one dead Indian and several wounded. That ended another scrap. The Indians having got the worst of it, leaving two dead (‘N. B. in the two scraps—so G. M.) on the ground and a good many mortally wounded, they went down for a warmer climate, towards the desert. Those Indians that were killed had their shoes, or sandals, tied to their belts and their feet in the snow. They all were bare- footed, as their tracks showed in the snow. We determined to drive them out of the mountains. We gath- ered up some more men from San Bernardino, with provisions, and a wagon to haul the blankets, and our supply, not being much at that. Some went over the mountains; some went through the Cajon Pass. We made our first headquarters at the Dunlap and Parrish ranch, now Las Flores ’Rancho—see note “A” at end. In the army of the Mojave at first outset were W. F. Holcomb, Jack Martin, John St. John, Samuel Bemis, Edwin Bemis, Wm. Bemis, Harrison Bemis, Bart Smithson, John McGarr, Jonathan Richard- son, Frank Blair, George Armstrong, George Birdwell, Joseph Mecham, Jack Ayres and one man—I don’t know his name. He
162 HISTORICAL socmrv oF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA was so no-account he would not get out of camp or do a soli thing—the laziest man I ever saw in my life. We divided up into small parties each day to go in different directions to get the trails to find where the Indians had gone to. We found all trails of them going northeast on the desert from Rock Creek on the west to Cushenberry on the east track; all led toward the Rabbit Springs. We then moved down to the Mojave River to get closer to our work, in some heavy timber—the place is now known as the Verde Rancho; it was not owned by anybody at that time. From there we put out our scouting parties, and soon located the Indians on a rocky mountain north and west of Rabbit Springs, just north of the west end of a dry lake. I was with the Bemis boys and Jack Martin during the time we were scouting. A brave set of men they were, but cautious and on the alert.. The next thing to do now was to make an attack, as soon as we could get all hands together at about 20 miles from our camp west, and we decided to make a daybreak attack. Three or four men then got sick all at once—toothache and head- ache—and they went home then. The next day came more men, Dave Wixon, Noisy Tom, Sam Button and a man by the name of Stout, and his son and son-in-law. Those who went home were Ayres and Mecham—I have forgot- ten the other names. We sat up that night till about 12 o’clock. Then we divided into two parties. Stout was made captain of the men who went by the wagon road. St. John was made captain of the men who went north of the mountain. It was a considerably greater distance for those going on the north side of the mountain. I want to say right here that this was the coldest weather that I had experienced in many a day. Men’s moustaches froze from their breath. I was not old enough to grow hair on my face at that time. We wandered around through the night in the “chollas” (cactus) half frozen, and arrived at the foot of the hill in broad daylight. We should have been at the top of the mountain at that time. Stout and his party, following the road, a much shorter distance, got there on time. They saw us just starting up the hill. They did not see any Indians. They fired off a gun to let us know they were there, and hallowed a few times, and started down to the wagon. That woke up the Indians, and put them on their guard. We could see the Indians running about from place to place, one with something in his hand, a piece of blanket, and directing his men. The Indians did not see us. They were watching Stout’s party, and trying to cut them off from the wagon. All this time we were hurrying the best we could, the ground being very rocky and hard climbing. We would go half at a time; then we would get behind rocks and wait until the others came up. They would get under cover and we would go on again. We got right in there among them before they
“DE TAL PALO TAL ASTILLA” 163 knew it. Then the guns began to crack and arrows began zipping about, and you could not see any distance for so many big rocks. Jack Martin and Bill Holcomb, Noisy Tom and Bill Bemis went on the west side of a big rock. Richardson and I were on the east side of the rock. We started to go round on the south side, where the most shooting was. An arrow struck Richard-, son in the breast. He staggered round, and I caught him in my arms, and got him behind a rock and started on. I had gone but a few feet when I met St. John, our captain. He said, “Where are you going?” “I was going,” I said, “to get help, as Richard- son was badly wounded.” He went and looked at-him. I showed him the arrow he was shot with, covered with blood. He shook his head and said, “You can’t do anything for him; let the battle go on.” He turned round to me and said, “George, you see that bush there and a little piece of blanket? That rock is split in two. The Indians are going through and getting away. You crawl right up to that little pile of rock; don’t let them get out that way; don’t shoot unless you are very close. I will go round and get the other boys, and come over the rock and meet you.” I crawled up within twenty feet of where he told me to go. The Indians were yelling like ten thousand coyotes. I lay about as flat as a man could lie on the ground, laid my pistol right Where I could get my hand on it, and used the gun first. The Indians were passing at the left of me and a little in the rear of me. I hardly knew which way to expect them. I heard the rocks rolling behind me and looked across a little canyon. I saw Dave Wixom and Harrison Bemis crawling down the hill toward me. I beckoned them and they came to me. I felt very much relieved when they crawled up to me. About that time I heard Noisy Tom’s voice and saw the heads of them coming over the rock—Noisy Tom, Holcomb, Martin, St. John, all of them in a breast, guns ready to shoot. When Tom saw me with my gun in the direction of him, pointed at the blanket and bush, he hallooed out at me, “Miller, don’t you shoot this way, you little S. B., you.” As St. John said, the Indians had made their escape through the split in the rock—all that were in that company, except two squaws, one boy about fourteen, one girl about ten, and a baby. They took them prisoners. In the fight were Noisy Tom, Holcomb, Martin, St. John, Richardson, Wixom, H. Bemis, S. Bemis, W. Bemis, E. Bemis, Blair and Armstrong. The two last stayed hid a1l the time the fight was on. J. McGarr and Button were taking care of the horses. John McGarr and Samuel Button had taken the horses in the meantime around to the wagon. Now the next thing to do was to get Jonathan Richardson down to the wagon, and with him the prisoners we had. Richardson was very weak and sick, and the ground was very steep and rocky, but we got to the wagon in safety. If those Indians had known that there
164 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA were but a dozen men of us, they could have wiped us off the face of the earth. Our coming up and attacking them in the rear sur- prised them. They were busy trying to cut Stout’s party off from the wagon. With us coming up they thought they were trapped, and they scattered like quail, and lucky for us they did. Now to get ‘Richardson to San Bernardino we had to send an escort with him, Bill Holcomb, Sam Button and Armstrong and Blair. That ended that scrap. Then we went on after the broken remnants of them. We chased them around through rocks. They were getting together as fast as they could. Our party getting weaker all the time, we thought we could handle a few of them more easily than all of them together. I was with Bill Bemis, Ed Bemis and Jack Martin. The next day we went up to the old battleground to pick up the trail of some of the stragglers. We soon picked up a trail leading down the north slope of the mountain. We followed them down to th'é valley, where they turned up a sand wash running into some low hills. They seemed to have gotten together again. The trails looked as if there were 150 or 200 of them. We were close to the foot- hill at the mouth of the canyon. We heard a shot close by, only a few rods away. We looked around, but could not see anything. It was almost sundown. VVe had no water and had six miles to walk, so we went to camp and reported. The next morning, as soon as we could see, all hands went to take up the trail where we left it the evening before, leaving three men in camp. In a short time we had the trail again. We had not gone far from where we left the trail the evening before, and heard the gun fired, when we found where they had stayed all night—not over four hundred yards from where we turned back the evening before. The canyon was about one hundred feet across at the mouth, and very rocky. They went right up the sand wash and you could see the tracks a hundred yards ahead. They then turned off out on either side and came back to the mouth of the canyon, and fortified both sides, and there lay in waiting for us. Had we gone any further the evening before, they would have killed all four of us without doubt. We then followed on, skirting the foothills. We were close on to them; they would not come out in the open valley, but kept in the rocks, except when crossing the mouths of canyons. We followed on until about three o’clock in the afternoon. We had no water, having no canteens. We started back to camp. We had traveled all this time in a half circle. We were nearer camp than when we first took up the trail in the morning. We met Stout’s son coming with two horses, leading one for his father, the other for his brother-in-law. He had a canteen of water
“DE TAL PALO TAL ASTILLA” 165 and a lunch for the three. They decided to follow them on, as they were still going on in a circle. St. John and Martin remonstrated with them, and told them how they had set a trap for us the eve- ning before, and said they had better go to camp with us. They would not listen. They were on horseback and were going to follow a little further. I was dry and thirsty and hungry; had had no water since early morning, and hurried into camp. Dinner was ready; so was I. So I washed myself and got a plate of beans and had started to sit down, when I heard the guns begin to pop. The other boys had all got in by that time. I picked up a field glass and looked in the direction I heard the shooting, and saw a man coming on a bald-faced horse across a dry lake north of us. The man had no hat on his head. I knew it was Stout’s son and horse. I could not see the other two men. We were all gone and going to meet him before he got to camp. We were there just in time to save his father and brother-in-law. Stout’s horse was shot, and his son-in-law had a broken arm. Stout had several bullet holes through his coat, but none had hit the flesh. They had followed the Indians to a little point through a little pass, with two little buttes on either side. The Indians lay in the rocks on both sides of them and opened fire on them as they came through. How they ever escaped I do not know. The Lord must have been on their side. We opened fire on the Indians as soon as we got there. They were making for the top of the mountains. I started to go round a point of the hill. John McGarr had tied his horse to a grease bush and the horse was about to break loose, hearing so much shooting. John hallooed at me to get his horse before he got away. I had just seen two In- dians running up through the rocks and was hurrying round on the other side to get a better shot at them. So I jumped on the horse, and started in a hurry. The horse started bucking. I was hang- ing on for dear life. Two Indians ran out from behind some rocks not over fifty yards from me; they never stopped to shoot at me‘, but ran farther up into the rocks. By the time I got the horse stopped, and got off, they got in behind some more rock. I then found that I had lost all my bullets. I took the horse’s tracks and followed back until I found about a dozen. By that time the shoot- ing had stopped. Then the next thing was to get in the wounded man and horse. It was near sundown. We held council and found, when we had furnished an escort to San Bernardino with the wounded, there were only Jack Martin, the four Bemis boys and myself, and we decided we could not do any business. So we came on with the rest of them. I went on ahead with part of the crowd that night on horseback, as Richardson had left his horse with me. The balance of the men went with the wagon. W e were to meet at the old camp on the Mojave River. It was bitter cold that night. It was storming on the mountains; the sleet blew in our
166 HISTORICAL SOCIETY oF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA faces all the way to the Mojave. The wagon lost the way, and landed about eight miles above us on the river. They had all our blankets and provisions. The snow fell on us that night about six inches deep. We had not had anything to eat since daybreak the morning before. We found the wagon the next morning about nine o’clock, and got some breakfast, what little there was to get. I could tell you a funny story that happened there, but it will do some other time. While we were there, Joe Serrill’s brother, and, I think, John Burkhart, killed eight Indians at the mouth of Cushen- berry Canyon. Now I will commence where I left off. \rVe waded through the snow over the Cajon Pass almost frozen and starved. We hadn't had a square meal for thirty-two days. We got to the upper toll- house. A man by the name of Fears, I think, was there, and others. Some of the boys got meals at seventy-five cents; I did not have the price. So I went on down to the lower toll-house. John Brown, Sr., was there and his son, Joseph Brown. Mr. Brown says, “Boys, I expect you are hungry. I am not very well fixed to cook for so many at a time, but come in; I will serve you all as fast as I can. You shall have the best I have got. You deserve it.” They all took him at his word but John McGarr and myself. I was as hungry as a coyote, but did not want to impose on good nature. I got home about two o’clock in the night, having been gone from home just thirty-two days. Yours truly, GEORGE MILLER.
Note A: I want to state right here, before I go any further, as to the mode of fighting, that they keep up a constant yell all the time. They make more noise than 10,000 coyotes; never come out in the open to fight, but fight from behind rocks and trees, and keep up a constant yell all the time. There is one thing they never do; that is, they never leave any wounded on the battle-ground. They take and carry away every one that has a spark of life left in him. You never know how many are wounded and killed. Note B: Army of the Mojave—W. F. Holcomb, Jack Martin, John St. John, Sam Bemis, Harrison Bemis, William Bemis, Edwin Bemis, Bart Smithson, John McGarr, D. H. Wixom, Jonathan Richardson, Frank Blair, George Birdwell, Joseph Mecham, Stout and son, Griffith (son-in-law), one man (I dont know his name), Sam Button. Shot: Parrish, killed, Bemis, killed; White- side, killed; Dr. C. Smith, wounded; Polito, killed; Weltz, wounded; Kane, wounded; Wolley, killed. Note C: Those who participated in first fight at Rabbit Springs
“DE TAL PALO TAL ASTILLA” ' 167 —John St. John, Bill Holcomb, Ed Bemis, Harrison Bemis, John McGarr, Jonathan Richardson, George Armstrong, Jack Martin, Sam Bemis, Bill Bemis, Thomas Enrufty, Dave Wixom, Frank Blair. Bard Smithson stayed with the wagons and horses at all times, he and two other men.
But I am getting ahead of my subject. I must go back to his early days, and finally will wind up with some more or less pictur- esque, but always forcible, anecdotes, wherein he and his friends, many of whom have since gone over the Big Divide, bore conspic- uous parts.
Born February 11, 1850, in a log cabin in Indian Territory, among the Creek Indians, at the age of eleven months he went to Michigan, Where his mother died. In 1854 the family moved to Meringo, Illinois, where his fatherdied in the following year. The next trek was to Iowa in 1856, with the object of uniting forces with Joshua Miller, his half-brother, in their journey to California. In 1857 the party was well under way, but was wrecked in the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River boat on which they were traveling coming to grief near Fort La Vaca, where they were land- ed. John, another half-brother, was now appealed to for help, and he promptly came from Texas, and the journey was continued over- land in oxen-drawn wagons. In 1858, Burnett ‘County, Texas, was made, and in 1859, Mormon Mill, where they waited a year be- fore a sufficiently strong wagon train to cross the plains was col- lected.
In 1860 they arrived with their ox-teams in California, and in August, 1861, in San Bernardino. Their immediate party included John Miller, with his second wife and three children; Joshua Miller, with his wife and five children; Elizabeth, who married first one Robert Keir, by whom she had one child, and later Bill McCoy, to whom she bore four children, all now dead, except Tillie, who married Walter Shay, now chief of police of San Bernardino. ‘George Miller, Jr., the subject of this paper, who married Ele- anora Hancock (who came to California from Iowa in 1854), by whom he has had eight children: Joseph, born June 1, 1872, died at birth; Nancy, born March 30, 1873, died at birth; Augusta, born, February 1, 1874, married John R. Crandell, and by him she had two children; George, born December 5, 1875, accidentally killed in 1913; Ida, born December 4, 1878, married J. O. Lamb, had two children; Mary, born September 20, 1881, married W. P. Rogers, no children; Willie, born September 30, 1884, married Stella Edwards, one child (Delia Vaughan, aged 18 months) ; and Charles, born March 16, 1891.
In 1862, at the age of twelve years, George, now his own man,
168 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA went to work for Sandy Keir for one year. In 1863 he worked suc- cessively at Taggert’s brick yard, Wixom’s shingle mill and for _I_im Waters at Yucaipa. In 1864 we find him working for one Rose, who owned a shingle mill, and later on for one Currie, cutting logs. In 1865 he bought out Currie, being of the mature age of fifteen years, and went into partnership with Bill Holcomb, of whom more anon. The partners spent 1868 prospecting in Death Valley, Inyo County, and in 1869 in the San Bernardino Mountains. In 1870 he went to Arizona and spent the year freighting, driving a mule team out of Prescott, and in the following year, still driving his mule team, he returned to Grass Valley, San Bernardino, and married‘. In 1872 he bought eighty acres of land at $2.50 per acre and plant- ed it to peaches, apricots and alfalfa, and in 1901 to oranges. This land is now worth $1500.00 per acre.
This biographical sketch is very incomplete, but a perusal of it enables one to draw a mental picture of the life of a pioneer in the sixties, and explains perhaps the fact that right now, when he is in his sixty-eighth year, there are few men of half that age who can keep up with George Miller in the mountains.
A hunter from birth, he has a knowledge of woodcraft that is extraordinary, and, his climbing muscles having been developed by over sixty years of constant use, he never seems to tire in the mountains. Starting at five A. M. he strikes his own gait, and although traveling slowly, as all good hunters do, he keeps it up until dark. Many a time I have mildly suggested that it would be a good idea to sit down for five minutes for lunch, only to be told that he preferred to eat his walking. Many a time, when hot and tired out from a long tramp I have taken advantage of the oppor- tunity to cool off in a mountain stream, has he severely and with an almost pained expression remarked, “That isn’t ‘hunting deer.” Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about George is his pos- session to a weird degree of the sixth sense, the sense of location. Even old and experienced hunters occasionally get temporarily lost in the mountains—at night, for instance, or in a strange country— but George Miller, never. Like the carrier pigeon, he takes a bee- line back to camp, and many are the stories told about him in this oonnection.
On one occasion, in the northern part of the state, I was hunt- ing with him in a very rough country—quite unknown to him. As usual he persisted in tracking deer until it was dark. The remon- strances of myself and the guide, however, were finally efficacious, and we started, as we thought, campwards, the guide leading. At once George remarked quietly, “That isn’t the way home.” The man who had been born and bred in the locality, and had acted as a guide there for more than thirty years, and who was tired and hungry and more than a little sore at having been kept out unneces-
“DE TAL PALO TAL ASTILLA” 169 sarily late, answered sharply that he was quite capable of finding the way in his own country. George said nothing more, but some two hours later, when the guide grudgingly confessed himself hope- lessly off the right track, quietly assumed the latter’s functions and tacking ship led us straight back to camp, which lay in a totally different direction from that which we had been following. I could easily multiply such examples, but this one suffices to illustrate my point.
It is while sitting around the camp fires at night that George sings his best forty-niner songs and tells his best hunting and pros- pecting yarns. Of the former, “Sweet Betsy of Pike,” to the tune of “Villikins and His Dinah,” and “Lather and Shave,” to a tune of its own, are my favorites, though his repertoire is an extensive one, and I shall never forget the delight of a famous singer in Berkeley, in whose salon, on our way back from a bear-hunt in Siskiyou County, I persuaded George to oblige with these two gems. The singer said she had always wanted to hear a forty-niner song— and she heard two!
Of his yarns, which are many and varied, those which appeal to me most are the ones that refer to his one-time partner, Bill Hol- comb, now, alas! gone on his last hunt. He tells how Bill Hol- comb (born in Iowa in 1832; died at San Bernardino, California, 1912) came to California in 1850, traveling by the northern route, and in an ox-wagon to the Green River, which empties into the Co10- rado; in crossing the latter his raft capsized and he lost his entire outfit. He continued his journey on foot, living with his friend, Jack Martin, on rose buds for four days, a diet which may seem romantic to us, but was not very filling. On the fifth day, being at their last gasp, they miraculously found a canteen of water and a sack of food, and, to his dying day, Bill Holcomb always solemnly referred to this as an example of the direct intervention of Provi- dence.
After arriving in Upper California, they passed on to Calaveras County, hunting for the market and looking for gold. Again they had got into very low water, when one day they ran on to a creek, the sandy bottom of which glittered with gilded particles. Visions of wealth floated before their eyes, and until literally starving they worked feverishly to collect the coveted wealth. Foreseeing a mad rush to their treasure-trove, Bill traveled eighteen miles to the near- est point where he could buy grub, going and coming by night to elude pursuit. At length their last cent was spent, and at length, too, they had a sack full of gold. Brazenly now they swaggered into a store in a market town, where they ordered lavishly and without thought of expense a goodly supply of food—producing in payment a small quantity of the golden dust. A queer expression came over the face of the store-keeper—a look wherein pity was
170 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOTHERN CALIFORNIA mixed with suspicion—as he remarked, “That is no good to me.” “Why not, you d— fool? it is gold,” replied Bill. “No, it is isin- glass,” replied the man. It took long to convince Bill, by demonstra- tion with the scales, that the man was right, and, when he was finally convinced, he sat down and cried. All their toil and priva- tions had been for nothing, and, worse than that, he had not a cent to buy provisions for himself and famished partner. Fortune fa- vored them here, however, for the kindly store-keeper took pity on them and grubstaked the greenhorns, paying them $10.00 a day to work in his own placer mines. His exchequer being replenished, he soon after decided to visit his brother in Oregon. Sending ahead for a ticket, he journeyed to San Francisco, whence the boat sailed, went aboard and retired at once to his room, being fearful of being robbed of the real gold which he now carried in his belt. All at once the ship’s whistle blew a great blast preparatory to start- ing. With a wild yell the rustic Bill rushed madly on to the crowded deck, shouting at the top of his voice, “You d— fools, why don’t you jump? The ship is blowing up!” When the nautical mystery was at length explained to him, he was so ashamed that he fled to his cabin and hid there. Coming on deck some few days later he felt strangely squeamish, and it flashed across his mind that he had had a drink with a stranger who was desirous of robbing him, and had plainly doped his liquor. Hastening to the captain he handed over his belt, with tears in his eyes, imploring him to send it to his mother, so that the villains should not get his money. On the captain explaining to him that he was seasick, Bill yelled at him, “You scoundrel, you are in with the gang l” Truly he was very green. Time passed, and Bill became a wiser and a sadder man. His next venture was on the Feather River, where he “made good”; but a flood came and the partners barely escaped with their lives. After this came a spell of hunting (elk, bear, antelope) for the market; then, via Ventura, he came down to San Bernardino in 1859, slay- ing four grizzly bears and discovering the Holcomb Valley mine within a few days. The usual story follows: Jack Martin got drunk and gave the show away; the rush of miners followed, and the part- ners, frozen out, left for Arizona with $18.00 between them. In Arizona they located a mine which they sold to one Dick Gurd for $500.00; it netted Gurd one million a little later on. His next move was to San Bernardino, where he worked in lumber, becoming acquainted with George Miller in 1864. There- after they were bosom pals to the day of his death. In the year 1877 the two were hunting grizzly bears in what is even now a wild spot known as Devil’s Hole, at the head of Little Rock Creek, when an event occurred, reference to which was for many years a sore point with Bill Holcomb. A certain amount of
“DE TAL PALO TAL ASTILLA” 171 . hunters’ rivalry existed between them. They were the best of friends, both crack shots and first-class hunters, but Bill was ex- tremely anxious to get a particularly fine old grizzly which had long eluded them, and determined to “put one over” on George. Selecting a time when the latter was otherwise occupied (looking for a strayed horse), he took up the track and finally in a most difficult country he caught a glimpse through the dense under- growth of the bear. Leveling his trusty 45-90 he pulled the trigger, and down came an old brown horse. To chagrin succeeded fear, for the horse must belong to Indians, who would nof be slow to follow up and take revenge. That night at the camp fire it was evident to those present that Bill had something on ‘his mind, and finally, after several drinks, he was prevailed upon to confess, first, that he had mistaken a horse for a bear, and, secondly, that he had endangered the lives of his companions by shooting the Indian’s horse. It was a bitter pill for Bill to swallow, this double confes- sion, not made any easier by the unmerciful chaff of his companions. In fact, it was too good a story for the latter ever to forget, and is still one of the favorite jokes which, to this day, the pioneers of San Bernardino laugh over. As a matter of fact, the horse was owner- less—a derelict that had strayed and got into that abominable place and couldn’t get out. Only a few years ago George and myself found evidence of a similar occurrence in a wild spot in the Haystack Mountains, Santa Rosa Range. Now comes the sequel: In 1901, just fourteen years after Bill Holcomb shot the horse, George Miller, the younger, shot the last grizzly bear killed in these parts—this was not the famous club-foot mentioned in various books (among them, “Yosemite Trails,” by J. S. Chase, though,‘ as a matter of fact, a shot from George Miller’s rifle, and not the trap as mentioned by Chase in above named book, was the cause of the said club-foot), but a magnificent silver tip weighing thirteen hundred pounds, measuring over eight feet long. One could write a large volume of the reminiscences of this great old hunter, reminiscences which rival those of James Capen Adams as detailed in the account of his life by T. H. Hittell, but the above must suffice. For the past ten years I have regularly taken my vacations in the form of hunting trips with George Miller, and have picked up a fairly accurate story of his life in the evenings around the camp fires, where, with some persuasion, he would tell yarns of the times now long past, when this was a first-class big game country, and with a little more coaxing would sing the songs of forty-nine. I hope in the above disconnected and fragmentary sketch I have in some measure justified the title "De Tal Palo Tal Astilla.” To me it has seemed that the same indomitable energy in the face of diffi- culties, the same resolute courage and tenacity of purpose, charac-
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA terized both father and son. Both were more than a little “sot in their ways,” both had cast-iron oonstitutions, which enabled them to endure privations which the average man would wilt under; not “facile,” either of them; both were good men and true, who, uncon- taminated by their somewhat lurid surroundings, emerged clean, and played the game as they understood it to the limit—both were pos- sessed of that two-o’clock-in-the-morning courage which Napoleon so admired, that level-headed, unruffled readiness to face the music, Whatever it might be, at any time or in any place, and that with matter-of-fact, simple modesty, as if it were all part of the day’s work. Of such a breed were the founders of this state, and I, for one, take off my hat to them. When one reads, on the one hand, of the father, half pityingly and with thinly veiled contempt, telling the story of how his miser- able companions, after four days of incredible hardships and no food, began to waver and grumble, whereas he, accustomed to both, was in no ways inconvenienced by either; and, on the other, of the son who hunted a particularly wise old grizzly bear for fourteen years, and, on at length coming up with him, tackled him alone in the dense brush, in the night time, armed only with an antiquated, single shot rifle, one cannot, it seems to me, fail to come to the conclusion that heredity does play a part in the make-up of men, and that the old saying is a true one, "De Tal Palo Tal Astilla.”
---
---
The Colonel's other concern was the reaction of the secessionists in the area. Even though a formal surrender had been signed two days previously, the death of the President was expected to rouse some of the secessionists into action, and the Union people in San Bernardino had heard rumors that an operation of some kind was being planned.
In January of 1867 a large band of Indians invaded the Lake Arrowhead area, burning a sawmill and some cabins. There were two encounters in which Indians were killed. The Indians were driven from the mountains by a citizen's militia and then pursued out into the desert, culminating in a fight at Rabbit Springs near what is now Lucerne Valley. The militia was headquartered at the upper narrows on the site of what would soon be the Brown Ranch. Later that year, in October of 1867, Indians attacked a mail wagon on the Mojave Road, and killed one of the three men in the party, an Army surgeon on his way to Fort Mojave.
These Indians caused considerable alarm and trouble through their murder of Mr. Calloway and threat to kill all residents along the river. They are a hard tribe to manage, as they are very intelligent and brave. The cause of the trouble was more from injudicious management by Mr. Calloway than anything else.
Reports have been circulated that Calloway was a drunkard, but being personally acquainted with him for two years and knowing his history for the past five, I can state that they are wholly untrue. Mr. Calloway was killed on the 8th of March, aud as the military had some time before promised to protect the company employing him, they were immediately notified of the murder and as soon as possible sent ten soldiers to the spot. Previous to this four Indians from Fort Mohave were sent to the agency to demand the murderers. From their coming to the agency the Chim-e-hue-vas imagined that I was acting in concert with the Army. This led them to distrust me, and their hostility was opi-nly expressed. They were camped ten miles from the agency and had only to build a raft to reach it in an hour. Word was brought by the most intelligent and influential of the Mohaves that the agency would be atiacked that night by the Chim-e-hue-vas if soldiers were sent up after them. I at once consulted the employe's, and as we had no arras and eleven womeu and children to care for we tried to get twenty Mohaves to guard the agency, but through their fear of the Chime-hue-vas they would not come until they weie frightened into doing so by our leaving the agency—fearing it would be destroyed.
On the 12th of May Colonel Price was sent with sufficient troops to subdue the tribe. They were induced to come in and talk. They brought in the two men implicated in the Calloway affair, and, promising to be peaceable, were given rations aud placed upon land on this reservation, where they have since remained. [632]
652 RECORDS OF SERVICES. ...
WILLIAM REDWOOD PRICE: Born in Ohio; appointed from Pennsylvania. Second Lieutenant Third Pennsylvania Cavalry January 15, 1862; First Lieutenant September 7, 1862; Captain May 1, 1863; Major and Assistant Adjutant-General Volunteers August 5, 1864; Brevetted Lieutenant-Colonel Volunteers January 23, 1865, for industry, zeal, and faithful services during the Campaign before Richmond, Va.; Colonel Volunteers March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious services, and Brigadier-General Volunteers March 13, 1865, for faithful and meritorious services during the war; Honorably mustered out September 1, 1866; Major Eighth Cavalry --- 563 RECORDS OF SERVICES.
July 28, 1866; Lieutenant-Colonel Sixth Cavalry April 2, 1879; Brevetted Lieutenant-Colonel March 2, 1867, for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Five Forks, Va.; Colonel December 10, 1868, for gallant and meritorious services in an engagement with Indians in the vicinity of Walker's Springs, in the Aquarious Range in Arizona, December 10 and 13, 1868; Died December 30, 1881.
William Redwood Price Birth 20 May 1836 ,Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, USA Death 30 Dec 1881 (aged 45), Germantown, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA Burial Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA Plot Section I, Lot 5
Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. Entered the Civil War as a Captain in the 3rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry. He then served as a Assistant Commissary of Musters of the staff of Brigadier General William W. Averell. His administrative skills then brought him to a staff position in the War Department in Washington DC, where he served as an Assistant Adjutant General, then as an Assistant Inspector General in the Cavalry Bureau. He was brevetted Brigadier General, US Volunteer on March 13, 1865 for "faithful and meritorious services during the war". Remained in the US Army after its reorganization in 1866, and eventually rose to Lieutenant Colonel of the 6th United States Cavalry. [633]
---
--- notes
[i]“Free soil” did not mean anti-slavery. California before the Civil War limited more than any other “free” state the civil rights of African Americans.
[ii]Imogene Spaulding, “The Attitude of California to the Civil War,” Annual Publication of the Historical Society of Southern California, vol. 9, nos. 1-2, 107.
[iii] Voters in the state’s six southern counties supported division of the state by 2477 for and 828 against.
[iv] “Governor’s Message,” Journal of the Senate of the State of California at the 11th Session of the Legislature (Sacramento, T. C. Potts, 186.), 60.
[v] Quoted by Spaulding, “The Attitude of California to the Civil War,” Annual Publication, 108.
[vi] Downey was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor in January 1860. Five days later, Governor Milton Latham resigned after being elected (by the state legislature) to fill the vacancy left by the death of US Senator David C. Broderick. Broderick had been killed in a duel over the division of California into “free soil” and “slave” territories in September 1859. Downey assumed the governorship on January 14, 1860.
[vii] “Hostilities Commenced,” Los Angeles Star, April 27, 1861.
[viii] Johnston took command of the Department of the Pacific on December 21, 1860. He resigned on April 9, 1861, when his adopted home state of Texas seceded.
[ix] Sumner to Townsend, April 28, 1861, Operations in: The Pacific Coast, January 1, 1861-June 30, 1865 (Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, ser. 1, vol. 50, part 1), 471.
[x]. According to his wife, writing many years later.
[xi] President Lincoln received only 25 per cent of Southern California’s vote in November 1860.
[xii] Sumner to Thomas, June 10, 1861, Operations, 506.
[xiii] The constitution of the Confederate States of America was adopted by seven southern states in March 1861.
[xiv] “Letter from Los Angeles,” Sacramento Daily Union, April 30, 1862.
[xv] Quoted by John W. Robinson in Los Angeles in Civil War Days, 1860-1865 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1973), e-book.
[xvi] Throughout the 1850s, the state militia had supplied muskets and other military paraphernalia to quasi-official volunteer units organized in Los Angeles by many of the same men who, in 1861, formed the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles. Some of these arms were collected by Sheriff Tomás Sanchez. After the Johns/Mounted Rifles party left for Texas in June 1861, none of the rifles and sabers sent to Los Angeles could be found, presumably because they had been taken to the Confederacy by Undersheriff Alonzo Ridley.
[xvii] In some accounts, Andrew King is identified as a deputy sheriff; in others, an undersheriff.
[xviii] Ezra Drown, Jonathan Warner, and James Mohan, “Address to the Loyal and Patriotic Voters of Los Angeles County,” clipping in Scrapbook of Benjamin Hayes, vol. 48 (Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley), publication and date not identified.
[xix] “The Crisis,” Los Angeles Star, February 2, 1861.
[xx] John W. Robinson, “A California Copperhead: Henry Hamilton and the Los Angeles Star,” (Journal of the Southwest, Autumn 1981), pp. 113-120
[xxi] Edward John Kewen had been California’s first Attorney General in 1850.
[xxii] Quoted in California and Californians, vol. 2, ed. Rockwell D. Hunt (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1926), 339.
[xxiii] “Letter from Los Angeles,” Daily Alta California, September 29, 1861.
[xxiv] The creation of the Confederate States was announced on February 8, 1861.
[xxv] Semi-Weekly News (Los Angeles), September 6, 1861.
[xxvi] Ibid., July 30, 1862.
[xxvii] Congressman John Burch, in a letter published in the San Francisco Herald on January 3, 1861, strongly endorsed the Pacific Republic scheme. Congressman Charles Scott echoed Burch a few days later in the same newspaper.
[xxviii] This also was the view of Adjutant-General William Kibbe of the state militia.
[xxix] Sumner to Townsend, April 29, 1861, Operations, 474.
[xxx] Hancock to Army Headquarters, May 4, 1861, Operations, 477. Hancock was referring to a small cannon that County Sheriff Sanchez had been keeping (unaccountably, it seems) at the county jail along with other arms.
[xxxi] In July 1861, Texan Volunteers, led by Confederate Colonel John Baylor, captured the southern half of the Arizona Territory and named it the Confederate Territory of Arizona. By February 1862, Confederate units had nearly reached the Colorado River.
[xxxii] Sanchez was re-elected sheriff in 1863 and 1865.
[xxxiii]Los Angeles News, November 24, 1865.
User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Manuel de Jesus Castro
075; sec. of the prefecture '42-3. iv. 652. He was prime mover in the revolt against Micheltorena, taking an active part throughout in '44-5, being once captured and exchanged, and finally eomisionado to make a treaty, iv. 45S-9, 462-8, 486-7, 500-509. Under the new admin, he was made prefect of the Monterey district in '45, being also made lieut of the Mont, comp., and taking a most prominent part in public affairs, as representative of the civil authority and supporter of Gov. Pico against (Jen. Castro in the north, iv. 533, 536-7, 006, 652. In '46, besides being promoted to capt. of the Sta B. comp., getting a land grant, having a Cat. claim of $10,000, and continuing his services as prefect, v. 630-7, he took a prominent and honorable ]>art in the troubles with Fremont, v. 4. 12. 17; quarrel with Cambuston. v. 34; efforts for defence against the settlers and the U. S. v. 41, 45, 56, 1.11, 134-5; sent south in July as eomisionado to effect a reconciliation bet. the general and gov. v. 136, 143-4, 201; left in com. at Los Ang. on Gen. C.'s departure in Aug., but there is doubt whether he was one of the officers captured and paroled by Stockton's men. v. 266, 282, 361. On the outbreak of Flores' re- volt in Oct. Castro was put in com. of the northern division and commanded in the Natividad campaign, v. 321, 361-72, 639; flight to Mex. with Flores '47. v. 407-9. In Mex. Don Manuel continued his military services for sev- eral years, and in '49 was put in com. of tho frontier comp. of L. Cal., in place of Andres Castillero, taking charge of the military colony of Santo Tomas till '52, when he had to yield to Castillo Negrcte. See Hint. North Mex. States, ii. Since '52 Castro has resided for the most part in S.F. down to 'S5, never becoming a citizen of the U. S., often interested in Mex. colonization ---
in the last years. He was never married. Don Manuel was an abler man than his cousin, the general, and his public record in (,'al. down to '47 ni in most respects an excellent one. True to his country's cause, with no sym- pathy for foreign filibusters, he exerted himself, for the most part in vain, to heal foolish dissensions between Calif, chiefs and direct their force against the invaders. Of his later record not so much can l>e said in praise. Various 'ways that are dark ' are popularly attributed to him, and, while charges are doubtless exaggerated, it is possible that he has yielded somewhat to temptations offered by land litigation, politics, dislike of the Yankees, and chronic impecuniosity. But at least he has contributed grandly to the store of material for CaJ. history. The Castro, Doc. Hist. Cal., in 3 vols, is a most important collection of original papers presented by him in '75; and a few years later he contributed a still larger and richer col. of Doc. Hist. Cal., with important L. Cal. material—somewhat unwillingly, it is true, some of my assistants having to adopt the policy of 'fighting the devil with fire;' and finally I obtained his Relation de Alta Cal., none the less valuable because after it had been written at my expense one of my wicked collaborators had to steal a copy for my use. [697]: 753–754, Pioneer Register and Index, Castro, Manuel de Jesus
MenefeeDodge
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).DACDAC18510609p1c2
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).PacificCoast
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).Michno
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).Sandboxes open.
Hello, Asiaticus/sandbox, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:
I hope you enjoy editing here and being a
Wikipedian! Please
sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out
Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}}
on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions.
Hi Asiaticus, your contributions to military history is valuable and highly regarded. I think you probably may do with some help with referencing. Instead of using bullet points for each tag for citation e.g. *. You can actually use common citation templates such as {{ Cite book}}, {{ Cite news}}, {{ Cite journal}} and {{ cite web}}.
{{cite news |title= |author= |url= |newspaper= |date= |accessdate=22 March 2012}}
{{cite book |title= |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |year= |publisher= |location= |isbn= |page= |pages= |url= |accessdate=}}
{{cite journal |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |year= |title= |journal= |volume= |issue= |pages= |publisher= |doi= |url= |accessdate= }}
{{cite web |url= |title= |author= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=March 21, 2012}}
hope this helps you with your referencing of future military history articles. -- Visik ( Chinwag Podium) 02:00, 23 March 2012 (UTC)
Place of publication: Mariposa, Cal. Geographic coverage: Mariposa, Mariposa, California Publisher: W.T. Whitacre & A.S. Gould Dates of publication: 1854-1855 Description: Vol. 1, no. 1 (Jan. 20, 1854)-v. 2, no. 7 (Mar. 2, 1855). Frequency: Weekly
Monterey, 1846-1848
San Francisco, 1847-1891
Sacramento 1849-1899
Marysville, 1850-1876
Succeeding Titles:
Preceding Titles:
Succeeding Titles:
Santa Rosa, 1857-1916
Red Bluff, 1857-1922
San Rafael, 1861-1922)
Mariposa, 1861-1922
Healdsburg, 1865-1886
A stream or arroyo:
Mariposita, California, was a small California Gold Rush mining camp, populated mostly by Mexican and French miners in the early 1850s. [113] It was located about 7 miles south of Mariposa, California along Mariposa Creek. [114] The site is still referred to as late as April 5, 1925, on pg. 10 in The Fresno Morning Republican. [115]
History
In the summer of 1852? there was an attempt to drive out the Mexican and French miners. [113] Mariposita was possibly destroyed in the anti-foreign miner violence of the time or abandoned due to the tax on those miners.[ citation needed]. [116]
References == reflist}}
=
34°10′08″N 107°18′21″W / 34.16889°N 107.30583°W, source 34°10′13″N 107°27′08″W / 34.17028°N 107.45222°W
Citation: N.M. Office of Historic Preservation, supplied list of historic sites, *Elevation: 4623/1409, 34°06′05″N 106°53′47″W / 34.10139°N 106.89639°W
ONE, and a very significant, effect of the foreign miners' tax law and the prejudices against foreigners, of which it was the evidence, was to deprive many of them of employment As a natural consequence, being thus rendered destitute of the means of purchasing food and clothing, they became desperate and were driven to theft, robbery and sometimes murder.1 For several years after the persecutions of this kind began, the otherwise waste regions of the upper San Joaquin valley, and particularly that portion of it west of Tulare Lake, were ranged over by gangs, amounting in the aggregate to several hundred, of Spanish-speaking vagabonds, whose ostensible occupation was running mustangs but whose real business was believed to be robbery and the protection of robbers. In October, 1855, on account of the great increase of crime and the consequent strengthening of the opinion that the criminals were the pretended mustang-runners, a company of rangers was organized on the Merced river and undertook to relieve that region of the marauders; and a fight was said to have taken place between them and a party of Mexicans having charge of a large band of horses and mules near the Chowchilla river, in which a number of the Mexicans were killed.2 There were many expeditions of this kind, sometimes in charge of sheriffs and sometimes without them, and not unfrequent bloody fights, until in the course of years the country was cleared of the bandits and it became safe to travel through it.
The famous brigand chief, Joaquin Murieta, and many of his bandit companions, who were second only to him in their bad
1.Wood's Sixteen Months at the Gold Diggings, 142. 2.San Joaquin Republican, November, 1855.
---
eminence, were said to have been driven into their career of crime and blood by anti-foreigner persecution. Joaquin, according to the best but still to a great extent unreliable reports about him, was born in Sonora and came to California soon after the discovery of gold. He was said to have been mining on the Stanislaus river in the early spring of 1850, when he was driven off by an anti-foreigner mob, which treated him very roughly and abused his wife or mistress, whom he had brought with him from Mexico. He then proceeded to a spot on the Calaveras river and again commenced mining; but was again driven off by a mob. He then took up his residence at Murphy's Diggings in Calaveras county and became a monte-dealer. While so engaged, he had occasion to visit a half-brother, who lived not far distant, and borrowed a horse from him to ride back. The horse appeared to have been stolen; and, upon Joaquin's return, the owner, happening to see the animal, not only claimed it but called upon the crowd to help him punish the supposed thief. Joaquin protested that he had borrowed the animal and that his half-brother had honestly paid for it; but all the effect his remonstrances produced was simply to induce the mob to go after the half-brother also. A sort of lynch-law court was convened and trial held, at which defendants, however, were unable to bring forward any testimony except their own; and the result was that the half-brother was hung upon the nearest limb and Joaquin, being tied to the trunk of the same tree, was publicly flogged. Upon being released and told to leave the place, he swore vengeance upon those who had wronged him and the Americans in general.1
Though it is not at all probable, judging from Joaquin's subsequent career, that he was ever anything but a vicious and abandoned character, low, brutal and cruel, intrinsically and at heart a thief and cut-throat, it is not unlikely that the anti-foreigner persecution, from which he suffered, made him much worse than he would otherwise have been; and it is pretty certain that the same cause had much to do in rendering it possible for him to gather and keep together for so long a time so many men preferring brigandage with all its toils, privations and perils to easier
1 The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta, &c., by John R. Ridge, San Francisco, 1871, 5-10.
---
and securer life in the mines. However this may have been, highway robberies and murders became very frequent; and in the course of 1851 it was perfectly well known that a band of organized banditti was ranging the country, though it was not for some time known who was the leader of them. It was said that the first victims were persons, who had been parties to the lynching of Joaquin's half-brother and the flogging of himself; but no one for some time supposed that the young monte-dealer was the chief and governing spirit of the organization. Among the band was Manuel Garcia, better known as "Three-fingered Jack" from the fact of having lost a finger at the time of the Mexican war. He was said to have been the leader of the guerrilla party that in 1846 tortured, murdered and mutilated Cowie and Fowler near Santa Rosa. Another member of the combination was Reyes Feliz, said to be a brother of Joaquin's female companion; another a man called Claudio; a fourth Joaquin Valenzuela, and a fifth Pedro Gonzales. All these were more or less prominent; and several of them were at different times taken to be chief. Altogether the band numbered about fifty persons and was continually increasing. Joaquin, meanwhile, without being suspected, lived much about the towns and kept his subordinates posted about everything of interest to them that was going on. They were obliged from the nature of their occupation, which in addition to highway robbery was horse-stealing on a large scale, to travel from place to place; and Joaquin himself moved about a great deal. At one time in the summer of 1851 he was at San Josd and was said to have there murdered a deputy sheriff of Santa Clara county, who had rendered himself obnoxious by his persistent and determined efforts to arrest some of his band.1
From San Jose, Joaquin moved to what was known as the Sonorian Camp, a cluster of tents and canvas houses about three miles from Marysville; and in a very short time a number of very daring robberies and murders took place in that neighborhood. Seven men were murdered within three or four days. One of the most usual methods of assassination was to throw a lariat around the neck of an unsuspecting traveler, drag him
1 Ridge's Life of Joaquin Murieta, 10-15.
---
into the chaparral by the side of the road and there dispatch him and rob the body. Suspicion was soon directed to the Sonorian Camp; and some attempts were made to fasten the crimes on individuals. But though these attempts were without success, Joaquin found it necessary to remove again; and on this occasion he led his band to the wild and rough but romantic and beautiful country to the west of Mount Shasta, where the chief object seems to have been to keep out of harm's way, occasionally cut a throat and once in a while descend into the Sacramento valley and steal horses. In the spring of 1852 the band, having collected some two or three hundred stolen animals, drove them down to a secluded and delightful little valley in the Coast Range of mountains opening by a narrow gorge into the plains west of Tulare Lake, about midway between the Tejon and Pacheco Pass. There it appears Joaquin divided most of his band, then consisting of about seventy members, into three parties and sent them out to commit depredations—one headed by Claudio, one by Garcia and one by Valenzuela. He himself, with Reyes Feliz and Pedro Gonzales and three females dressed in male attire and well-armed, went to Mokelumne Hill, where the women appeared in proper dress and attracted much attention by their quiet and modest deportment; while the men gambled and stole but more particularly devoted their time to the collection of information to aid in planning new robberies or protecting the band from trouble on account of old ones. By that time the name of Joaquin had begun to be connected with the numerous outrages committed in different parts of the country; and, though he was personally known to but very few persons, his villainous reputation spread far and wide; and he became a sort of terror in all exposed places. Meanwhile murders and robberies continued to multiply; and, notwithstanding various efforts that were made to put a stop to them, the criminals, partly because of their own abilities and partly because protected by certain of the old rancheros, managed for a time to escape arrest.1
After leaving Mokelumne Hill, Joaquin and his party returned to their secluded valley for a short time and then again took the
---
road. One day on this expedition Joaquin overtook a young man, named Albert Ruddle, who was driving a wagon on the highway. Riding up he asked the loan of what change he had about him; and, upon Ruddle's refusal and effort to protect himself, Joaquin whipped out his bowie-knife, slashed him in the neck, cut his throat from ear to ear, threw the dead body on the ground, robbed it of about three hundred dollars and left it lying in the dust. This all took place in sight of his special party above mentioned and may have been intended as an object lesson. About that same time Captain Harry S. Love, deputy sheriff of Los Angeles county, a Texan who had served as a scout and express rider in the Mexican war and was experienced in all the hardships and dangers of border hostilities, headed a party to pursue the cut-throat and his band and tracked them by their murders and robberies to the rancho of San Luis Gonzaga in Mariposa county, where they were passing the night in a canvas house. Love and his party came up in the darkness; but, as they pressed in at the door, Joaquin and his male companions cut through the canvas at the rear and escaped, leaving the women. who however joined them in a day or two afterwards, while Love, having other engagements, gave up for the time any further pursuit. It appears that the robbers proceeded next to the Tejon; and it was said that they were there themselves robbed not only of their horses but also of their arms and even clothing by the Tejon Indians and had to travel for a day or two on foot and naked. It was even added that the captain of the Indians had them whipped as vagabonds and that Joaquin was so amused at the absurdity of the incident that he refused to take, or allow any of his party to take, revenge.1
But this story, as well as much else that was told about Joaquin, does not comport with what is known of the man and was doubtless only one of the many incredible reports that were invented and repeated by irresponsible scribblers for the purpose of investing Joaquin with a magnanimity of character that did not belong to him and thereby pandering to a vitiated taste in certain lower levels of the reading community.
The next place in which the outlaws committed depredations
---
was Los Angeles county, where all the different parties came together, including Claudio who had just returned from driving a large number of the stolen horses into Sonora. While sojourning there, Pedro Gonzales appears to have operated to some extent in the neighborhood of the Camulos rancho, one of the places of refuge of the band, and fell into the hands of Captain Love, who had been on the watch. While Love was conducting him to Los Angeles, where he would undoubtedly have been hung, Joaquin, Claudio and a few others, hearing of the arrest, determined to overtake Love and release Gonzales and set off on their mission at once. By riding all night and with the utmost urgency, as their bloody spurs and the foam on their horses attested, they came in sight of Love and his prisoner just at daybreak. Gonzales, anticipating a rescue, looked back and waved his handkerchief, whereupon Love, comprehending at a glance the situation, drew his pistol, shot Gonzales through the heart and then, putting spurs to his own horse, was soon far beyond the reach of the pursuers. Not long after that, while Joaquin and Garcia or Three-fingered Jack were traveling at night near the mission of San Gabriel, they came across a couple of Chinamen, who were camping by the roadside. Three-fingered Jack woke them up and seems to have richly enjoyed the terror he caused in frightening them with his pistol. Upon examining their purses, which they were only too glad to relinquish, and finding that they contained not more than twenty or thirty dollars, the fiendish monster drew his knife and cut their throats. And not long after that and in the same neighborhood Joaquin and Garcia together waylaid and, after a desperate fight, killed General Bean, at that time a resident of San Gabriel, who had made himself very active in attempting to run down and capture the outlaws.1
From Los Angeles county the band moved to Calaveras county and was said to have thence crossed over the Sierra Nevada to the Mono Lake region and from there made its way around, by the way of Kern river, to the San Joaquin valley again. About this time it was learned that Reyes Feliz, Joaquin's so called brother-in-law, had been seized and hung at Los Angeles.
---
Not long afterwards a desperate fight occurred near San Luis Obispo between the outlaws and a party of pursuers from Santa Barbara county, in which a number of persons on both sides were killed and among them Joaquin's lieutenant Claudio, though other accounts say that he was not killed until afterwards. The band then moved over again to Mariposa county and on the Merced river robbed a company of miners of fifteen thousand dollars. From there they went to Stockton, near which, in the slough leading to the San Joaquin river, they attacked a schooner, killed the crew and several miners who were passengers, and robbed their bodies of twenty thousand dollars. About the same time it appears to have been determined to move to Sonora in Mexico, whither a remittance of fifty thousand dollars was despatched under charge of Valenzuela and a drove of nearly a thousand stolen horses under charge of Garcia. The intention, according to report, was to collect the entire band, then over a hundred in number, and march them openly like a hostile army of marauders, relying upon their celerity of action to escape overhauling, except by such force for which their armed strength would be more than a match. Meanwhile robberies and murders continued in Calaveras and El Dorado counties; and on one occasion, when a member of his band was being examined for a capital offense before a justice of the peace, Joaquin coolly strode into court, pretended to be Samuel Harrington of San Jose, a man whom he had shortly before murdered, presented letters he had taken from Harrington's person in proof of his pretensions, and succeeded by his perjury in procuring the discharge of his minion.1
The early part of the year 1853 was full of dastardly and mysterious murders and robberies, all planned by Joaquin and all apparently intended as a finishing up of his career of crime in California. They took place now in one quarter and then in another, sometimes in different places at the same time. But they were principally in Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa counties. In January a desperate fight took place among the cliffs of Chaparral hill, about four miles southwest of San Andreas, between Joaquin with a number of his men and a party of citizens
---
led by Deputy Sheriff Charles H. Ellas, in which one or two citizens were killed and three of the robbers killed or fatally wounded; and soon afterwards a vigilance committee hung a friend of the robbers and tore down and burned up several houses where they had been harbored. Not long after these events Joaquin and Garcia killed two men at the Phoenix Quartz Mill; when, finding Ellas and his party hot on their trail, they were obliged to skulk from cover to cover, but still kept up their practice of murder and robbery upon lone travelers or unarmed mining parties. Near Murphy's Diggings they killed and robbed two miners, who had just made fortunes and were on their way home, and threw their bodies in a prospector's hole. And a little further on they robbed a camp of six Chinamen, on which occasion Garcia got the trembling Mongolians together; stood them up in a row before him; tied their queues to one another, and then, drawing his immense blacksmith-made bowie-knife, commenced slowly and deliberately cutting their throats one after another and enjoying their frantic shrieks. He had previously remarked that he loved to smell the blood of Chinamen— and, besides, it was such easy work to kill them; it was a kind of luxury to cut their throats.1
By this time the whole country was alarmed. Numerous parties began to organize for the purpose of hunting them out, as they would hunt out rattlesnakes. But curiously, though the name of Joaquin was in everybody's mouth, very few persons knew him or could point him out And therefore he often went into the towns and even talked with citizens about himself, without their having any idea with whom they were talking. Among other citizens greatly interested in, and very desirous for, the capture and punishment of the outlaws and the security of life and property in the country, was Caleb Dorsey, a prominent lawyer and sawmill proprietor of Sawmill Flat in Tuolumne county. Hearing one day that Joaquin was at a Mexican fandango at a little place called Martinez in the neighborhood, he and a friend went there. All the Mexicans, however, denied that Joaquin was present and affirmed that he was many miles distant. Dorsey fell into conversation with a very ordinary
---
looking man, apparently a Mexican, whom he found there, upon the subject of Joaquin's whereabouts. The man remarked that it would be very foolish to attempt to arrest the brigand, as he would certainly never allow himself to be taken alive. Dorsey replied that it did not matter much how he was taken, whether alive or dead; for all that the Americans wanted was to put an end to him and that they were bound to have him at any rate. But no information could be gained as to where Joaquin was; and Dorsey and his friend returned home. Upon further information, and to their great disappointment and disgust, they learned that the man with whom Dorsey had been talking about Joaquin was Joaquin himself!
Very soon after the above mentioned conversation, and probably in consequence of what Dorsey had said about the feeling of the Americans towards Joaquin, an attempt was made to kill off a portion at least of the people of Sawmill Flat by poisoning a spring, which furnished them with water; but fortunately, on account of the extreme diffusion of the drug used, the villainous project failed. It became known, however, that Dorsey and a friend of his, named Ira McCrea, who kept a store at the Flat and was equally obnoxious to the robbers, together with a few others, had been marked out by Joaquin and their death resolved on. So certain was this, according to general understanding, that several of the marked men moved away, though Dorsey and McCrea continued at their ordinary occupations and were only more careful to be always on the alert and always ready for an attack. In the midst of the excitement, it was reported one day that McCrea's store was to be robbed that night; and on the strength of the report a messenger was despatched to Columbia for help. In response to the summons, a military company of that place, under command of Colonel Thomas N. Casneau, hastily collected, burnished up their arms, decorated their hats with feathers and, taking along a little brass cannon used for firing salutes and good only for making a noise, which they discharged every hundred yards, marched to Sawmill Flat. It is doubtful whether any attack upon McCrea's store was in fact ever contemplated; but, whether so or not, none was made. The military, however, had to be provided for; and, as they were very
---
hungry and especially thirsty after their march, they made such a raid upon eatables and drinkables as to completely clean out the entire supply; and, according to common talk, it was ever afterwards a question whether it would not have been cheaper to have been robbed by Joaquin's men than it was to be protected by Casneau's.
Not very long subsequently Dorsey, while attending to law business in Sonora, was appointed by the court to defend a prisoner under arrest for horse stealing. Upon investigation the attorney found that his client was one of Joaquin's band and one of those who had been specially commissioned to kill Dorsey. On further investigation it appeared that the man had on several occasions since the Sawmill Flat incidents met Dorsey in out-ofthe-way places and would have killed him, if he had known who he was. All this he was willing to admit But now, he said, circumstances were different He had been unlucky and was in trouble. But, if Mr. Dorsey would defend him and so manage matters as to free him, he promised that Mr. Dorsey should in future receive no harm from the robbers and that Joaquin would ratify the agreement Dorsey consented and succeeded by extra effort in having the accused discharged; and from that time he considered himself safe. On several later occasions he met some of the robbers and once or twice befriended them; and they on their side appear to have kept their engagement. On one special occasion, after the robbers had informed him of their intention of leaving the country and proceeding to Mexico and promised him the present of a splendid horse and trappings for favors received, he suddenly and unexpectedly on a lonely road met Joaquin himself magnificently mounted. Both upon the first impulse drew their pistols; but the next moment Joaquin, recognizing Dorsey, lifted his hand and crying out, "We keep our word: you are safe, sir!" passed on; and from that time forward, it was Dorsey's opinion that he had thus seen the "splendid horse and trappings" promised him and that he would have received them if it had not been for circumstances which prevented the gift as well as the contemplated march of the robbers to Mexico.1
It would be impossible, on account of the numerous contra-
---
dictory as well as apocryphal accounts of the doings of Joaquin and his band, to affirm with certainty as to many of the murders and robberies attributed to him. It is certain, however, that he was for several years at the head of a desperate band of villains and that, though he did not hesitate to rob and murder Americans and fight officers of the law and others who went on the hunt for him, he and his band did not disdain but rather enjoyed depredating on the Chinese and other helpless persons who were most exposed to their cowardly and despicable attacks So great were his misdeeds and so extensive the terror produced that the legislature of the state of 1853 was obliged to take notice of them. Among other propositions before that body was one to offer a reward of five thousand dollars for the arrest of Joaquin "dead or alive;" but J. M. Covarrubias of the committee on military affairs, to whom the matter was referred, presented a report to the effect that to set a price upon the head of an individual, who had not been examined or convicted, was to proceed upon the assumption of his guilt—implying that such was not exactly the correct mode of procedure of a great state. He further said that it would require superhuman power to do all that had been attributed to Joaquin and to be in all the different places at the times stated. Besides, the offer of so large a reward might stimulate cupidity and so magnify fancied resemblances that a dozen heads, similar in some respects to that of Joaquin, might be presented for identification. It would not be difficult to fraudulently palm off the head of another person for that of Joaquin, just as it had been easy to mistake Burdue for Stuart. And still further, he added, it was to be remembered that one of the supposed names of Joaquin the robber was Joaquin Carrillo and there were several respectable citizens in the state of that name. This report, which was presented on April 14, prevented the proposition of a reward.1 But not long afterwards, the legislature passed an act authorizing Captain Harry S. Love to raise a company of mounted rangers, not to exceed twenty men, and muster them into the service of the state for three months unless sooner discharged by the governor, for the purpose of capturing the party or gang of robbers commanded
---
by the five Joaquins, whose names were Joaquin Murieta, Joaquin Ocomorenia, Joaquin Valenzuela, Joaquin Botellier and Joaquin Carrillo; from which it appeared that even at that time it was not known for certain who the head of the brigands was or what was his real name. This act was approved by the governor on May 17, 1853. 1
In accordance with this act, which provided that the men should be paid one hundred and fifty dollars a month each, Love immediately organized his company of rangers and at once took the field. Among his men were several noted for desperate conflicts—one being Walter H. Harvey, the slayer of Major Savage of Yosemite fame, and another Philip T. Herbert, afterwards a congressman from California, who distinguished himself by shooting down a waiter in one of the hotels at Washington. Others of this company, though not so noted, were more reliaable. They all, upon taking the field, started directly on the tracks of the robbers and followed them, branching in some places and coming together in others, to the plains of the San Joaquin valley west of Tulare Lake. They there on Sunday morning, July 25, 1853, suddenly came upon a party of men, evidently Mexicans, sitting around a fire, with their horses some little distance off—all but one who had his horse by him. Love, who with a few others was in advance of his company, addressing one of the Mexicans, asked where they were going and received an answer that they were going to Los Angeles; when the man with the horse spoke up and said, if any more questions were to be asked, to address him as he was the leader of the party. Love replied that he would address whom he pleased. The man advanced a few steps towards where his saddle lay on the ground, when Love ordered him to stop. He walked on without heeding the order, when Love drew his revolver and said that, if he did not stop on the instant, he would blow his brains out; whereupon the man, grating his teeth, turned around and, seeing that Love was in earnest, stepped back and again laid his hand upon his horse's mane. As a matter of fact this man, who was armed at the time with only a bowie-knife and whose object in going towards his saddle was to get his pistols,
---
was Joaquin Murieta, though Love did not know him; and one of his companions was Garcia or Three-fingered Jack. Joaquin and his party, being unknown to Love, might possibly have managed to get away; but at that moment William Wallace Byrnes of Love's company, who knew Joaquin and whom Joaquin knew, rode up; and the moment Joaquin's eyes fell upon him he called out to his men to make their escape. On the instant Garcia bounded off, and a number of the rangers followed, firing at him as he ran. Attention being thus diverted, Joaquin sprang upon his horse and without saddle or bridle made a dash for a rough and rocky ravine not far distant. A dozen shots followed; but they only added speed to Joaquin's horse, which coming to the ravine plunged down a bank some ten or twelve feet high and fell violently, throwing his rider. Both however recovered their feet and Joaquin, again mounting, was again flying as if on the wings of the wind. One of the rangers followed so close that his horse also made the plunge and the tumble; but before he could recover himself Joaquin was far ahead. Another of the rangers, however, taking a deliberate aim with his rifle at the horse, sent a ball through its body; and with a sudden gush of blood from mouth and nostrils it fell dead. Joaquin, jumping to his feet, attempted to run; but he was soon overtaken by several of the rangers and was shot several times, as was said, by Byrnes. When the third ball struck him, he turned around and, facing his pursuers, said, “Don’t shoot any more: the work is done!” He stood for a few moments and then, slowly sinking upon his right arm, expired. Garcia, meanwhile, was running with desperation in another direction, pursued by Love and other rangers. He is said to have run nearly five miles before he fell, pierced with nine balls. He leaped over the sandy ground like a chased wild beast, while the horses of his pursuers frequently stumbled. When nearly overtaken he would wheel and, with glaring eyes, discharge his revolver; but, though usually a good marksman, his shots went wide of their mark. Love, who had hit him twice before in the long chase, finally shot him through the head; and the desperado fell with his pistol in his hand, which he had emptied of
---
every load except one. Two others of the robbers were killed and two taken prisoners, while two or three escaped. A number of horses were recovered, six elegant Mexican saddles and bridles, a number of pistols and spurs and five or six broadcloth cloaks. No money or gold-dust was found; but it was supposed that considerable had been thrown away. Of the two prisoners, one escaped from his captors near the San Joaquin river and drowned himself; the other was taken to the Mariposa county jail, where he was one night seized by a mob and hanged; and the report at the time was that he was hanged not by citizens but by Mexicans who were afraid of his disclosures. Whatever may have been the truth as to this report, it was certain that Joaquin's band was completely broken up; and, in addition to the ordinary prejudices against all foreigners, it was especially dangerous to be suspected of having been one of or in any way connected with Joaquin's banditti.
Such, as near as can be ascertained, seem to have been the main facts about Joaquin. It was supposed at the time of his death, as soon proved to be the case, that there would be much doubt thrown upon the subject as to whether the right man had been secured. To make as sure as was possible under the circumstances, his head was cut off and carried to the nearest place where alcohol could be procured, and there placed in a jar of that liquid. Garcia's head and three-fingered hand were also cut off with the intention of preserving them; but the head, mutilated by Love's pistol-ball, would not keep and had to be otherwise disposed of; and only the hand was preserved. Joaquin's head, in its jar of alcohol, was afterwards exhibited in various places and among others in San Francisco at the "saloon of John King, Sansome street," accompanied by several affidavits of identification, one of them by Father Dominic Elaine. Notwithstanding various stories that the real Joaquin was never taken and the uncertainty thrown upon the subject by the remarkable act of the legislature of 1853, which spoke of "five Joaquins," there can be little or no reasonable doubt that the man killed was the right one or that the right man was killed. He at least gave no further trouble. And subsequently the governor of the state paid to
---
Captain Love a reward of one thousand dollars, which he had offered for the capture of the bandit; and the legislature of 1854 by an act, approved May 15, 1854, gave an additional sum of five thousand dollars.1
1.Ridge's Life of Joaquin Murieta, 68-81; Stats. 1854, 170; San Francisco Morning Call of April 3, 1892.
Latest from Stockton.
The Stockton Journal of the 27th has reached us. It speaks rather harshly of the conduct of some of their dignitaries. The court has granted Stockton corporate powers, and the Journal congratulates the citizens that the place is about to emerge from its "chrysolis state into a full winged city with all the honors, dignities, privileges &c, thereunto belonging," and hopes that in less than two weeks it will have the pleasure of congratulating his Honor the Mayor and the city Fathers, whoever they may be. The Journal states that although the Georgina was thirteen hours in performing the trip between Stockton and Sacramento, still that hereafter it can be performed in ten easily. It proposes that the Georgina should be placed on the route between Sacramento City and Stockton, as it deems that Stockton would he much benefited should this be done. At a mass meeting of the citizens holden at the Hotel de Mexico on Sunday evening July 26th, 1850, J. H. T. Chapman was called to the chair and E. W. Colt was chosen Secretary. At the meeting the following report of a nominating committee was unanimously adopted: For Mayor, Capt. D. S. Terry. For Council, John W. O'Neil, James Warner. E. B. Bateman, M.F. Sparrow. J. J. Holliday, Dr. J. W. Reins, Julius H. Pratt. The Commitee recommend that the other officers be left to the electors at the time of election. The election is to be held on the 1st day of next mouth, at which time a mayor, a recorder, seven councilmen, one city marshal, an assessor and a treasurer. Will be elected.
SAN JOAQUIN INTELLIGENCE
Doings about Sonoma — Later intelligence from Sonoma brings information of the recent holding of a Mass Meeting there, by American citizens, at which it was resolved that all foreigners should leave the Southern Mines, within fifteen days, except those who could give Americans as security for their peaceable character and honesty; and those giving such security, were further bound to deliver up their arms into the hands of the authorities, and resume possession of them at any future period by special permit. A large number of Mexicans have left the mines, and numbers are preparing to depart. We heard of one Mexican trader who employed fifty of his countrymen as an escort to conduct himself and his money to old Sonora. He gave as his reason for recruiting this force, that he knew there was a strong band of guerillas in the mines who had recently arrived here for the purposes of murder and robbery. The determined attitude assumed by the Americans in this district, will soon rid the country of the desperate band of assassins who have been spreading terror throughout this whole region. A few nights since a physician and his companion were attacked in their tent near Sonora, by two Mexicans, who attempted to cut the throats of the Americans. Both of the latter were wounded, but neither fatally. An alarm was given by one of them, and the two assassins were pursued and captured. Of course their trial, condemnation, and execution will be summary ; no doubt the whole business of their existence has ere this been brought to a conclusion.
FROM THE MINES. — Murphy's Diggings. — We have received the most favorable report of the receipts in the above named placer. A company of seven men have taken out, in one spot, in the above-named location, in Iess than seven weeks, $15,000 in gold dust. This is their nett proceeds, clear of expenses. They have bored the earth in their hole, which is now for-ty-six feet deep, a distance of thirty feet further to sound for rock, but have not touched it at that depth. It is their intention to dig to the rock, if it continues to yield as heretofore, if which there is little doubt. Another company of six took out, in the same diggings, last week, forty-two pounds of dust. The company is working fifty-four feet beneath the surface. We hear the Sacramentonians boast now and then of a ten or twenty pound lump ; but such small pebhies are bagged unnoticed in this district. At Murphy's a miner has in his possession a lump weighing ninety-three pounds, of which it has been ascertained at least one half is pure gold. Two thousand four hundred "holes" are registered at Murphy's as preemption claims. Those not present at the first of August to answer to their names in the matter of preemptions, will forfeit their claims. .
Mercedes.—We hear it reported in town that a lucky hombre, on the head waters of the Mercedes, has extracted a lump weighing eighty-three pounds, nearly all pure gold. Big lumps of gold in this district are actually becoming a common commodity.
San Antonio.— At this point, which was deserted last winter, five men have been taking out, on an average, seven ounces each for the past eleven days. The report is favorable from ail the mining region south; and the yield is undoubtedly greater than at any previous season. If the troubles which agitate our district were only at an end, which we feel assured they soon will be, the San Joaquin district would rapidly distance any other section of the State. — Stockton Jour.
Labor upon the Tuolumne.
We have received the following communication from Stockton relative to the condition of affairs upon the Tuolumne River, and the condition of the "cut off's " and mining prospects generally, at the present time. It will be seen that labor is in great demand there, and the writer urges strongly upon persons out of employment here to repair to that district, holding out the inducement of constant employment and good wages. TUOLUMNE RIVER, July 19, 1850. Gentlemen --- Permit me through the medium of your paper to announce to the public the following facts ; That the Tuolumne River is almost wholly monopolized by companies formed for the purpose of turning the river at low water by daming and mining in its bed : that the canals and side dams upon almost all the bars and places expected to be turned this summer, have been completed and we are only awaiting the falling of the waters, that we may put on the main dams. Judging from last years experience the river must fall so as to permit us to go on with our operations in two weeks at farthest but it will be impossible for the owners of the shares in the several dams to work out their Interests without assistance. At least five thousand men can find employment at good wages on the river from the 15th of August until the commencement of the rainy season. It has been represented to me that San Francisco and Stockton are literally crowded with persons, who, lately arrived, and out of employment, are dispirited and dlsgusted by the rumors of different kinds from the mines, such as sickness starvation, murder, robbery, etc., and are actually afraid to venture further, but prefer remaining in your city, a tax upon the people. Now to all such I would beg leave to say, that there is not in the world, a more healthy spot than the banks of the Tuolumne. The situation is high --- the air pure, and the country beautiful ; the water is perhaps the purest in the world, and up to this time (although the thermometer ranges from 106° to 110°,) is as cold as snow. Provisions are plenty, and can be had with or without money. True, there have been some murders perpetrated, and some robberies committed ; but the accounts you receive are greatly exaggerated, and should receive little or no credence. As a further inducement to those seeking employment I would add, that it is the intention of almost ail upon the river to return to the United States next fall, should they be successful in their operations, and the river not being worked out, they will have a fine opportunity of purchasing shares at a reduced price, thereby securing a fine field for the next summer's operations, free from the labor or expense to which we were subjected last winter. Yours, etc. . GEORGE HENRY.
Late and Very Important from Sonora.
We have not yet received the "Sonora Herald" of the 27th, but by means of the "San Francisco Herald," we are enabled to obtain the following interesting extracts from the Sonora Herald, in relation to the present serious condition of affairs at the extreme South.
"The most intense excitement [says that paper] still prevails among the population of the mountains, and God only knows in what it will end. Our county and township divisions are so large; we have so many ravines and fastnesses in the hills and mountains around us; so many bad men of all climes in our midst, and so great security for the criminal, that it is not surprising the better class of citizens have found it necessary to organise in each camp or diggings local police for the protection of property and life, and by acclamation adopt and carry out resolutions more effective and speedy than our criminal code provides for. It is not proposed to reject the laws which our recent legislature has furnished, but to supply deficiences in that law, to substitute something more effective at this juncture of affairs, and we wish with all our power to assist in directing the action of the people, that nothing unbecoming American citizens be done. A solemn—deeply solemn responsibility rests with the leaders of this movement. May they wisely use the power with which the people have invested them!"
On Sunday a meeting was held in the Plaza of Sonora, and was addressed by M. Van Buren, M. Cave, and others. The resolution adopted on that occasion, we have already given.
On the same day mass meetings were also held in other parts of the county, to consider the state of the country, and to advise as to what had better be done. At the Mormon Gulch, the following was the string of resolutions:
1st. That for the safety of the lives and property of the citizens of this portion of the county, notice shall be given immediately ordering all Mexicans and South Americans to remove from Township No. 2, in one week from this date.
2d. That it shall be the duty of Captain F. Borringer to have the necessary notices served on such persons as come under the above resolution.
3rd. That one and all of us will lend all necessary aid and assistance in our power to carry the notices to be served generally through Township No. 2.
4th. That we are ready and willing, whenever any plan of co-operation with other Townships or Counties shall organise, to join them for the purpose of clearing said Mexicans and South Americans out of the county or counties, and to such a distance therefrom as may hereafter be determined upon, and we do heartily solicit a union throughout the whole Mining Distriot.
Another Robbery.—A gentleman residing at Sonora, had a bag, containing seventeen and a half ounces in gold dust, stolen from under his pillow, in the night, at the El Dorado in this town. It has become a well ascertained fact, that one of the plans of the guerillas is as follows. A Mexican enters a tent upon which he has some design, and engages the owner in conversation. Some minutes afterwards, another enters as if to purchase merchandise; a third follows, then a fourth, and so on. The attack is made when the victim is not on his guard. This ruse has been practised in many instances. Hundreds of Mexicans, Chilians, and others passed through Sonora from various points eastward, on their return home. There are men, women and children. The heart of every feeling man was touched at the sight. It is expected that every camp in the neighborhood will be deserted shortly. In many instances the wealthy portion of the foreign population is becoming alarmed, and all are in haste to sell their property. One wealthy Mexican has left the country with $100,000. Nearly two hundred foreigners called at the office of the Sonora Herald on Monday; for copies of the resolutions passed at the mass meeting; and they betrayed great anxiety on the subject. The feeling is universal amongst the Spanish portion of the population that the Americans wish to drive them away from the country altogether. We fear that the money-making merry old times of Sonora are gone forever!
Another Meeting in Sonora.—On Tuesday evening, the 23d ult. another meeting was held in the public square of .Sonora,— Richard C. Berry, Esq., was called to the chair, and M. Robert L. Murphy appointed secretary. The resolutions of the mass meeting of the 21st inst., were explained by Major Elkins, Messrs. Theall, Shepherd and Brown were appointed Selectmen of the Camp of Sonora. Messrs. Elkins, Shepherd, Van Buren, Murphy and Collins addressed the meeting. The following resolutions were unanimously adopted:
Resolved, 1st, That the selectmen shall proceed immediately, without any delay, to carry out the spirit of the mass maeting held on Saturday, 21st inst. Resolved, 2d, That the Selectmen shall have power to raise such force as may be necessary, in their opinion, to carry out the measures adopted in the resolutions of the mass meeting of the 21st instant, and that such persons as may be so employed, shall be recompensed for their services by those who do no participate in such labor, and that the selectmen shall procure such funds by subscription of the citizens of Sonora and its vicinity. Resolved, 3d. That the proceedings of of this meeting be published in the Sonora Herald.
Robery at Curtis's.—On Monday the 22d, a daring robbery was committed at Curtis's by a negro. He stole from under the head of another negro, while the latter was asleep, a bag of gold dust. Both he and the man who abetted him in the act have been arrested. We understand that they will be brought before no court of justice, but be tried by a jury of the people, and punished according to the old regime.
Murder at the Mormcn Gulch.—An American was murdered on Monday at the Mormon Gulch, and another fatally wounded, by five Mexicans, who are under arrest. Their object was to commit a robbory.
Trade was never so depressed throughout the Southern mines as at present. The frequent robberies and outrages committed have cast a gloom over business prospects which even the daily increasing success of most of the Diggings is incapable of removing. The tax law is undoubtedly driving hundreds from the mines, while it has incited the desperate men of so large a foreign population to deeds of plunder and revenge. Stockton, one of the first cities of California, prosperous and thriving under ail the circumstances which attended her early growth, has become of late infected by lawless and dangerous characters, who patrol the streets at midnight loaded down with implements of assassination and outrage. There is a better day fast approaching for this beautiful city on the San Joaquin, we are gratified in believing. The order loving and the resolute of her good citizens are arising in their might. They have triumphed in the recent election of city officers, under the charter extended over them, by appointing sound and intelligent men to control the destinies of their municipality, in the face of opposition of a most violent character. The ballot-box was redeemed from the midst of contending parties, assembled, and fast assuming the boisterousness of a mob. The following gentlemen were declared elected.
Tuolumne City.—A gentleman who has just returned from the above named place, gives the following particulars of a frustrated attempt at robbery: Four suspicious looking men, were seen prowling about Tuolumne city, always about dusk, or after, for some three or four nights, and had excited considerable suspicion. On approaching the house of Mr. Thos. McGuire, three different times one night last week, he finally hailed them, and remarked that if they did not answer, and tell their business, he would fire. No answer being returned, he fired at the nearest man, who was stauding close to a tree. The man staggered as though he would fall, when his two companions ran up and he was borne off. The next day two Sonorans were killed, about eight miles from Tuolumne city. Justice G. Swasey proceeded to the spot, held an inquest, and they were buried. Verdict, "Death by violence, persons unknown." Since the above occurrence, although the inhabitants of the town have searched the bottoms and fastnesses in the vicinity, they have been unable to discover any clue to their lurking place. Mr. Montgomery, (firm of Scott & M.,) from the Merced river, thinks, from the description of the marauders, they were the same who robbed his tent of $7000 some time since.—[Stockton Journal.
Encouraging.—We find the following item of news in the leading article of the Stockton Journal of Aug. 14th: "The troubles which have of late existed among the mountains, and which have been colored, magnified, and distorted, by every blundering letter writer, and wisely descanted upon by several respectable old grannies in San Francisco, have ceased."
A Chapter of Horribles from the South.—We sincerely regret that it becomes our duty as faithful chroniclers of passing events, to give to the public the following sad items of intelligence. When we reflect upon the quiet and harmony which, as a general thing, pervades the northern placeres, we cannot but hope that a more orderly and safe state of affairs will soon exist in the southern diggings. The Sonora Herald of the 10th inst., has just reached us. From it we learn that the commercial interests of the county have been suffering under the effect of the late disturbances at the rate of $10,000 a day. The editor calls on his fellow-citizens to act, to quiet the alarm amongst the populace, and to use their power lightly. Gen. Besancon has issued a notice that he is authorized to receive $20 from each foreign miner for the privilege of laboring in the mines until the last day of December next. The Herald comes loaded with the following items:
On Monday last our Express rider, Mr. Avery, and Mr. Cressy, of Stockton, were attacked between Angel's and Murphy's. Mr. Cressy, unfortunately, was unarmed, and Mr. Avery had but one indifferent pistol in his possession. The circumstances were as follows: Mr. Avery, in a lonely part of the road, saw two negroes and a South American, each behind a tree, with rifles pointed at him. Immediately he rode up to one of the negroes and threatened to shoot him. The negro prayed him not to do this, as he was only hunting antelopes. Mr. Avery passed on, but ere he was three yards distant, a ball whizzed by him close to his ear. Seeing two other rifles yet undischarged, the two gentlemen put spurs to their horses and escaped.
On Friday evening last, two Americans near Don Pedro's Bar, were attacked while asleep, by three Mexicans and severely wounded. One of them less injured than the other, sprang out of bed and clenched an axe, and rushed out of his tent for the purpose of self defense, and his companion followed him, but the robbers had disappeared. The men attacked made the best of their way to Don Pedro's Bar, bare-footed, over the sharp rocks, and arrived there with lacerated feet. The people at Jacksonville raised and armed a posse and repaired to the place of the attack, but were unable to discover the Mexicans who attempted the murder. Six Mexicans had been at work on Friday at the place, but on the evening of this day three of the number pretended to go away, and it is probable that they returned in the evening for the purpose of murder and robbery, but were foiled in their attempts. On Saturday the three remaining Mexicans were examined as to the occurrence, but no facts were elicited. The midnight assassins are still at large.
A correspondent at Sullivan's Creek writes as follows: On the night of the 6th inst., three Mexicans or Chilians entered the store of two Americans, about one o'clock, and attempted to crush out their brains with massive stones, weighing from thirty to forty pounds each. Fortunately, however, only one took effect, which mangled the mouth, chin, and severely bruised the left shoulder of one of them, leaving him senseless. The other awoke from the noise, gave an alarm, which caused them to retreat without accomplishing their object. The wound of the one is severe, though pronounced by Dr. Fletcher not to be mortal. When will these outrages cease?
A few days since, an American who claimed to be a tax collector, called on a Mexican who had about 40 peons at work in the mines, and demanded that he should pay their taxes. The collector called two or three times, and at length was met by the Mexican, who was armed and refused to pay on the ground that he and his men were about leaving this country: and they did leave the same afternoon. This man then proceeded to Don Pedro's Bar, where he recruited a force of five Americans and went in pursuit, overtaking the Mexicans the next morning, near Dr. Trensill's ranch on the Toulumne, where a battle ensued, in which two Mexicans were killed and left on the ground, and three others badly wounded. The Americans were not injured. One of their horses was shot in the mouth. We are apprehensive that this collector is an imposter as the authorities here disclaim having any collector in that part of the county.
We learn that a party of Americans on the Stanislaus, under pretext of carrying out the resolutions which have been lately passed by the people in the various diggings, have gone out and not only demanded the arms of the Mexican but his gold dust also. Shame—shame—we cry eternal shame on these miscreants. We will not call things by their wrong names, but pronounce these acts foul wrongs and robberies. Americans, look to it, for the honor of your glorious country! Seize these men as traitors to you and your country, and punish them as they deserve. If you find them in the act, treat them as you would treat villians. Our readers will have learned from an advertisement published in last week's paper, that the owners of bars on the Stanislaus have entered into an arrangement to keep all interlopers off their claims. It appears that several companies have been notified by men who have never put in a spade to turn the river that they should, when the work is finished, reap a portion of the harvest. Morally such conduct, in our estimation, would be theft. To us it appears that the man is just as vile who would steal our purse as rob us in this manner of the fair proceeds of our labor and capital.
Another Murder.—Information has been received by the authorities of Monterey, of the murder of two Yagtuies Indians, near the ranch of Pacheco, which was perpetrated in a canon, on the night of Sunday last. The object was robbery, as the Indians were returning from the placer with a large quantity of gold. An investigation is about being held at Monterey, but as yet there is no clue to the murderers.—[News.
SAN JOAQUIN INTELLIGENCE
From the Sonora Herald, 1st inst.] A rich silver mine has been discovered near Carson's, by Dr. Brown. The vein is a foot in width, and is supposed to extend over a distance of 10 miles. We have a specimen in our possession which contains 80 per cent. of silver.
Robbery. — A few days ago Judge Marvin and Sheriff Work were stopped on the banks of the Stanislaus by a Mexican who informed them that an American had broken into a caral and driven off a mule, his property. The Mexican attempted to stop him, when the American attacked him with a knife and stabbed him in the arm. The two gentlemen started in pursuit of the scoundrel, but their horses giving out, they were compelled to give it up.
Horrible Murder. — Mr. Geo. Work, our active sheriff, has just informed us of another horrible murder which was committed near Waters's ranch, on the Merced, on Tuesday last. On the evening of that day the bodies of Major Baldwin and his companion were found in a horribly mutilated state, their skulls having been completely smashed with rocks. It appears that the companion of the Major must have attempted to fight his way out with a sabre, his body being found some distance from the Major's, and the drawn sabre, covered with blood, lying by his side. No clue has yet been obtained for the discovery of the murderers.
Fatal Affray at Hawkin's Bar. — On the afternoon of the 27th ult., S. R. Elmendoff, while in an intoxicated state, went to the tent of J. W. Seamen while the latter was absent, and commenced a gross abuse of his wife. In a day or two afterwards he returned and begged the lady's pardon — the husband being still absent. In a day or two he returned, and when informed of the acts of Elmendoff, stated that he must hereafter keep away from his premises or he would shoot him. A few days afterwards Elmendoff entered the house and was immediately shot down, receiving two balls from a revolver, and expiring in a few minutes. Seamen then gave himself up to the authorities, and entered bail for his appearance at court. Mr. Elmendoff, when sober, was much respected and esteemed by all who knew him.
From the Southern Mines.
....
Robbery in Sonora. — Three Mexicans entered the store of Don Jacinto Barretto, on the evening of Sunday week, and while one engaged the proprietor at the counter, the other two ran off with his money box. One man had been arrested as an accomplice.
Indian Outrage. — A German was shot in the back and also in the left arm by two Indians on the night of Thursday, 19th inst. He was sleeping under a tree about two miles from Sonora when attacked. His wounds are not dangerous.
....
The Sonora Herald, from which the above items have been compiled, says in reference to mining:
☞ We regret that many of the damming companies on the Stanislaus and Tuolumne rivers are becoming discouraged and giving up their claims after bestowing so much time and labor upon them. We hear of several claims being entirely abandoned.
Salmon are said to be very abundant in the Tuolumne.
Attempted Murder and Robbery.
On Sunday night last, a German came to the Twelve Mile House, on the Auburn road, and put up for the night. The next morning, he left, taking the road towards this city. Shortly after he left, another man passed the same house, having with him a mule and some baggage, who was also travelling towards this city. It appears that he overtook the German after travelling three or four miles, when they both came on together. After they had continued in company a short time, the German drew a pistol and shot his companion in the back of the head. The pistol was loaded with buck shot, which took effect in several places, and completely stunned the man, causing him to fall to the ground, as if dead. The German then commenced rifling the baggage. Before he had finished, a team hove in sight, and he fled. The teamster came up, found the wounded man, and then returned to the Twelve Mile House, where he gave the alarm. Several men immediately started in pursuit of the assassin, but they did not succeed in finding him. He was seen afterwards, however, on the way to this city. The wounded man has been brought to town, and we understand is like to recover. He had but a small amount of money with him when assassinated, which the German did not find before he was frightened away.
Degeneracy.—The events of the day prove quite clearly that there is a degeneracy among the people. A year ago a miner could have left his bag of dust exposed to full view and absent himself a week—his tools might have remained unmolested in any ravine for months—and his goods and chattels, bed and bedding, might have remained along the highway for an indefinite period, without being subject to the secreting of any one. Now, however, it requires the utmost diligence to keep the "dust" from being stolen; the cabin of the miner is requently entered, examined, and articles thieved; the implements of his trade are not secure out of sight; and indeed a perfect relaxation of morals seems to have taken place. We have been informed of several cases where men who had been engaged in throwing up dirt in dry diggings, awaiting the rainy season, have had their thrown up earth completely riddled of every discernible particle of the oro. This is certainly a speedy way of acquiring means, but most reprehensible, and is a matter of exceeding regret, as it is a sad reflection on the honesty of mankind.
Attempted Murder and Robbery.
The statement relative to the attempted robbery and murder which we published yesterday, contained several inaccuracies, as we are informed by a gentleman familiar with the circumstances of the case.
It appears that on Monday last, between ten and eleven o'clock, a miner who was on his road to to this city, with a mule packed, stopped to rest himself under the shade of a tree, about half a mile beyond the "Letup and Jingle House," on the Auburn road. A German was under the tree, with whom he entered into conversation. As he rose to leave, the German drew a pistol loaded with buckshot and fired it, striking him in the neck, and carrying away the largest part of his left ear. The miner left his horse and ran for the public house, where he made known the attack. A company of men, among whom was Mr. S. F. A. Shonnard, of this city, started immediately in pursuit, following him as far as Norris' Ranch—the robber being a little in advance on the opposite side of the river. Mr. S. crossed the river, but owing to the difficulty in getting over, the fellow eluded the vigilance of those in pursuit. He was followed to the city, but Mr. S. has not been able to discover him, although he has been seen.
The miner came on to this city, and is not dangerously wounded. He had some $4,000 on his person at the time the attack was made.
It will be seen, when the above account is compared with the one we published yesterday,that there are two ways of telling a story. Both accounts, however, are in exact accordance with the information given us by individuals who thought themselves right. As the last account is most explicit, we believe it correct.
SACRAMENTO INTELLIGENCE
Murders, — A gentleman just down from Marysville informs tin that two bodies were found near the town of Linda, on Wednesday. The throata were cut. and they hnd been thrown over the bank. Appearauces indicated that the deed had been committed while they were encamped, and it is likely money was tho object of the murderers, as nothing valuable was left on their persons. From the clothing, it is supposed that one only was an American. — The faces were ao disfigured, that no chance for recognition remained.
It was reported that three persons had been murdered, also, at Yuba City; but the stage left too soon to ascertain the truth of the rumor.
A man, just in the suburbs of Marysville, was stopped a day or two since, and pistols were fired upon him; he escaped, however, without injury. The frequent occurrence of these high handed attempts at robbery and murder evince the existance of a degree of desperation most lamentable to realize, and we fear that circumstances do not portend any mitigation of its prevalence. — Ib [Placer Times, Oct. 5, 1850]
Robbery in Stockton.— In Stockton if possible, more than elsewhere, there seems to be a regular band of organized robbers, who make it their business to ascertain who has money, where he keeps it, and then to obtain it at any risk or sacrifice of life. A gentleman whom we know well, informed us yesterday, that he came down from the mines in company with another, who had $600 in dust on his person, that this miner went into a drinking shop in Stockton after dark last Tuesday night, and drank, and when got into the street was attacked by two men, knocked down, and while stunned, thrown into the slough. The cold water restored him to consciousness, and he swam ashore to the opposite side, where he remained all night. He had been robbed of every dime he possessed.
Murphy's New Diggings.— This placer has disappointed many persons who have spent their whole summer in waiting for the water so far to dry up in the creek and leach out of the flat as to enable them to sink their holes. We have been informed that very few of the claims have paid. A large portion of them could not be sunk sufficiently deep to obtain the deposits at the bottom. After a little distance springs would burst up with great force.
By the first of last May some six hundred claims had been recorded on the Alcalde's book, and in the anticipation of a great summer's work there over forty stores and selling houses had been erected. This place is about 70 miles from Stockton, among the mountains to the north of the Stanislaus river, 8 miles from Angel's camp, 6 from Carson's Creek, 9 from San Antonio, and 10 from the Stanislaus river.
MURDER AND ARSON AT SAN JOSE. -- We are indebted to the indefatigable Mr. Hackett, of Berford & Co.'s Express, for the interesting items of news from San Jose, furnished below:
-- On Sunday night last, at Digby Smith's Ranche, were found the bodies of three murdered men, two of them proving on investigation, to be Digby Smith and partner, each pierced with two balls, and the third, a stranger, having his head split open. The house was burned down, and it is yet unknown if robbery was also committed. It is surmised that the stranger was one of the attacking party, and lost his life in the struggle that ensued. Mr. Smith was from Burlington, N. J., and was the cultivator of an extensive farm about two miles this side of San Jose. The store of Baker & Co. was robbed last week during the middle of the day, while the clerks were at dinner. We are not informed of the amount abstracted.
It cannot fail tn be noticed that there are many most desperate characters in the country, who, failing to realize their expectations in the mines by honest labor, are determined to grasp the earnings of other men at all hazards. It has been observed that at one period most of these outrages were committed at the North, about Coloma and that region; then they became frequent at Sacramento, were known here, and now they have passed to the southward. It cannot be doubted that there is in this country more than one systematic gang of villains, whose actions thus far can only be traced by the bloody stains they have left after them, and whose extirpation is only to be effected by a better organization of police throughout the country than we yet possess.
Murder and Arson at San Jose.—We extract the following account of a wholesale murder committed at San Jose, from the correspondence of the Pacific News, San Jose, Dec. 17. Editors of the Pacific News:
It becomes my painful duty to inform you of a most horrible murder, or series of murders, committed in this valley on Sunday evening last, on the person of Bigley Smith, Esq., formerly rof New Brunswick, N.J., Dr. Zarinsky, a Pole, and a young Englishman in the employ of Dr. Smith, whose name I could not learn, and was from Sydney, N. S. W. What the circumstances were attending this wholesale massacre, can never be fully known, as the building in which it was committed, the residence of Dr. Smith; situated on the Guadalupe, about three miles from the Pueblo, was fired and consumed, with all its contents, saving portions of the mutilated remains of the murdered victims. This is the most horrible tragedy ever committed in the country; and every effort will be made on the part of our citizens to ascertain and ferret out the perpetrators. On the same evening the store of Baker & Co., near the Madison House, was entered by burglars, and relieved of a portion of its contents to the amount of $300.
The Horrible Murder at San Jose.
No. 2 of the California State Journal is before us. We gave in our last the news that a most revolting murder had been committed; the following contains additional intelligence extracted from the Journal:
Horrible Murder and Arson.—On Sunday evening last, our citizens were alarmed by the information that Messrs. Bester & Smith's house, about two or three miles from this city, on Los Gatos Creek, was burnt, and some two or three persons had perished in the flames. Early the next morning a number of our citizens, ourselves among the number, started for the scene of disaster. On arriving there, we found the building entirely consumed, and in one corner, and near where the door of the building was, lay the blackened and charred remains of three persons, who had been in full health less than twenty-four hours previously. The Coroner was sent for, but had not arrived at the time we left. In the meantime we made an examination of the premises, and the position of the bodies, and we were satisfied that murder and not accident, as was generally supposed by those present, had done the work of death. In one corner of the room lay a body, supposed to be that of Mr. Digby B. Smith, with the legs and arms nearly burnt off, the entire abdomen destroyed and the top part of the skull appeared to have been crushed, and was lost. In a parallel line with this body lay another, supposed to be Mr. Wood, the cook, with the legs and arms similarly burnt, and the entire skull wanting. Between these two bodies lay the blade of a sheath dirk about six inches in length. Nearer to the door, just below the body last referred to, lay another, since recognised to be Mr. E. G. Barber's. The skull was also broken as by the blow of an axe. At the feet of this body lay an open jack-knife, the blade of which had the appearance of being corroded with blood.
The following are the facts, as nearly as we have been able to gather the particulars. About 7 o'clock on Sunday evening, the family of Mr. Hamilton, who resides near Mr. Bester's house, heard the explosion of gunpowder, and in a few moments afterwards their attention was attracted by a light of the burning house. They immediately hurried to the scene, but the outside of the building was entirely consumed, and the victims, beyond the reach of help. A Coroner's inquest has been held upon the bodies, and an examination of them proved conclusively that murder had been committed. No clue to the murderers has been discovered. The design was evidently the murder of Mr. Bester; but he had left the house late in the afternoon of the murder. We had the pleasure of a visit from him yesterday. He has taken measures to have the bodies decently interred, and the funeral services are to be performed at the new Presbyterian Church, by the Rev. Mr. Brayton.
SAN JOSE INTELLIGENCE. [From the State Journal] ....
Another Murder!. — from the same paper of yesterday we gain the following particulars of the murder which we mentioned in our last issue:
On Wednesday evening a Californian, whose same we are unable to learn, came to San Jose, and purchased a number of articles of clothing. He started for his home some three miles from this city, and when near the rancho belonging to Mr. Kell, within a short distance, of the scene of last Sunday's tragedy, was assailed and literally cut to pieces. A number of our citizens started on Thuriday morning to arrest the assassins, if possible. A court under the jurisdiction of Judge Lynch, personated by W. Claude Jones, Esq. was organized on the spot, and a suspected Mexican threatened with a cravat made of a riata, without he told who the murderers were. He revealed the name of two or three persons, among whom was his own father, as being concerned in the murder. Efforts are now being made to arrest those implicated.
A public meeting is talked of for the purpose of organizing a mounted band of volunteers to scour the valley and mountains, and drive the assassins from our vicinity or exterminate them.
The Sand Hills Murder. — The State Journal contains the following particulars of the murder of Mr. Harrington on the 5th inst. It proves conclusively what has seemed apparent for some time past, that organized bands of robbers exist in a state of complete banditti discipline among us.
We are indebted to Wm. D. Harrington, Esq., for the particulars of the murder of his nephew on the night of Dec. 5th. The name of the murdered man, Wm Dudly Harrington, Jr., son of Thomas Harrington, residing at Independence, Mo. Mr. Harrington states that about noon of the day previous to the night on which the murder and robbery were committed, three men one of which was the leader of the band of robbers, went to Dr Marsh's house and inquired for stray horses. They spent the afternoon in pleasant conversation, and left the bouse about 3 o'clock. They returned about 8 o'clock, some 14 or 2O in number, surrounded the house, and detached a party to surround the tent of Mr. Harrington, which was occupied by Mr. Mortimer Wilson and Mr. Seaburn Abernethy. The noise of the approaching party attracted the attention of the inmates of the tent. Three guns were then immediately fired into it. Mr. Harrington stepped to the door, and the other two gentlemen escaped from the back part of tbe tent, in the hope of reacbing the house. They discovered, however, that it was surrounded by horsemen. At this moment Mr. Harrington was seen by his companions to emerge from the tent, pursued by two horsemen. He was shot in the shoulder by them, pierced with eight lance wouuds, and is supposed to have died instantly. He was found dead next morning, lying upon his face. At the same instant that the firing upon the tent commenced, the doors of Mr. Marsh's house were broken in, the inmates knocked down and bound, and the house rifled of money, watches and guns. The leader of the band or robbers, in his conversation on the afternoon before the murder, stated that he was a native of the Argentine Republic, that he had traveled to Europe, and had resided for some time in Mexico He speaks Spanish fluently, and French and English imperfectly. He is a young man of short stature, very fair complexion, and black eyes and hair. His manners are pleasing, and his appearance rather prepossessing. Look out for him.
During the whole affair, the robbers, who appeared to be Mexican, with faces blackened, and who stated that they were 120 in number, obeyed implicitly every command of their 1eader, who was not disguised. A statement of the whole affair has been put in the hands of Governor Burnett, and it is to hoped that he will adopt such measures as will secure the arrest of the villains and give that protection to our farming population which, their isolated situations from our cities requires in this emergency.
A Mexican Hung.—The Alta contains a letter which states that a Mexican named Pablo, aged about forty years, who was found guilty of the murder of an American, was hung at Aqua Frio, on the 7th inst. There were about 500 Americans and 200 foreigners present at the execution.
...
169
170
William Perkins experienced an encounter with Mexican bandits who had murdered and robbed a teamster the road from Sonora to Stockton on April 4, 1852, 21 days before the Ruddle murder occured in a similar fashion.
William Perkins described his return from San Francisco to Stockton, aboard the steamer "Sophie" on the evening of Saturday April 3, 1852. Arriving before he awoke on Sunday morning, April 4, he was delayed a day getting his goods shipped to his place of business in Sonora. [138]
from Seecrest, The Man from the Rio Grande, p.97-98,98 n.1-2
The steamer Sea Bird, Capt. Hillard, arrived here ay morning at 11 A. M., after a passage of four daya from San Diego. She brings thirty passengers, a list of whom, together with their memoranda, will be found in another column.
We have received a copy of the Los Angeles Star of Dec. 4th, being one week later. The news shows that Los Angeles county has been infested with a gang of robbers and murderers for a long time past, and have succeeded in eluding detection until the present time. Some discoveries have been made as to the murder of Gen. Bean, and the crime is fixed upon one Cipriano Sandoral, who has fled.
Reyes Feliz, who was arrested upon the charge of being a party to the assassination of Gen. Bean, was executed by the people of Los Angeles on Tuesday, the 27th ult., at 12 M. It was not proved that he was concerned in causing the death of Gen. Bean, but he acknowledged to being a robber and a murderer. The following is the confession which he made :
After the confession was made known, a public meeting was held, and the deceased unanimously condemned to death. He was carefully guarded, and next day taken to Prospect Hill and executed. Just before he was launched into eternity, he addressed a few words to the assembly, saying that his punishment was justly merited, and advising them never to put faith in woman. Ho persisted to the last in knowing nothing of the death of Gen. Bean.
The woman Ana, who was arrested and placed in charge of Dr. Osburn, upon the supposition of knowing something of the death of Gen. Bean, was cited up before the Investigating Committee and uniformly told the same story. Her statement regarding Cipriano Sandoval is believed to be true. The following is her evidence on the subject:
My name is Ana Benites, twenty-two years old, born in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Reside in Los Angeles. Did not know Gen. Bean. Heard him mentioned. Know who killed him. Know from the mouth of the person the manner in which he was killed. Cipriano (don't know his other name) told me that he had killed him. Know Cipriano; cannot mistake him on seeing him. I saw him when I came from San Gabriel to Los Angeles, where he overtook me and Joaquin Murieta, which was the time when he told me that he had killed Bean. There was a performance of the maromas the night Gen. Bean was killed; I was present with Joaquin Murieta. I left the moromas with him, returned to my house and went immediately to bed. All the people of the house went to sleep. Extinguished the lights. Rico, Rico's wife, and family, also a certain Sancedo and his woman — the name of the latter I do not know — were in the house; some of them slept in the house and others slept outside. Me, Joaquin, Juanito Rico, and a young lad whom I do not know, slept in the " Ramadita." After I laid down and before I went to sleep, heard no noise nor voices that attracted attention. At a later part cf the night, I heard shots, and during the three shots heard voices; could not, however, distinguish whether they were Americans or Mexicans. A short moment afterwards I heard more shots, the voice of Gen. Bean, who arrived crying, "Rico! Rico! Rico!" I then sat up and saw Bean, who came dragging a cloak. Senora Jesus opened the door, and Juanito Rico was already holding him in his arms, and said, "Mother, it is General Bean." The shots were fired in the direction between the house cf Rico and Pena. First, three were fired; then a single shot, which was fired when the General came crying out towards the house.
I told Joaquin Murieta to go in search of a doctor, but in the first place an alcalde, in order that they might see what had takes place. The moment Joaquin left, a man by the name of Cipriano approached, and ran bsck. I asked B. who had killed him, whether it was an American? He answered. No. Sonoran? No. Californian? Yes, sir — in English, in an affirmative manner. I again asked him — A Califorian? to which he pave a negative nod with his head. Then Donna Jesus came, took me by the shoulders, and said to me: " You meddle in things that you have not to care about There is also Christoval wounded, asking for a confessor." Then different persons arrived, also the doctor and the alcalde. This took place on the night of a Sunday. The next day Murieta and myself came to Los Angeles, and after having passed the little ditches, close to the Mission, Cipriano overtook us, and spoke to Murieta. He said: "Hombre, I confide or charge you with the secret of what I have done. There is no danger here; and request and charge your woman to act the same as yourself, in order that among the Americans they may not get anything out of her against us." Cipriano came very much excited. Wore a serape on his shoulders and a six-shooter in his waistband. Then I asked Joaqain: "Is that the one that killed Bean?" " Yes," he said. "And why?" "Because the General was very much intoxicated, dragging the Indian woman; and she is with a sister of Christoval. And so I earnestly charge you with the secret. If by chance they should call call on you as a witness, say that you do not know. They shall not get any thing out of you; neither shall they harm you. Moreover, if I learn that you say the least thing, I shall be your worst knue. If you should even put yourself into the guts of the Yankees, I shall take you out. They shall not take from you what I shall do to you."
The woman Ana subsequently stated that Benito Lopez, one of the prisoners, and a member of Solomon Pico's band, acting generally as a messenger to bring provisions, &c. She stated Lopez came to her house in Los Angeles on his arrival from above, bringing with him a roan mare, a black mule and a rifle, all of which he told her he had taken from two Americans. She also accused him of having stolen some handkerchiefs in town a week or two ago, for which he was severely flogged; and of telling her he intended to rob some three or four Americans that same night.
Upon this declaration of the woman, a more rigid examination was had of Lopez. He made several contradictory statements, but finally wound up with the following:
I told Sandoval that they might let them all go, that I (Lopez) would be responsible for them. On the road from the mines I met with an Indian and an Indian woman. The Indian told me that he belonged to the Comanche tribe, that he had stolen a mule, a mare, a rifle and a pistol from two Americans whom he had killed and that the woman had killed another man in Coloma. I killed the Indian and the woman. It is about twelve days since— the bodies may still be found. I joined them in San Antonio. The mule is a horse mule of black color and the mare a roan. The Indian's name was Sosa. Took the rifle and the pistol from the Indians after I had killed them - left the bodies on this side the Cahuenga Ranch, on the plain, three or four thousand paces from the gulch. I had suspicion of them both. First killed the Indian. The woman perceived it and seized a knife. I then killed her. I killed them with a club. They told me they had killed the Americans in the camp of Coloma, in the mines. I left the rifle at Ana's house, in charge of a Sonoranian, who was to take it for me to the Mission. The pistol was taken from me at the hotel, and they kept it. The Indian was dark complexioned, the woman whitish, but spoke neither English nor Spanish. The Indian had on a shirt, pantaloons and boots. They had only a saddletree to ride on. There is a blind man here by whom I can prove that I did not come from Comula, but from the mines. I knew that Ana belonged to the gang of robbers, because she herself told me that she was the woman of Joaquin. She told me that Joaquin had gone to the Tulares to sell about 30 horses that he had stolen, and that be would be back in about 20 days. Another man was with Ana when I went to her house. He was a tail, thin, white complexioned man, had pantaloons, a jacket and a white hat. I went to her house twice; once in the morning, and once early at night.
The prisoner offered to substantiate what he had said by pointing out the bodies of the murdered persons. He was taken at his word, and the citizens proceeded to the place designated. Two skeletons were found, as he had described, at a place about 18 miles from the city, on the Santa Barbara road, near a ranch called the Encina. Various articles of men's and women's clothing were lying scattered about, also a saddletree and a canvas bag were found near the bodies. The clothing evidently belonged to Americans whom they had killed. The bones of the murdered persons were buried, and the articles of clothing and the club brought to town. It has since been ascertained that the two murdered persons were an Indian named Sosa, and a mulatto woman named Mary, the property of a Mr. Thompson, in the northern part of the State. The prisoner was convicted by a jury of the people, and has probably been executed ere this.
On the night of Tuesday, the 25th ult, the entire stock of horses belonging to Messrs. White & Courtney, consisting of about one hundred head, together with some few owned by emigrants who have recently arrived in the country, were stolen from San Gabriel. At first the robbery was supposed to have been committed by Indians but from present indications it seems more probable that the same band of outlaws who have so long infested this county, and a part of whom, there is every reason to believe, are now in the hands of the people, are the guilty ones in this instance. Four or five men have started on their track, prepared to follow them even to the mines, if they have gone in that direction. Now while so many of these scamps, are known to be in this vicinity, our farmer, and ranchero, cannot be to careful of their stock.
FROM MARIPOSA.—Steels' Express has furnished us with the following further particulars of the capture of Joaquin. Joaquin was taken by surprise, being unarmed and just coming into camp, leading his horse. As soon as he got sight of the Rangers, he jumped on his horse and fled, but was not quick enough. The hand brought in by the Rangers is the maimed hand of Three-fingered Jack. A glass jar is to be procured to put the head and hand in, when the people of Stockton can have a sight at them.
•--●--•-----
JOAQUIN NOT DEAD.—It appears from the following they have got a Joaquin of their own down in Los Angeles. The Star says:—"Joaquin is in the neighborhood of San Fernando, with twentyfive men, all armed with revolvers, double-barrelled guns, swords and lances. The robbers have visited several ranchos in that vicinity. We give this on the very best authority, to wit: Don Andres Pico."—S. F. Herald.
JOAQUIN, THE BEHEADED.— The Joaquin whose head has been taken off, is now said to be Joaquin Valancuela. As there are some half a dozen Joaquins, there is no certainty we have the right one until the whole gang is captured. Joaquin Carillo is said to be the most desperate of the name, and as news of his whereabouts has been received, his head will probably be coming in next.
•--●--•-----
CONFESSION OF DAWSON THE ROBBER. —The man Dawson, who was concerned in the Mormon Island robbery, and who is supposed by some to have been the real Joaquin, made an important confession before his death. Amongst other things he said "that be was principal in the robbery alluded to, and believed he was the greatest rascal the world ever saw."
•--●--•-----
•--●--•-----
MANSLAUGHTER.—At San Andreas Camp, in San Joaquin County, says the Sacramento Union, a Mexican who has greatly aided the Americans in detecting horse thieves. received caution that he was to be assassinated. While playing cards on the same afternoon the assassin entered the room, with his hand on his pistol. This was instantly perceived by the Mexican, who instantly dropped his cards, saying, "I cannot play any more", and went into another room. Procuring a long knife he went directly up to the bandit challenged him with his intention, and before he could use his pistol plunged his knife through and through him. The Mexican then stripped his victim and taking his things with him, went and delivered himself up to Judge Talliaferro, who, on hearing satisfactory evidence to substantiate the above, discharged him. -----•--●--•-----
•--●--•-----
It has been ascertained that the Americans from San Diego, who were missed near Encinadas, some five months since, were murdered by Mexicans near that place, and robbed of $5,000. Desperadoes abound in that vicinity, who cross to the American side of the line, commit their depredations, and return. It is proposed to raise a party of Californians, take San Tomas, their rendezvous, and hang the miscreants. --------------
Later from Southern California.
By the steamer Sea Bird which arrived on Sunday morning from San Diego, we have later and important advices from Southern California. The U. S. Commissioners, Hon. Hiland Hall, and Messrs. Robert Greenhow and Geo. Fislier are among the passengers; also, Scnor Don Tomas, Captain of the Diguenos Indians. The U. S. sloop of war Portsmouth was at San Diego bound for Panama. The murder of Gen. Bean had created the greatest excitement — the Star of the 27th ult. says:
Ever since Gen. Bean's death, his friends, of whom he had many and true, have been unremitting in their exertions to ferret out the circumstances of his assassination. We stated in our last that a man had been arrested on suspicion. but it has since transpired that he had no connection with the affair. His examination, however, has led to the arrest of six persons, named Eleuterio, Cipriano Sandoval, Juan Rico, Jose Alvisu, Reyes, and ____ , some one of whom, there is every reason to believe, was guilty of the murder. These persons are supposed to belong to the gang of the noted Solomon Pico, the band referred to above. They were brought into town on Thursday and Friday, and taken charge of by a guard of citizens. Yesterday afternoon a public maeting was held at the Court House, at which J. O. Wheeler, Esq.,presided, and Don M. C. Rojo and Wm H. Rand acted as Secretaries. It was resolved by the citizens present that as the county jail was too insecure for the safe detention of the prisoners, they should be conducted to some suitable place, and there guarded until their connection with the murder of Gen. Bean could be ascertained, and Mr. D. W. Alexander was charged with and became responsible for their safe keeping, the citizens generally agreeing to assist.
A committee was then appointed, who were to take the whole matter under advisement, and report some plan to be pursued in its further investigation.
In the meantime, other persons are suspected, and strong efforts are being made to have them arrested. It is not improbable that these persons will be tried by a people's court, and the guilty ones punished as they deserve. There can certainly be no objection to this mode of procedure, when we hear our very court officers acknowledge that the law is utterly incapable of bringing them to justice.
If these proceedings should lead to the detection of Solomon Pico and any of his party, our citizens will be well repaid for their exertions, though no atonement can be made for the many travelers who have been the victims of these desperadoes between San Diego and Monterey. It is to be hoped, however, that passion will not get the better of justice and judgment, but let everything be conducted in a manner worthy of an American community.
The Alta states that the day of the sailing of the Sea Bird was the same as that fixed by the Vigilance Committee of Los Angeles for the execution of the parties mentioned above. Of seven arrested and tried three were found guilty and condemned to death. The others were turned over to the people, and from the evidence against them, in connection with the murder of Bean, it was thought that they also would be condemned.
The steamer Sea Bird, Capt. Hillard, arrived here ay morning at 11 A. M., after a passage of four days from San Diego. She brings thirty passengers, a list of whom, together with their memoranda, will be found in another column.
We have received a copy of the Los Angeles Star of Dec. 4th, being one week later. The news shows that Los Angeles county has been infested with a gang of robbers and murderers for a long time past, and have succeeded in eluding detection until the present time. Some discoveries have been made as to the murder of Gen. Bean, and the crime is fixed upon one Cipriano Sandoral, who has fled.
Reyes Feliz, who was arrested upon the charge of being a party to the assassination of Gen. Bean, was executed by the people of Los Angeles on Tuesday, the 27th ult., at 12 M. It was not proved that he was concerned in causing the death of Gen. Bean, but he acknowledged to being a robber and a murderer. The following is the confession which he made :
After the confession was made known, a public meeting was held, and the deceased unanimously condemned to death. He was carefully guarded, and next day taken to Prospect Hill and executed. Just before he was launched into eternity, he addressed a few words to the assembly, saying that his punishment was justly merited, and advising them never to put faith in woman. Ho persisted to the last in knowing nothing of the death of Gen. Bean.
---
Jacksonville, was a mining town on Woods Creek near its confluence with the Tuolumne River. It now a ghost town that lies beneith the Don Pedro Reservoir, in Tuolumne County, California.
37°50′56″N 120°22′44″W / 37.84889°N 120.37889°W
Tuolumne County, California}} California Gold Rush}}
Category:Mining communities of the California Gold Rush]] Category:Populated places established in 1849]] Category:1849 establishments in California]] Category:Former settlements in Tuolumne County, California]] Category:Former populated places in California by county|Tuolumne]] Category:History of Tuolumne County, California]]
TuolumneCountyCA-geo-stub}}
Murder and Arson at San Jose.—We extract the following account of a wholesale murder committed at San Jose, from the correspondence of the Pacific News, San Jose, Dec. 17. Editors of the Pacific News:
It becomes my painful duty to inform you of a most horrible murder, or series of murders, committed in this valley on Sunday evening last, on the person of Bigley Smith, Esq., formerly rof New Brunswick, N.J., Dr. Zarinsky, a Pole, and a young Englishman in the employ of Dr. Smith, whose name I could not learn, and was from Sydney, N. S. W. What the circumstances were attending this wholesale massacre, can never be fully known, as the building in which it was committed, the residence of Dr. Smith; situated on the Guadalupe, about three miles from the Pueblo, was fired and consumed, with all its contents, saving portions of the mutilated remains of the murdered victims. This is the most horrible tragedy ever committed in the country; and every effort will be made on the part of our citizens to ascertain and ferret out the perpetrators. On the same evening the store of Baker & Co., near the Madison House, was entered by burglars, and relieved of a portion of its contents to the amount of $300.
The Horrible Murder at San Jose.
No. 2 of the California State Journal is before us. We gave in our last the news that a most revolting murder had been committed; the following contains additional intelligence extracted from the Journal:
Horrible Murder and Arson.—On Sunday evening last, our citizens were alarmed by the information that Messrs. Bester & Smith's house, about two or three miles from this city, on Los Gatos Creek, was burnt, and some two or three persons had perished in the flames. Early the next morning a number of our citizens, ourselves among the number, started for the scene of disaster. On arriving there, we found the building entirely consumed, and in one corner, and near where the door of the building was, lay the blackened and charred remains of three persons, who had been in full health less than twenty-four hours previously. The Coroner was sent for, but had not arrived at the time we left. In the meantime we made an examination of the premises, and the position of the bodies, and we were satisfied that murder and not accident, as was generally supposed by those present, had done the work of death. In one corner of the room lay a body, supposed to be that of Mr. Digby B. Smith, with the legs and arms nearly burnt off, the entire abdomen destroyed and the top part of the skull appeared to have been crushed, and was lost. In a parallel line with this body lay another, supposed to be Mr. Wood, the cook, with the legs and arms similarly burnt, and the entire skull wanting. Between these two bodies lay the blade of a sheath dirk about six inches in length. Nearer to the door, just below the body last referred to, lay another, since recognised to be Mr. E. G. Barber's. The skull was also broken as by the blow of an axe. At the feet of this body lay an open jack-knife, the blade of which had the appearance of being corroded with blood.
The following are the facts, as nearly as we have been able to gather the particulars. About 7 o'clock on Sunday evening, the family of Mr. Hamilton, who resides near Mr. Bester's house, heard the explosion of gunpowder, and in a few moments afterwards their attention was attracted by a light of the burning house. They immediately hurried to the scene, but the outside of the building was entirely consumed, and the victims, beyond the reach of help. A Coroner's inquest has been held upon the bodies, and an examination of them proved conclusively that murder had been committed. No clue to the murderers has been discovered. The design was evidently the murder of Mr. Bester; but he had left the house late in the afternoon of the murder. We had the pleasure of a visit from him yesterday. He has taken measures to have the bodies decently interred, and the funeral services are to be performed at the new Presbyterian Church, by the Rev. Mr. Brayton.
SAN JOSE INTELLIGENCE.
....
Another Murder!. — from the .same paper of yesterday we gain the following particulars of the murder which we mentioned in our last issue:
On Wednesday evening a Californian, whose same we are unable to learn, came to San Jose, and purchased a number of articles of clothing. He started for his home some three miles from this city, and when near the rancho belonging to Mr. Kell, within a short distance, of the scene of last Sunday's tragedy, we assailed and literally cut to pieces. A number of our citizens started on Thuriday morning to arrest the assassins, if possible. A court under the jurisdiction of Judge Lynch, personated by W. Claude Jones, Esq. was organized on the spot, and a suspected Mexican threatened with a cravat made of a riata, without he told who the murderers were. He revealed the name of two or three persons, among whom was his own father, as being concerned in the murder. Efforts are now being made to arrest those implicated.
A public meeting is talked of for the purpose of organizing a mounted band of volunteers to scour the valley and mountains, and drive the assassins from our vicinity or exterminate them.
The Sand Hills Murder. — The State Journal contains the following particulars of the murder of Mr. Harrington on the 5th inst. It proves conclusively what has seemed apparent for some time past, that organized bands of robbers exist in a state of complete banditti discipline among us.
We are indebted to Wm. D. Harrington, Esq., for the particulars of the murder of his nephew on the night of Dec. 5th. The name of the murdered man, Wm Dudly Harrington, Jr., son of Thomas Harrington, residing at Independence, Mo. Mr. Harrington states that about noon of the day previous to the night on which the murder and robbery were committed, three men one of which was the leader of the band of robbers, went to Dr Marsh's house and inquired for stray horses. They spent the afternoon in pleasant conversation, and left the bouse about 3 o'clock. They returned about 8 o'clock, some 14 or 2O in number, surrounded the house, and detached a party to surround the tent of Mr. Harrington, which was occupied by Mr. Mortimer Wilson and Mr. Seaburn Abernethy. The noise of the approaching party attracted the attention of the inmates of the tent. Three guns were then immediately fired into it. Mr. Harrington stepped to the door, and the other two gentlemen escaped from the back part of tbe tent, in the hope of reacbing the house. They discovered, however, that it was surrounded by horsemen. At this moment Mr. Harrington was seen by his companions to emerge from the tent, pursued by two horsemen. He was shot in the shoulder by them, pierced with eight lance wouuds, and is supposed to have died instantly. He was found dead next morning, lying upon his face. At the same instant that the firing upon the tent commenced, the doors of Mr. Marsh's house were broken in, the inmates knocked down and bound, and the house rifled of money, watches and guns. The leader of the band or robbers, in his conversation on the afternoon before the murder, stated that he was a native of the Argentine Republic, that he had traveled to Europe, and had resided for some time in Mexico He speaks Spanish fluently, and French and English imperfectly. He is a young man of short stature, very fair complexion, and black eyes and hair. His manners are pleasing, and his appearance rather prepossessing. Look out for him.
During the whole affair, the robbers, who appeared to be Mexican, with faces blackened, and who stated that they were 120 in number, obeyed implicitly every command of their 1eader, who was not disguised. A statement of the whole affair has been put in the hands of Governor Burnett, and it is to hoped that he will adopt such measures as will secure the arrest of the villains and give that protection to our farming population which, their isolated situations from our cities requires in this emergency.
San Joaquin News.
We have seen a letter, addressed to a gentleman of Kentucky which states that at Yorktown Gulch, near Campo Seco, a lawless land of fifty Mexicans have started for the lower country in a plundering expedition. They have stolen about eighty animals in that part of the country, committed several robberies and two or three murders, and are now on the way to Los Angeles to join a party who are waiting for them at that place. They are headed by a Mexican named Cloudy who was in jail in Sonora last winter, and who is represented as one of the most desperate villians in the country. He had a brother named Reyes now in jail in Monterey, and it is said that Cloudy and his party have it in view to release him by force. This is the same party who a few days since stole Col. Douglass's animals, and four belonging to Mr A. B. Beaural. It is rumored that four men have been murdered and robbed at Camp Flores. It is feared that a serious difficulty between the Americans and Mexicans may yet arise.
Santa Clara News. .... A Villain Shot. — We learn that Claudio Feliz for a Iong time known to be at the head of a gang of desperate thieves, was shot dead by a Californian a few days since, at a fandango near the Mission of San Jose. This fellow broke jail from this city a few months since. He was charged with murder at the time he escaped.
On the 1st of June the Foreign Miners' Tax of twenty dollars per month, went into effect, and its results upon the growth and prosperity surpassed even the most un- favorable predictions. Multitudes of foreigners — who, by the way, formed the majority of the settlers at Columbia —
HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY. 27
left immediately, and the tax, coupled with the scarcity of water for mining purposes, acted to almost extinouish the new place. Rapid as had been her rise, her decadence was more sudden. The only water in the camp was two "tom-heads," running from Matelot, or Sailor Gulch, so that few of the miners could prosecute their labors, and the yield of gold was very much curtailed. Grambling and saloon-keeping still held their own, and traveling musicians, a newly-found source of amusement, prospered beyond belief.
In a like manner, Donna Martinez settled at the camp which bore her name. Her location was in the midst of very rich deposits, and the camp increased rapidly, soon containing over a thousand miners. Its downfall soon commenced, however, owing, in great part, to the Foreign Miners' Tax. This place was settled in May or June, 1350.
Effect of the Miners' Tax.
The Foreign Miners' Tax of twenty dollars per month went into operation on the 1st of June, 1850, by formal act of the Legislature. Its principal result was the almost immediate depopulation of certain camps, and the great injury of all. Sonora and Columbia suffered enormous losses, estimated, in the case of the former town, at four- fifths of the entire population; while the latter, whose growth had been so rapid, was reduced, through the Tax Iiaw and the scarcity of water, to a communitj' of only nine or ten persons. So it is credibly told. Of the se- ceding miners, some went to their homes in foreign lands, while others sought diggings in secluded places, where the
HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY. 29
obnoxious law would probably not be enforced. Otiiers there were who resisted the collection of the tax by the officers appointed to collect it. The impression got about in Columbia that the foreigners meditated forcible re- prisals on the Americans of that camp, resulting in a stam- pede from that town to Sonora of the whole American population, with the exception of Charles Bassett and a few others. A rumor having reached Sonora that Bassett was murdered, a band of armed men marched upon Columbia, headed by "Frenchy" Kochette, carrying the American flag. This statement is given upon the authority of Cap- tain Stoddart, who further adds that the only destruction effected by this warlike band was upon the liquors and eatables of the said Bassett, who was nearly eaten out of house and home by his zealous friends.
Walter Murray, who subsequently became editor of the Sonora Herald, related graphically his impressions of the scenes consequent upon the first attempt to enforce the tax, and as a vivid picture of affairs at that time, it may be well to give it place in this work. He says :
"It was a hot summer's day in June, when a man on horseback came tearing into the little encampment at Mor- mon Gulch, at full speed, evidently big with exciting in- telligence. The miners, who happened to be scattered in groups, talking over the events of the past week, eagerly rushed forward and gathered around the messenger, from whose broken exclamations they at length learned that there was something very like war approaching. It ap- peared that the Collector appointed by the State Grovern- ment to receive the Foreign Miners' Tax had arrived at the county seat and issued his notice, calling upon all foreign- ers to come forward and pay their first month's assessment of twenty dollars. The attempt to collect this exorbitant impost put the immense foreign population, with whom the
30 HISTOEY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY,
country was literally overrun, into a state of intense fer- ment. Meetings liad been held upon the subject, inflam- matory speeches had been made by Spanish and French orators, and at length it appeared that some great demon- stration had been made against the odious tax. The mes- senger averred that the county seat was in the hands of the excited foreign mob, numbering two or three thousand, all armed; that the safety of the place was menaced, and that the American citizens were fleeing from it. Furthermore, that the principal citizens had sent couriers to the sur- rounding camps asking for assistance.
"There had previously been so many rumors afloat of the expected insurrection of the Spanish- American pojDU- lation against the 'proprietors' of the country, and the 'boys' had in this way been kept in such a continual state of excitement, that the arrival of this intelligence operated at once like dropping a spark of fire in a tinder-box. Mes- sengers wei-e inimediately dispatched hither and thither, calling upon the miners to assemble within an hour, at a given spot, on the way to the county seat, and the 'Gulch' was in a moment alive with busy, bustling men, getting out their rifles and pistols and preparing for the expected con- flict.
"Being unarmed, and therefore forming no part of the expedition, I started, with a few others, ahead of the main body, which consisted of about one hundred and fifty men; but all were so eager to get on, that it was with the utmost difficulty we could keep the smallest distance in advance. "We met several persons on the way with later intelligence from the seat of war, but their accounts were all contra- dictory, some saying that the excitement was all over; others, that there was immediate need of our services. However, we pressed on, ^^termined not to stop short of the place for which we set out. On ariiving at a camp of
HISTORY or TUOLUMNE COUNTY. 31
Mexicans, one mile short of our destination, we were sur- prised to see its motley inhabitants very quietly seated in front of their brush hovels, playing monte and other games, as if nothing unusual had transpired. They, too, were none the less surprised to see the column of armed men advancing on them in close order — especially as they heard the general yell that was joined in by the American party as they advanced toward Sonora. Eeassured by this apparent calm, I hurried on to the town, reaching it five or ten minutes in advance of the party. All appeared quiet and peaceful as ever. * * * * j waited to see the little procession enter town. Soon it came along, headed by fife and drum — which, by this time, had been scared up — and, first and foremost, by the glorious stars and stripes, borne aloft and waved very gracefully to and fro by an inhabitant of the big city. Thus, with music sound- ing and banners waving, the little band marched through the whole length of town, vociferously cheered all the way by the American inhabitants, who turned out en masse to see them. On arriving at the other end of town, the word, 'Forward, by file left; march,' was given, when the fore- most man found himself headed off by a well-stocked bar, whereat each one, as he arrived, was 'liquored up.' They were then countermarched through town again, the same hospitality being extended at several places on the route, and were at length halted in front of the principal hotel where the Collector of Foreign Miners' Taxes made them a speech. After speaking for about ten minutes, he informed them they might rest that night and the morrow 'to busi- ness.' Accordingly, all was soon bustle and scurry at the big hotel; waiters went hurrying to and fro, and ail was busy preparation for a general meal. After an hour or bo, which seemed an age to the hungry miners, the long tables were loaded down with eatables, and the word given to
32 HISTOBT OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
fall to; and fall to they did, in a manner only to be par- alleled in California and in the mines.
"After supper, the arms were all stored away in a build- ing temporarily devoted to the purpose of a guard-house. A watch was set during the night, with regular reliefs; patrols were organized, and the city speedily assumed the appearance of being under martial law.
"Many and various were the reports circulated on that eventful night. According to some, the town was to be attacked and set fire to at different points. Rumors of assassination and massacre were fearfully rife; but at length morning dawned, and the country was discovered to be safe. Breakfast was spread out for us at the same hospita- ble board, and then all were assembled on the main street, and divided into companies, headed each by its own cap- tain and lieutenant. A column of some three hundred armed men, in all, was thus formed, which, headed by the Collector and Sheriff of the count}-, commenced its march through the disaffected camps.
"Alas, as we marched along, what a scene of confusion and terror marked our way ! Mexicans, Chileiios, et id genus onine — men, women and children — were all packed up and moving, bag and baggage. Tents were being pulled down, houses and hovels gutted of their contents; mules, horses and burros were being hastily packed, while crowds upon crowds were already in full retreat. What could have been the object of onr assembly, except as a demonstration of power and determination, I know not; but if intended as an engine of terror, it certainly had its desired effect, for it could be seen painted upon every countenance and im- pelling every movement of the affrighted i)opulation. How- ever, on we marched, through this dire confusion, peace- fully pursuing our way, until we reached what was deemed to be the headquarters of malcontent— a camp containing
HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY, 33
some thousand Spanish Americans — about four miles from the county seat. Here we halted for the last time (liquored up, of course, for it was the month of June, and the roads were dry and dusty), and, after bein^ paraded through the main street, and held for an hour or more in readiness, awaiting the report of certain officials dispatched to inquire into the truth of a rumor that a foreign flag had been hoisted somewhere in the vicinity, were finally discharged. Every man then fired his rifle in the air, reloaded his piece, and started homeward, each on his own particular way. I, too, started for the ' Gulch,' and until I reached there never lost sight of the train of fugitives scattered along the roads in every direction. Some were going north, some south. The great body were probably bound for home; some by way of the sea, othei's by way of Los Angeles and the Great Desert. Others, again, were scattering them- selves over the country, to commence the career of blood- shed and cold-blooded atrocity which for months afterward stained the pages of California history . Even those who were bound for home often left behind them, along the way, bloody traces of their deep-set hatred to Americans, or, perhaps, their natural thirst for massacre and pillage." Even at this late day, it is not difficult to form accurate conclusions as to the causes and effects of the movements above portrayed. Undoubtedly, at that time much pardon- able excitement was occasioned, much bad feeling was en- gendered, and many causes for hostility and strife were given on either side. The weight of evidence does not ex- onerate the Americans in any particular from the charge of violent and premeditated wrong. On the other hand, the ignorant, priest-ridden foreign classes betrayed their nat- urally revengeful dispositions, in many instances commit- ting robbery and murder on innocent individuals in revenge for the acts of a whole community or State. When, how-
34 HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
ever, the evil effects of the tax were clearly seen, even the most pronounced of its former advocates became dubious about the wisdom of the measure; and those who only tol- erated it as a measure of political wisdom, finding it the precursor of serious evils, withdrew their tacit support. Efforts were finally made for a repeal of the obnoxious law; but sentiment being divided, no great headway was made, until, the foreigners of the several mining counties uniting, the obnoxious measure was repealed. <^revious to this, however, public sentiment suffered such a change in their behalf that a fund for testing the legality of the Act was created in Sonora, many merchants and others contributing to it. On the list we find the names of Joshua Holden, Theall, Perkins & Co., Charles F. Dodge & Co., G. S. Evans, and Charles Bruce, who donated for counsel fees, etc., on behalf of the foreigners, sums ranging from ten to one hundred and twenty-five dollars. This, it has been, observed, makes it clear that only those traders of Sonora who transacted business with the foreign element, and so profited by their presence, were in favor of a repeal; while the American miners, generally, were, for selfish reasons, in favor of the law as it stood.
Affairs are represented as remaining in a state of com- parative inaction until the foreign element began to return to and work in the mines; and by the next spring a large number of those who left had come back and resumed operations. But neither of the two principal camps ever recovered the entire bulk of their population.
Martinez, lying a short distance east of Columbia, was a distinctively Spanish camp, named, as has been already said, in honor of Dona Martinez. It had been discovered previously, and up to the time of her arrival had been known as the "New" or "Spanish" camp. The lady seems to have been influential and wealthy, as she brought with
HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY. 36
lier a large number of "peons" (Mexican servitors) and considerable money and jewelry. Apropos of the latter, the Mexicans attach great importance to the possession of jewelry. Indeed, the predominant characteristics of Mexi- can families are children, jewelry and dirt. Dona Martinez had veiy good success in her mining operations, having taken up a considerable tract of ground, on which her bondmen were set to work.
The population of the town from being at first ex- clusively Spanish speaking, began to contain a sprinkling of Americans, who crowded in, while the invariable result of the crowding out of the less energetic Mexicans and Chilenos followed. These tactics prevailed, as they always have where the grasping, combative Anglo-Saxon comes in contact with the more decent and mild men of Spanish descent. Dona Martinez, however, was left in peace, the infringing outsiders, with a rude, though not ineffective idea of gallantry, regarding her sex as entitled to the fullest protection.
... as early as the summer of 1850.
A Riot in Sonora.
The deep feeling of jealousy and distrust that had, through one cause and another, been daily increasing, with its attendant ills of threats and violence, culminated in July of this year in a series of extraordinary outrages, and the lynching of certain parties, and the attempted execu- tion of others. Nothing could exceed the state of excite- ment into which Sonora, and the Southern Mines in general, were thrown by certain events which took place near the county seat during the fortnight ending July 20. The circumstances which gave rise to such a condition of affairs were these: On the morning of Wednesday, July 10, four Americans arrived in Sonora, having in custody three Mexi- can Indians and a Mexican, named Pablo Martinez, Dio- nisio Ochoa, G-abino Jesus, and Ruiz Molina; and the re-
40 HISTOKY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
port immediately became circulated that a liorrible murder, the third or fourth within a week, had been committed at Green Flat Diggings, about eight miles from town. Im- mediately the entire population of Sonora crowded in front of the house of Justice Barry, and demanded the particu- lars of the affair; and as some who possessed, or thought they possessed, the desired information, related the horri- ble details, the angry exclamations and flashing eyes of the mob told plainly of a deep determination to avenge the crime that their countrymen had suffered. The prisoners were arraigned before Justice Barry, and then commenced a scene of tumult and confusion then unparalleled. In the tumult the predominant cries were, "string them up!" "hang 'em!" "we'll have no mistake this time!" and a rope was produced and a knot tied in it, that there be no delay. The utmost efforts of the officers of the Court produced no impression on the crowd. George Work, the redoubtable Sheriff, a man of the steadiest courage and iron nerve, who never quailed in the discharge of his duty, was as one without influence on the reckless mob. Judge Marvin, As- sociate Justice of the Court of Sessions, addressed the people, but ineffectually. While these things were trans- piring in front of the house, Justice Barry was engaged in taking the deposition of the four Americans who brought in the prisoners. They testified that on the previous evening a Mexican boy had informed them that two Americans had been murdered at the Green Flat Diggings, but they took no notice of the report. In the morning, however, another Mexican called and corroborated the boy's statement. Witnesses immediately proceeded to the spot indicated, and found there the four prisoners, in the act of burning the tent and the bodies of two men. They were immediately taken into custody, and brought to So- nora. There also appeared in evidence the shovel and
HISTORY or TUOLUMNE COUlsTY. 41
pickax belonging to the prisoners. The defense set up by the prisoners was to the effect that it was a custom of their countrymen to burn the dead; that the bodies, having been dead several days, had become offensive through de- composition, and in order to remove the nuisance, they attempted to burn them. The prisoners, of whom the three Indians were described as uncouth, and the Mexican, on the contrary, of gentle and pleasing appearance, main- tained a calm and becoming demeanor that aroused the sympathies of some in the audience. By this time it was resolved by the authorities, as the best that could be done, to immediately impanel a jury and proceed with the trial. But Mr. McAlpin and others who were drawn upon the jury, refused to serve, and the case became still more per- plexing. While in consultation the officers had withdrawn, and the opportunity was taken by the people to elect a Judge from among themselves; and Peter Mehen was chosen pfor the office. A rope was then put around the neck of each of the supposed culprits, and they were led to a hill in the vicinity of the town, where the trial was commenced anew. A jury was impaneled, the trial concluded, and the prisoners sentenced to be hanged. The rope was passed over the liinb of a tree, and the Mexican, chosen as the first victim, was given a few moments in which to pray. He knelt down, prayed affectingiy, kissed the cross he had in his bosom, and with the gentlest resignation gave him- self into the hands of his executioners. Another moment, and Judges Marvin, Tuttle and Eadcliffe, together with William Ford, County Clerk, and others arrived, and by flinging themselves boldly into the crowd, succeeded in effecting a diversion that enabled the proper officers to regain possession of the prisoners, and contrary to expectation they succeeded in lodging them in jai].
The affairs above described occurred on Wednesday.
42 HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
The prisoners remained in the jail, without any indication of an attempt at mob law, until the following Monday, which was the day on which it had been anderstood their trial was to come off. On the morning of this day a mob of eighty men, armed with rides and shotguns, and march- ing in military style, and presenting a most imposing ap- pearance, arrived from Grreen Flat, intent on seeing justice done on the murderers of their neighbors. Besides this band, there poured in from Jamestown, Shaw's Flat, Co- lumbia, Woods' Creek, from mountain, gulch and ravine, hundreds of miners, armed with rifles, shotguns, revolvers, knives, lances, etc. All were highly excited, and would not submit to delay. They halted opposite the Court House, when Judge Tuttle appeared and addressed the throng, urging them to be moderate, and assuring them that justice would be done; if the men were found guilty they would surely meet their deserts, and if they were inno- cent they would surely be acquitted. He further urged them to respect the law and acquiesce in the verdict of the jury, whatever it might be. At the conclusion of this sound advice, some one proposed three cheers for the speaker, but the crowd silently marched away to their en- campment, first posting a guard over the jail.
Judge Creaner, of the District Court, was waited upon by a delegation who informed him in unmistakable terms ■iihat the trial must go on that day. The Judge, not in the least intimidated, warned them calmly that they were in conflict with the law, and announced that no dejaarture from the regular order of business would be suffered in his court.
In consequence of a rumor that the Mexican prisoners had colleagues in a camp several miles distant, Sheriff Work proceeded there with a posse of twenty men and arrested nearly the whole adult portion of the inhabitants.
HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY. 43
numberinij one hundred and ten men ; whom he brought to town and confined in a corral, under a strong guard.
During Monday evening several hundred men arrived in town, swelling the ranks of the mob to nearly or quite two thousand armed men. To oppose this force, of whom the greater part were bent on summarily executing the pre- sumed offenders, the county officers stood alone, But these were men who had the heart and nerve to do their duty in any situation. Judge Creaner's firmness has passed into a proverb; and than George Work no man was ever better qualified to act in times that try men's souls. The remain- der of the officers, notably William Ford, the Clerk, and Mr. S. A. Booker, the District Attorney, acted bravely.
When, in the order of business, the case of the four Mexicans was called and they were arraigned, a most excit- ing scene took place. When the plea of " not guilty " was heard, one of the guards, standing on a bench, dropped his gun, and the hammer, striking some object, exploded the weapon. Instantly numberless revolvers were drawn, bowie knives flashed forth and the tumult became inde- scribable. One man, in his haste to get out, accidentally fired his own gun and the terrific melee became tenfold fiercer. The struggle to quit the court-room became inde- scribably violent. Doors, windows, all means of egress were put in requisition. An alarm of fire added to the clamor and even the street was cleared instanter.
Some Mexicans, who were in the crowd, were deliberately fired at by different individuals. One announced that he fired "on general principles;" another said he thought they were trying to rescue the prisoners, so he fired pro- miscuously among them.
It is recorded that the examination was postponed.
During the following evening the army went on a spree of such magnitude that it was seriously feared that grave
44 HISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
disturbances would result; but such was not the case, how- ever, and in the morning many of them left for their own camps, leaving Sonora in comparative quiet. The examina- tion of the accused men was resumed, when, there being no evidence against them, they were acquitted. So ended this curious case, which is given mostly to illustrate the peculiar feeling shared by most Americans against the Spanish- speaking population. It seems as if the whole proceedings were merely an outgrowth from the jealousy and distrust which the one race bore the other.
Although the law had been vindicated and the men, un- justly charged with murder, freed from confinement, there was still no abatement of the popular feeling of insecurity, and still fresh reports (mostly fabricated by interested parties) of murders said to have been committed, continued to pour in, and a public meeting was held to devise ways and means for a better protection of life and property. At this meeting, at which A. Elkins presided, Judge Tuttle and Joshua Holdeu, of Sonora; J. W. Van Beuschoten, of Wood's; T>. S. Dikeman, of Jacksonville; Capt. Runnells, of Sullivan's Diggings; W. C. Wade, of Mormon Gulch, and Capt. Stewart, of McLane's Ferry, were appointed a committee to make arrangements for holding a mass meet- ing of citizens for a consideration of the grave state of affairs. This meeting was called for Sunday, July 21, 1850, and was held in the plaza. The following resolu- tions were adopted:
" Whereas, The lives and property of the American citi- zens are now in danger from the hands of lawless marau- ders of every clime, class and creed under the canopy of heaven, and scarce a day passes but we hear of the com- mission of the most horrible murders and robberies ; and as we have now in our midst the peons of Mexico, the rene- gades of South America, and the convicts of the British Empire; therefore:
HISTORY OF TDOLUMNE COUNTY. 45
jResolved, first, That all foreigners in Tuolumne county (except those engaged in permanent business, and of re- spectable characters) be required to leave the limits of this county within fifteen days from date, unless they obtain a permit to remain from the authorities hereinafter named.
Resolved, second, That the authorities referred to be a committee of three, to be chosen or selected by the Ameri- can citizens of each camp or diggings.
Resolved, third, That all the good citizens of this county shall resolve themselves into a committee of the whole, to carry out the objects of this meeting.
Resolved, fourth, That the foreigners in this county be, and are hereby notified to turn over their firearms and deadly weapons to the select-men of each camp or diggings forthwith, (except such as may have a permit to hold the same;) such select-men shall give a receipt to such for- eigners for the same, and each and every good citizen shall have power to disarm all foreigners.
JResolved, fifth. That the select-men of each camp or diggings shall promptly carry out the duties assigned to them.
Resolved, sixth. That five hundred copies of these reso- lutions, in English and Spanish, be published and forth- with distributed throughout the county.
Resolved, seventh. That the select-men from each camp, or diggings, take up subscriptions to defray the necessary expense of such publication, and remit the money thus collected to the proprietors and publishers of the Sonora Herald."
The publication of these resolutions, together with the decided action taken by the people of other camps, had a good effect. There was at once a perceptible lull in the social atmosphere ; and the Herald, the mouth piece of the American faction, was moved to say:
46 HISTOET OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
" The prompt action of the people in the late emergency has had the effect of teaching certain hombres a lesson that they will not soon forget. * * * It by no means has been proven that the laie guerilla acts were committed by Mexicans or South Americans alone. The outcasts of every nation under Heaven have combined to disturb us; and we think that now they have been effectually silenced. We pray the mining population to assist us in restoring public confidence, to return to the old regime, to silence the tongues of Sydney convicts and boisterous inebriates, who delight in tumult and " braggadocio," who palm them- selves off as American citizens, and stain a privilege whose honor every American citizen should guard with jealous care.
" Real estate is rising in value, and everything is looking up. The commercial interests of the country have been suffering at the rate of $10,000 per day, and our merchants' time lies idly on their hands. * * * Action, action! gentlemen. Fold not your hands, but quiet the alarm among the men on whose labor your future depends. The jealousies of sects and the rivalries of men of different countries are small matters at times like this. Let us beg the people to use their power mildly. To protect the good of what country soever, while they punish the evil disposed. Americans! greet kindly the stranger who asks your hospi- tality and protection. You may entertain angels unawares. The burden of the tax on foreign miners has been rendered less obnoxious. The following notice has been distributed throughout the county:
" Notice. — The Collector of Taxes for foreign miners an- nounces that he is now authorized by the government to receive $20 for the privilege of laboring in the mines until the last day of December next, and to issue a license for that
HISTORY of TUOLUMNE COUNTY. 47
period. He is instructed to protect all who comply with this requisition, and punish all others as violators of the law. The Collector's office is at the head of Washington street, Sonora. L, A. Besa>xon.
"Aug. 3, 1850.
"The effect that we long ago prognosticated has taken place. The miners are rejoiced, and in one or two in- stances there have been public manifestations of joy. Hundreds who had made preparations to leave the country have resolved to make Cahfornia their homes."
The improved state of affairs indicated in the above edi- torial, may be regarded as the beginning of a more healthy and settled condition, which took its rise from the ener- getic measures of the American population at the time when it seemed as if the foreign element were about to usurp the functions of government even, and by terrorism rule or ruin the country.
[This is filled with BS. Date of Summer of 1853 mentioned as date of Battle of Sawmill Flat, presumably a typo of 1852, as Joaquin was nowhere near there in 1853. Claudio was his own man not with Joaquin. If anything Joaquin has been thought to be with Claudio in 1851-52 by Seacrest, p.79.: because of Claudio's "confession" to a fellow prisoner Vasquez in San Jose jail, wherein he mentioned a Joaquin Gurietta being a confederate, along with brother Reyes, Trinadad, Gabriel, Solis. Also this says Claudio was hung in Los Angeles, when it was his brother Reyes. Claudio died in Monterey Co., shot by Justice of the Peace Henry Cocks, when he was found by Cocks posse at a hideout on the Salinas River.]
36°18′55″N 120°27′11″W / 36.31528°N 120.45306°W, ele. 3,520 feet / 1,073 meters
History: Named for Joaquin Murietta (1830-1853), an early California bandit who used this region as a rendevous. (US-T121) Description: 10 miles long. Bound on the northeast by Big Blue Hills and on the southwest by Portuguese Canyon, highest elevation 0.64 km (0.4 mi) east of Spanish Lake. (US-T121), w end 36°19′48″N 120°34′09″W / 36.33000°N 120.56917°W, e end 36°18′15″N 120°24′11″W / 36.30417°N 120.40306°W, Elevation: 4,701 feet / 1,433 meters
User:Asiaticus/sandbox/John "Red" Irving
Bibliography: p. 153-154. Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site. Gift of Lessing J. Rosenwald, 1943-1975.
29 --- 10 The Cahuillas have not had a head-chief, I believe, since the death of the one they called “Razon” (White). He died within two or three years past, at an advanced age. They gave him his name, as they told me, from his always acting so much like a white man, in staying at home and tending his fields and flocks, for he had both. When a young man, he went off to Sonora (under what circumstances, is not known), and returned a farmer—which is all the early history we have of him. He was always a quiet, good, industrious man, and rendered material service to the authorities, in arresting the half-civilized Indian outlaws who have sometimes fled with stolen horses to the mesquit wilds of his village. Cabezon, too, is a good old Indian chief, as also another named Juan Bautista.
--- 11
30
---
...
Make Pancho Daniel a redirect to Francisco "Pancho" Daniel
User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Francisco "Pancho" Daniel
California Gazette, February 21, 1852 Confession of Teodor Basquez (association with the Daniel brothers)
"Flores" Linares tried to betray Joaquin Juan Murrieta to a posse in San Luis Obispo, then tried himself to assasinate Joaquin Juan Murrieta when he visited SLO in Spring 1858. However Joaquin Juan killed Flores instead./ Latta Horse Gang, p.114-115
Victor died in Feb. of 1852 or 1853. There are two records of death and burial Died Feb 1852 or 1853 San Luis Obispo, Alta California Buried 6 Jun 1852 or 1853 Mission San Luis Obispo, Alta California
Victor died in Feb. of 1853 not 1852. He had been counted in the 1852 census and an 1852 tax assessment for him exists in Angels History of SLO Co.
During the his confession about the San Juan Capistrano murders, Luciano Tapia, El Mesteno, discribed Herrada:
However an advertisement of a reward for El Huero appeared Page 3, Column 2 of the 3 July 1858, Los Angeles Star, which suggests El Huero was still at large.
... slender, has large sleepy eyes, and without beard. EL HUERO (light, or empty headed) RAFEAL is tall, slender, and ...
[323]
In this Garcia implicated Jack Powers along with Pio Linares, Nieves Robles aka “Eduriquez” and others as part of the murder of the 2 Basques/Nacimiento murders in 1857.
According to Murray, one of the Chico Martinez band of horse-runners and was the murderer of Mr. Baratie. Hung in his cell, for murders of Baratie and Borel and Gilkey on identification of servant Silvas, no confession.
They visited the Rancho San Juan but left and stayed the night at the Agua de los Codornices in sp.Water of the Quails, [codorniz=quail, codornices = quails]
--
Killer of John Gilkey, hung for murders of Baratie and Borel and Gilkey, said to have made a full confession in his death sentence, before hanging, no written confession
Step Nephew, of Pio Linares. Killer of Borel, wounded Baratie. Born Feb. 1840 Miguel Blanco, full name Jose Miguel Blanco, was the son of Victor Pantaleon Linares's step daughter Maria Jesusa Villa [Maria de Jesus Patricia Villa] born 17 Mar 1816. On Jan 17, 1830, at the age of 13 years 10 months, she married Joaquin Blanco [Jose "Joaquin" Crecencio Blanco] a Mexican soldier in San Diego Presidio. Jose Miguel was a step grandson of Victor Linares, a step nephew of Pio Linares his step uncle.
Joaquin and Maria Jesusa Blanco, had five children that survived, the second was Jose Miguel Blanco. As a consequence of a divorce of his parents, on November 3, 1851 W. J. Graves, SLO County Judge, appointed Victor Linares their guardian, with the exception of the eldest, Jose Merihildo Blanco, age 16, who is to choose his own. In the event he chose Victor also. Jose Miguel Blanco, was 11 years old at the time.
He would be 17 years of age in 1857 when he robbed W. W. Twist in Los Angeles. He would have been 18 when he was hung in SLO for the murders of Borel and Baratie of Rancho San Juan.
BLANCO, Jose "Joaquin" Crecencio
San Luis Obispo County, California]
Date of original research is unknown.
Obispo County.
spelling , language or data will be made.
Blanco, who is to choose own.
inventory for creditors as he cannot pay admin expenses.
Miguel Blanco hung for murders of Baratie and Borel and Gilkey, said to have made a full confession in his death sentence, before hanging, no written confession/ Joseph Hall-Patton, p.150
...
CAPTURE OF ONE OF THE "FIVE JOAQUINS" — HANGED BY THE PEOPLE IN BROAD DAYLIGHT.
The party that went in pursuit spent a week of fruitless search in the hills. The murderers being well mounted, easily eluded them. At the rancho of San Emilio, however, they took one Joaquin Valenzuela, alias Joaquin Ocomorenia, who was identified by several persons as one of the five Joaquins, who were mentioned in the Act of 1853, authorizing the raising of Harry Love's company of rangers. This man is also an old accomplice of Jack Powers, spoke of him as his patron, and is a man steeped to the lips in guilt. He is well known at the mouth of the River Merced, and on the San Joaquin, and owes justice a score which fifty lives can never pay. He was hung in full sight of the whole people of San Luis, in broad daylight, by the voice and assistance of all the respectable men of the county, and died acknowledging his guilt, asking pardon of his friends, and warning all malefactors not to tell their secrets, even to their own countrymen. "Porqite asi se pierde" said he — that is: "Thus you loose yourself." [151] : 296
THE MURDER OF GEORGE FEARLESS, IN 1856.
All this time rumors have always been afloat in the community, criminating this or that resident of San Luis, in connection with these matters. No proof could be obtained, because no lives were ever spared, and so nothing was achieved. Good men walked about, whispering and breathing vengeance, but no definite result was obtained. At length, early in 1856, a man of the name of George Fearless . came down from San Francisco, with about $2,000, and went into partnership with a New Mexican named Jesus Luna, establishing a ranchito near the Nascimiento, on the road to Watson's about fifty miles from San Luis. In a few months. Fearless disappeared. Luna stated that he had gone to the States.
Luna sold out all the cattle and other animals even the New Foundland dog and gold watch of his partner and removed south with his family, and is now in New Mexico. About three months afterwards, the body of a man bearing every resemblance to George Fearless was found near the deserted rancho. Then men talked hard about Luna, but it was too late. This man was compadre to Pio Linares, whom we are now seeking. [152]: 294
Read more here: Dan Krieger - San Luis Obispo - The Tribune , July 20, 2013 4:50 PM
Read more here: [8]
Read more here: [9]
We are indebted to the Echo du Pacifique for the following particulars of a horrid tragedy in Tulare valley: Mr. and Mrs. Baratier, a French couple, formerly of Oakland, established a ranch in Tulare ralley, at a place called Pulvadera, forty miles from any other house. They there had a number of cattle, in partnership with a Mr. Borel; and had two Spanish vaqueros. On the 12th instant, seven Mexicans, or Spaniards, came to the house, at 1 o'clock, P. M. Messrs. Baratier and Borel were in the garden, and went to the bouse when they saw the strangers. When they got to the door, the Mexicans fired a volley at them, killing Borel instantly, and wounding Baratier in the shoulder. Mrs. Baratier threw herself on the body of her husband, and begged for his life, weeping most piteously. The murderous gang tore her loose; took the husband into the house, made him tell where his money was ; then took him out to a tree, to which they tied him, and then they killed him. Soon after the vaqueros came to the house, and they were shot down. It was proposed to kill Mrs. Baratier, and one of the party proposed to take her to a distance, and murder her. He tied her on a horse, took her far off, and told her to flee, and prayed her to keep his secret, for his life might pay for his pity. Mrs. Baratier, ignorant of the roads and country, wandered about four days in the mountains, without food, and finally after ten days of intense suffering, arrived at Oakland yesterday afternoon, in a most miserable condition. The robbers obtained £2,000 in money.
THE LYNCHING AT SAN LUIS OBISPO.—The Los Angeles Clamor Publico gives a long account of the lynchings in San Luis Obispo county, and is very indignant about them. We translate a portion of a long editorial on the subject, as follows: "Thus it is that justice is executed in this country, where they pretend there are laws, and rights and liberty. They lie! Here when they pretend to punish a crime, they commit another still greater." "Following the example of the other towns of California in similar cases, a Committee of Vigilance was formed [in San Luis Obispo.] Parties of men started out in all directions to arrest suspected persons. A few days afterwards, this rabble, styling itself "The People," publicly executed, in San Luis Obispo, an innocent man, named Joaquin Valenzuela, generally known by the nickname of "Nacamereno." Don David W. Alexander, who has just arrived in this city, on whose ranch the unfortunate man was employed, says he was torn from his labor and the bosom of his family, and that he had never left his home for a moment. Here then is another deed of blood which will be a mark of infamy forever on the reformers of the morality and law in San Luis Obispo. "But this is not all. The Committee, composed of about forty persons, went to the house of a certain Pio Linares, who resided about a mile distant from Santa Barbara. The Sheriff was at the head of the party. They told Linares that they came to search his house. He answered that they might enter, but not until he should be unable to defend it. They told him they would set fire to it, unless he would surrender, and so they did; and Linares escaped in the confusion, and his wife and innocent children, endangered by the flames, escaped as if by miracle. The house was reduced to ashes. It is possible that Linares is a criminal, but, if so, this was not a proper method to proceed against him. His family, at least, were innocent. Without doubt the band of saints must have used aguardiente freely before commencing their fiesta, for they gave two bullets to one of their party, believing him to be a thief."
LATER FROM THE SOUTH.
From San Bernardino. — A correspondent of the Star, writing from San Bernardino, August 3d, furnishes the appended news: Day before yesterday, three men (Americans) who had been at work on Fernando Sepulveda's ranch, cutting wood, for about a month, stole three fine horses from said Sepulveda, one worth, it is said, $500. Don Fernando Sepulveda, accompanied by Joaquin Valenzuela, followed them into the Cajon Pass, 'en route' for the Mohave river, when they met an expressman coming into San Bernardino, who brought information of the robbers having attacked and robbed the house of one Highmore, at the head of the Mohave; and also that they had attacked two Mexicans connected with a pack train, who were returning from Beale's Crossing. These two Mexicans they robbed and wounded, leaving one of them for dead. The express rider advised Sepulveda to return to San Bernardino for assistance, as there was another party of several white men camped lower down on the Mohave river, with a band of horses, who were probably connected with and waiting for the party who stole the horses from Sepulveda to join them, He accordingly turned back, and arrived in San Bernardino this morning. Vanluven, the Under Sheriff, accompanied by G. N. Whitman, G. H. Williams, and several others, left here in pursuit of the robbers.
Notes Murray's thoughts about Andrea's treatment by Tapia. Other private commentary on the situation at SLO before and during the vigilance campaign.
A Chapter of Crime Unparalleled — Former Murders and Lynching — Terrible Times in San Luis Obispo— The Murder of George Fearless, in 1856— The Dark and Bloody Grounds— The Mur- der of two Frenchmen, in December, 1857 — Light Dawning — -An Organized Gang of Murderers— One of the Murderers Caught— He Escapes the Gallows — Causes of His Escape — .Antagonism of the Native Californians and Americans- The Murder at San Juan Capistrano — Disposal of the Prisoners - Return of the Two Servants — One of the Gang Discovered — Hanged by the Citizens — Fruitless Pursuit of the Gang — The Motto of Linares and Jack Powers — "Dead Men Tell no Tales" — Capture of One of the "Five Joaquins" — Hanged by the People in Broad Daylight — Murder of Jack Gilkey by the Gang — Another of the Gang Caught and Hanged — Another Arrest — His Confession — His Execution — Letter to His Mother — Parties in Pursuit of Remaining Murderers — The Huero and Jack Powers in Distress — Corraling Some of the Gang in a Wood — Pio Linares Reorganized — Engagement with the Mur- derers — The Dead Buried — Execution of Blanco and Grijalva — How the Murderers' Account Stands — What Became of the Huero — The Native Californians Rising — Pursuit by Pacheco's Party after the Huero — Francisco Zuniga Discharged — The Value of Native Californians in the Matter — Growing Strength of the Vigilance Committee — Wholesome Result of the Move- ment — Prosperity Prostrated by Crime — "There's a Good Time Coming," 293 — 300
THE following vivid narrative of crimes of the early days of the county, and of the acts of the Vigilance Committee of 1858, is from the pen of Hon. Walter Murray, in a series of letters written contemporaneously to the San Francisco Bulletin: —
294
A CHAPTER OF CRIME UNPARALLELED.
San Luis Obispo, June 6, 1858. There are various conflicting accounts in regard to a murder lately committed in this county, falsely reported to have taken place on the Tulares. This county has enjoyed a very unenviable reputation for years past. It is now about being cleansed. I propose to lay before your readers as short a history of the annals of crime in San Luis Obispo as can be made out of ten years of bloodshed.
FORMER MURDERS AND LYNCHING.
I shall pass over the by-gone times of Solomon Pico and Joaquin Muriata, and commence in the fall of 1853, when I first arrived here. In October of that year, some eight or ten men passed through here, after murdering a peddler near San Juan; and, after flourishing around town for a few days, boasting of their misdeeds, levied on a lot of horses and decamped for Los Angeles. A pursuing party from this place overhauled them there, with the stolen property and that belonging to the murdered men, upon them. One was killed in the taking. Three of them were brought up to this place and hanged on landing. Another was taken in town and hanged. The rest escaped.
TERRIBLE TIMES IN SAN LUIS OBISPO.
I came to this place just after this affair happened, and I know that ever since then scarcely a month has passed without the disappearance of some traveler, or the finding of dead bodies or skeletons on the roads leading out north and south from here. 'Many a cattle-dealer from the upper country has come south to invest, and has never returned. As many as four dead bodies have been found on the road at one time, and scarcely a man has gone above upon business, without hearing of a new transaction of the kind. It seemed as though there was an organized band of murderers, with spies posted, who never failed of obtaining intelligence when a man passed with money, or in murdering him if found off his guard.
THE MURDER OF GEORGE FEARLESS, IN 1856.
All this time rumors have always been afloat in the community, criminating this or that resident of San Luis, in connection with these matters. No proof could be obtained, because no lives were ever spared, and so nothing was achieved. Good men walked about, whispering and breathing vengeance, but no definite result was obtained. At length, early in 1856, a man of the name of George Fearless came down from San Francisco, with about $2,000, and went into partnership with a New Mexican named Jesus Luna, estabhshing a ranchito near the Nascimiento, on the road to Watson's about fifty miles from San Luis. In a few months. Fearless disappeared. Luna stated that he had gone to the States. Luna sold out all the cattle and other animals — even the New Foundland dog and gold watch of his partner — and removed south with his family, and is now in New Mexico. About three months afterwards, the body of a man bearing every resemblance to George Fearless was found near the deserted rancho. Then men talked hard about Luna, but it was too late. This man was compadre to Pio Linares, whom we are now seeking.
THE DARK AND BLOODY GROUNDS THE MURDER OF TWO FRENCHMEN IN DECEMBER, 1857.
Well, things passed on. New bodies were discovered, but nothing known as to the perpetrators. Then a light broke upon us. In November last, two Frenchmen, Pedro Obiesa and Graciano, collected a band of cattle and started for the upper country. They hired a Californian named Froilan as their vaquero. This man, as also the great Sporting character, hcleped Jack Powers, saw the two Frenchmen receive money just before leaving. On Monday, the 30th day of November, a horse-race took place at Santa Margarita, twelve miles north of this place. At break of day the two Frenchmen received cattle from Froilan and another man at Paso Robles, fifteen miles further on, and paid for them. Froilan had then left their service. At the same time a man named Nieves Robles made his ppearance in their camp, and asked permission to accompany the party to San Jose. He did so, and pointed out that night a camping place, on a road pointed out by him, at a place near the mouth of the Nacimiento. This river and the ground for miles on each side is "the dark and bloody ground " of this section of country.
That night some horses were missed from the Frenchmen's caballada. In the morning they both went out to look for them— and never returned. Nieves Robles, the spy, on the day of the disappearance, left camp twice, returning with his horse sweated. In the morning he made some excuse, and returned to San Luis. Weeks afterwards, the body of one of the Frenchmen was found and identified, the flesh almost gone, and the skull perforated with bullet holes. The other was never found. They left camp in opposite directions. The horses were afterwards recovered. An Indian witnessed from a distance the murdering of one of the men, the one found. He recognized no one, but testified that it was done by two men on horseback, with pistol and riata.
LIGHT DAWNING AN ORGANIZED GANG OF THE MURDERERS.
The day before this murder a horse-race took place at Santa Margarita. That evening, at that place. Jack Powers was present, together with two or three greaser companions, particularly Huero Rafael, alias Rafael Money, alias Rafael Herrada, the same man who since assisted Powers as groom at his great match against time in San Francisco. That night Linares, Powers, and Rafael disappeared; the first returning after several days' absence, flush of money, the two latter going to San Francisco. Late discoveries, made by accessories after the fact, show that these three worthies, with other two or three, waylaid the two Frenchmen singly and killed them, taking from one of them $3,500. Powers was the planner and assistant, Pio Linares and Rafael the principal actors, and others aiding and abetting. So daring and impudent had long impunity made these men that the murder was almost openly talked of between the bad characters at the horse-race the day before; and on the very night before the murder Juan Pedro Oliveras, a worthy well known in San Jose, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles, committed it in town to another rascal, and mentioned every actor in it as above named.
ONE OF THE MURDERERS CAUGHT.
The day after the body was found, viz., on the 20th day of December, Nieves Robles was taken from the gambling table in San Luis, and lodged in jail. He was examined and committed for trial. Linares, as we are informed, went above immediately to warn Powers. Powers, however, came down on the next steamer, and immediately conferred with the prisoner. Powers was intimate with him beforehand. Now he furnished him with coffee, liquors, and other comforts, and urges his attorney to get him released in some way or other. It is right now to say that Powers is, and always has been, a gambler by profession, and a boon companion of the lowest and worst Californians and Mexicans. This Huero Rafael, a
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 295
man who fled from Los Angeles to escape the reward of crime, and who is now recognized as an actor in two late murders, captain in the last, Powers designated as his "right arm," Tu eres mi brazo derecho! These were his words.
HE ESCAPES THE GALLOWS.
Well, Robles never confessed. He was a Californian. The Americans did not move. It was nobody but Frenchmen who had been killed. The French talked lynch; the Californians threatened that in case they did it, every Frenchman in the county should be killed. The best lawyer in the county, the Hon. W. J. Graves, was appointed District Attorney. The proof was light. The jury, a packed California one. One of the jurors was, at the time, a fugitive from the charge of murder. Another was an accomplice in the very crime for which Robles was tried, and since is recognized as one of the actors in the late tragedy at San Juan Capistrano. The man was cleared.
ANTAGONISM OF THE NATIVE CALIFORNIANS AND AMERICANS.
You will say, perhaps, that we are to blame. That the American citizens in this county should attend juries, support the laws, etc. Sir, the American citizens of this county are but a corporal's guard. The Californians and their Mexican defendants are the great bulk of the community. We are helpless. At an election, or at the empanelling of a jury, it is very easy for an unwashed greaser to swear that he came to this county before the treaty with Mexico. That oath makes him a citizen, and he takes his seat in the jury-box. The Frenchman, the Englishman, the Irishman can't do this. His conscience won't permit it. Therefore, although the good men of this community are in the ascendancy, as far as numerical strength and acknowledged respectability are concerned, yet at the ballot-box and in the jury-room they are powerless. When Nieves was cleared, the public voice declared him guilty. The Californians admitted it, but to justify him, justified the deed. They said: —
Ladron qui mata a ladron Merecer cien anos de perdon.
Which being interpreted means.
The thief who kills a thief Deserves a hundred years' relief —
.i.e. from the pains of purgatory. They said that the two Frenchmen had received stolen cattle; therefore, deserved killing. This argument needs no comment. The few Americans laid low and said nothing; but they kept up a devil of a thinking. They felt it was getting hot, and that it would soon be time to stir. They said: "The time is not yet come, but it will come." It did come.
THE MURDER AT SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO.
On the 12th of May another horrid assassination was committed. Please note well the facts stated, dates, names, places, etc., for they are all correct this time. Two Frenchmen, Bartolo Baratie and M. J. Borel, had come down from Oakland to settle on the Rancho San Juan Capistrano. They had been there but ten days. That place is forty-five miles from San Luis; fifteen miles from Captain Mallagh's; six miles from the Camate, the residence of Jack Gilkey. These two Frenchmen had two Californian servants, named Ysidro Silvas and Luis Morillo. On the morning of Monday, the l0th day of May, eight men came along, representing themselves to be horse runners, and wishing to buy food. The open-hearted Frenchmen refused to sell, but gave. That night the men slept in a hut apart with the servants, and on the morning of the 11th went off. Early on the 12th one of the men, since recognized as Miguel Blanco (well known to the Sheriff and Constables of Los Angeles) came back alone, and said that his partners were off running horses, and that he had left them, not wishing to tire his horse. He asked permission to unsaddle his horse there, which was given him. The Frenchmen were several hundred yards from the house, cleaning out a well hole. The Californians were a short distance from them, but hid from their sight, cutting hay. Miguel Blanco stood on a small hill overlooking both parties, and, on a sudden, went down towards the Frenchmen. One of them, Baratie, left his partner and went round to speak to the two servants. Just as he reached them shots were heard where Borel and Miguel Blanco were, at the well hole simultaneously. The balance of the robber party made their appearance on horseback, and Blanco, coming round from his first victim, fired a shot at Baratie, hitting him in the shoulder. Others of the party also fired, one of them singeing the hair of Luis Morillo, the servant, but not injuring him.
The party then bound Morillo, Silvas, and Baratie, and drove them up to the house at point of pistol. Here they found Madame Baratie, the wife of M. Baratie, whom they also threatened with death. Baratie was then forced to point out the trunk which contained his money, and the captain of the band, who proved to be none other than the Huero Rafael, spreading out a blanket on the floor, divided out the money, $2,700, into eight portions, afterwards giving to each his share. Both husband and wife begged for mercy, which was promised them.
DISPOSAL OF THE PRISONERS.
Two of the band, to wit, Luciano, the Mesteno (who has since, God be praised, paid for his crime by his life), and Froilan — still at large — were then ordered by the captain to take the two Californians at a distance and kill them. These two men then placed the servants, still tied, on horseback, and took them out a distance of about a league, and, after some discussion, finally agreed to spare their lives on condition that they should stay there until dark. The two robbers then returned. In the meanwhile, two of the men had been detached by the captain to dispose of Baratie and his wife. They were taken a few hundred yards from the house, to a patch of willows, still under promise of mercy. Here Mrs. Baratie saw one of the men draw on her husband, and kill him with pistol shots. She herself covered his body with his cloak and hat, in which position it was afterwards found.
They then brought Mme. Baratie to the house, and Luciano having returned, it was agreed that he should take her off to the "Cuevas," his resort. He mounted her on a mare, with a side-saddle, and started off with her. This man, from the first, promised to take her to a place of safety, and, in fact, did so, for, after about a week's travel by a round-about road, traveled evidently only by these miscreants, passing by the ranch of Hernandez, called the "Pulvaderas," kept by a wretch well-known as the harborer of thieves, and where she slept one night. She dared not speak here, or at the place where the fellow left her at San Juan, because she saw he was among accomplices. At San Juan he left her at a house about half a mile from the center of the town, kept by a man named Chavez. From here she went to the stage office and took passage for Oakland.
RETURN OF THE TWO SERVANTS.
The two servants of the Frenchman, at about 5 o'clock P. M., returned to the house and saddled up. They found M. Borel lying dead by the well hole, with
296 HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
three shots in him. They did not find M. Baratie's body. The house was all in confusion; all the clothing picked over, and the best of it carried off. No horses were gone, except a black horse which the Mesteno had taken off, and a mare which the woman rode. Silvas and Morillo, the servants, went that night to the Estrella, where they slept. On the morning of the 13th, Silvas went to Mallagh's rancho Paso Robles. Captain Mallagh immediately saddled up and came into town with the witness. Silvas made his declaration in accordance with the above facts, before Justice White, no names being yet known, and warrants were issued to take John Doe, and Richard Roe, etc., on the charge of murder.
ONE OF THE GANG DISCOVERED HANGED BY THE CITIZENS.
While the papers were being made out. Captain Mallagh and the witness, with the Sheriff, in walking round town to look for the murderers, stumbled on one of them, whom the witness immediately identified. He gave his name as Santos Peralta, and was recognized as one of the Chico Martinez band of horse-runners. He denied his guilt, but could give no account of himself, except what was immediately proved to be false, and part of the stolen articles of clothing was found on his person. That night a party of citizens, infuriated by the enormity of the outrage committed, and satisfied of the determination of the greaser population to set justice at defiance by means of the mock forms of law, entered the jail and hung him. After revelations proved more conclusively even, if that were possible, his damning guilt.
FRUITLESS PURSUIT AFTER THE GANG.
In the morning information was given that a part of these rascals, in number four, were hid in a ravine back of town, where Pio Linares, the arch-conspirator of this place (a Califoruian whose father before him was a robber and murderer, and whose whole family is tainted with crime), had a receptacle for stolen horses, termed a ranchito. A party of fifteen men was formed under orders of the Sheriff, who traced the men up, and even got within two hundred yards of them, on the mountainside. Ysidro Silvas went with them, and there identified the whole four — Rafael, the Huero, as being the captain, Miguel Blanco as the man who killed one Frenchman and wounded the other, Froilan as the one who took the two servants out and afterwards spared them, and Desiderio Grijalva as another of the party.
THE MOTTO OF LINARES AND JACK POWERS — DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES.
All these men are well known as intimate friends and accomplices of Pio Linares and frequenters of his house in town. After revelations have proved that this Linares, a sort of chieftain among the young Californians, had accompanied the party on the expedition as far as the rancho of San Juan Capistrano, and had then, without showing himself, returned without taking part in the murder, because he wished to murder the whole party, including the woman, to which others would not agree. His motto is: "Dead men tell no tales." Jack Powers' motto is the same, hence their former impunity. A departure from this rule in this last murder is, under providence, the cause of our detection of these incarnate fiends.
CAPTURE OF ONE OF THE "FIVE JOAQUINS" — HANGED BY THE PEOPLE IN BROAD DAYLIGHT.
The party that went in pursuit spent a week of fruitless search in the hills. The murderers being well mounted, easily eluded them. At the rancho of San Emilio, however, they took one Joaquin Valenzuela, alias Joaquin Ocomorenia, who was identified by several persons as one of the five Joaquins, who were mentioned m the Act of 1853, authorizing the raising of Harry Love's company of rangers. This man is also an old accomplice of Jack Powers, spoke of him as his patron, and is a man steeped to the lips in guilt. He is well known at the mouth of the River Merced, and on the San Joaquin, and owes justice a score which fifty lives can never pay. He was hung in full sight of the whole people of San Luis, in broad daylight, by the voice and assistance of all the respectable men of the county, and died acknowledging his guilt, asking pardon of his friends, and warning all malefactors not to tell their secrets, even to their own countrymen. "Porqite asi se pierde" said he — that is: "Thus you loose yourself."
MURDER OF JOHN GILKEY BY THE GANG.
I will now relate a trifling episode in the San Juan Capistrano tragedy. At the Camate, six miles from that place, lived Jack Gilkey, a hunter, well known in Tuolumne and San Joaquin Counties, and a man as far as known here, without a vice. His only fault was, being a gringo, or huero, that is, having a light skin. When this band of murderers left the scene of their guilt they went to his place. He was hoeing in his field. The Huero, Rafael, rode up near him, and unseen by him let his pistol drop; then, dismounting, pretended to find it, and made the remark: "What a fine pistol I have found!" Jack went up to him to see, and the villain then fired at him. He missed, but another of the gang, Desiderio Grijalva, came behind and put a ball through his head which killed him instantly. It is supposed that he was killed because he knew them, as they had shared his hospitality the day previous. They knew the murder would be discovered; that parties would go in pursuit; that Jack would, like an honest man as he was, tell whom he had seen, and that they would be detected. Hence his untimely end.
The pursuing party came back without finding any of the criminals in the murder. However, they were determined to persevere to the end. During their absence, Pio Linares had remained in his house, feeling the public pulse, and safe, on account of his complicity in the last murder being hidden. After discoveries show that when the Huero Rafael returned from the murder, he gave Linares for his share $140, and $65.00 to Linares' wife. Rafael lived in their house. The party on entering town searched several houses for the culprits, and at length came to the principal one, Pio's. They surrounded it, and demanded entrance to search for the Huero Rafael, under the arrant. Pio Linares placed himself on the defensive, and refused admission. They therefore demanded that he should come out, which he refused. A light was then put to his roof, the rest of the inmates having voluntarily come out, and at length the head culprit broke, and became a target for a volley of balls. He, however, escaped, and is now in hiding — it is thought, wounded.
ANOTHER OF THE GANG CAUGHT AND HANGED.
Another party was formed, with good trackers among them, who, taking up the trail of the Mesteno and Madame Baratie, traced them two or three days' journey, at length encountering the villain on his return. He was immediately taken, and brought into town. He confessed everything. His story tallies with that of all the other witnesses, and the above statement. He was hung in broad daylight also, as a warning to all miscreants.
By the last boat Madame Baratie came here, at the instigation of San Luis Obispo gentlemen, who wished to see her and to prove to her that, although her fortune had been entirely wrecked by a pack of hell-hounds,
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 297
fostered and favored by the natives of the soil of San Luis Obispo, yet that the American population would do her justice. Her account tallies with all the rest. We hear that stories against her have been circulated above, but here no one has a breath of suspicion against her. It is too ridiculous. It is too infamous to assail a poor woman who has had her husband murdered before her eyes, and the bulk of their property divided among a lot of bandits, with suspicions as to her complicity in a crime which would not advantage her one jot or tittle.
The people of San Luis, who did not know this lady until she came down on the steamer, since the occurrence above detailed, appeal confidently to her friends in Oakland, who have known her for five years, to rebut all attacks on her character. We can only say that those facts show her to be the victim of Spanish atrocity and cupidity, backed by Californian affinity and crime. One word in regard to the Californians. Of those who interest themselves to pursue the criminals of this county, two or three are of the native race. The rest are all Americans or foreigners. Romualdo Pacheco, our Senator, and Jose Maria Munoz, our County Judge, have been appealed to for their assistance, and to use their influence to get the Californians to stir, who are the best riders and have the best horses, who are in fact those who can take the criminals. They have replied formally: —
"Gentlemen, ourselves, our arms, and our animals are at your disposal. The Californians will not be influenced by us, however, to go in search of these men. Some of them are their countrymen, and claim kindred with them."
That is enough; they will not stir. Now this is the fact, the Californians in this country claim the right to rob and murder hueros and gringos with impunity. They do not oppose us openly, but they breathe "curses not loud but deep" against us. They would tomorrow clear the whole gang in a court of law.
ANOTHER ARREST. San Luis Obispo, June 14, 1858. Events come thick and fast in San Luis at this time. In my last I recounted the progress of matters after the execution of Luciano, the Mesteno — the man who took Madame Baratie to San Juan, after the murder of her husband. On Sunday, the 6th June, another of the malefactors, one Jose Antonio Garcia, was brought into town by a party who had been sent after him into Santa Barbara County. This man, like the Mesteno, confessed his fault and disclosed the names of his accomplices. The crime of which he was accused was that of complicity in the murder, on the 1st of December last, on the Nacimiento, of the two Basque Frenchmen, Pedro Obiesa, and Graciano. His confession, translated, reads as follows: —
HIS CONFESSION.
On the 28th day of November last, in Albarelli's billiard room, in San Luis Obispo, Jack Powers invited him to rob the two Frenchmen. After some persuasion he consented to assist in the job, and that morning went to the Santa Margarita, to the Paco horse-race, there to await Jack's arrival. On the 20th saw Jack arrive at Santa Margarita, at Joaquin Estrada's house, and talked with him. On the 30th he. Jack Powers, and a man named Eduviquez went out and slept at the corner of Estrada's fence together. In the night Powers complained of the tardiness of his two other companions, Pio Linares and the Huero, Rafael Herrado. -However, about break of day, the two last named arrived, and all four then galloped over the main road towards San Miguel. Thence taking the Peach-tree Road, they went six miles to a spring, near which the body of Graciano was since found. Here they all stopped to water their horses. Powers, Eduviquez, and Garcia riding on ahead a couple of miles — the other two lagging behind — the first mentioned arrived on a side-hill where there was plenty of grass, and Powers proposed to stay and feed their horses.
While they were doing so, they saw one of the Frenchmen coming along in the distance, and Rafael and Pio making for him. Heard shots fired, and Powers said: "What are they doing? That's very bad." They waited a little longer, and heard more shots, whereupon they saddled up and went in that direction, where they found the two bodies stretched out on the road, about fifty yards part. Garcia then expressed his horror at the deed that had been committed, which was so great as to make him feel sick, and, after taking a drink of water, to leave the place and return. At San Miguel, Eduviquez overtook him and handed him $200, which Jack Powers had sent him of the proceeds. This he took and disposed of.
HIS EXECUTION LETTER TO HIS MOTHER.
This Jose Antonio Garcia, with Eduviquez, were intimate companions here of Jack Powers, and for a short time lived in the same house. The Huero, Rafael, who was also in the San Juan Capistrano murder, was so much a friend of Jack's as to be termed by the Spaniards here "Hermano de Jacky Powers." Powers brought him up from Los Angeles because he found him to be a ready and daring tool to carry out Jack's enterprise. Jose Antonio Garcia paid the penalty of his crimes, at 3 o'clock on Tuesday afternoon, 8th June, surrounded by the united population of San Luis Obispo. The padre administered to him the last rights of the Catholic Church. He was the only one of the culprits lately executed who died to all appearances truly penitent, and exhorting all his friends to take warning by his fate, and to avoid evil companions. The following is a letter sent by Jose Antonio to his mother, in Santa Barbara, just before his execution. It was written in Spanish, but the following is the translation: —
"San Luis Obispo, June 6, 1858.
"Beloved Mother: Providence has ordained that this shall be my last day, on account of my crimes. I conform to it, and at the same time remain entirely repentant (and trusting) in the goodness of our sovereign God, that he will pardon me. The last request that I ask of you, my mother, is that you pardon me my faults, and at the same time, that you, in my name, ask pardon of the whole people, and that they pray for my soul. Give the last adieu to my father and to all my family, and tell them that I died as a good Catholic, entirely repent- ant, and with the firm hope that God will pardon me. The priest will be at my side up to the last moment. Pardon and pray for my soul. Your son,
"Jose Antonio Garcia, "In presence of the Reverend Father Juan Comapla, Parish Priest."
PARTIES IN PURSUIT OF THE REMAINING MURDERERS.
On that night a party of ten men, armed and equipped, set out for the tules, with two horses each, furnished by well affected rancheros, and determined not to return without finding some trail of the remaining villains. On Wednesday evening, 9th June, another party, after paying a visit to the ranchito of Pio Linares, and bringing in all his horses, as a preventive measure, started out towards Santa Ynez and La Purissima, where the robbers were said to be. They were on a false scent, for the rascals were upon a hill overlooking San Luis at the time, and spied the party going out, taking it to be two parties, as when it started to visit Pio's ranch it was seen, but
298 HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
not on the return; while it was again seen on the final start. The thieves thus supposed that it was two parties. This frightened them. They began to think the San Luis people were in earnest; and at night moved down into an immense wood of willows, situated on the Osos Rancho, Captain Wilson's, about ten miles from San Luis. Here we got wind of them.
THE HUERO AND PIO LINARES IN DISTRESS — CORRALING SOME OF THE GANG IN A WOOD.
On Thursday morning, l0th June, Captain Wilson sent word that one of the murderers had been seen. The Captain's shepherd had been accosted near the wood by the Huero Rafael, and after inquiring for his uncle who had formerly lived on the rancho, he offered the shepherd $22.00 to go and purchase for him some food. He said Pio Linares was with him, and that they had nothing to eat for several days. The shepherd at first refused to take the money, but upon being threatened, agreed to accept the commission. He came immediately to his employer. Captain Wilson, gave up the money, and gave information. As soon as the news reached San Luis, a force of about thirty men was raised, who in about two hours' time arrived on the ground. Search was made on horseback through the wood, but no one was found. At length, at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, a party of about fifteen dismounted, and commenced searching where the wood was too dense for the entrance of horses. Tracks were found; then three horses tied under some willow bushes, then two saddles, and a small bag of provisions. Night was coming on, and it was deemed proper to guard the Wood until morning, then to prosecute the search further. A cordon of sentries was formed — wide apart, however, on account of the extent of the wood in comparison to the small number of men. At about 10 o'clock in the evening a shot was heard, and one of the sentries received a ball, fired from the brush, through the instep. The guards were then withdrawn, trust being placed in our trackers, and it being deemed advisable to let the robbers get out of the wood and take to the open country.
PIO LINARES RECOGNIZED. 11th In the morning it was found that they were still in the wood, and a party of about twenty men started in to hunt them. Taking up the trail where it was left the day previous, they came upon the saddle-bags of the principal villain, to wit, Pio Linares. These were recognized by his coat, which was found in them, and his wife's portrait. Going on a few steps further, the party was fired upon from the thicket of the brush, and then for the first time a glimpse was caught of them. One of the party was shot through the arm, and another had his coat ripped up from the collar to the waist by a rifle ball. Several shots were fired in return, one of which, as was afterwards learned, shot the above-mentioned Pio Linares through the leg.
ENGAGEMENT WITH THE MURDERERS.
Prudence again prevailed over valor, and the pursuing party again took position outside of the wood. Attempts were made to fire the brush, but with little success. Couriers were then sent all over the county, and by night from 100 to 150 men were on the ground. A close line of sentries was placed on the points most likely to be used for an escape. All that night the hungry and thirsty malefactors could be heard breaking their way through the wood. As we afterwards learned they had almost reached the edge of the brush on the side opposite to that on which they had entered, and were ready to break through when morning interrupted them.
12th A party of twenty-four men was then formed under Captain Mallagh, all volunteers, and mostly Americans, who entered the wood, and crept along on their bellies, for several shots from the robbers again pointed out their vicinity. Position was then taken as near as possible to them. In about a quarter of an hour, the head villain, Pio Linares, was shot through the head, and the other two, to wit, Miguel Blanco and Desiderio Grijalva, captured. The pursuers lost one man killed, John Matlock, a well-borer, late of San Jose, and two wounded, William Coates and a Mr. Cross, late of Santa Cruz.
It was learned from the two prisoners that they had eaten no food for four days; and that Linares had kept them from giving themselves up, which the rest had been willing to do for some days past. The prisoners stated that they had suffered so much from hunger, thirst, and fatigue, that they had come to the conclusion that death was preferable to such a state of misery. Linares, however, wanted to sell life for life. He it was who did most of the shooting.
THE DEAD BURIED EXECUTION OF BLANCO AND GRIJALVA.
The dead men of both sides and the prisoners were brought into town. The wounded men were left at Captain Wilson's house, who voluntarily cared for them. Next day, Sunday, 13th June, Matlock was interred in the Catholic burying-ground, it being proved that he had received Catholic baptism. All the population of San Luis Obispo were present at the funeral ceremony, Padre Juan Comapla officiating. Next day, Monday, 14th June, Miguel Blanco and Desiderio Grijalva, after receiving the consolation of religion at the hands of the priests, were led out to execution, and were hung at the hour of 1 o'clock p. m., in presence of the entire people of San Luis. Both the prisoners made a full confession of their guilt, both before the Notary Public and at the scaffold; and each of them exhorted their countrymen and friends to keep from bad company, and to preserve themselves from following the paths of sin. Both acknowledged the justice of their sentence, and expressed themselves as content, in their own words, "to pay their debts." They did pay it.
HOW THE MURDERERS' ACCOUNT STANDS
Of the eight persons who were accomplices in the San Juan Capistrano massacre, five have now expiated their crime by cord or pistol, to wit: Santos Peralta, Luciano Tapia, Pio Linares, Miguel Blanco, and Desiderio Grijalva. Three yet encumber the earth, to wit: Rafael Herrado, Jesus Valenzuela, and Froilan Servin. Of these six accomplices of the Nacimiento murder, two have paid the forfeit - Pio Linares and Jose Antonio Garcia. There remain Jack Powers, Nieves Robles, Eduviquez, and the Huero Rafael Herrada. We are on their track, and some of them, at least, will yet pay for their crimes with their lives.
WHAT BECAME OF THE HUERO - THE NATIVE CALIFORNIANS RISING SAN LUIS OBISPO, June 22, 1858. It appears, from the testimony of the two men captured and hung, that the Huero Rafael, after giving the money to the shepherd to buy provisions, had not rejoined his accomplices. He probably stayed on the lookout until he saw the party after him, and then had not time to rejoin his companions, but sought refuge in another part of the wood, after shooting the guard. The same shepherd says that he saw and fired at him after Linares was killed and the party and prisoners had retired. The taking of these three men, I am happy to say, at length stirred up the Californians, and a party of them started on the Huero's trail. On Monday, the 14th June, after the hanging of Grijalva and Blanco, a commission as Deputy Sheriff was given to the Hon. Romualdo Pacheco, our Senator, who, with a party of eighteen Californians and New Mexicans, started in search.
PURSUIT BY PACHECO'S PARTY AFTER THE HUERO On Tuesday afternoon, we again got wind of the Huero. A Mexican peon, who had gone out on business to Linares ranchito, where these villains were first scared up, came in and gave intelligence that he had there tied his horse in order to get a drink of water, and that the Huero had suddenly appeared from behind a tree, and taken possession of the horse, afterwards riding off. The Mexican is a man of very suspicious character, but, in evidence of the truth of his statement, he produced a double-barrelled shot-gun, which was left behind by the Huero, and a twenty-dollar gold piece, which he had received for the horse. The horse was a fine one, worth $150, and belonged to Fernando Linares, brother of Pio. Of course complicity in the flight is suspected, either on the part of the peon, or Fernando, or both; but all hands are still at liberty and unmolested, as a standing reproach to all who maintain that the San Luis Obispo people take notice of light offenses, or pursue crime with too much rigor. Information of the flight was soon sent to Pacheco and his party, who immediately started for Santa Barbara, on the Huero's trail. The last news heard from him is that on Friday last, 18th of June, at 11 A.M., he started from Los Angeles, still on the Huero's trail, and twenty-four hours behind him. Pacheco had with him the Sheriff of Santa Barbara, and five other men. We have strong expectations here that Pacheco will catch him.
FRANCISCO ZUNIGO DISCHARGED On the 19th Mr. Blackburn came down on the steamer from San Francisco, bringing with him Francisco Zunigo, charged with participation in the San Juan Capistrano murder. Madam Baratie is unable to recognize him, and there is no evidence, except that of one of the servants, who at present is in San Francisco. The murderers who have been caught so far speak of no such man. They only implicated in that deed seven men, to wit: Mesteno Luciano, Desiderio Grijalva, Huero Rafael, Miguel Blanco, Santos Peralta, Jesus Valenzuela, and Froilan Servin, besides Pio Linares who backed out in the sight of the scene of murder, and returned without assisting. Zunigo has been discharged for the present, but kept in surveillance in care of two of his countrymen until further news. I am confident that the man is innocent.
VALUE OF THE NATIVE CALIFORNIANS IN THE MATTER In view of the remarks made before in this article, touching on the supineness and neglect of the Californians to act against the murderers, without retracting what was then said, I am happy to state that a portion of them, with the Hon. Romualdo Pacheco at their head, have in good earnest set about doing their part of the work, being the best horsemen, they are the men who can do more in a chase than any of us. Furthermore, if they interest themselves, it will cut off a great deal of the comfort and assistance given to these fellows at the native ranchos. We are all rejoiced that the better portion of the Californians have taken the opportunity, however tardy, to set themselves right before the community. It gives us hopes for better times hereafter.
GROWING STRENGTH OF THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE Every day brings more aid to the committee. Every rogue that is taken and hung brings an accession of from twenty to thirty more names to the Vigilance Roll. These men know the villains and their crimes, and it is nothing more than fear of assassination that has kept them off. Besides, many half-honest Spaniards have heretofore lain quiet and tolerated, and even cloaked the crimes which have been committed, because they saw no hope for a redressal of them, and had not the energy to stand alone and aloof from them. Now that the united Americans and foreigners of the place have stretched out a strong hand to their succor, they embrace the opportunity to avail themselves of their protection, and to come out from the paths of sin.
WHOLESOME RESULT OF THE MOVEMENT The excitement heretofore reigning in the public mind is now partially allayed. The horses which the committee had stabled up in town ready to pursue the assassins, have been returned to their owners. All the parties have been called in, except one which we have lost track of in the Tulares, and three or four men under Pacheco, who are in pursuit of the Huero. Men walk about unarmed, transact their business, and feel at their ease. I have heard many a man say: "A load has been lifted from my mind!" It is true that business does not flourish so much. There is less money spent now in the billiard-rooms and drinking houses, and on gambling tables. And it was time that this should be. The fame of San Luis Obispo has long ago gone forth as being a place sustained and fostered by the fruits of assassination and robbery. All this must now change; and it will be a glorious change, although half the business done in San Luis should perish in consequence.
PROSPERITY PROSTRATED BY CRIME The damage done to this county by the incarnate fiends who have infested it heretofore is incalculable. The county was, at the time of the perpetration of these atrocities, in a critical period of its existence. It was then attracting attention all over the State as being a section of country presenting peculiar advantages to the settler. It is essentially a stock country. When there is no grass in any other county, here it is found in abundance. It is sufficiently well watered for stock. It is not an agricultural county, and therefore there is more room for the stock-owner than elsewhere. There is a large quantity of public land within its boundaries. Mr. Henry, Deputy United States Surveyor, had lately arrived, and was busily engaged surveying the public land, and dividing it from that belonging to the Spanish grants. Many beautiful little spots were being, by his survey, demonstrated to be public land, which before had been claimed by the old grantees. The fame of all this was getting abroad, and not a month passed without bringing one, two, or three persons, good American citizens, looking for a place to locate. Old ranches were changing owners. Senor Pujol, a very worthy gentleman, a native, I believe, of old Spain, had purchased the San Simeon Rancho. A respectable Californian named Castro, from Santa Cruz County, had purchased part of the rancho of San Geronimo. The Messrs. Blackburn, of Santa Cruz, had purchased the Paso Robles Rancho, and quite a colony of Americans had settled in around them, and between them and Captain Mallagh's rancho, the Huer-Huero. Finally Borel and Baratie, two worthy Frenchmen from Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, were about to follow their example. Now how changed! Ten days after their arrival, a band of cut-throats, living right among us, and breaking bread at our tables, lighted upon them and wiped them out of existence, and the poor woman, a respectable and educated lady of mixed Spanish and English blood, was compelled to flee with a bandit to a
300 HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
more hospitable country, without knowing there existed a county seat within forty miles of her, with an American county organization, and a corps of officers whose duty it is to prevent and punish crime. What wonder that immigration to this county is temporarily stopped? What wonder that intended settlers pause before they trust themselves in such a nest of brigands? What wonder that the county has bean set back years in the path of progress?
THERE IS A GOOD TIME COMING But there is a good time coming. The people of San Luis have arisen and cast off this leprosy. They have determined to be vigilant in the repression of crime. They have stricken at its vary root. They have hanged and shot the known leaders in the work of bloodshed. Soon we shall have no more need for this spasmodic action. The committee will disband, but every member of it will hereafter continue vigilant in the support and execution of the laws. The laws are good. No one but skeptics in American progress doubt this. They only want administering by trustworthy man, and sustaining by a healthy population. That healthy population we have not; but we have the nucleus of it, and confidently hope that, now the late tumult has about subsided, a new stream of immigration will set in. With but fifty more good American settlers, we shall have enough to see that American laws are observed and respected and enforced. Than San Luis Obispo may be looked upon, as she really is, one of the most desirable counties of the State. Her soil and climate are almost unrivaled. What she lacks in is population.
WALTER MURRAY
The undersigned citizens of San Luis Obispo have read the foregoing statements, and find them to be substantially true:
S. A. POLLARD, JOHN M. PRICE, H. G. ABBEY, DAVID P. MALLAGH, W. J. GRAVES, FREDERICK HILLIARD, THOMAS GRAVES, THOS. R. THORP, M.D, CHARLES W. DANA, C. H. JOHNSON, F. CASTRO, I. H. HILL, WILLIAM L. BEEBEE, TOMAS DE HERRERA, A. ALBARELLI, H. M. OSGOOD, JOHN PATTON, PATRICK MCMIST, P. A. FORRESTER, NICOLO RAVELLO, ANTONIO CAQURIO, D. D. BLACKBURN.
N. B. It is worthy of note that the assassins of San Juan Capistrano were taken exactly one month after the committal of their crime - May 12th, the murder; June 12th, the arrest.
Anti-Vigilance Newspapers — Review of the Evidence — A Veteran Bandit — The Case of Pio Linares — Defense of the Committee — Desperate Acts of Linares — The Necessity of a Vigilance Committee — The Criminal Element — The Vigilance Pledge — Roll of Members — Vigilance Subscriptions — The Evidence — Murder of the Basque Frenchmen 300 — 304
In the period when the events related in the preceding chapter transpired, there was a paper published in Spanish in Los Angeles, called El Clamor Publico, the organ of the native Californians and Mexicans, which animadverted severely upon the acts of the Vigilance Committee of San Luis Obispo, charging it with hasty action and executing men without evidence. The Spanish paper was supported in its attacks by the San Francisco Herald, which was at all times exceedingly bitter against any acts or organization styled Vigilance Committee. El Clatnor Fublico was read by the native population of San Luis Obispo, stimulating the people to hatred of Americans, and threatening dangerous consequences. This necessitated a reply from Hon. Walter Murray, who prepared and published a review of the evidence upon which the criminals were convicted and executed. From this review we glean the following:—
REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE.
The editor of El Clamor Publico says that Peralta, or, as he calls him, Robles, was suspected, etc. Peralta was recognized on the instant by one of the Californians whose lives had been spared by the miscreants, as being one of them. This was on the 13th day of May, the day after the murder. He was asked to give an account of himself. He declared that for four nights previous he had slept in the house of a relative named Dolores Cordova. Cordova was sent for and interrogated. He declared that he had not seen the culprit for four days. All this, although done before a Justice of the Peace, was extra-judicial, for our laws do not permit such interrogating. Finally, a pair of handkerchiefs and other articles were taken from him and recognized as part of the property stolen. This much-wronged innocent died mute — not denying his guilt — but refused to disclose his accomplices. He felt himself supported by the law. His accomplices — when, at the cost of fatigue and money, and American blood, freely poured out by brave men, they were dragged from their retreat in the dark recesses of an almost inaccessible wood — when they stood face to face with men who knew the main facts, and who, strong in the rectitude of untroubled consciences, dared to deal out quick justice in the name of self-preservation — when all the paraphernalia of paid lawyers and perjured jurymen was thrown on one side — when Vigilance had hunted them down like wild beasts to their lair, and had demonstrated to them that neither subterfuge, nor fleet horses, nor the law's delay, nor cocked pistols, nor sympathizing countrymen, could longer avail them — then these accomplices voluntarily declared the truth, and disclosed that this very Santos Peralta was the man who shot down poor, wounded Baratie, in cold blood, before his wife's eyes, having purposely led her down to witness the atrocity. Then one of them, Miguel Blanco, confessed freely, what we knew before, that he (Miguel) was the man who killed Borel, and who gave Baratie his first shot. Then Grijalva disclosed how that he himself had shot poor Gilkey from behind, and stretched him lifeless upon the ground he had been tilling, and that Jesus Valenzuela had aftewards dragged him fifty yards at the end of his riata.
Could law have extracted all this from these men? No. But Vigilance did, and that without torture of any description. No impending power was used but the exhibition of an unswerving determination and resistless power. The above facts show the nature of the suspicions against Santos Peralta.
A VETERAN BANDIT.
Now we come to the innocent Joaquin Valenzuela. This man has never been charged with either the Nacimiento or the San Juan Capistrano murders. But he was an acquaintance and comrade of the murderers — brother to one, chum to another, and was proven before the committee to be as full of crime as an egg is full of meat. In 1853 he was a partner of Joaquin Murietta — the veritable Joaquin. It is notorious that he was one of the five Joaquins upon whose heads Governor Bigler
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE, CONTINUED. 301
set a price, and to catch whom Capt. Harry Love's Company of mounted rangers was organized.
Just before that time he kidnapped an American child, Anne, daughter of an American named Smith, and brought her down to the San Joaquin River, where he and his Mexican female partner brought her up to learn Spanish and hate the Gringos. The Americans living there took the child away, and advertised for her relatives. The father made his appearance and claimed his child. He accompanied this Joaquin across the ferry on the San Joaquin, at the mouth of the River Merced. Joaquin returned; Smith never. The inference is that Smith was killed by the black villain. A skeleton supposed to be his was afterwards found a league or two from the ferry. I refer for these facts to D. P. Brown, of Stockton; to the mother of the child who lives there now, and to those who lived at and near the mouth of the River Merced, in the years 1853-54.
When the Harry Love's Ranger Law was passed, this Joaquin Valenzuela, alias Ocomorenia, came down to the Tulares and to Santa Barbara County. Here he made acquaintance with Jack Powers. In his company Powers inured himself to fatigue on horseback "in the pursuit of stolen or strayed cattle," as the great Jack's eulogist has it, but which rightly interpreted means, "in stealing his neighbor's cattle." There is evidence before the committee here, which will one day be printed, showing that Powers and Joaquin Valenzuela stole cattle together from Guadalupe, Santa Maria, and Nipomo, and drove them to the mines by way of the Tulares. He has been engaged in this nefarious pursuit off and on ever since he came to this section of the country. He was captain of a band of robbers near Purissima, in Santa Barbara County, nearly two years ago, and committed several robberies there. He is a miscreant of the deepest dye, a hardened sinner, the very type of a criminal. When he was being brought in, he told Captain Mallagh that he thought he ought not to be molested, as he had condescended to be honest for a year past. Creo que Vindes no deben de molestarme ahora, siendo que be condescendido por una ano.
This man was invited by Jack Powers at Santa Margarita, on the night of the horse-race there, on November 30th last, to take part in the murder at the Nacimiento. He replied, "I have formerly been in such things, as you know, but I have given it up." He declined going. When arrested, and asked if he knew Powers, he said yes, he was his patron. He seemed to think that the magic name of Powers would be a tower of strength to him. When brought afterwards before the committee, and when he found out that Powers was compromised, he denied any acquaintance with him. Afterwards acknowledged that Powers had invited him to accompany him above on a "business speculation."
This is the " innocent" man who has been torn from the bosom of his family by a mob and " done to death." Mr. David W. Alexander, of Los Angeles, says that this man " has never been absent a moment from his home." This gentleman forgot, perhaps, to tell the editor of the Clamor Publico, that in November last he loaned this man $100 to bring his wife, from Los Angeles; that he (Alexander) was informed at the time of the arrest, that at that very time when he was supposed to be in Los Angeles, he was here in San Luis in company with Jack Powers and other worthies, at the races in and near this place; that he stayed here several weeks, and that during that time instead of living with his wife, whoever the lady may be, he kept with an abandoned Mexican prostitute, for whose sake two men have been stabbed, and two shot within the last six months. For aught Mr. Alexander knows, this man was at the Nacimiento murder on December last. However, he is not charged with it. Now, as this gentleman has forgotten the above particulars, he has forgotten, doubtless, that this Joaquin s a notorious thief How is it then that Alexander Godoy, of Cuyama, Mr. Alexander's next neighbor, and one of Mr. Fremont's veterans, is thoroughly acquainted with the man's character? How is it that this man's character is notorious to every one except Mr. Alexander? Is not this gentleman, like hundreds of other rancheros in the southern country (not Americans, however) content to hire a vaquero without asking questions as to his character, or even if he knew him to be bad, content if he thinks the man will not rob or murder him? I think this is the gist of the matter.
THE CASE OF PIO LINARES.
Now let us return to the tissue of falsity in regard to the first attempt to take Pio Linares. In the first place, the "committee " did not do this. The committee was not then in existence. Secondly, the Sheriff's posse was composed of fifteen men, not forty men. Thirdly, Linares showed fight from the first to the last. The Sheriff had a warrant for the Huero Rafael, a man who had lived in Linares' house. He asked Linares to come out with a light. The intention was doubtless to arrest him, not to kill him, for no man has yet been killed here without a full trial, even by this bug-bear "committee;" no, not even when our men lay blood-stained around us on the cold sod. Then, in the height of the excitement, two of the head villains were spared, brought into town, and confronted by the priest. Well, Linares' reply made to his wife, his brother, and another man — all of whom were allowed freely to pass and repass by the Sheriff and his posse — made to their urgent solicitations that he should surrender, was simply this : No! yo no salgo me!" No; I'll not go out ! They'll ____ me !
The editor of the Clamor can supply the blank. It is fit only for assassins and their defenders.
This man, Linares, knew his weight of guilt. He was confident that he deserved instant death. He feared it. When he came out he came armed and running like a hound. He was fired upon as a criminal fleeing from justice, and two lives would have been saved since, had he fallen then. The roof only was burned. That was fired after timely warning, in order to get him out and to avoid such a catastrophe as happened in Monterey in 1856, when poor De la Torre and others were killed in the fruitless attempt to take Anastasio Garcia. His wife and children made no miraculous escape. His wife was repeatedly begged to come out, but stayed in only to cover his flight, and then came out at her leisure. The very posse assisted her to save her clothes and furniture. Furthermore, his wife, who has been his accomplice from the first, and has always shared in his plunder, and is a woman of notorious bad character, would, in any other county in the State, now be adorning the inside of a jail, instead of running at large as she now does here. As for the children, they are a mere myth. They do not exist. Neither Linares nor his wife ever had any. Truly one can quote here the very expressive words of the Clamor, "They lie."
DEFENSE OF THE COMMITTEE.
Now as to the whisky. These men who accompanied the Sheriff had been out for more than a week on the Tulares. They had returned home on an unfrequented road on purpose to avoid observation. They had not even seen liquor for three days. Every man of them is a better citizen than the Clamor editor ever can be until he plucks out that Mexican heart of his and substitutes an American one in its place. One of the men, a New Mexican, named Julian Garcia, a brave fellow, followed Linares in the darkness and fired his pistol at him as he
302 HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
ran. Returning, he was seen by some of the party who had been behind the house and had not seen him before. They took him for Linares. It was a mistake. He was tenderly cared for, got medical attendance, and over $100 for his loss of time. No one is more ready than he to pursue cut-throats and to shoot them down. Such men as he put to shame all such men as the Clamor editor. The Clamor thinks that San Luis authorities are sufficiently strong to protect the laws if they desire to do so. Now, we do not want his opinion, nor mine, nor yours, sir, on this subject. We will just state the facts: This Linares, after committing the Nacimiento murders, almost openly bragged about them. In a month's time the whole of the details were openly talked about by his own countrymen, and all acknowledged him to be one of the parties.
DESPERATE ACTS OF LINARES.
Before this, he ran one of our Justices of the Peace all over the town, on account of some trifling misunderstanding. Shortly afterwards, he drew his knife and attempted to stab a very peaceable Mexican for interfering to stop a quarrel. On the night that Nieves Robles, his spy, was arrested, he stabbed two Sonorians in a dance-house, one of whom narrowly escaped with his life. After this, this man and his loose wife were invited to a ball given by the J. P., above mentioned, at the opening of a new hotel. They attended, and some of the first folks, and most, if not all the Americans of this place attended, too. At this ball, this Linares laid in wait for D. D. Blackburn, late of Santa Cruz. That night, he and a party of young Californians, armed, came down to Mr. Murray's house with the intention of firing through the windows at the unsuspecting Americans assembled there. After the matter was adjusted, Linares said to his fellows, "Well, if you come here to fight, why don't you go in? We are stronger than they!"
Miguel Blanco, before dying, was questioned as to whether Linares ever mentioned this last affair to him. Blanco is Linares' nephew. Blanco detailed a conversation which took place between them during their hiding. Linares said that under certain circumstances he could get a portion of the Californians to sustain him. Blanco said, "How can you expect our countrymen to sustain us, who are so criminal?" "They can be brought to do it," said Linares, "they backed me then," referring to the night of the ball. "To this end I have always taken up for them in any petty quarrel. Don't you know that I have always been at the head of all the revolutions in San Luis Obispo?"
This man, Pio Linares, has never been prosecuted for any of the crimes above detailed. He has sat on juries since all of them. The above dying declaration of his accomplice, Blanco, gives the key to it. He was a reckless man, ready for murder in open daylight — murder from behind a bush — in fact, murder in any shape. Every one knew it.
THE NECESSITY OF A VIGILANCE COMMITTEE.
The acquittal of Nieves Robles was before every one's eyes. The Californians were disposed to resist or resent any violent means, and to defeat any legal ones. The mover in any abortive attempt against this criminal was liable to be assassinated at any moment. Good men waited for a bond of unity. The natural bond of self-preservation at length presented itself, and they caught at it, and have, with God's help, succeeded now in right ing matters; in creating a healthy spirit in the community, and in preparing the way for another trial of the law. Here, as in San Francisco, I am confident that the law will hereafter work all the better for the quickening spirit infused into it by vigilance.
THE CRIMINAL ELEMENT.
The law-abiding citizens of San Luis Obispo occupied a very delicate position in the period preceding 1858. From Monterey to Los Angeles was the lonely coast road, with occasional ranchos and the villages of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara widely separated, with many mountains in which were dark canons, pretty valleys, and park-like potreros offering concealment and seclusion, and to this region gathered the worst bandits of California. If not numerous, they were by their boldness and desperation enabled to overawe the majority and maintain a reign of terror. A few Americans like Jack Powers and the infamous ex-Judge McGowan, commonly known as Ned McGowan, of San Francisco, who had fled from the Vigilance Committee of that city, had exerted a baneful influence over the native population, and had been harbored and protected by some of the most respectable people, through fear and in the hope that such a course would protect them from depredation. They thus, in a measure, dominated in politics, ruled the courts, and rendered trials abortive. This made it necessary to organize an extra-judicial power, and the Vigilance Committee of 1858 was the result. It was a bold and honorable movement, and the names of those who participated in it are worthy of the perpetuity of history. Following is the Vigilance Pledge, with the signatures attached, the Vigilance " Roll" and the amounts contributed for the public safety : —
THE VIGILANCE PLEDGE. The undersigned hereby pledge ourselves, each to the other, that in the case of the murder of the two Frenchmen, Bartolo Baratie and M. Jose Borel, we will stand together and will by all means whatsoever, discover the truth and punish the guilty. The first step shall be the application of personal restraint and intimidation to the prisoner now in jail, even if necessary to the danger of life. Walter Murray, A. Albarelli, Francisco Lertora, Luis de la Cella, Francisco Brizzolara, Domingo Garcia, Charles Pellerier, Nicolo Ravello. B. Block, T. P. Commayi, P. A. Forrester, J. J. Simmler, Jacob J. Scheiffarley, Rudolph Blum, B. F. Hamilton.
ROLL OF MEMBERS. The undersigned, citizens of San Luis Obispo, sign our names as members of a body to be called the San Luis Obispo Vigilance Committee, the object of which is and shall be the repression and punishment of crimes by all means whatsoever.
Walter Murray, Manuel Otero, Fredk. Hilliard, Thomas Herrara, S. A. Pollard, N. Amas, Thos. Graves, J. J. Simmler, Labat Pere, Thos. R. Thorp, P. A. Forrester, Leonardo Lopez, G. Leemo, Ramon Baldez, Jules Baume, J. A. de la Guerra, Chas. Johnson, Pedro Ruperez, Wm. Coates, Trinidad Becerro, Bernardo Lazcano, John Matlock, Jose Cantua, Cayetano Amador, Carl Dietz, Fabian Dastas, Ferdinand Quievreux, B. P. Brown,
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE, CONTINUED. 303
Miguel Serrano, A. Farnsworth, Joseph Stutz, Domingo Garcia, Dolores Herrara, Henry Pandee, Wm. L. Beebee, Daniel McLeod, B. J. Jones, Guadalupe Gonzales, David P. Mallagh, Basilio Castro, John Patton, A. Albarelli, J. T. Zamorano, Ysidro Balderama, Ysidro Silbas, Jerome A. Limas, John Bains, Albert Mann, Calistro Morales, L. H. Morrison, Capt. John Wilson, F. Laburthe, Enrique Galindo, Feliz Buelna, Jose M. Topete, Manuel Serrano, Selustriano Rojas, Bias Castro, Bentura Lopez, Fernando Martinez, Jose Canet, Francisco Salgado, Ardadio Borgnes, Jesus Olgin, Miguel Herrara, Francisco Huares, Apolonio Cordova, Jose Maria Ordunio, Modesto Carranza, Byron Olney, Lugardo Aguila, Wm. C. Dana, Antonio Paredes, James A. Wright, S. O. Sweet, Francisco Brizzolara, D. D. Blackburn, Pedro Ortega, J. A. Chaves, Antonio Capurro, B. Clement, B. F. Davenport, Alexander Murray, Dr. Ed. Albert, A. Elgutter, Estevan Quintana, Ynocento Garcia, Didelot, W. W. Gilfoyle, James White, F. Wickenden, Charles Pellerier, Benj. Williams, Luis de la Cella, R. Holford, T. W. Slaughter, Nicolo Revello, Chas. W. Dana, Rudolph Selm, Alexander MuUins, Isaac H. Bunce, G. F. Bauer, Reyes Enriquez, Antonio Stanusich, Peter Forrester, Robert Johnson, Chas. Varian, W. J. Graves, John Daley, Oscar Granie, Juan Stanusich, Ygnacio Esquerre, Hypolite Dallidet, Victorino Chavey, C. Dockes, Manuel Vanegas, Wm. Church, Wm. T. Gilkey, V. Mancillas, A. Herrara, C. G. Abbey, Bonifacio Manchego, B. F. Hamilton, John M. Price, Ricardo Durazo, J. Roth, Biceinte La Rey, S. Mora, Julian Garcia, Jose Antonio Garcia, Mariano Lazcano, Sandy Martin, Francisco Garcia, T. Ph. Schring, Augustin Garcia, Jose Carlon, Peter Wm. Williams, P. Z. Taylor, A. P. Hartnell, Angel Barron, Valentin Mancillas, Wm. Snelling, Noracio Carroso, AVm. E. Borland, Gabriel Labot, W. C. Imos, Jas. McNicol, J. M. Martinez.
VIGILANCE SUBSCRIPTION.
Murray $50, Thos. Herrara $50, Alberalli & Co. $100, Pollard $50, Beebee $50, Lafayette $20, Johnson $30, Stone & Barnes $65, Thorpe, M. D. $25, F. Wickenden $30, Davenport $40, Elgutter $20, Alex. Murray $25, Pedro Labat $5, Solano Rodriguez, John Wilson $500, Cash $5, Capt. F. Hilliard $30, Joaq. Estrada $200, F. Z. Branch $300, Letora & Co. $50, Juan Price $50, D. P. Mallagh $22, Horse $37, ditto $26, Brizzolara $50, Stanish $30, Block & Co. $25, Danas $20, Lazcano $50, Domingo Garcia $10, Tabian Dastas $5, Dolores Herrara $10, Ramon Valdez $10, J. H. Hill $10, Simmler & Co. $20, C. F. Roman $20, Limass $50,
Total amount received, $1,525; Disbursements, $1,487; Balance in fund $38.
THE EVIDENCE.
The convictions and executions by the Vigilance Committee were after conclusive evidence had been taken, and supplemented by evidence taken at a later date. The records of the evidence and confessions have been preserved, and are such as show the most depraved and heartless characters, long series of crimes and contempt of law, and leave no doubt of guilt that could be expiated only by death and eternal punishment.
MURDER OF THE BASQUE FRENCHMAN.
Testimony in this case was taken by Jose Maria Munoz, County Judge; W. J. Graves, Notary Public, and J. J. Simmler and James White, Justices of the Peace.
Francois Abadie testified that he was in the employment of Pedro Obiesa and M. Graciano, two men natives of the Basque Provinces of southern France, and known as the Basque Frenchmen, and was driving catde for them in November, 1857. He related the circumstance of their receiving some cattle in a suspicious manner near Paso de Robles, and afterwards the disappearance of the two Basques. These men he had never seen again alive, but at the time of his deposition, in December, 1857, recognized the remains of Graciano, one of them, having a bullet hole in the head. After this Nieves Robles was arrested, and recognized by Abadie as one of the men who had sold the cattle.
Jesus Zamorano testified to robberies and murder in which Nieves Robles had participated in San Mateo County in 1852 and 1853.
Juan Herrada testified, confirming the previous witness, and told of Jack Powers, Pio, Linares, the Huero Rafael, Nieves Robles, Jose Antonio Garcia, and Eduviquez following the Basques.
Nieves Robles confessed his crimes, and stated the agreement with Powers and the others to murder the Basque Frenchmen, and detailed the manner of the murder as told him by Linares, who, with the Huero Rafael, had committed the deed. This confession was made and sworn to before W. J. Graves, Notary Public, June 28, 1858.
Jose Antonio Garcia confessed to participating in the spoils of the murder, but was horrified upon being shown the dead bodies, and fled to his home in Santa Barbara.
Robles had been tried for this murder and acquitted by a jury in the court of San Luis Obispo. One of the jury was one of the murderers, and another was a fugitive under the charge of murder. Mr. Murray, in his account of the Vigilance Committee, has related the main facts of the murders on the San Juan, in the eastern part of
304 HISTORY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY.
the county, extended particulars of which are given in the depositions and confessions taken at the trials, confirming all his statements, and justifying all the acts of the Vigilance Committee.
LOS ANGELES ORGANIZATION. 489
THE SAN GABRIEL AFFAIR.
Two men left the steamer Savannah at San Diego, on its way up the coast, for the purchase of cattle, having considerable sums of money with them. When camped near the San Gabriel River, they were murdered by Zavaleta and another native, the murderers making their way to Santa Barbara, where they commenced spending money very freely among the lowest houses. A copy of the Los Angeles Star, giving a description of the murderers, was brought into town, and they were recognized and arrested by a number of citizens acting with the Sheriff, Valentine Hearne. It is said that the Americans were more than willing to assist in arresting criminals, provided they were Mexicans, while the natives themselves were considerable less than willing to arrest their own countrymen accused of crime. After the arrest, without a warrant, and, perhaps, on what then seemed insufficient evidence, the chief families, among whom was Captain Noriega, protested against the summary treatment of the men. Serious ill-feeling resulted between the law-and-order party, as the natives and their American friends called themselves, and the boys on the other part. A mounted guard of twenty-five men was made up to accompany the men back to Los Angeles, among whom were the following persons, Henry Carnes being the Commander: John Bowers[John Powers], P. H. Dun[ne], John Dun[ne], John Scollan, Thomas Ganon, Valentine Hearne, Carter, John Robinson, John Vidal, Theodore McCarty, Thomas Martin, Theodore Smith, and Geo. D. Fisher. [ ]
[Charles Frernald was appointed Aug. 9th, to fill Herne's term. Twist was, elected Nov. 2, 1852. Mason, p.82. Mason overlooks his own work here.]
[If one replaces John Vidal with John Powers here as the party that acquired the property this account would at least be in conformity with the at least four news articles about the incident.] See: Los Angeles Star, Number 52, 7 May 1853, p.2,col.2, Bloody Affray in Santa Barbara — Deplorable State of Affairs., Daily Alta California, Volume 4, Number 126, 7 May 1853, p.2, col.1, FROM SAN DIEGO AND LOS ANGELES., Los Angeles Star, Number 3, 28 May 1853, p.2,col.2, From Santa Barbara., Daily Alta California, Volume 4, Number 126, 7 May 1853, p.2, col.1, FROM SAN DIEGO AND LOS ANGELES, Daily Alta California, Volume 4, Number 143, 24 May 1853, p.2,col.3 FROM SAN DIEGO. and Daily Alta California, Volume 4, Number 158, 8 June 1853, p.2 col.2; The Riot In Santa Barbara, Full Particulars of the Affray — Statement of the Sheriff
The American population were not always disposed to acquiesce in the large land holdings of the natives, and of the Americans who had intermarried among them. John Vidal, a member of Carnes' Company, of the Stevenson Regiment, was one of the dissatisfied. He bad rented for a time a tract of land on the Arroyo Burro, a small creek which runs into the ocean, west of Santa Barbara. When the lease expired he claimed the land under the preemption laws as Government land. Suit was brought in the proper courts, and the title adjudged to rest in Dr. Den, of whom Vidal had rented. The Sheriff (Twist) was ordered by the courts to oust Vidal and put Den in possession. Vidal was known to have many friends among the gamblers, who often numbered a score or more, among whom was the, even then, notorious Jack Powers, and the matter of dis-
83 NEW ALLEGIANCE.
the posse comilatus. and an hour set for the departure of the army the next morning. A surgeon (Dr. BriiikerhofT) was employed to accompany the force. The party was to assemble at the Egerea House, then used as a Court House, at 9 o'clock. A small cannon was on the plaza, to be taken and used if necessary in knocking down the fortifications. Before the party had assembled Vidal and some of his companions came riding up as if to commence the fight there. Old residents differ materially as to the incidents. Some say that Vidal had come to avert the war or aflfect a compromise; that he stayed in town all night to answer a summons if need be; while others say that his whole party had come out from the fort that morning with the intention of capturing the cannon and thus break up the proposed attack. As Vidal came riding up, two men, one called "Little Mickey," and the other a short, swarthy Spaniard almost covered with a serape, lassoed the cannon and commenced to drag it away. It is said that Mickey was drunk, and that this part of the affair was mere fun or bravado on his part. Whatever it might be, Twist fired upon them, and firing immediately became general. Vidal was shot, by whom is unknown, but he fell ft-om his horse near where Rhynerson's Mills are. The swarthy man in the serape drew a long knife from his belt and rushed at Twist, and apparently plunged the knife through him. The knife was turned by a rib and the wound did not prove dangerous. Twist, however, shot his assailant dead. A running fight ensued for a few minutes, without any more serious casualties. Vidal lived fourteen days, without being able to speak, attended by Dr. Brinkerhoff. He had a ring on his finger, which he was evidently anxious to leave to some one, but he was never able to say to whom and it was buried with him. Vidal was much the best of the party, and seems to have been almost forced into the affair by his companions. He was a Justice of the Peace at the time of his death, and had been Associate Justice with Joaquin Carrillo. In a well-settled community he would undoubtedly have been a valuable citizen. Twist soon recovered.
The affair caused a great deal of excitement, and there was serious talk of driving out the whole gang of "hounds," as they were sometimes called. The slightest affair would now have produced a bitter and relentless war between the Powers crowd and the de la Guerra party. Pablo de la Guerra went to the fort the next day with a flag of truce, and induced Powers and the others who were with him to submit to the legal authorities, and the affair ended, though, by the advice of the de la Guerras, the citizens of Santa Barbara generally remained in their houses the following evening. The next morning a ship-of-war was found anchored in the offing, having sailed from Monterey the day before to enforce order if necessary.
GAMBLING.
The discovery of gold and its easy acquisition, by almost every one, made a harvest for gamblers. It is said that every one gambled. This was not quite true; but a stranger looking through the town would think that it was the principal business of the inhabitants. This was not true of Santa Barbara more than other California towns. From Siskiyou to San Diego, the abundance of gold had the same effect, to demoralize man, and make him seek fortune by chance, rather than hard work. Mining itself, is, or was, a kind of gambling. No amount of experience would insure one against ill-luck, and sometimes the greenest boy would •• strike it rich." A few days' work in the mines sometimes resulted in acquiring thousands of dollars. Would not a successful run on a monte bank do the same? So those who were constitutionally disinclined to work, would risk dollars in the hope of making their thousands. Gold was seen everywhere in glittering piles, to tempt the weak. Men gambled then, who have since sat high in the councils of the nation. Merchants, who in the East would as soon have stolen money, as gamble for it, would first risk a quarter on a card for fun, then a dollar to see how their luck run, and in a little while were as keen gamblers as though they had run on a Mississippi steamer for years. Preachers, finding their profession at a discount, would lay aside their prayers and deal a monte game. The lawyer without briefs thought gambling a brief way to fortune. The ranchero, who spent a dull life among his herds liked the excitement, and so nearly all gambled more or less. Gold lay in thousands upon the table, and the reckless and thoughtless helped to swell the piles to a greater size. Strange theories were in circulation about the chances of winning. The theory of chances by a mathematician and an enthusiastic votary of the card-table would not harmonize. A favorite rule was, double your bet every time you lose and you are certain to get your money back and eventually break the bank. This is true; but the certainty of breaking, even a small bank
84 HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
"Late one night I was accosted by a man by the name of , who asked me for twenty dollars. I at first refused, but he begged so hard I let him have it. The next day he came to me and returned the money saying, that he had won six thousand dollars and entirely cleaned out the bank," (meaning the monte bank).
The gambler with his " store clothes," and high-toned style, was the envy of the men and the admiration of the women. Colton says of them they first seek a mistress and then a horse. All kinds of crime followed in the wake of gambling. Prostitution, drunkenness, robbery, and murder seemed but the legitimate fruits of the gambling saloon. It was said of the profession that no man could take another's money without a consideration any length of time, without preparing himself for the halter.
FROM GAMBLING TO HIGHWAY ROBBERY.
Soon after the discovery of gold it became apparent that a new era of crime as well as of money was inaugurated. The southern portion of the State was traversed by cattle buyers who carried as high as $50,000 at a time. Many of these traveling south from San Jose were never seen again, or if seen were recognized by shreds of clothing when the winter rains should expose their decaying skeletons.
SOLOMON PICO'S GANG.
This band flourished in the early fifties, and in its best days numbered forty or more, composed mostly, if not entirely, of Californians or Mexicans. The leader or principal was Solomon Pico, a cousin of Andres and Pio Pico; so that he had the prestige of aristocratic blood. The headquarters of the gang for a long time were the Los Alimos and Purissima Ranchos. Though driving and trading in stock was the ostensible object of the company, it soon became apparent that the robbery of men, who came to the southern part of the State to purchase cattle, was the most flourishing part of their business. Many parties of two or three in number with saddle bags well filled with gold coin, were never heard of after passing San Luis Obispo; and in subsequent years, numbers of human skeletons found in out-of-the-way places with the ominous bullet hole in the skull, told the story of violence in a former day, and accounted for the mysterious disappearance of so many cattle traders. Their victims were mostly Americans whom the native population felt were natural enemies, and thus the crimes which they committed were never divulged, or if brought to trial, resulted in an acquittal, for blood was thick, and to testify against one's countryman, when an American or Gringo was the prosecutor, was something that few, who boasted of Castilian blood, would be guilty of, and thus none of the gang were ever convicted. They generally avoided contests with county oflicials, who, perhaps, with a prudent regard for consequences, were quite as willing to let the banditti alone.
He was considered the best rider in the State. In a match at San Jose2 he rode 150 miles in six hours,
1 The reader may wonder that the two classes are thus mentioned together, but he may feel assured that the moral worth of either one was nothing to speak of.
2 The race was held at the Pioneer Racecourse just south of Mission Dolores in 1858. See
86 HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
MURDER OP THE BASQUES.
Two brothers, who were Frenchmen (Basques), had bought a drove of cattle in Ventura County, and passing through Santa Barbara on their way north, attracted the attention of Powers' gang, and were attacked by some of the party under the leadership of Powers. By some means the attack was not planned with Powers' usual skill, for he found him- self in a desperate hand-to-hand conflict. A shot from one of the brothers passed through his leg, through a portion of the saddle, and killing the horse which he rode, which was a fine black charger, belonging to Miguel de la Guerra, of the San Julian Raneho. The Basques were killed and the cattle driven by Powers' band into the San Joaquin Valley and sold. Notwithstanding Powers' wound, he was in San Francisco the same night, when a circus proprietor, who was a great admirer of Powers for his horsemanship, procured a schooner and sent him to Cape St. Lucas, where he remained until his leg was healed.'*'
could he trace the report to any reliable source.
[This voyage is a garbled ripoff of the escape of Powers in 1858 to Guaymas, reported in the Daily Alta California in Aug. 1858.]
instructions, as before, to shoot both Powers and Dunn, if any attempt to rescue him was made. Russel Heath, the Sheriff, assured him that in case any attempt was made, that he, Powers, would be the first to fall. Powers' friends numbered about forty, as was supposed, so the fight was likely to be serious if it once commenced. The men followed the van containing the prisoner, from the jail to the boat, where he was put on by means of a lighter. Powers and his friends, to the number of thirty, were on the beach on horseback, but the transfer was effected without any interruption.
To add to the difficulties of maintaining law and order, a strong and active element among the Americans practically denied the authority of any officer, American or native. Jack Powers and his crowd, together with the Dunns, would have been troublesome customers even in the older States, where law and order were crystalized into custom. The daring and recklessness of such men begat a kind of admiration among the people, which, while it could not be considered esteem, was not wholly the result of fear, but was rather the respect paid to power. It must not be thought of Santa Barbara that that place alone had hero worshipers of that kind. The respect and sympathy for the James Brothers, in Missouri, one of the oldest settled States in the Union, are more deplorable than the actions of the "hounds" in Santa Barbara. In the first case the admiration for the men extended, in some degree, all over the Union; in the latter case the demoralization was but small in comparison, and, to some extent, excusable in a country just emerging from the chaos incident to war. Santa Barbara was no worse than other Californian towns, perhaps not quite so bad as San Francisco, where the hounds had several "runs."
In the election of 1853, the roughs laid a plan to capture the whole Legislative and other officers by petting the watches and clocks around the town back, so as to organize the election boards with their own men as officers. They succeeded so well, that there were two sets of officers returned as elected. The Legislature at the capital recognized the law and order officers.
The elections generally went Democratic. Huse was, however, a Whig, and oftentimes received the entire Democratic vote, the highest compliment that could be paid him.
them; desired counsel, and was taken to the office of Eugene Lies, who undertook his defense. Lies asked that a writ of habeas corpus might issue to bring out any evidence which existed against him. Mr. Lies asked that Power should be left with him in his office for a short time, agreeing to be responsible for his appearance. In the course of the evening, however, he left without notice. The Sheriff blamed Lies for the escape, and he, in turn, laid the blame on Power, who had given his word not to attempt an escape. Many persons thought that the whole affair was irregular; that a Sheriff should put a person charged with a criminal offense into the custody of a lawyer, and that a lawyer should take his word not to escape, was bad practice. It was believed that Power was concealed in the town, and the Gazzette, as it had often done before, appealed to the citizens not to harbor criminals. An ex parte hearing of the matter was had before Judge Fernald, who decided that there was sufficient ground for detaining Power. Lies inserted the following notice in the Gazette: —
hung on Fort Hill, with others of the gang. In this case, as in the Las Cruces' affair, the native Californians cooperated with the Americans in exterminating the bands of murderers, thus helping to secure protection for life and property and bring about a good feeling between the different races.
THE SAN GABRIEL AFFAIR.
Two men left the steamer Savannah at San Diego, on its way up the coast, for the purchase of cattle, having considerable sums of money with them. When camped near the San Gabriel River, they were murdered by Zavaleta and another native, the murderers making their way to Santa Barbara, where they commenced spending money very freely among the lowest houses. A copy of the Los Angeles Star, giving a description of the murderers, was brought into town, and they were recognized and arrested by a number of citizens acting with the Sheriff, Valentine Hearne. It is said that the Amer- icans were more than willing to assist in arresting criminals, provided they were Mexicans, while the natives themselves were considerable less than will- ing to arrest their own countrymen accused of crime. After the arrest, without a warrant, and, perhaps, on what then seemed insufficient evidence, the chief families, among whom was Captain Noriega, pro- tested against the summary treatment of the men. Serious ill-feeling resulted between the law-and-order party, as the natives and their American friends called themselves, and the hoys on the other part. A mounted guard of twenty-five men was made up to accompany the men Sack to Los Angeles', among whom were the following persons, Henry Carnes being the Commander: John Bowers[John Powers], P. H. Dun[n], John Dun[n], John Seollan, Thomas Ganon, Valentine Hearne, Carter, John Robinson, John Vidal, Theodore McCarty, Thomas Martin, Theodore Smith, and Geo. D. Fisher.
Santa Barbara for horses, with threats of retaliation if the horses were not forthcoming. The horses were furnished. (See account of the proceedings on the bills in Court of Sessions, October 11th.) The men confessed the murder, even to the details, and pointed out the place where the bodies were buried. The people of the town (Los Angeles) took the men to Castle Hill and hung them, the guard of twenty- five staying until the work was done. Hearne was Sheriff, and his part of the transaction not pleasing Dr. Den and the de la Guerras, who were his prin- cipal sureties, they withdrew from his bonds, thus forcing him to resign. W. W. Twist, a native of Nova Scotia, and, as some say, not a citizen, was appointed to succeed Hearne.
The American population were not always dis- posed to acquiesce in the large land holdings of the natives, and of the Americans who had intermarried among them. John Vidal, a member of Carnes' Company, of the Stevenson Regiment, was one of the dissatisfied. He bad rented for a time a tract of land on the Arroyo Burro, a small creek which runs into the ocean, west of Santa Barbara. When the lease expired he claimed the land under the pre- emption laws as Government land. Suit was brought in the proper courts, and the title adjudged to rest in Dr. Den, of whom Vidal had rented. The Sheriff (Twist) was ordered by the courts to oust Vidal and put Den in possession. Vidal was known to have many friends among the gamblers, who often num- bered a score or more, among whom was the, even then, notorious Jack Powers, and the matter of dis-
83 NEW ALLEGIANCE.
possessing Vidat was considered hazardous. Wiicthcr wisol)- or not, Twist called out a posse comilatus to execute the writ of ejectment. The people bejuan to take sides as thej' ftivored the gamblers or the law-and-order, or respectable party. Vidal's friends gathered t<i the place in dispute and fortified it, wiih the determination of holding the ground at all Iimz- ards. It is said by some of the partisans of Vidal that the presence of his friends at the Arroyo Burro was merely friendly; that no resistance to the law was contemplated. Some 200 men wore enlisted in the posse comilatus. and an hour set for the departure of the army the next morning. A surgeon (Dr. BriiikerhofT) was emploj-ed to accompanj' the force. The party was to assemble at the Egerea House, then used as a Court House, at 9 o'clock. A small cannon was on the plaza, to be taken and used if necessary in knocking down the fortifications. Before the party had assembled Vidal and some of his com- panions came riding up as if to commence the fight there. Old residents differ materially as to the inci- dents. Some say that Vidal had come to avert the war or aflfect a compromise; that he stayed in town all night to answer a summons if need be; while others say that his whole party had come out from the fort that morning with the intention of captur- ing the cannon and thus break up the proposed attack. As Vidal came riding up, two men, one called " Little Mickey," and the other a short, swarthy Spaniard almo.st covered with a serape, las- soed the cannon and commenced to drag it away. It is said that Mickey was drunk, and that this part of the affair was mere fun or bravado on his part. Whatever it might be, Twist fired upon them, and firing immediately became general. Vidal was shot, by whom is unknown, but he fell ft-om his horse near where Rhynerson's Mills are. The swarthy man in the serape drew a long knife from his belt and rushed at Twist, and apparently plunged the knife thi-ough him. The knife was turned by a rib and the wound did not prove dangerous. Twist, however, shot his assailant dead. A running fight ensued for a few minutes, without any more seri- ous casualties. Vidal lived fourteen days, without being able to speak, attended by Dr. Brinkerhoff. He had a ring on his finger, which he was evidently anxious to leave to some one, but he was never able to say to whom and it was buried with him. Vidal was much the best of the party, and seems to have been almost forced into the affair by his companions. He was a Justice of the Peace at the time of his death, and had been Associate Justice with Joaquin Carrillo. In a well-settled community he would undoubtedly have been a valuable citizen. Twist soon recovered.
The affair caused a great deal of excitement, and there was serious talk of driving out the whole gang of " hounds," as they were sometimes called. The slightest affair would now have produced a bitter and relentless war between the Powers crowd and the de la Guerra party. Pablo de la Guerra went to the fort the next day with a flag of truce, and induced Powers and the others who were with him to submit to the legal authorities, and the affair ended, though, by the advice of the de la Guerras, the citizens of Santa Barbara generally remained in their houses the following evening. The next morning a ship-of- war was found anchored in the offing, having sailed from Monterey the day before to enforce order if necessary.
GAMBLING.
The discovery of gold and its easy acquisition, by almost every one, made a harvest for gamblers. It is said that every one gambled. This was not quite true; but a stranger looking through the town would think that it was the principal business of the inhabitants. This was not true of Santa Barbara more than other California towns. From Siskiyou to San Diego, the abundance of gold had the same effect, to demoralize man, and make him seek fortune by chance, rather than hard work. Mining itself, is, or was, a kind of gambling. No amount of experience would insure one against ill-luck, and sometimes the greenest boy would •• strike it rich." A few days' work in the mines sometimes resulted in acquiring thousands of dollars. Would not a successful run on a monte bank do the same? So those who were constitutionally disinclined to work, would risk dol- lars in the hope of making their thousands. Gold was seen everywhere in glittering piles, to tempt the weak. Men gambled then, who have since sat high in the councils of the nation. Merchants, who in the East would as soon have stolen money, as gamble for it, would first risk a quarter on a card for fun, then a dollar to see how their luck run, and in a little while were as keen gamblers as though they had run on a Mississippi steamer for years. Preachers, find- ing their profession at a discount, would lay aside their prayers and deal a monte game. The lawyer without briefs thought gambling a brief way to fort- une. The ranchero, who spent a dull life among his herds liked the excitement, and so nearly all gambled more or less. Gold lay in thousands upon the table, and the reckless and thoughtless helped to swell the piles to a greater size. Strange theories were in circulation about the chances of winning. The theory of chances by a mathematician and an enthusiastic votary of the card-table would not har- monize. A favorite rule was, double your bet every time you lose and you are certain to get your money back and eventually break the bank. This is true; but the certainty of breaking, even a small bank.
84 HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
has been known to win or lose twenty-five bets in succession without a change of luck. What if that number of bets should go against a man. Doctor Brinkerhoflf relates in his notes an incident of the kind illustrating the mutation of fortunes.
"Late one night I was accosted by a man by the name of , who asked me for twenty dollars. I at first refused, but he begged so hard I let him have it. The next day he came to me and returned the money saying, that he had won six thousand dollars and entirely cleaned out the bank," (meaning the monte bank).
The gambler with his " store clothes," and high- toned style, was the envy of the men and the admi- ration of the women. Colton says of them they first seek a mistress and then a horse. All kinds of crime followed in the wake of gambling. Prostitution, drunkenness, robbery, and murder seemed but the legitimate fruits of the gambling saloon. It was said of the profession that no man could take another's money without a consideration any length of time, without preparing himself for the halter.
FROM GAMBLING TO HIGHWAY ROBBERY.
Soon after the discovery of gold it became appar- ent that a new era of crime as well as of money was inaugurated. The southern portion of the State was traversed by cattle buyers who carried as high as $50,000 at a time. Many of these traveling south from San Jose were never seen again, or if seen were recognized by shreds of clothing when the winter rains should expose their decaying skeletons.
SOLOMON PICO'S GANG.
This band flourished in the early fifties, and in its best days numbered forty or more, composed mostly, if not entirely, of Californians or Mexicans. The leader or principal was Solomon Pico, a cousin of Andres and Pio Pico; so that he had the prestige of aristocratic blood. The headquarters of the gang for a long time were the Los Alimos and Purissima Eanchos. Though driving and trading in stock was the ostensible object of the company, it soon became apparent that the robbery of men, who came to the southern part of the State to purchase cattle, was the most flourishing part of their business. Many parties of two or three in number with saddle bags well filled with gold coin, were never heard of after passing San Luis Obispo; and in subsequent years, numbers of human skeletons found in out-of-the-way places with the ominous bullet hole in the skull, told the story of violence in a former day, and accounted for the mysterious disajipearance of so many cattle trad- ers. Their victims were mostly Amei'icans whom the native population felt were natural enemies, and thus the crimes which they committed were never divulged, or if brought to trial, resulted in an ac- quittal, for blood was thick, and to testify against one's countryman, when an American or Gringo was the prosecutor, was something that few, who boasted of Castilian blood, would be guilty of, and thus none of the gang were ever convicted. They generally avoided contests with county oflicials, who, perhaps, with a prudent regard for consequences, were quite as willing to let the banditti alone.
He was considered the best rider in the State. In a match at San Jose he rode 150 miles in six hours,
86 HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
MURDER OP THE BASQUES.
Two brothers, who were Frenchmen (Basques), had bought a drove of cattle in Ventura County, and passing through Santa Barbara on their way north, attracted the attention of Powers' gang, and were attacked by some of the party under the leadership of Powers. By some means the attack was not planned with Powers' usual skill, for he found him- self in a desperate hand-to-hand conflict. A shot from one of the brothers passed through his leg, through a portion of the saddle, and killing the horse which he rode, which was a fine black charger, belonging to Miguel de la Guerra, of the San Julian Raneho. The Basques were killed and the cattle driven by Powers' band into the San Joaquin Valley and sold. Notwithstanding Powers' wound, he was in San Francisco the same night, when a circus proprietor, who was a great admirer of Powers for his horsemanship, procured a schooner and sent him to Cape St. Lucas, where he remained until his leg was healed.'*'
could he trace the report to any reliable source.
[This voyage is a garbled ripoff of the escape of Powers in 1858 to Guaymas, reported in the Daily Alta California in Aug. 1858.]
instructions, as before, to shoot both Powers and Dunn, if any attempt to rescue him was made. Russel Heath, the Sheriff, assured him that in case any attempt was made, that he, Powers, would be the first to fall. Powers' friends numbered about forty, as was supposed, so the fight was likely to be serious if it once commenced. The men followed the van containing the prisoner, from the jail to the boat, where he was put on by means of a lighter. Powers and his friends, to the number of thirty, were on the beach on horseback, but the transfer was effected without any interruption.
To add to the difficulties of maintaining law and order, a strong and active element among the Americans practically denied the authority of any officer, American or native. Jack Powers and his crowd, together with the Dunns, would have been troublesome customers even in the older States, where law and order were crystalized into custom. The daring and recklessness of such men begat a kind of admiration among the people, which, while it could not be considered esteem, was not wholly the result of fear, but was rather the respect paid to power. It must not be thought of Santa Barbara that that place alone had hero worshipers of that kind. The respect and sympathy for the James Brothers, in Missouri, one of the oldest settled States in the Union, are more deplorable than the actions of the "hounds" in Santa Barbara. In the first case the admiration for the men extended, in some degree, all over the Union; in the latter case the demoralization was but small in comparison, and, to some extent, excusable in a country just emerging from the chaos incident to war. Santa Barbara was no worse than other Californian towns, perhaps not quite so bad as San Francisco, where the hounds had several "runs."
In the election of 1853, the roughs laid a plan to capture the whole Legislative and other officers by petting the watches and clocks around the town back, so as to organize the election boards with their own men as officers. They succeeded so well, that there were two sets of officers returned as elected. The Legislature at the capital recognized the law and order officers.
The elections generally went Democratic. Huse was, however, a Whig, and oftentimes received the entire Democratic vote, the highest compliment that could be paid him.
them; desired counsel, and was taken to the office of Eugene Lies, who undertook his defense. Lies asked that a writ of habeas corpus might issue to bring out any evidence which existed against him. Mr. Lies asked that Power should be left with him in his office for a short time, agreeing to be responsible for his appearance. In the course of the evening, however, he left without notice. The Sheriff blamed Lies for the escape, and he, in turn, laid the blame on Power, who had given his word not to attempt an escape. Many persons thought that the whole affair was irregular; that a Sheriff should put a person charged with a criminal offense into the custody of a lawyer, and that a lawyer should take his word not to escape, was bad practice. It was believed that Power was concealed in the town, and the Gazzette, as it had often done before, appealed to the citizens not to harbor criminals. An ex parte hearing of the matter was had before Judge Fernald, who decided that there was sufficient ground for detaining Power. Lies inserted the following notice in the Gazette: —
hung on Fort Hill, with others of the gang. In this case, as in the Las Cruces' affair, the native Californians cooperated with the Americans in exterminating the bands of murderers, thus helping to secure protection for life and property and bring about a good feeling between the different races.
...
Thomas Herrara. N. Amos, J. J. Simmler, Thos. R. Thorp, Leonardo Lopez, Ramon Baldez, J. A. dc la Guerra, Pedro Ruperez, Trinidad Becerro, John
User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Walter Murray
Walter Murray was born in Gloucestershire, England in 1826. Apprenticed to a lawyer, he was sent to America in 1842; by 1846 he was living in New York, where he learned of the California Volunteers, a regiment commanded by Col. Jonathan D. Stevenson of New York. The regiment was intended to serve in the Mexican War with the understanding that, following the American possession of California, the Volunteers would be discharged and provided with settlements in the newly obtained land. Murray’s company was one of the few to see actual battle, as most of Stevenson’s Regiment arrived in California too late to take part in military service. Following his duties with the Volunteers, Murray tried his hand at mining gold in Sonora and, finding it unsuitable, made his living providing miners with supplies from San Francisco. Murray also established and published the Sonora Herald. Having married, Murray moved to San Luis Obispo, where he studied law, served as a Justice of the Peace, and published the San Luis Obispo Tribune. At the time of his death in 1875, Murray was the District Judge of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties.
By Rachel St. John
---
---
--- p.57
--- p.58
---
p.285
--- p.286
--- p.82-84
if the horses were not forthcoming. The horses were furnished. (See account of the proceedings on the bills in Court of Sessions, October 11th.) The men confessed the murder, even to the details, and pointed out the place where the bodies were buried. The people of the town (Los Angeles) took the men to Castle Hill and hung them, the guard of twenty-five staying until the work was done. Hearne was Sheriff, and his part of the transaction not pleasing Dr. Den and the de la Guerras, who were his principal sureties, they withdrew from his bonds, thus forcing him to resign. W. W. Twist, a native of Nova Scotia, and, as some say, not a citizen, was appointed to succeed Hearne.
---
wisol)- or not, Twist called out a posse comitatus to execute the writ of ejectment. The people bejuan to take sides as thej' ftivored the gamblers or the law-and-order, or respectable party. Vidal's friends gathered t<i the place in dispute and fortified it, wiih the determination of holding the ground at all Iimz- ards. It is said by some of the partisans of Vidal that the presence of his friends at the Arroyo Burro was merely friendly; that no resistance to the law was contemplated. Some 200 men wore enlisted in the posse comilatus. and an hour set for the departure of the army the next morning. A surgeon (Dr. Brinkerhoff) was employed to accompany the force. The party was to assemble at the Egerea House, then used as a Court House, at 9 o'clock. A small cannon was on the plaza, to be taken and used if necessary in knocking down the fortifications. Before the party had assembled Vidal and some of his com- panions came riding up as if to commence the fight there. Old residents differ materially as to the inci- dents. Some say that Vidal had come to avert the war or affect a compromise; that he stayed in town all night to answer a summons if need be; while others say that his whole party had come out from the fort that morning with the intention of captur- ing the cannon and thus break up the proposed attack. As Vidal came riding up, two men, one called " Little Mickey," and the other a short, swarthy Spaniard almost covered with a serape, las- soed the cannon and commenced to drag it away. It is said that Mickey was drunk, and that this part of the affair was mere fun or bravado on his part. Whatever it might be, Twist fired upon them, and firing immediately became general. Vidal was shot, by whom is unknown, but he fell ft-om his horse near where Rhynerson's Mills are. The swarthy man in the serape drew a long knife from his belt and rushed at Twist, and apparently plunged the knife through him. The knife was turned by a rib and the wound did not prove dangerous. Twist, however, shot his assailant dead. A running fight ensued for a few minutes, without any more seri- ous casualties. Vidal lived fourteen days, without being able to speak, attended by Dr. Brinkerhoff. He had a ring on his finger, which he was evidently anxious to leave to some one, but he was never able to say to whom and it was buried with him. Vidal was much the best of the party, and seems to have been almost forced into the affair bj' his companions. He was a Justice of the Peace at the time of his death, and had been Associate Justice with Joaquin Carrillo. In a well-settled community he would undoubtedly have been a valuable citizen. Twist soon recovered.
there was serious talk of driving out the whole gang of "hounds," as they were sometimes called. The slightest affair would now have produced a bitter and Powi .w(| and tl relentless war betwi la Guerra party. Pablo ih- la (^utim wont to tiie fort the next da\' with a flag of truce, and induced Powers and the others who were with him to submit to the legal authorities, and the affair ended, though, by I he advice of the de la Guerras, the citizens of Santa Barbara generally remained in their houses till' following evening. The next morning a ship-of- war was found anchored in the offing, having sailed from Monterey the day before to enforce order if necessary.
public ground, but the courts were undoubtedly cor- rect in deciding that Vidal was a naked trespasser, the adverse party having had peaceable possession for years, a fact acknowledged by Vidal in the pay- ment of rent for it.
---
p.85
of the remnants were gathered up by Jack Powers, who became one of the most successful and noted bandits of the time. He belonged originally to Ste- venson's Regiment, Company F, commanded by Captain Lippett, and was said to have been a man of considerable character and standing when ho was enlisted into the regiment. Shortly after being mus- tered out he commenced his career as a gambler, making it a decided success. It is reported that he was at one time in possession of a quarter of a million in coin, but this is probably untrue. His first opera- tions were in San Francisco, where he made many friends among the sporting men and politicians of the time.* He made his appearance in Santa Bar- bara in an early day, and managed, as the phrase goes, to "pretty much run tho town" for a while; at least he exerted an influence which was greater than that of any other man. Looking back thirty years from our present stand-point of security for life and property, it seems astonishing that one man, or even a few men, should overawe a communitj- and prevent the efl'ective operations of the courts. There were many.waj-s in which it could be done. Witnesses to a crime were hurried out of a country, or kept mute with the certainty of a desperate quarrel if they testi- fied to the facts. A solitary juryman in the interest of a criminal can hang a jury and render a conviction impossible. Lawj-ers, able ones, can be found to shut their eyes at perjury, or even approve of it, and make an effective defense on known false testimony.
a match at San Jose he rode 150 miles in six hours,
but he may feel assured that the moral worth of either cUsa was nothing to speak of.
---
86 HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
gray mule which would carry him 100 miles in twelve hours. He was in Santa Barbara within ten hours after a robbery committed near San Luis Obispo. The number of his robberies is unknown. He continued his career for nearly four years, his operations extending from San Diego to San Jose. Like the banditti of Italy or Greece, he robbed only those who were strangers to the country, spent his money freely, and kept on the good side of the people. His operations were so shrewdly conducted that for years many people believed that he was a persecuted and slandered man.
---
had bought a drove of cattle in Ventura County, and passing through Santa Barbara on their way north, attracted the attention of Powers' gang, and were attacked by some of the party under the leadership of Poweirs. By some means the attack was not planned with Powers usual skill, for he found him- self in a desperate hand-to-hand conflict. A shot from one of the brothers passed through his leg, through a portion of the saddle, and killing the horse which he rode, which was a fine black charger, belonging to Miguel de la Guerra, of the San Julian Raneho. The Basques were killed and the cattle driven by Powers' band into the San Joaquin Valley and sold. Notwithstanding Powers' wound, he was in San Francisco the same night, when a circus pro- prietor, who was a great admirer of Powers for his horsemanship, procured a schooner and sent him to Cape St. Lucas, where he remained until his leg was healed."*
Gabriel murder, was about to be hung, he expressed a desire to be executed in a new suit of clothes. Jack Powers, who was present, ordered a suit in accordance with the wishes of the condemned, and enabled him to make his exit with the dignity and decency of a Castilian.
named Alisal, was to be hung for murder. »While the sentence was pending, a petition was sent to the Governor to have the sentence commuted to impris- onment for life. The day for execution having arrived, and no order for a mitigation of the sentence having been received, the Sheriff proceeded to perform his duty. When the Indian was about to be hung. Jack Povvers moved a stay of proceedings on the ground that the commutation of the sentence was probably on the steamer which was then overdue. A vote of the spectators was taken and the hanging
Santa Barbara the same night, that Dr. Brinkerhoff privately attended him: but the writer found nothing in Dr. Brinkerhoff's notes respecting it, neither could he trace the report to anyyrellable source.
---
postponed. The expected paper was on the steamer, so the Indian, instead of being hung, was subjected to imprisonment for life. Twist was much blamed for this, and his sureties withdrew from his bonds, compelling Twist to resign, when Brinkerhoff, by virtue of being Coroner, became Sheriff, a position he held until Russel Heath was elected.
PLAN TO RESCUE DUNN.
As Patrick Dunn was fbr years a prominent citizen of Santa Barbara, the following bit of biography from the Arizona Miner, of May 23, 1866, will be of interest: —
1825. At an early age he learned the trade of a printer, principally, we believe, in the office of the New York Repress. Subsequently he was connected with Mike Walsh's celebrated paper, the Subterranean, and at one time was the editor of it. He reached California in a whaling vessel in 1846, and ran away from the vessel, taking refuge in Sonoma County, where among the first persons he met was Theodore Boggs, now of Prescott, a son of ex-Governor Boggs of Missouri. Mr. Dunn was one of several daring men who went to the rescue of the Donner party of emigrants from the East, who were snowed in near the Sierra Nevadas, in 1847. At that time his feet were severely frosted, and he suffered more or less from them to the day of his death. We believe that Mr. Dunn worked as a printer in California, and once published a paper in Sonoma. He came to Sonora, Arizona, in 1857, and settled at Tucson, where, for a time, he edited the Arizonian, a paper printed for a year or two, in the interest of the Cerro Colorado and Santa Rita Mining Companies. As may be said of most men who have lived in Arizona, he had sev- eral desperate fights with the Apaches. In one, at Cook's Cañon, on the Messilla road, he was severely wounded. Mr. Dunn came to this part of the territory with Jack Swilling, in May, 1863. After remaining here for some time, working in the placers, and acquiring an interest in the Chase Mine, he returned to Tucson, and has since, excepting an occasional absence in California, remained there. He was elected to the Upper House of the first Legislature of the Territory. Upon the resignation of Mr. Hay- den, as Probate Judge of Pima County, he was appointed to his place."
Dunn had the reputation of belonging to Power's gang. He was, when sober, rather companionable, but when in liquor, a fiend, and a man without fear, and reckless to the last extent of personal safety or reputation. He got into a quarrel with a passenger from a steamer, who was said, however, to have been a gambler and rough; one who, like Dunn, always carried his life on the toss of a dime. According to the traditions, the difficulty commenced something like this: —
business."
fell dead at the first fire. The shooting occurred on
---
witnessed by several of the ladies of the family, but such was the dread of incurring the enmity of the gang, that oiilj^ the solemn assurance, by the Court, that they should be protected, induced thom to tes- tify. Dunn was tried for murder, and plead justifiable homicide in self-defense. The trial lasted twenty- one days, and resulted in a disagreement of the jury. He was tried a second time at Los Angeles, with similar results. While the trial was in progress at Santa Barbara, the Sheriff, Judge, and District Attor- ney, each received a warning that they would be killed if they prosecuted the case. Six deputies were privately sworn in, with instructions to instantly shoot Dunn and Powers if any attempt was made to interfere with the proceedings. The cer- tainty of becoming targets for half a dozen revolvers probably kept them quiet.
and, as usual, Dunn "went for" the object of his wrath. He loaded a double-barrelled shot-gun with slugs, and commenced hunting Tom, and, on coming up with him, .snapped both barrels without effect. For this he was arrested, tried, and sentenced to the State's Prison for a term of years. Powers determined to rescue Dunn in his passage from the jail to the boat. Twenty-five men were sworn in as deputies, with instructions, as before, to shoot both Powers and Dunn, if any attempt to rescue him was made. Rus- sel Heath, the Sheriff, assured him that in case any attempt was made, that he, Powers, would be the first to fall. Powers' friends numbered about forty, as was supposed, so the fight was likely to be serious if it once commenced. The men followed the van con- taining the prisoner, from the jail to the boat, where he was put on by means of a lighter. Powers and his friends, to the number of thirty, were on the beach on horseback, but the transfer was effected without any interruption.
The crowds of well-dressed people, who now flock to the steamer to welcome returning friends, or bid adieu to those about leaving, have little idea of the stirring scenes there thirty years since.
Dunn died in Arizona in 18G6. Powers left Cali- fornia about 185(5, and, with most of his gang, went to Mexico, where he soon stocked a ranch with stolen cattle. He was shot in some difficulty with his own men, and was found in hia corral half devoured by hogs.
---
p97 LAWLESS ELEMENT AMONG THE AMERICANS.
To add to the difficulties of maintaining law and order, a strong and active element among the Amer- icans practically denied the authority of any officer, American or native. Jack Powers and his crowd, together with the Dunns, would have been trouble- some customers even in the older States, where law and order were crystalized into custom. The daring and recklessness of such men begat a kind of admir- ation among the people, which, while it could not be considered esteem, was not wholly the result of fear, but was rather the respect paid to power. It must not be thought of Santa Barbara that that place alone had hero worshipers of that Itind. The respect and sympathy for the James Brothers, in Missouri, one of the oldest settled States in the Union, are more deplorable than the actions of the "hounds" in Santa Barbara. In the first case the admiration for the men extended, in some degree, all over the Union; in the latter case the demoralization was but small in comparison, and, to some extent, excusable in a country just emerging from the chaos incident to war. Santa Barbara was no worse than other Cal- ifornian towns, perhaps not quite so bad as San Francisco, where the hounds had several "runs."
In the election of 1853, the roughs laid a plan to capture the whole Legislative and other officers by setting the watches and clocks around the town back, so as to organize the election boards with their own men as officers. They succeeded so well, that there were two sets of officers returned as elected. The Legislature at the capital recognized the law- and order officers.
The elections generally went Democratic. Huse was, however, a Whig, and oftentimes received the entire Democratic vote, the highest compliment that could be paid him. ---
SANTA BARBARA AND HEALDSBURG, 411 SQUATTERISM.
In May 1853, one of the frequent disputes arose as to the possession of a certain piece of land at Santa Barbara. Jack Powers had settled upon a tract about two miles from town, which Nicholas Den claimed to have leased for a number of years from the government. The case was decided in Den's favor in the district court, and afterward in the supreme court. Nevertheless, Powers refused to give up possession, claiming that as it was government property, it was free to all American citizens. Sheriff Twist deter- mined to eject him by force. Powers then collected fifteen of his friends, and formed a sort of barricade on the rancho,.by felling trees, piling up logs, and ar- ranging wagons for the purpose. They had liquors and food provided for a number of days, and several pieces of music to enliven the time. - Well armed with revolvers, rifles, and shot-guns they were pre- pared to resist the officers. Three of Powers' adher- ents, on the way to his place, encountered the sheriff and others, who were trying to take out the spikes that had been put in the cannon the previous night. Words ensued as to their intended use of the cannon, which resulted in a serious melee with several wounded and some killed on both sides.
-- SOURCES --
The Confession of Doroteo Zabaleta. About the 5th of July, myself and Jesus Rivas went to San Juan to see my brother, for the purpose of obtaining means to go away from this part of the country. We arrived at San Juan on Wednesday, [7th July] and on the next day Rivas came to me and said he had seen two Americans stopping at a house; the house has old walls. Afterwards, when I was at my brothers', Rivas told me he had spoken to these gentlemen, the Americans, and that they wanted to buy thirty or forty mares.— Myself, Rivas and my brother went to see the, Americans, and we asked them if they wanted to buy mares. They said they would buy twelve at that place. My brother told them if they would buy twenty or twenty-live mares they could trade. They replied that they had not money enough, but that they had the intention of going to Los Angeles to buy thirty or forty. My brother told them that he would not sell twelve, and we went away without the Americans, to a tavern, and remained there all day. Afterwards, Rivas said to me " Let us go and do something : let us go and overtake these Americans and kill them, and take their money." Then I said, " I have never committed a murder, and there is no reason why you should do such a thing." Rivas told me that I was wanting in valor. Something was said about conscience, and Rivas said, " Have you never done such a thing?" Rivas told me he, he had committed some murders above. We. we're disputing the matter about two hours, and in the afternoon, about 4 o'clock, we saddled up. After we had saddled up. I told Rivas I had compunctions, and was afraid; that there was no necessity of our throwing ourselves away; and that I had brothers who would help him to go away without prejudicing myself in the business I had with them about obtaining money. I had bid farewell to a sister, but not to my brothers. I had told Silvedia (a brother) that I wanted some animals, and he told me I might have two at San Joaquin if I would go for them. When I set out I did not tell my brothers what I was going to do. We left the Mission of San Juan together, and Rivas said, "let us go as fast as we can and overtake these men." After traveling a short distance, I stopped behind to talk with some friends, and Rivas went on alone. When I arrived at the Alvisos I had gained some on Rivas, and enquired of a woman if she had seen him pass. She directed me to where he was, and I found him encamped under, a sycamore. From thence we went together, and Rivas said that the Americans were far ahead, for he had enquired of persons who saw them pass. We rode on slowly—sometimes we galloped - -until we had overtaken the Americans within 400 yards, when we struck off from the road to one side and came on ahead of the Americans to the Cienega, and stopped there and commenced conversation Rivas asked what was the best method to kill the Americans. I told him it was not necessary to kill them, but that it would be better to hunt the manada of my brother, and sell to them. Rivas objected, and said he calculated the men were bringing with them a $1000 or more. Rivas proposed to kill a calf, which was done, and after we had made the meat, the Americans passed on the high road which leads to the lower Santa Ana. I said to Rivas, "call the Americans to come and eat meat, " and he went out and returned with them, and I saluted them and invited them to eat some meat that I had roasted. Both the men spoke Spanish - one a little better than the other. There was no water there. I had a bottle of aguadiente mixed with water, I invited them to drink of it, which they did. Then Rivas was making signs to me to kill them, and I said "no," with signs. We came on from there with them, by the other side of the Santiago creek, and Rivas was making signs to me every moment to lasso them. We fell back to converse, and I told him my conscience would not let me kill the unhappy men without any motive. Rivas went to Patricio Banello and got a fresh horse, and I remained with the Americans talking about buying horses. When Rivas returned, he proposed to decoy these men to cross some hills to another ranch. I replied "no," in a loud voice, and we came on all together to the Santa Ana. Rivas did not want to go to any house, for he did not wish to be seen in company with the Americans. I told him I had no intention of committing murder. I had no embarrassment in calling at a house where I was known. Rivas replied, "you are a coward." We went on and arrived at a rancheria, where were some Indians, the Americans still with us looking for pasture for their horses. I told them I was born in that section, and they trusted me to procure pasture for them. The Americans encamped near the milpa of Don Teodocio Yorba, and Rivas and myself went to the house of Patricio Banello and slept. In conversing about the murder of the Americans, Rivas said he had been in company with four men above, who were good men, and that they made the conditions that if any of the party was to disclose the least little concerning their actions the balance would kill him. I consented to the same conditions, and it was agreed that we should go to Sonora together with Francisco Carmillo, who had agreed to similar terms.
---
--- (p.1,col.5)
---
Daily Alta California, (6/3/1858) p.1,col.5 ---
---
---
San Luis Hill U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: San Luis Hill Class: Summit
Red Bluff Daily News; Jean Barton: A tour of southern California’s Rancho Pecho
Posted: 06/02/17, 1:44 PM PDT | Updated: on 06/02/2017
When I accepted the invitation to accompany California CattleWomen President Cheryl Foster to the spring meeting of Santa Barbara CattleWomen with a tour of Rancho Pecho hosted by Sue Bench and PG&E, I had forgotten that Bill and I had toured Pecho Ranch in May of 2005 on the California Beef Cattle Improvement Association (CBCIA) tour.
Sue Bench shared the history of the ranch with the cattlewomen before the pot luck luncheon. “Rancho Pecho Y Islay was 8,880 acre portion of a larger Mexican Land Grant conveyed to Francisco Padilla in 1843.
“It was sold to Captain John Wilson and patented in 1869. Originally it included the coastal terrace and adjacent hills generally from just north of Islay Creek to Pecho Creek near Port San Luis.
“The ranch was passed to his granddaughter Ramona Hillard in 1872. In 1892 she sold 3,660 acres from ‘Devils Creek Canyo to Pecho Creek’ to Luigi Marre who owned the neighboring Rancho San Miguelito to the south. Part of the deal included a right of way along a wagon trail to Port Harford (today’s Port San Luis) which was an important shipping point for crops and supplied. She then leased the remainder of the ranch to the Spooner and Hazzard families. Spooners and Hazzards were not always best of friends with right of ways occasionally contested.
“Around the turn of the 19th century, Hillard borrowed money using the remaining 5,200 acre ranch as collateral. When the loan came due in 1902, Henry Cowell took ownership of the ranch and then sold Rancho Pecho to Alden Spooner Jr. in 1902.
“Sooner was primarily a dairyman but crops such as beans and barley were grown on the coastal terrace. After Alden Spooner died in 1920, his three sons continued their tradition of dairying through the ‘30s. During the ‘20s and ‘30s much of the Coastal terrace was leased to Japanese farmers where they grew bush peas, Brussel sprouts and artichokes.
“Oliver Chapin Field purchased Rancho Pecho in 1941. He was born in California but spent much of his teen years in Ketchikan Alaska where his father owned a general store. He graduated from Stanford as an engineer and then served in the Navy in 1920 aboard an 1890 vintage battleship. In 1922, after his service in the Navy, he formed his own business and eventually developed an asphalt from heavy crude oil at a plant in Casmalia. Rancho Pecho was one of the first of many properties he purchased with his new wealth. His three children spent their summers working at the ranch. Beef cattle and a variety of crops were grown. OC Field died in 1974, and the heirs continued the ranch operation until 1984.
“PG&E purchased the ranch in 1985.”
It is the site of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, an electricity-generating nuclear power plant near Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County.
After the permanent shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in 2013 it is the only nuclear plant operational in the state.
Since 9-11 there are no tours, and we were inside a locked gate on the ranch, at a barn high on a hill above the ocean, with no view of the power plant.
In 2005 I had written “After a lunch prepared by the Cal Poly Young Cattlemen we boarded the buses for a trip through the scenic Montana de Oro State Park enroute to PG&E’s Pecho Ranch and Bob Blanchard who rents the ranch.
“Pecho Ranch covers 4.5 miles of coastline near Los Osos, behind a locked gate, since south of the corrals is Diablo Canyon. Bob uses high density, short grazing instead of continuous grazing, and PG&E financed the changes (fences and water systems) they needed to make.
“We could see the difference between the grazed land and the park, which hasn’t had grazing for over 40 years. The ground was rocky with gravel on top of the soil since the wind and rain had eroded away the litter. There were no new shrubs in this area and no wild animals.
“On the PG&E land, Bob had grazed cattle, sheep and goats in March and April. We couldn’t see bare ground since the hooves make a better seed bed, and there were pocket gophers and rabbits in the four native perennial grasses. He said that the field had been farmed until 15 years ago and now native perennial grasses and shrubs were coming in.
“The first 25 acre pasture across the fence from the park had been grazed for three weeks in April by 400 sheep and goats with 500 lambs and kids. Then the pasture is rested at least 45 days.
“The livestock won’t eat salt here because of the salt in the atmosphere that clings to the grasses. We were on a shelf above the ocean with brushy hills in back of us.
“Bob and his wife raise 25 acres of avocados and eight acres of oranges on the inherited family ranch at Cayucus. Mrs. Blanchard sells at the local farmers markets the organic beef, lamb and goat meat, avocados and oranges.
He said it takes 30 months to get a steer to harvest on grass. They are processed near Creston, three head at a time. Last year they sold 25 steers at farmers markets, since the customer isn’t price sensitive.
“He can sell an 80 pound goat for $ 100 in the local area. Bob has Boer goats and three or four Anatolian guard dogs to protect them from predators.
“The sheep are a meat breed instead of grown for their wool. He has Barbado- Dorfort cross ewes. He would like more Dorfort ewes, but ewe lambs are expensive.
“His cowherd numbers 70 head and he likes the smaller framed cattle with larger capacity for eating grass. He acknowledged the weaning weights aren’t as good, but profitable for him.
“We saw a fresh water pond with a group of steers nearby on green grass and the ocean below, when we got off the bus for a closer look behind the locked gate.”
After Sue Bench concluded the history of the ranch, Sally Krenn, a retired PG&E Biologist that worked with Bob Blanchard told more about how Cal Poly students had developed forestry and grazing plans for the ranch. In the fall, they plan to work with Cal Fire on a controlled burn on the brushy hill sides.
Jean Barton has been writing her column in the Daily News since the early 1990s. She can be reached by e-mail at jbarton2013@gmail.com. Copyright © Red Bluff Daily News Copyright
---
---
549 [155]
Jose Antonio Carrillo, was sent with a force to occupy San Buenaventura.10 This occupation was effected probably on March 12th, without disaster, and soon Castaheda was instructed to advance and attack Santa Barbara before it could be reinforced from the north. He was to form his own plan of attack, but was to lose no time. He must allow no conditions, but insist on immediate surrender at discretion, after which the leaders were to be kept in close confinement. "No more consideration must be shown for those faithless rebels."11
---
---
[155]: 16, 549, 652
---
---
adding more GFS
The following report was made by the grand jury to the court of sessions September 17, 1859:
SANTA BARBARA. 483
"In the case of the people of the state of California versus J. Nidever and others, charged with murder, there were thirty witnesses sought for and obtained in different parts of the county, and all the testimony that could be brought to bear upon the case, either directly or indirectly, was obtained. There were such numbers of contradictions and alibis proven as rendered the testimony in favor of the state entirely worthless; consequently there was ; no bill found. In the cases of F. Sayba, J. Guticruz, Lugo and R. Zuriba, charged with assaulting and shooting George Nidever, there were no bills found. The positive evidence given in respect to two of those cases by Russell Heath and James L. Ord was positively disputed in toto by the evi dence of Jose Dolores Garcia. The undersigned believe the testimony of the first two witnesses to be true; we also believe the testimony of the latter to be false. The persons who a little more than a year since robbed and mur- dered the Basques on their way up the country would not have been punished but for the people of San Luis Obispo, who summarily hanged them by the necks. Cases of horse and cattle - stealing, almost without number, have within the last five years been brought to the notice of our courts; yet in almost every instance unprincipled petit juries could easily be drummed up who would not hesitate in bringing a verdict of not guilty, though the offence had been so clearly proven that it did not admit of a single doubt. Even those who seek office, with now and then an exception, absolutely humiliate and degrade themselves, either by lavish promises to the corrupt, who hold the influence, or by pandering to a set of ruffians. Our elections are a farce, and an insult to common-sense; scores of hombres, of all grades and colors, are brought in front of the polls, whose intelligence and education would not compare with the slaves of the southern states; yet these same hombres re- ceive sealed votes, either from the hands of the influential or their employes, and without opening them or examining their contents put them in the ballot-box. Since the sitting of this grand jury the foreman has had his life threatened by outside vile ruffians. In conclusion, we propose to allude to the state of society as it here exists in connection with the execution of the laws. In a republican government like ours, our system of jurisprudence is established on the broad supposition that at least the majority of the people are notoriously honest, and always ready to maintain the supremacy and majesty of the law, and to assist the courts in its execution. In most com- munities such is the case. We deeply regret to be obliged to assert that in this county it is widely different. We are of the unanimous opinion, so far as this county is concerned, that the courts, in consequence of the notorious bad characters that are frequently summoned and impanelled to serve as petit jurors, are entirely powerless in punishing crime. Thieves and villains of every grade have been from time to time upheld, respected, fostered, and pampered by our influential citizens, and if need be, aided and assisted in escaping from merited punishment due to their crimes. Characters similar to those just named have frequently been seen sitting beside the wealthy and influential in their carriages traversing our streets, or mounted on the richly caparisoned steeds of these same persons. The virtuous and the prostitute, the cattle-thief and the influential, have been too often seen mingling to gether at parties and balls. In fact it is with deep regret that we are com-
484 COUNTRY COMMITTEES OF VIGILANCE.
pelled to publish the fact to the world that the ruling population make little or no distinction as to the character of their associates; if there is any preference it is in favor of the vicious. Offences, thefts, and villainies in defiance of the law, of every grade and character, from the horse and cattle- thief to the highway robber and midnight assassin, have dwelt, to our knowl- edge, for the last five years in our very midst. Whenever those crimes have been perpetrated on the persons of honest, industrious, and good citizens, the tranquillity of the public mind, so far as the ruling population was concerned, would not be disturbed.
Only three years since, an American by the name of Moore had quietly settled in Montecito, had erected his humble cabin, and had industriously engaged in fencing a field and sowing a crop in order to gain an honorable support. He was basely murdered while asleep by having his throat cut from ear to ear, and left to welter in his gore; yet the tranquillity of the ruling population was not in the least disturbed. Neither they nor their officers appeared to take the least interest in ferreting the perpetrators of the crime and bringing them to justice; and had it not been for private American citizens, who had him buried with their own means, so far as the authorities are concerned he would have been left like a wild beast to rot where he was murdered. One of the perpetrators of that crime has since been hanged, not by the actions of our courts, to which he fled for protection for other crimes, but by the sovereign people of San Luis Obispo. Previous to his execution he confessed to that and a number of other heinous crimes. We could go on from page to page and enumerate the evils under which we suffer; suffice it to say, good, independent, industrious, and honest citizens are not wanted here by the ruling powers. Could they accomplish it, they would drive us from the country, unless we would degrade ourselves by pandering to their wishes, obeying their orders, and affiliating with their ruffians.
"Cyrus MARSHALL,"Foreman of Grand Jury.
"R. Forbush, A. M. Cameron, William Brick, G. Abadie, L. Loomis, Juan Hill, John M. Haskell."
This report was published in the San Francisco Herald, as the Santa Barbara papers refused it a place in their columns. Serious disturbances were constantly occurring, and the law seemed powerless to protect the rights of citizens. The Santa Barbara Gazette says: "Law there was plenty, law-craft enough and to spare, but organization none at all, save a shadowing of that worst of all organizations, suggested by the example of righteous Los Angeles and law-abiding San Francisco, a Vigilance Committee. The sheriffalty was vacant. The mayor had resigned, assigning as
SAN LUIS OBCISPO. 485
his motive his incapacity to preserve order. No justice of the peace had qualified. A county judge re mained, fully determined to maintain the law: but not a constable was there to execute a warrant. The treasurer and county clerk alone stood over this universal wreck of unfilled office as fitting emblems of a costly system of anarchy. At this juncture General Clark was called upon to bring a small detachment of troops with him to Santa Barbara, the people urging that the mere appearance of the military would carry sufficient moral suasion without resort to arms. The request was complied with and confidence restored.
Jose Felipe Badillo was baptized Mission Santa Barbara Presidio 10 September 1835 #01118. Father stated as Francisco Badillo, origin Mejico and mother is stated as Rafaela Garcia. Godparents are Quirina Cordero and Tomas Garcia. Officiant and Recorder is Antonio Jimeno.
"The undersigned Pastor of the Catholic Church of Santa Barbara certifies that on the Second Book of Burials of the parish of Santa Barbara on page # 8 and with with number 68 is found the following record: On 23 of July A.D. 1874 I gave Ecclesiastical burial to the remains of Felipe Badillo, aged 36 years, married with Maria Antonia Cota, who died on the previous day and been administered the Sacraments. The above is a correct translation of the original in testimony and witnesses thereof. I have hereonto set my hand this the 3rd day of May A.D. 1892. Rev. James Vila"
User:Asiaticus/sandbox/José María Quintana
José María Quintana and Tomás Herrera led a detachment of 30 New Mexicans and other Mexicans in the small army of Manuel Castro
Bankroft, [162]p. 363 n.? "... Alvarado, Hist. Cal., MS., v. 256-8, says the army was organized in three divisions or companies of over 30 men each: 1st, veterans under Gabriel de la Torre; 2d, militia under Jesus Pico; 3d, Mexicans and New Mexicans under Herrera and Quintana."
Ranchos granted S. Juan Capistrano del Camote, 10 1., 1846, T. Herrera and G.
Quintana. Bankroft,
[162] p. 637 n.?
Oct. 23d, Gen. Flores appoints Manuel Castro comandante of brigade for operations in the north, with Francisco Rico as second in command. Castro, Doc., MS., ii. 147. [162], p.321 n.?
Americans at Natividad: Co. G, Bluford K. Thompson, capt.; D. A. Davis, 1st lieut; James Poock, 2d lieut. Charles Burroughs, capt. [162] pp.357-
Castro led that force northward to harass the force of Freemont by guerilla war, cutting off supplies and reinforcements, to delay and oppose when an opportunity offered, the advance of Freemont southward from Monterey. They were engaged in the November 16, 1846
Battle of Natividad.
[162], pp.357-372 637 n.?
On Sunday, the 15th of November, Captain Charles Burroughs, a newly arrived immigrant who had taken an active part in recruiting, arrived at San Juan Bau-
tista from the Sacramento with about 34 men and a
drove of several hundred horses. The same day there
arrived Captain Thompson with about the same num-
ber of men from San Jose, and all camped for the
night at San Juan. Knowledge of their presence,
and especially that of the horses, was promptly for-
warded to Castro's camp on the Salinas. It was also
on the 15th that Thomas 0. Larkin set out with one
attendant, William Matthews, from Monterey for
Yerba Buena. He had previously sent his family
there for safety, and had just received from his wife a
letter makins^ known the illness of his child, ton^ether
with a message from Captain Montgomery, who de-
sired an interview. Larkin had no suspicion of dan-
ger, and stopped for the night at Los Verjeles, the
rancho of Joaquin Gomez, sending Matthews on to
San Juan, and intending to follow him next morning.
But news of his trip reached Castro's camp,^*^ and Chavez conceived the project of capturing the consul. The other officers, while admitting the advantage of such a capture, seem to have opposed the act as likely to make known their presence prematurely and pre- vent the success of their main purpose; but Chavez either overcame their fears, or, as some say, undertook the enterprise without their consent; and at any rate, he appeared about midnight at Gomez's rancho with a dozen men. Larkin was roused from sleep, obliged to dress in haste, and carried on horseback as a pris- oner to the Salinas camp; but he was treated with the greatest kindness by all the Californian officers from the beginning to the end of his captivity. The plan was to utilize the possession of so important a man in later negotiations for a truce, exchange of prisoners, surrender, or escape from consequences of broken paroles, as circumstances might require. They also tried at first to induce the prisoner to aid their attempt on San Juan by writing letters to put the garrison on a false scent; but Larkin refused to write; and they in turn refused his proposition to be ex- changed for Pablo de la Guerra and others under arrest at Monterey. On the 16th the whole force started northward in four divisions, Larkin being taken along closely guarded. The plan, as he under- stood it, was for a small party to attack San Juan in the night, and by a retreat to draw out the garrison in pursuit, to be cut off by the main body.^^
As had been feared, Larkin 's capture resulted in making Castro's presence known to the Americans. So far as can be determined from the complicated and contradictory testimony. Captain Thompson started from San Juan early on the 16th for Monterey, to consult with Fremont, accompanied by a small guard and leaving the rest of his men in camp. He seems to have taken a short cut; while Captain Burroughs with all his men and horses, set out a little later by the main road. At Gomez's rancho Thompson not only learned what had happened there in the night, but saw and pursued ineffectually two scouts who had been sent by Castro to make observations. Fail- ing to capture these, Thompson sent a warning to Burroughs and hastened back to San Juan to bring up his men. Meanwhile Burroughs reached the rancho, learned what had occurred, and sent out a party of six or eight scouts southward into the plain to learn the enemy's whereabouts and numbers. ^^
The Californians advanced northward, Joaquin de la Torre with a dozen horsemen as scouts in advance. Then came the vanguard under Castro, followed by Chavez's company, with Larkin in charge, while Rico commanded the rear guard, including a party in
charge of horses and munitions under Sergeant Ld- zaro Soto. It was perhaps 3 o'clock p. m., or even later, when the advance arrived at the Natividad rancho and met the American scouts. These were the men, six to ten in number, who had been sent out by Burroughs before Thompson's arrival. They included George Foster, often called captain, John (or James) Hayes, the two Delaware Indians, Tom Hill, and James Salmon, and several Walla Wallas. I think they had been in the vicinity several hours. On seeing the foe, two or three of the Indians fled to the rancho to give the alarm, while the rest posted themselves in the encinalito, or little grove of oaks, close at hand, where they were presently attacked by Torre, and completely surrounded as soon as Castro and Chavez came- up. The fight at the grove lasted an hour, according to the estimate of Larkin, who was a spectator. The consul was desired to go to the Americans and induce them to surrender; but refused to do so unless he could offer a safe retreat to San Juan or Monterey, to which Castro would not consent. The riflemen behind trees had an advan- tage notwithstanding the disparity of numbers against the horsemen with their few ineffective muskets. Lieutenant Chavez and Alferez Juan Ignacio Cantua were badly wounded,^^ and probably two or three Californians were killed, to be scalped by the Indian warriors. But Foster, riddled with musket-balls, at last fell dead at the foot of the tree that had pro- tected him; and Hayes was disabled by serious wounds in the thighs. Then the main body of the Americans appeared in sight; 25 or 30 men were left
68 NATIVIDAD AND SANTA CLARA.
to besiege the few remaining scouts; Rico's rear guard was moved up; and the Californian army, about 65 strong, was drawn up on the plain to the right or east of the grove, to meet the enemy.^^
When Thompson arrived with reenforcements from San Juan, after the scouts had been sent out but be- fore the encinahto fight began,^^ there arose a discus- sion as to what should be done. Thompson and many of the men in both companies favored an advance to attack the Californians; but Burroughs with much reason hesitated to incur the needless risk of engag- inof in a conflict which misfht result in a loss of his horses and the failure of all Fremont's plans. The controversy became heated as time passed on, and taunts of cowardice were flung at the captain by the irresponsible volunteers, Thompson, a reckless fire- eater, becoming extremely violent in his remarks.^® If any further incentive was needed, it came presently in reports from the Walla Walla scouts of what was going on at Natividad.^' ' Detaching fourteen men to guard the horses in Gomez's corrals, and committing 369
to their care a field-piece found at the last moment to be unserviceable for the fight, Burroughs gave the order to advance, and the little army of about fifty men began their march, perhaps half an hour or more after the encinalito fight had begun.
The Californians were superior in numbers and were skilful horsemen; but their weapons were a miscella- neous collection of improvised lances, reatas, ineffective escopetas, and pistols, with powder for only a few dis- charges of the fire-arms. The Americans were, most of them, but indifferent riders; but they were well armed with rifles and had plenty of ammunition. Coming in sight of the enemy, Burroughs' men advanced rap- idly over the plain. Castro's men fired their muskets at long range, doing no harm. The Americans, halt- ing, discharged their rifles, and at once charged upon the foe at full speed, with wild shouts, in a manner more creditable to their valor than to their discipline, each man for himself, with Captain Burroughs in ad- vance on his gray charger ^Sacramento.' The charge was a blunder like that committed at San Pascual a little later, and with similar results. ^ The Californians feigned flight, in accordance with their usual tactics ;^^ but presently turned to attack their pursuers, as they came at full speed over the plain in disorder and armed with empty rifles. At the same time apparently the 20 or 30 men at the grove rushed up to attack the Amer- icans on the rear or flank.-^^ Some writers describe what followed as a desperate hand-to-hand fight, last- ing from ten to twenty minutes; but this is shown by the results to be an exasfoferation. In such a conflict a large number of Americans must have fallen. But
^^ Indeed, 30 or 40 of them ran away in good earnest, according to Larkin, who was still a spectator. These were probably men who were serving against their will. During the fight, Lorenzo Soto, in his wrath at seeing a relative fall, rushed upon Larkin to kill (or scare?) him, but L. saved himself by backing his horse behind others ! L. was, however, compelled to change ani- mals successively until he was reduced to a *$1 horse and $2 saddle.'
^' Henry Marshall, Statement, MS., 2-3, was wounded by a lance in this f)art of the fight, which he describes more fully than any other, being fol- uwed by Lancey. 'E. C. K.' also mentions this movement, stating that 2 Americans were killed and one wounded. [162] pp.363-369
370 NATIVIDAD AKD SANTA CLARA.
I suppose that only the foremost pursuers, and a few of Castro's men, came actually to close quarters for a very brief period. The brave Burroughs, however, leading the charge, fell dead, pierced by a pistol- bullet;^^ two or three others were killed; and several were wounded. Very soon, however, the Americans fell back into a more compact body; some of those in the rear, who had either reserved their fire at first or had time to reload, fired upon the advancing foe, killing and wounding several; and Castro's men again fled.^^ The Californians remained in sight until night- fall, and may have indulged in some charges and evo- lutions at a safe distance; but there was no more fighting, and at last the enemy disappeared in the distance. Larkin describes the fight as having lasted some twenty or thirty minutes, and says the Califor- nians disappeared in successive detachments. The Californians say that the Americans finally dis- mounted and took refuge among the trees, which is not unlikely; and that they retreated because they had no possible chance of success against the rifles, especially as they had no more powder. Captain Thompson withdrew his force to Gomez's rancho to bury his dead, care for the wounded, and make prep- arations for defence, since a renewal of the attack
^•' 'E. C. K.' says: 'He fell headlong from his horse, his unloaded rifle in hand, shot down by a swarthy New Mexican, in the act of turning upon him.' 'K.' says the dashing 'hidalgo rode up abreast, and flourishing a flag in one hand, with the other sent his bullet through our leader's body.' Chris- tian Chauncey, an eye-witness, tells us that Burroughs was shot by 'Three- fingered Jack,' who wished to get his horse and saddle, though the horse es- caped. S. F. AUa, Aug. 8, 1853. Lancey identifies the 'swarthy New Mexi- can' with 'Three-fingered Jack, 'as Bernardino Garcia, the murderer of Cowie and Fowler at Sta Rosa in July. According to Sta Cruz Times, Torre waa the man who killed Burroughs ; Alvarado says it was Juan de Mata Boronda; and Swasey, who gives one of the best accounts of the battle, is positive that it was Manuel Castro himself. Clearly it is not known who fired the shot. Swasey notes that B. had in his pocket a packet of letters for men at Mon- terey, the corner of each being cut off and blood-marked by the ball.
^^ It is said that Burrouglis had at first ordered every alternate man to fire; but in the excitement little attention was paid to the order. Thompson, however, induced some of his men to reserve their fire, and was thus able at last to repulse the enemy. Wm M. Boggs, in Napa Beijister, May 4, 1872, following Gregson — see also Gregsoii's Statement, MS., 4-5 — says that the arrival of Weber with reenforcements put an end to the fight ; but this ia only a confused reference to Thompson's arrival at an earlier hour.
KILLED AND WOUNDED. 371
was feared. Tom Hill, with perhaps another Indian named Mcintosh, was sent to Monterey with a mes- sage for Fremont, and is said to have had a fight on the way, in which he was wounded. ^^
The Americans lost at Natividad four or five men killed, including Burroughs, Foster, Ames, and Thome ;^^ and five or six wounded, including Hayes, Hill, Marshall, William McGlone, and James Cash. At least, these are the losses reported ; but it is possi- ble that they were more numerous, though the Cali- fornians doubtless exaggerate in their narratives.^* Foster was buried at the foot of the tree where he fell ; the others were interred at Gomez's rancho, and a salute fired over their graves. The Californian loss was perhaps about the same as that of the Ameri- cans, though really little is known about it beyond the wounding of Chavez and Cantua at the grove. That so few were killed on the American side is accounted for by the short duration of the fight at close quarters; but that the rifles did so little execution, especially at
22 The Delaware's arrival is noted (incorrectly ^as on the morning of the 16th) in Coltoii's Three Yearn, 96-7; also his fight on the way, in wliich he met 3 Californians, killing one with his rifle, another with his tomahawk, while the third fled. Swasey implies that Hill's wound was received in the fight before he started for Monterey, from the fragments of a bullet. Lancey has it that he got a lance through the hand from the Indian he tomahawked on the way. 'E. C. K.' says Charles Mcintosh and an Indian were sent to Monterey. See also Californian, Nov. 21, 1846, for adventures of the Walla Walla messengers.
^^ ' Billy the Cooper ' is mentioned by several authorities as having been killed. His real name was not known; but he was possibly the man called Thome by ' E. C. K.' and others.
24 « Pioneer ' (John A. Swan), in reminiscences called out by * K.'s ' article, Savage, Doc, MS., iii. 20 et seq., was personally acquainted with the killed and wounded, and many others who took part in the fight, and he thinks the loss was heavier than reported. 4 killed and 5 wounded is ' E. C. K.'s 'state- ment. Larkin says 4 killed and 2 or 3 wounded, perhaps not including the grove fight; and again he says there were 10 or 12 killed and wounded on each side. Gomez states that 4 dead and 9 wounded were brought to the rancho, 6 more dead found and buried at the grove, and 3 bodies found later by the people of Natividad. Jos6 Ant. Alviso, Campanade Natividad, MS., son of the owner of the rancho, who claims to have first informed Castro of the presence of the Americans at S. Juan, says 4 Amer. were killed and 4 wounded. Rico says that in the main fight he saw 8 or 9 Amer. killed, and heard of more, besides those killed at the grove. In a report of the time, Castro claimed to have killed 21 of the enemy. Fernandez, Doc., MS., 53. Pico says the Amer. lost 2 officers and several soldiers killed. Flores in Dec. reported that 11 Amer. had been killed
372 NATIVIDAD AND SANTA CLARA.
the grove, where the enemy came near enough to rid- dle Poster's body with musket-balls, is remarkable;, and, indeed, it is not unlikely that the loss may have been greater than represented. From a dozen to twenty was the estimate of the Americans, who of course had no means of knowing the truth.^^ The dead were probably buried at Alisal rancho. Lieu- tenant Chavez was cared for secretly at some of the ranchos, and finally came to Monterey in January, where for a long time he eluded the vigilance of offi- cials, largely by the aid of prominent ladies.^^ The Californians after leaving Natividad dispersed for the most part as they advanced southward. Rico with a small party hastened with Larkin to the capital, where Castro also made his appearance later with 25 or 30 of his army. Though the Americans were the attacking party, and were content to remain on the defensive after the fight, yet the result was practically a victory for them, since the Californians were forced to abandon their projects of seizing the horses and harassing the battalion by a guerrilla warfare.^^
Frdmont and his men left Monterey November 1 7th as soon as the news arrived from Los Verjeles. He
2^ Alviso says the Cal. lost 4 wounded. Rico says he lost 4 killed and 4 wounded, besides several killed before at the grove. Loss about same as the Amer. according to Alvarado. Vallejo gives the loss as 3 killed and 4 wounded; including Vicente Soto and Bautista Garcia. 3 killed and 5 wounded according to Castro's report. Mrs Ord says 2 killed. Inocente Gar- cia, Hecho-^, MS., 97-8, says his son Bautista was wounded; also heard from a fugitive at S. Luis that a cholo and a cook from S. Luis and several from Monterey had been killed. Pico says several of his own men were killed and wounded. Nidever, Life, MS., 129-30, says an Italian cutthroat named An- tonio was killed on the Cal. side. Larkin says 3 Californians were killed, besides Jos6 Garcia from S. America; and 7 wounded. Gomez says the Walla Wallas scalped 4 Californians.
2'"' Many stories are told of Chavez's adventures in trying to avoid arrest. Once be was concealed in bed between two women, which prompts Bev. Wal- ter Colton, Three Years, 145, to wickedly quote a verse from Don Juan. See also Oi^d, Ocurrencias, MS., 152-4; Gomez, Lo Que Sabe, MS., 95-6. Lancey, Cruise, 151, tells us Chavez was taken on board the guard-ship at Monterey and had his wounds dressed.
^^ Besides the references already given on the Natividad affair, see Honolulu Friend, iv. 190; Martin's Narr., MS., 35; Osio, Hist. Cal, MS., 479-80; La- rios^ Vida, MS., 23-4; Amador, Mem., MS., 170-2; Upham's Life Fremont, 242-5; Taylor^a Eldoradoy i. 194; and many of the county histories.
MARCH OF THE BATTALION. 373
made some expeditions in different directions in search of such parties of the enemy as might still be lurking in the district; but found no Californians, and in four or five days united his forces at San Juan, where he remained till the end of November. Some parties of recruits joined the force there, and one from the Sac- ramento did not arrive until the army had started southward. At San Juan the organization of the bat- talion, as already described, was completed; and on the 29th the army started on its march to cooperate with Stockton against Flores. The march was for the most part uneventful, and requires no extended description. Bryant's diary is in print, and is supple- mented by many other narratives more or less com- pleted^ The rains of an extremely wet season had begun, and progress was consequently slow and diffi- cult along the muddy way. The old grass was spoiled by the rain, and the new was not sufficient to keep the horses in strength. Many of the animals had to be abandoned on the way, and still more could barely carry their saddles without the riders, so that a large part of the march was performed by the men on foot. Luggage was carried by pack-mules. Beef was almost the only article of food, cattle being driven along with the army and killed at each halt as required. Many of the men were ill, but only one death occurred. The route was up the San Benito, over the hills to the Salinas, up that valley and past San Miguel to San Luis, where they arrived the 14th of December.
There is no reason to doubt that Fremont and his officers exerted themselves to prevent disorders and outrages on the march, and with a high degree of
2® Bryant\'i What I Saw, 365-91 ; itinerary of dates and distances in Grigs- hy^s Paperfi, MS., 9-12; weather record in Frdmont^s Geog. Mem., 41-2. Other narratives will be mentioned in later notes on special points; but the follow- ing may be named as not requiring further mention, though some of them are accurate enough: *S'. F. Star, Jan. 9, 1847, copied in other papers; S. F. Alta, Dec. 18, 1852; Martin's Narr., MS., 3G-8; Lancey's Cruise, 15G-G5; Tuthill's Hist. Cal., 200-3; Upham's Life Frdmont, 24:2-9; Dice. Univ., yiii. IGO; Cutts* Conq., 160-2; Honolulu Friend, iv. 190; Yolo Co. Hist., 20; and several other local histories.
374 NATIVIDAD AND SANTA CLARA.
success, considering the unfavorable circumstances. There was some complaint and insubordination among the men and subaltern officers, requiring a court-mar- tial for the trial of certain offenders on December 7th. ^^ The trail of Castro's retreating force was crossed; and on the 8th two Californians were arrest- ed, as were several later. An Indian servant of Jesus Pico was taken on the 12th, and next day shot as a spy after trial. The evidence against him has never been made public, but the act was doubtless an un- justifiable compliance with a bitter popular feeling in the army. On the same day the ranch o of Ojitos was plundered, its buildings being burned by a scouting party.^*^ At San Luis Obispo it was thought there might be an armed force, and the place was accordingly surrounded and taken by a sudden assault on the 1 4th in the rainy darkness of night; but only women, chil- dren, and non-combatants were found.^^
The house of Pico, the former commandant, was
^^Bryant, 371. Swasey, Cal. 1845-6, MS., 21, mentions James Savage as one of the worst malecontents, and says that several officers were reduced to the ranks, there being also several desertions. Swasey, p. 24—5, notes that on one occasion shots were heard in advance, and the men were found engaged in a battle with grizzly bears, of which 26 were killed. Boggs, in Napa Reg- ister, May 4, 1872, notes a mirage by which a madrono tree was made to ap- pear a large force of the enemy. Also in Id., June 1, 1872, is described a practical joke in which the bugler, Butler, was made to blow his morning blast and rouse the camp, mistaking the moon for the sun.
"^^ Pico, Acont., MS., 70, says the Indian, named Santa Maria, had been sent out by him to watch the Americans. It is generally stated that papers were found on his person, perhaps communications to the enemy. H. Jose Pio- neer, Jan. 27, 1877. Paso Robles is mentioned by several as the place where he was arrested. Swasey says the shooting of the Indian was opposed by many of the officers, but it was deemed unsafe to disregard the feelings of the undisciplined men. Janssens, Vida, MS., 197, says that Fremont farther south mentioned the different outrages as the acts of detached parties, whom he could not control. Serrano says Los Ojitos was burned because the owner had two sons in the Californian army; also that the bell-ringer of San Luis was threatened with death for having rung the vesper bells, and soon died of fright. Gonzalez, Mem., MS., 42-3, denounces these acts as cowardly, and notes that an American tried to mount a wild colt and was killed, probably an error.
^^ Swasey, Cal. ^4^-6, MS., 21-2, graphically describes the amusing scenes of this night assault, including Capt. Sears' valiant charge over adobe walls into a sheep corral. He also notes that many were made ill by eating rav- enously of the pumpkins and frijoles found at San Luis. There have been re- ports that the inhabitants were surprised at a ball, but this seems to have no foundation in fact. See Bryant, ^ll:, Jansaens, Vida, MS., 193; Pico,Acont,f MS., 71; Lancey's Cruise, 160.
[162]pp 370-374
Besides their home on the Portrero, the Quintanas maintained a home in town. An 1855 deed on page 105 of Book A of the San Luis Obispo County deeds makes reference to Estevan owning a home on Chorro Street north of the Mission. The deed isssued to Nicolas Carbio was described as being on “the western side of Choro St.; fronting thereon 10 varas and running back 5 varas more or less to the graveyard of the Church and lying between the house of Augustin Garcia on the south, called the Lafaette house, and the house of Estevan Quintana on the north. The houses of García and Carbio separated his home from an adobe that Estevan later owned on the northwest corner of Monterey and Chorro streets, the site where the Plaza fountain and the statue of Father Serra sit today in front of the Mission.
Besides the new rancho, Estevan had been acquiring lots and building on them in the town of San Luis Obispo. The 1874 Assessor’s List shows that Estevan was assessed for a total of 6,997 acres of ranch land; 3 houses & lots in SLO, value $3,500; 1 house [actually the Quintana Building] under construction by Blás Castro, value $100; 1 lot in SLO, value $25; Rancho Potrero, 3,166 acres, value $1,266.40; part of Rancho San Bernardo, 2,438 acres, value; $1,219; improvements on the Rancho Potrero, value $800; improvements on San Bernardo, value $50; 500 Spanish cattle, 400 Spanish sheep, 10 tame horses, 15 manada [herd] animals [probably untamed horses]; 1 wagon and harness, value $100; furniture, value, $50; total assessed value [not market value], $8,620.40; tax assigned, $280.15, marked “paid.”
In 1874 Estevan constructed a new brick building on the northeast corner of Monterey and Chorro Streets. It was called the “Quintana Block,” but now it is generally referred to as the “Quintana Building.” There he operated a general merchandise store that Pedro ran for him and later inherited. In the 1890’s Pedro remodeled the building, removing the sections that jutted out into Chorro and Monterey streets. After Pedro’s death in 1921, his son Thomas Quintana inherited the building. He hired a cheap but inept contractor to remodel the building and to add a third story to the structure. He then opened it as the “Blackstone Hotel.” Thomas later acknowledged that his remodeling of the building was one of two worst blunders he committed in his life. It was due to be demolished in 2009.
Now ensconced in his upstairs apartment in his new building, Estevan donated his old home on Chorro Street to Tadeo Amat, Bishop of Monterey, by deed in the middle 1870’s [Deed Book “F,” pages 353-354], presumably for the proposed eastern extension of the mission church.
On January 11, 1877, the Quintanas lost their granddaughter, Guadalupe Herrera de Sauer, age twenty-three. Her death was probably caused by childbirth, but, if so, the child did not survive. Guadalupe was buried in the increasingly populated Quintana Plot at the cemetery.
In March of 1878 Estevan’s foot had become ulcerated. He was told that amputation was necessary. At least half of amputations of younger, healthier persons resulted in death in that era, so Estevan made out his will carefully and then underwent the operation. These deeds, executed at the time of Estevan’s crisis were recorded with the county clerk:
Deed Book “J,” page 539, Estevan Quintana to Luis Gardello, 5 November 1878
Deed Book “J,” page 316, Pedro Quintana to Luis Gardello, 5 November 1878
Deed Book “L” or “J,” page 539, Guadalupe Quintana to Estevan Quintana,
22 March 1878
Deed Book “L,” page 54, Estevan Quintana to Guadalupe Quintana, 22 March
1878
Among these deeds was the sale of Estevan’s new brick building on the northwest corner of Monterey and Chorro streets, no doubt because he could not navigate the stairs to his upstairs residence. It is unknown where in San Luis Obispo Estevan lived during the last two years of his life. It is known that he was seen walking around town on his wooden leg conducting his business. That is stated in his obituary.
At age seventy-seven he surprised everyone and probably himself by surviving the operation. He proudly sat for a photograph prominently displaying the healed leg stump about a year after the surgery. But the bout had severely weakened him; he was an old man, and death came the following year. He died August 4, 1880, the day before his seventy-ninth birthday. His obituary appeared in the Saturday, August 7, 1880 issue on page 1, column 3 of the San Luis Obispo Tribune:
On Wednesday lastMr. Francisco E. Quintana died at his residence in this city at the advanced age of eighty years less one day[sic]. Mr. Quintana has resided in SLO nearly, if not quite half a century. He was a native of New Mexico. He came to this country poor, but by industry and frugality acquired a competency. For a number of his later years Mr. Quintana was afflicted with a diseased leg which incapacitated him from active business, and two years ago he had the limb amputated. His strong constitution and nerve enabled him to undergo the operation, and during the past year he has been able to get about. The funeral took place from the Catholic church, and the remains were followed to the grave by a large number of surviving relatives and sympathizing friends.
Don Estevan’s funeral Mass was held at the Old Mission Church in San Luis Obispo. From there his body was taken to the Old Mission Cemetery. After his burial, the Quintana family adorned the large family plot. Black and white marble tile walkways lead to Estevan’s white marble sarcophagus and the tall obelisks of family members. Although the site has been vandalized and is showing its age, it still is elegant after these many years.
In 1854 José María and Tomás deeded away six tenths of the rancho. In these transactions, recorded in Deed Book A, pages 87,100-101, the partners deeded six of their ten “ganado mayores” to a William Carey Jones of San Francisco, who immediately deeded half of his interest to Albert Packard “in consideration of his taking charge of the cause during my absence, and assisting in the cause as may be necessary.” Signing as a witness to the transactions were John C. Fremont and José de Jesus Pico, whom Fremont almost executed in 1846. This appears to be the case of an attorney
William Carey Jones using an agent
Albert Packard to win portions of ranchos for representing cash-poor Californios at the U.S. Land Commission hearings. Fremont’s role in this is suspicious. Perhaps he received kickbacks for persuading rancheros to agree to these arrangements. Suspecting this to be true, I plugged in the name “William Carey Jones” into the Internet. On the Internet is reference to a document written by Jones in 1851 entitled “Subject of Land Titles in California” written in 1851 with
William M. Eddy. The full title of the work was “Report to the Secretary of the Interior, Communicating a copy of the report, Carey Jones, special agent to examine the subject of land titles in California.” A special agent of the government gaining title to ranchos through mediaries smacks of corruption. Yet later I discovered that Jones was also a son-in-law of U.S. Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, which means that he was Fremont’s brother-in-law.
After the above transaction, José María was listed in the 1854 tax assessment as owning no land, only $500 of personal property. His tax was $7.50.
of information here, reading between the lines!
General's Office. Subtitle State Archives--Spanish Records, v. 1.
(Note: I have modified the format so it's easier to post as an email.) "O" indicates a transcribed copy of the original document. "T" indicates an English translation of the transcribed copy.
O - 8- 106 T - 8 - 106 Petitioner: Herrera, Tomas and Residents
(If you would like me to copy and send you these documents, just let me know.) Tomas HERRERA is identified as "Alcalde of the Second Instance" of the Pueblo of San Luis Obispo. The "Residents" petitioning with him are not identified by name, but are described as "all, with Second Alcalde, from New Mexico". The date of the petition is 28 July, 1845.
California. I would roughly equate this position with that of Justice of the Peace. (Can someone else on NORCAL elaborate?)
expedientes, p. 197, I found information stating that the petition of Tomas HERRERA and residents for Laguna San Luis Obispo should not be granted, because there was a prior claim of a grant of the property to the Catholic Church. ( A cross-check of the Item 1 Index by Patent shows both HERRERA and the Catholic Church as petitioners.)
volume number), p. 203, I found the following. In the body of the petition, Tomas HERRERA is named as well as Jose Maria QUINTANA as petitioner. The land is described as "ten square leagues" and as "a tract of land contiguous to the tulares". This land was in fact granted to "Tomas HERRERA and Jose Maria QUINTANA and their families" on 11 July 1846. (A crosscheck of the Index by Patent shows Tomas HERRERA and Geronimo QUINTANA as petitioners.)
Los Angeles Star, Number 28, 24 November 1855, p2c2, FIRST DISTRICT COURT
This article originally appeared in the Branding Iron, Los Angeles Corral of The Westerners, Fall 2009, Number 256.
---
In 1856, Mrs. Mary Holland Hamilton Sparks (wife of the scandalous Quartus Strong Sparks) had an affair (or at least was “overly intimate”) in San Bernardino CA with Dr. Ira Burrus or Barrus, a Mormon (from Boston?); see Edward Leo Lyman, San Bernardino: The Rise and Fall of a California Community, (Signature Books: Salt Lake City, 1996) Chapter 4, p.159: 159
--- p.301
--- p.302
Post Office, D. N. Thomas ---
---
The exodus of the Mormons from San Bernardino, is giving an opportunity to those who are desirous of fixing themselves permanently, in one of the most desirable localities in the State, to accomplish their wishes under the most favorable circumstances. That our readers may judge for themselves, we give some items of sales recently made. One tract of eighty-two acres, that cost $10.50 per acre, fenced with a good picket fence, which cost two dollars per rod, the entire tract under cultivation, with good ditches for irrigation, was sold for $500. One lot of two and a half acres, in the city, with a good dwelling house, blacksmith's and wagon maker's shops, out houses, and one hundred and fifty fruit trees, forty of which are bearing, was sold for $300. Another tract, containing 600 acres, under fence, on which were 7,500 grape vines, and was assessed last year it $10,000, sold for $1,500. A tract of 300 acres, under fence, having 500 peach trees, in fruit, and 55 0 young trees, assorted fruits; a good distillery, which cost $17,000; a flouring mill, with two run of stones ; a saw mill; all in first rate condition, with unfailing water power, was sold for $6,000. This property cost not less than $75,000. The titles to all this property is unexceptionable. There cannot be less than one hundred improved farms, with comfortable dwellings, now for sale in that county.
---
--- p.361
--- p.362 new dr in bold, A. S. St. Clair no longer appears at Jarupa
---
The Los Angeles correspondent of the Daily Alta California visited San Bernardino soon after the event and reported what had happened in some detail naming the instigators Dr. Gentry and Dr. Ensworth [Ainsworth] and named the Monte as the town in Los Angeles County that had sent men to intervene:
---
+ "on D St. south of 3rd St." 1872 to 1887, 237 D St.
The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California · Page 14] "on D St. south of 3rd St." 1872 to 1887
+ 237 D. St. [182] ---
---
---
"...eight young men..." [187]: 343–344
---
"One of the notable events of these exciting days occurred in 1859, and has been known locally as "The Ainsworth-Gentry affair." As described by an eye-witness in Ingersoll's Century Annals of San Bernardino County, is occurred as follows: "San Bernardino County at this time had two physicians, one of whom was Union in sentiment, the other a Southerner. This fact, mingled with a feeling of professional rivalry and perhaps with other causes not made public, produced a rancor which finally led Doctor Gentry to attack Doctor Ainsworth with a horse-whip. Doctor Ainsworth seized the whip and struck his assailant in the face. The next day Gentry, on meeting his rival, fired his pistol at him. Ainsworth escaped the shot by dodging, and returned the fire— but no one was hurt. Gentry collected his friends and they began to make serious threats against Ainsworth. The friends of the latter determined to protect him and eight young men armed themselves, removed Ainsworth to an old adobe house on the corner west of the South Methodist Church and there kept guard over him for two or three days. The Gentry party sent word to El Monte that the Mormons had attacked them and about fifty men from that settlement armed themselves and rode over to San Bernardino. On learning that the Ainsworth party were simply protecting their man, the better class of these visitors returned home. But a few of the more lawless under the leadership of a desperado —one Green, remained and paraded the streets, firing their guns, terrorizing the citizens and defying the authorities. They loaded the old cannon which had looked so formidable in the Fort Benson affair and hauled it into place, announcing their intention of burning down the house where Ainsworth was in hiding and shooting his guard. One of the guards succeeded in reaching the cannon unnoticed and spiked it with a rat-tail file. When the attacking party became too aggressive the guard prepared to fire. Word was passed to 'save fire and shoot low'—and most of the attacking mob suddenly vanished. A few shots were exchanged, however, and one of the Ainsworth party, Bethel Coopwood, was wounded in the shoulder." The intruders were driven out when Sheriff V. J. Herring called upon the citizens to aid him in restoring order." [188]: 148
In 1860, San Bernardino was not a shopper's paradise. Its three general stores offered no more than what the residents needed. But when it came to entertainment of the bawdy sort, the city was a virtual goldmine. From the red-light district to "Whiskey Point," residents and travelers visiting downtown could quench almost any thirst. Shoppers seeking the usual fare patronized Lewis Jacob's and Calisher's general stores, both on Arrowhead Avenue near Fourth Street, and Lewis Ankers, on West Third. Other establishments included James A. Brazelton's livery stable, a feed store and Miller's and Pine's hotels, along with innumerable saloons, which changed owners overnight.
George A. Atwood, who came to the city at age 7 in 1860, owned the adobe at 234 West Fourth St. bearing his name (razed "by mistake" by city crews in 1975) later recalled: "San Bernardino was but a little town when we arrived here. I remembered they claimed about 500 people altogether, Mexicans, Indians and whites. "The business of the town was little and was mostly done on four corners; Fourth Street and Arrowhead Avenue, which was then known as C street; the corner of Third and Arrowhead; the corner of Third and D and the corner of Fourth and D. Between these corners there were some scattered buildings, but very few.
"One corner, Third and D, was known as 'Whiskey Point' There was a saloon where the Bear Market (later owned by Billy Berk, who renamed it the 'Market Spot') now stands, and one across the street where the Towne Allison drug store now stands." Stage line depots were on both sides of "Whiskey Point," along with a cluster of saloons all within easy reach of miners and loggers returning on the stage from the desert and mountains. The corner was a hangout for men down on their luck, sharpies, drunks and prostitutes. It also served as a sort of outdoor lyceum, or sounding board, for disgruntled citizens and would-be . politicians, who could get up on the proverbial soapbox and speak their piece. But now and then things got a bit flaky.
"I remember well," continued Atwood. "When some other boys and I were playing on D Street, between Third and Fourth streets, when we heard a noise and uproar down on the corner of Third and D. "We looked down that way and saw a lot of men running out of the saloon. They all seemed to be afraid; some of them were trying to hide around the corner. Presently a couple of men ran out into the street. They pulled their revolvers and went to shooting. "When the smoke cleared away, two men were lying dead in the street. We boys traveled back in the opposite direction. There wasn't much excitement over the shooting, because that was a common occurence. "We had no city officers at that time and no city government. Of course we had a county sheriff. His time was spent mostly in running after horse thieves and wild Indians ... He let the town take care of itself."
South of "Whiskey Point," on D Street, was the red-light district, started shortly after the Mormons left in 1857. According to local historian was the red-light district, started shortly after the Mormons left in 1857. According to local historian Martha Gaines Stoebe, "It grew and prospered for years. It was a lively and colorful part of town, with hurdy-gurdy music at 2nd and D Streets, saloons open day and night, and poker games in progress at all times." The accompanying photograph of a street parade in San Bernardino in 1887 shows Knights of Pythias marchers turning left from Third Street onto North D, directly in front of "Whiskey Point." Across the street on East Third is Meyerstein & Son drygoods on the corner with George M. Cooley hardware to the immediate left. Looming up in the right background is South D Street.
The first shots in one of San Bernardino's most celebrated gun battles the Gentry-Ainsworth affair were fired just around the corner from "Whiskey Point" on a scorching summer's day in September 1851. The feud was between two local physicians; A. Ainsworth, a Northern sympathizer and G. Thomas Gentry, a Texan, ardent secessionist and pro-slavery advocate. It all started when Gentry, becoming incensed during a hot political argument, struck Ainsworth with his horsewhip, only to have the latter snatch the whip away and lash him across the face. The following day, Gentry emerged from the "Old Corner Saloon" on North D and fired his pistol at Ainsworth, who was passing by on the street. In turn Ainsworth drew his own weapon and fired back, but neither was hit. By now Gentry was thoroughly chagrined by his inability to do Ainsworth in and sent word to some of his Texan friends living at El Monte that he had been "corraled by Mormons" in San Bernardino and needed help immediately if not sooner. Meanwhile, Ainsworth and about eight of his friends already had been warned about Gentry's actions and holed themselves up in a house owned by Bethel Coopwood across the street from Lugo (now Pioneer) Park. When the El Monte "vigilantes" arrived and discovered the whole episode was a personal affair between the two men, most of them returned home. The rest, numbering almost 50 and led by Frank Green, milled about in the park, drinking and carousing until darkness fell. Then, hoping to surprise their opponents, they dismounted and quietly advanced toward Coopwood's residence. But the Ainsworth party, by now secreted in a tall cornfield surrounding the house, had just watched the Texans' every move. As Green and his cohorts crossed E Street, the crackle of small-arms fire filled the air. Before the skirmish ended, four persons were wounded, including Coopwood, who was shot in the shoulder. The Texans, extremely vulnerable in their exposed position, quickly withdrew and the mini-civil war was over as far as Gentry and Ainsworth were concerned. Green and a few other Texans remained in San Bernardino for several days, riding through town and terrorizing residents, while the sheriff was off "chasing wild Indians."
Today "Whiskey Point," once coveted by wild and desperate characters, is occupied by the downtown offices of Pacific Savings Bank. And, if there are any would-be politicians still hanging around, they probably can be found within the confines of the City Hall standing just a few yards away to the West. Fred Holladay Is president of the City of San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society.
street parade turn left off Third Street onto D, in front of 'Whiskey Point.'
---
Daniel Burns KIA in Mexican War, James Ellington from Louisiana killed in Monte 1854, Thomas J. Gentry Married in 1855 abandoned her 1858, divorced for abandonment 8/1860.
Married THOMAS GENTRY, 1855 MONTE
Notes DIED Oceanside: age 75
_FA1 DATE 1835 PLAC Navarro, ,TX age 10: Move from AL w/parents.
_FA2 DATE 1854 PLAC CA: Move from TX: Tahachapi Cemetery:
EVEN TYPE Census 3 DATE 1850 PLAC Navarro, ,TX Hd 25 Wd AL 750: 10/12/1850
EVEN TYPE Census 8 DATE 1900 PLAC San Diego, , CA M/L 74 Wd Aug 1825 TN KY SC:
EVEN TYPE Census 4 DATE 1860 PLAC CA: LA: Hd 34 Farmer -/1000 AL: 271/27/187/181: Asuza Twp 7/23/1860
EVEN TYPE Census 6 DATE 1880 PLAC CA: LA: Hd 54 Wd Keep House TX KY AL: 34/34/290/291: El Monte Twp 6/23/1880SOURCE: (1) Deven Lewis dlewis@@earthlink.com 5/2/2000
CA: Los Angeles: 1860 Census: 271/27/187/181: Asuza Twp 7/23/1860 GENTRY, Mahala: Hd 34 Farmer -/1000 AL: GENTRY, Elias: Son 15 School/Day Labor TX: GENTRY, Sarah: Dau 13 School TX: GENTRY, James: Son 12 School MO: GENTRY, Daniel: Son 11 School TX: GENTRY, Thomas: Son 8 School TX: GENTRY, George: Son 6 School CA: GENTRY, John: Son 4 CA: GENTRY, Valentine: Dau 2 CA:
CA: Los Angeles: 1880 Census: 34/34/290/291: El Monte Twp 6/23/1880 HICKS, Mahala J: Hd 54 Wd Keep House TX KY AL: HICKS, Mary: Dau 18 S CA GA TX: HICKS, Lee R: Son 16 S School CA GA TX:
CA: San Diego: 1900 Census: 186/6A/112/112: Oceanside San Luis Rey Twp 6/8/1900 HUBBERT, Benjamin F: Hd 29 m13 Jun 1860 R/W Farmer Owns TX GA GA: HUBBERT, Mary E: Wf 28 m13 2/2 Jul 1861 R/W CA GA TN: HUBBERT, Mary E: Dau 12 Jul 1887 R/W School CA TX CA: HUBBERT, Ethel A: Dau 11 Sep 1888 R/W School CA TX CA: HICKS, Mahala J: M/L 74 Wd Aug 1825 TN KY SC:
My g.g.grandmother, Thomas' daughter Mahala Jane Mackey, married a Daniel Burns in Robertson County, in 1844. He is believed to have died in the Mexican-American War about 1848. In the 1850 Navarro Co. census, I find Mahala Burns (as a widow, I'm sure) from Alabama with her Burns children and "Sarah McKey", age 55. I believe that this is the correct age, for Sarah, placing her birth in 1795 or 1796. I suspect the 1835 memorandum should have given her age as "39" instead of "29".
In 1851, Mahala Mackey Burns, married her second husband, James Ellington. In 1854, they caught a wagon train to El Monte, CA, where he was murdered shortly thereafter - I have the Los Angeles Star issue containing the story. She would marry two more times, the last being my g.g.grandfather, Homer Blair Hicks, a Georgian.
Is there any chance that Sarah Ward Murphree could have been part Cherokee? My problem is this: our family verbal history is that Mahala was 1/2 Irish and 1/2 Cherokee, and she looked it (I have a photo of her). I'm close to proving that Thomas was Scottish and both parents were definitely from Scotland, if I'm looking at the right line. Deven Lewis
By Deven Lewis July 13, 2002 at 02:56:06]
We are trying to determine if James Ellington, who was married to Sina Huff and lived in Ellington, MO, is the same James Ellington who was married to my gggrandmother (James was her 2nd husband); James was murdered by bandits in El Monte, CA on Sept. 21, 1854, shortly after arriving there from Texas.My gggrandmother, Mahala Jane MacKey, married a James Ellington in McLennan County, TX on January 26, 1851 (the McLennan Co. marriage records misspell Ellington as "Ellenton"). Mahala had inherited a portion of her late father's property in Hill County, TX and sold her share in March of 1845, when we believe she and James left for CA, arriving and establishing a ranch in El Monte, CA (known as "Little Texas"). Mahala had two sons, Tom Ellington b. 1852, before the couple left TX, and George Ellington b. 1854. (Mahala went on to marry a Thomas Gentry in El Monte, CA; after his death, she married Homer Hicks in El Monte, CA).
According to a story we've heard, James Ellington, who was married to Sina Huff, left for the California gold rush via Texas and took some of his children from his marriage to Sina with him, however, the children later returned to MO. This James is also said to have been murdered in CA in 1854.
In the 1850 census (2 years before the marriage of James to Mahala) we find a listing on the next page over from our Mahala MacKey Burns:
From: Dardev@aol.com Subject: Mackey/McKey Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2000 11:27:42 EDT
Hello All:
I'm looking for Mackey/McKey in Hill Co. and Ellis Co. - the family's property was along the Brazos River just south of Whitney. Related names: Sevier, Weaver, Wright, Boiles, Foreman, Burns, Ellington. Here's an abbreviated chart:
---
Arrival of the Senator. [by the Pacific Express.] The steamer Senator, Capt. A. M. Barns, arrived from San Diego and intermediate ports, last evening about half-past eight o'clock. The following is her passenger list, for which we are indebted to Mr. Harney. the clerk. (included Messer, Gentry) [193]
(Dr. Barton and Dr. Gentry were probable partners of the Barton & Gentry partnership referenced in the June 18, 1859 edition of the Los Angeles Star concerning a Grand Jury investigation of the books of San Bernardino and the determination of the incompetency of the Board of Supervisors. Among the list of various payments made are these two entries: “Barton & Gentry, for oil and turpentine, furnished for jail, $62.50" and "Barton & Gentry, for oil and turpentine, $60.50".)7 LA STAR 1859 06 18
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
.... 4th. Clouds, clouds; the wind southerly; a sprinkling, and the air cool. Today the escape of Flores is all the rage; Indeed it was an outrage. How glad everybody is that it happened with the Monte men — those frontier savages, who nave spent their whole lives fighting Indians! Thus, the other day they came in here to see what we slow moving citizens were doing! Monte is not popular just now, because just at the moment when they were desired to be ferocious, they took a freak of being kindhearted.
[This article seen by the whole state, had to have been a great humiliation to the Monte and Gentry was in charge of the Monte posse, at the time. This must have dashed his political prospects in the Monte and may been the cause of his move to San Bernardino, later that year as the Mormon Exodus began.]
---
---
In the month following the affair, Frank Gentry seems to have lived elsewhere than San Bernardino, often in the Bella Union Hotel according to its register published each week in the Los Angeles Star. On October 15th, he registers first as being from the Monte. Next on October 21st, from San Bernadino, and lastly from Cucamongo.
Tim thfree48@yahoo.com
I am seeking any info on Pryor Kyle born about 1814 in Tennessee. He is buried in Paskenta Cemetery in Corning, Tehama County, California. His gravestone reads 'Pryor Kyle died Sept 24, 1872 aged 58 years'. If anyone has any info on this man it would be very much appreciated.
---
Franklin Gentry passed away on April 24, 1864. [200] His may be one of the 9 unmarked graves in the Gentry Family Cemetery. [201] It is located 1.5 miles south of Antoine off County Road 301. It is on private property, behind a gate, in the woods about 100 meters off 301. [202]
1860 Census-------
...........
---
---
---
+ Bethel Jr. was 3 months old, not 16.
On Saturday last a difficulty occurred at the Court House, between Bethel Coopwood and Henry M. Willis, of the origin of which I am not informed. It is to be hoped that the officers of our county will act on all such occasions with some firmness and common sense, and for the honor of our county put an end to such disgraceful exhibitions, arising, as they generally do, from some trivial and unimportant cause. Justices Morse and Tyler have been engaged foi the laßt few days in taking the depositions of witnesses in the case of Wm. A. Conn, contestant, vs C. W. Piercy, respondent. Adios. Civis. ---
User:Asiaticus/sandbox/David Coopwood 28 M . . . . Alabama 1832 - 1865
iv. MARTHA L. NOWLIN, b. 1832, Tennessee; m. DAVID COOPWOOD, November 24, 1853, Tyler County, Texas. Descendants of Hugh Or Donough Nowlan
COUNTY: San Bernardino DIVISION: San Salvador Township
The Bell left Reynosa, with cotton, on the 25th instant, and when about one mile below the Dona Estefena Rancho+, we -- says Mr. ELLIOTT -- were hailed by a party of men, and rounded to. We landed on the Mexican side. Immediately a Captain and squad of men, acting under authority of CORTINA, came on board. They first overhauled and examined the boat's papers, after which a general search for arms was instituted. All the trunks were ransacked. Some arms belonging to passengers were found and taken, as was also a fine saddle belonging to a Mr. COPELAND, of San Antonio. During these investigations and explorations, there was a force on the shore estimated at about 200 men.
Under pretence of going to CORTINA to obtain permission for the Bell to proceed, the Captain left, giving the boat in charge of the squad of soldiers who first went on board with him.
After on absence of about two hours, the Captain returned with orders for the Bell to go up stream and land on the Texas side of the Bio Grande, at the Donna Estefena Ranche.
When about one hundred yards distant from the landing, a fire was opened on the boat from the men on shore. The passengers, supposing that a general massacre had been ordered, commenced leaning into the river, and endeavored to reach the Texas side. Two gentlemen were known to be drowned, viz: Messrs. COPEWOOD and STEPHENSON, of San Antonio; the former is supposed to have been shot while attempting to reach the shore.
The steamer went up to and landed at the Rancho, as directed, when CORTINA and several of his officers came on board. A parley was had with the Captain of the steamer of about thirty minutes' duration. The first question asked by them, was: "Do you recognize the authority of the United States?"
During the parley CORTINA said he would report the case under consideration to the Federal Major-General (supposed to be STEELE) before he could allow the steamer to proceed. This, however, was not exacted, as the following will show: CORTINA returned to the Rancho, and in about half an hour orders were received by the Captain of the steamer to report at the headquarters of CORTINA, which he did, at the Rancho. In a short time be returned with written orders releasing the boat and allowing her to proceed, which she did, without further molestation, arriving at Matamoras yesterday morning.
From the Matamoras Commerce, June 27.
The so-called Libero-Yankee party has had a jolly [???]; but their pranks are at an end.
[???] for awhile!
[???] steamer Belle has escaped a most outrageous and [???] attack, but three innocent victims have been [???]. The steamer Senorita has been captured, and she is now lying on the other side of the Rio Grande, at about six miles up the river. The cotton-has been landed, and the boat is said to be under repairs, or rather paeparations for active war service.
Is that the so pompously promised neutrality?
Is our friend Mr. BROWN, of Brownsville, going to [???]low the enemies of Mexico a certain and easy refuge [???] the limits of his command?
We have been on board the Belle since her return, [???]nd seen several passengers. All agree in branding the attack as the most cowardly act of barbarity ever perpetrated.
CORTINA has not dared to retain the boat captured by his gang. The stern representations of the Captain, who had been called at CORTINA's headquarters, on the other side, succeeded in sparing another crime to this already too guilty outlaw.
CORTINA and his so-called officers go freely in the Yankee camps. It is from the Rancho de Dona Stefana that he issues his orders. From there, too, supplies, victuals and war instruments are daily passed to the Mexican shore.
How long is that state of disorder going to be suffered?
Three persons lost their lives in the affray. One shot, two drowned or kitled in the water by six men posted on board the Senorita, captured previously.
P.S. -- The Senorita and her cargo have been detained provisionally by the American authorities, until the decision of Gen. BROWN. But her load is on the American soil, and it is a very suspicious kind of repair that she undergoes now.
From the Matamoras Ranchero, June 30.
It has been reported to us that CORTINA, in a recent interview with the Federal Gen. BROWN, expressed his intention to give up his opposition to the Mexican Empire, and retire to his rancho, and there remain in peace and quiet. We presume it makes very little difference to the empire whether or not these are his intentions; for the most he has been able to do, so far, has been to harass and annoy, without power to endanger imperial authority. Judging from appearances, it is about time for CORTINA to make up his mind to pursue some less obtrusive employment than he has lately been engaged in.
From the Matamoras Commerce, June 30.
This newly converted guerrilla and ex-Governor of Tamaulipas, who a few days ago became a member of the order of St. Francis, will preach, Sunday morning next, in a church at Brownsville.
The subject of the discourse will be "On the dangers of being a guerrillero in Israel."
The new reverend is said to be thoroughly acquainted with the text.
---
---
Delila Coopwood
Taney Woodward = Raymond DeLa Monthena Woodward Raymond De La Montaque Woodward, William De La Montaigne Woodward
1860 CENSUS
1850 census
Society and on many patriotic and social occasions she endeared herself by her versatility of talents, ainiability and unselfish disposition to a large circle of friends, for whom mother and father entertained just pride.
---
1860 Census
Temescal San Bernardino Co., Sept. 6, '60. Pursuant to notice, the miners of Temescal met at the residence of Capt. Hanegar, en masse, at 3 o'clock, P.M., for the purpose of forming such laws as they might deem proper for the future govern rnent and protection ol their interests in said mines ; whereupon 0. D. Gass. Esq.. was called to the chai r; Mr. J. M. Greenwade, Secretary. Mr. Gass explained the object of the meeting in a brief, clear, and impressive manner ; after which the meeting proceeded to business. Whereupon Capt. Hanegar offered the following, which, after some discussion, was unanimously adopted, to-wit ; ART. l. It shall be necessary in order to constitute a legal and valid claim in the mines of metaliterous ores in the vicinity of Temescal—that, any person or persons, being the original discov erers. and taker up of any of said veins of mineral shall first sink a hole, and pile the mineral thus extracted about it, and place a notice in some conspicuous place on the lead or load, and keep or cause the same to be kept thereon, to the best, of his ability. The above shall be deemed valid so long as the party in interest shall, in person or by agent, remain in said Tin district. ART. 2. It is further considered that the best kind of notice is a stake with the claimants' name legibly written thereon. ART 3. Any person selling an interest, who may be the original discoverer, and receive a consideration therefor—or legally the successor there of, shall be entitled to the same rights and privileges of that proportional part he may purchase, so long as be may comply with the requisitions of Art.. 1st, ART. 4. The above shall co into effect from and after publication, and the Secretary is hereby requested to send a copy to the San Bernardino Herald, one to the Los Angeles Star, and one to the Southern News. for publication. The meeting then adjourned sine die. 0. D. GASS, Chairman. J. M. GREENWADE, Secretary. Los Angeles Star, Number 19, 15 September 1860, Miners' Meeting at Temescal, p.3, col.2
---
---
United States Census, 1860
---
---
"Jo See got an unusual load on and his efforts to get out of town were only successful after he had collided with the family carriage of one of our townspeople, and ripped every spoke out of one wheel. Why there were no further disastrous results is a problem as the carriage was full of ladies and children, and it was drawn by a team of spirited horses, but so it was."
s 351509N 1204616W Elevation: ?/? m 351121N 1204253W Elevation: 33/10
[216] Originally published in El Defensor Chieftain newspaper, Saturday, March 3, 2012.© 2012 by Paul Harden. Article may be cited with proper credit to author. Article is not to be reproduced in whole or placed on the internet without author’s permission.Copyright:By Paul HardenFor El Defensor Chieftainna5n@zianet.com
---
Fort Conrad (1) History
---
---
Among the Troops in New Mexico, STATISTICAL REPORT ON THE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY IN THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES, COMPILED FROM THE RECORDS OF THE SURGEON GENERAL’S OFFICE; EMBRACING A PERIOD OF SIXTEEN YEARS, FROM JANUARY, 1839, TO JANUARY, 1855. PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF BREVET BRIGADIER GENERAL THOMAS LAWSON, Surgeon General of the U. S. Army, by Richard H. Coolidge M. D., Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army, A. O. P. Nicholson, Printer, Washington, 1856, pp.414-419 [228]
The prevailing winds are from the W'., S.W., and N. W., and the atmosphere is seldom in a state of quietude. In consequence of the absence of rain here, artificial irrigation has to be resortei to by means of acequias, factitious canals, or ducts running from the river to the cultivated ground. The acequia is taken out of the river high enough to give the water sufficient elevation to overflow and inundate the land at the pleasure of the ranchero who cultivates the soil. Rain is not at all depended upon. Very little dew falls here; the atmosphere is exceedingly dry. Occasionally, during the winter months, a slight fall of snow occurs; but this is rare, and what falls immediately disappears.
Fort Conrad [229]pp.102,
Following the valley of the Rio Grande southward, we come successively to the military station at Socorro, and to Fort Conrad,.... Next in order is Fort Craig, at the northern terminus of the Jornada del Muerto, nine miles below Fort Conrad and southward on the river. [230] : 414
The latitude of Fort Conrad is about 33° 34’ 19” N., and the longitude 107° 9’ 39” W.; the altitude above the ocean 4,576 feet.
[230] That location
33°34′19″N 107°09′39″W / 33.57194°N 107.16083°W
is located southwest of Fort Craig and must be in error. However 9 miles above fort Craig on the west bank of the river the altitude is close.
aka Capt. Santiago Hubbell: Jerry D. Thompson, A Civil War History of the New Mexico Volunteers and Militia, UNM Press, Albuquerque, 2015 [231] p.33-35
Report of Capt. Robert M. Morris, Third U. S. Cavalry, of skirmish near Fort Thorn.
Fort Craig, N. Mex., September 29, 1861.
Captain: In obedience to your verbal order given me at 9 a. in. on the 25th instant, I moved with Companies C, G, and K, Regiment of Mounted Riflemen, to the relief of Captain Minks' mounted volunteers, at Canada Alamosa. I reached that point at 4.30 p.m. I should state that I ordered Captain Hubbell's company to join my command from their camp opposite Panago[Paraje?], which was under the command of Lieutenant Hubbell, the first lieutenant.
Arriving at Canada Alamosa, I found that a number of ponies were too wearied to proceed at any gait. I therefore left Lieutenant Brady (who was too sick to proceed) in charge of the camp, and resumed my march with 101 rank and file on the trail of the Texan force which had captured Captain Minks, marching until 3 a.m. of the following morning, rested until daylight, then proceeded on the trail.
Lieutenant Cooley, of the Second Volunteer Regiment (who acted as my aide de camp), riding in advance, discovered the Texans encamped. I then formed my command to charge, but upon examining their position I saw it was futile to attempt it at that time.
To test their strength I ordered Lieutenant Treacy with his company (C) to take position on their right flank and attack them, whilst I moved forward to attack them front and left. Taking up my position, a single shot was fired. I immediately dismounted and went into action, which lasted an hour and forty-two minutes.
My ammunition running low, I retired a half mile as a feint to draw them out from their intrenchments, but without success. I then turned their right and camped 2 1/2 miles from them, where I remained till 5 p. m.; then I moved up the creek and encamped, where I remained until dark, and then moved back on Canada Alamosa with my wounded, which place I reached at 4 a. m. on the 27th instant.
Although it may appear invidious to mention names where all behaved so coolly and with unflinching bravery, I will state that Dr. Sylvester Rankin and Lieutenant Cooley performed their appropriate duties to my full satisfaction. To the riflemen engaged I cannot but say that they proved themselves by their coolness and bravery men who will sustain their regimental flag under any circumstances.
Lieutenant Treacy's conduct on the field elicited my highest approbation. *
This report is respectfully submitted.
E. M. MORRIS, Captain, Regiment Mounted Riflemen.
Capt. H. R. Selden, Fifth Infantry, Commanding Post.
Report of Capt. Bethel Coopwood, Confederate forces.
Dona Ana, Ariz., September 20, 1861.
SIR: In obedience to your order of date September 18, 1861, I started from Camp Robledo on the 22d instant to make a reconnaissance of the country around Fort Craig with a detachment of 112 men, including officers, detailed from Captain Pyron's company, B, and Captain Stafford's company, E, Second Texas Mounted Rifles, and my spy company, as shown by lists from the different companies, hereto annexed; also one man, the Rev. William J. Joyce, of Captain Hardeman's company, A, Second Texas Mounted Rifles.
Having obtlined reliable information that a company of U. S. volunteers had started from Fort Craig to occupy the town of Alamosa, 30 miles from Fort Craig, I marched with all precaution to that place, and on the morning of the 23th instant succeeded in getting between that place and Craig without being discovered. I immediately marched my force into town, and after some skirmishing captured Capt. J. H. Minks, Second Lieut. Metiaze Medina, and 23 privates and non-commissioned officers. In the skirmish 4 of the enemy were killed and 0 wounded. The remainder of Captain Minks' company fled early in the action, and escaped by crossing the river and taking to the mountains.
In the camp of Captain Minks I found an amount of public property, and immediately appointed Lieutenant Poore to take charge of the same; and the duplicate of his inventory, hereunto annexed, exhibits the amount of property taken, except four Sibley tents and a number of saddles and other articles of small value, which were burned by my order, not having transportation for the same. Not having transportation for the prisoners, I administered to 22 of them a strong oath, binding them not to take np arms against the Confederate States during this war unless exchanged, <S:c., and then set them at liberty without arms; but I held Captain Minks aud Lieutenant Medina and one sergeant as prisoners, and deliver them to you to abide your order.
From Alamosa I marched along the river road with the property taken to the place known as E Company Grove, and encamped for the night. On the morning of the 27th, while at breakfast, I was informed that my pickets were running into camp, and, rising to my feet, I saw the enemy pursuing them. In less than ten minutes my camp was surrounded by U. S. troops, numbering about 190. None of the ordinary ceremonies of attack were performed. There being no misunderstanding, we at once commenced business. The firing commenced at 7 o'clock and ended at 11 a. m. The enemy began to retreat before 11, and about that hour fled from the field. I lost 2 men killed, and had 2 severely wounded, each in the arm, besides 6 others slightly wounded, all of which will more fully appear from the list hereto annexed. The enemy removed their dead and wounded as they retreated, so as to evade a discovery of their losses; but, from the number of horses led away with bodies apparently lashed across them, there were 12 or 13 killed, but the number of their wounded could not be ascertained.
The principal portion of the battle was fought with the enemy's force formed in two lines, forming the angle of a square, and my forces formed the same way inside of theirs, my lines being much the shorter. One of my lines was composed of the detachment from Captain Pyron's company and a portion of the detachment from Captain Stafford's company, under the immediate command of Lieutenant Poore, Sergeant O'Grady, and Sergeant Browne. My left line was composed of the detachment from my company and a part of the detachment from Captain Stafford's company. This line was under the immediate command of Lieutenant Sutherland, being divided into two platoons, one led by Sergeant Coulter, and the other by Private Tevis, who was named for the special occasion.
I remained upon the field till 10 o'clock a. m. the next day, but was prepared to receive another attack should the enemy return re-enforced. In relation to the men and officers under me I would say to you, sir, that I have not witnessed such a display of manly courage and perfect order during my experience in wars. Each officer and man conducted himself as though he thought the destinies of himself and his country were depending upon his action on that occasion. The wounded would not even utter a cry, lest it would be injurious to the cause. A remarkable instance of this was displayed in the case of Sergeant O'Grady. After being severely wounded, and after having fallen to the ground from loss of blood, he continued to cheer his men and encourage them to fight, telling them not to cease firing until they had avenged his blood. This kind of courage was also displayed by others whose wounds were not so severe. Sergeant Quinn, Sergeant Robinson, and Antonio Lambert, after having each received a wound, continued to fight, if possible, with more courage and determination. The officers and men paid strict attention to every order, and acted more like veteran troops than volunteers. I cannot with words express the esteem I have for all who were with me. Nothing short of witnessing a similar occasion can impress you with an idea of the value of such troops and the credit due them for what they have already done. I herewith annex a list of the names of all who were with me, that you may know that number of men by name who will not flinch under the most trying circumstances.
Regretting much that some of my esteemed fellow soldiers have suffered the fate of war on this scout, I most respectfully submit to you this report of the same.
I am, sir, your most obedient servant,
BETHEL COOPWOOD, Captain, Commanding scout.
Lieut, Col. John R. Baylor. [233] : 31–32
---
---
---
was compelled to leave them and proceed, accompanied by Lieutenant Noble and his command of fifty mounted men. We arrived at the upper crossing of Owens river on the evening of April 6. On the next morning we met with Colonel G. Evans with Lieutenants French and Oliver; Captain Wynne of his command having been left with seven men to garrison the stone fort forty miles below. These were under Colonel Mayfield of Visalia. [253] : 25, Indian Troubles in the Owens River District
"Lieutenant Noble was sent to take possession of the mountain to the left of the canyon. This position he gained with difficulty, facing a destructive fire and, unable to maintain it without severe loss, was forced to retreat. Colonel Mayfield, who accompanied him, was killed.
"The whole party under Colonel Evans were forced to retreat down the valley, the Indians following. Colonel Evans, being without provisions, was compelled to return to his former post near Los Angeles. Lieutenant Noble accompanied him as far as the fort for the purpose of escorting the citizens in this direction out of the valley with their stock, which numbered about four thousand head of cattle and twenty-five hundred head of sheep.
"There were not over twenty-five Indians engaged in this fight but they were well armed and from the nature of their position could have held it against any odds." [253] : 26, Indian Troubles in the Owens River District
Pacheco was once an important inland shipping port for central Contra Costa County. The idea of a major shipping port located six miles inland on Walnut Creek (once known as Pacheco Creek) is for many a fantastic leap of imagination. Today Walnut Creek is a concrete flood control channel that, for most of the year, carries shallow runoff from lawn watering suburbanites and occasional winter storms.
Pacheco is now a sleepy, unincorporated slice of Contra Costa County wedged between Martinez, Pleasant Hill and Concord. However, during the 1850’s and 1860’s, Pacheco was the county’s bustling commercial center. It was the shipping port for the grain grown in the Ygnacio, San Ramon and Tassajara valleys. Warehouses, a flour mill and shops grew up along the creek. Walnut Creek then flowed deep and free into Suisun Bay. For over 20 years, from 1851 to nearly 1873, Pacheco was a major shipping port for central Contra Costa County. This essay is a description of how both Nature and Man combined forces to change the history of Contra Costa County.
The destruction of Pacheco’s Walnut Creek shipping channel occurred gradually over many years and for many reasons. It is an environmental detective story with clues in the historical and geologic records. A complex series of natural events combined with man-made ecologic damage eventually ruined Pacheco's growing prosperity.
In 1828 a grant of nearly 18,000 acres was made to Salvio Pacheco for his services to the Mexican government. He occupied his Monte Del Diablo land grant in 1834 (9). The Salvio Pacheco rancho stretched from Mt. Diablo to the Sacramento River. The Martinez, Moragas, and Welch families also obtained land grants covering most of central Contra Costa County. These large cattle raising operations had unforeseen ecologic consequences. Heavy cattle grazing soon destroyed the native grasses setting in motion further changes to the land.
In 1851 American settlement started in the Ygnacio Valley. Wheat, oats and barley were important crops by 1852-53. In 1854 twenty-five Ygnacio Valley farms were shipping their grain from the Pacheco embarcadero down Walnut Creek to San Francisco (6). Within a couple of years most of the central Contra Costa farms were sending their grain to Pacheco. Initially sailing craft of up to 100 tons traveled six miles up Walnut Creek to take on cargo at Pacheco (9). Eventually even small stern wheelers steamed up Walnut Creek to load grain for the San Francisco market.
During the 1850’s warehouses were constructed at Pacheco to handle the growing grain shipments from the Ygnacio, San Ramon and Tassajara valleys (6). The firm of Lathrop, Fish & Walrath built the first grain warehouse at Pacheco in 1853. Later George Loucks owned the building (8). An additional warehouse was constructed in 1857. A flour mill was built on the creek alongside the warehouses. In 1860 Mr. Fassett with Dr. Carrothers purchased land from Salvio Pacheco near the shipping port and laid out city lots for Pacheco, a growing settlement with a bright future (9).
Wheat growing and cattle raising was not the only important economic activity in Contra Costa. In 1850 Frank Such and W.E. Whitney began quarrying limestone from Mt. Diablo's foothills. The limestone was converted to lime to make the mortar needed to build San Francisco and Stockton. The lime was shipped down Mt. Diablo Creek, a tributary of Walnut Creek (6). On the bank of Mt. Diablo Creek, Frank Such built the kilns that turned limestone into lime. Three thousand barrels of lime a month were shipped down Mt. Diablo Creek and Walnut Creek from 1850 through 1862 (9).
During the 1850’s Mt. Diablo Creek flowed the year round. Small sailing craft traveled up the Walnut Creek slough and entered Mt. Diablo Creek to load their cargoes of lime. Sometime before 1881 Mt. Diablo Creek was filled with mud and silt (9). What could have been the causes of this environmental disaster?
As noted earlier in this essay, major changes to the environment began with the introduction of large-scale cattle raising into Contra Costa County. Native bunch grasses were driven to virtual extinction by overgrazing (2). The delicate native grasses were replaced by more rugged wild oats, mustard and ripgut, all foreign imports. Wild oats evolved in southern Europe alongside domestic cattle and were genetically equipped to handle the grazing pressure from large cattle herds (10). Intense, large scale cattle grazing of native bunch grass during California’s dry summers quickly killed off most of the sensitive native grasses. The shallow rooted wild oats responded to overgrazing by replacing the deeply rooted, native bunch grasses (12).
Cows that before the gold rush sold for four dollars a head, sold for as much as 500 dollars a steer in 1849 (5). Cattle herds were driven from Mexico, Texas and the Middle West to California to satisfy the demands of the expanding mining camps. A pre-gold rush population of half a million head of cattle quickly exploded to over three million (2) (5) producing dramatic overgrazing on California's cattle ranges. Whatever grass the cattle did not eat, the millions of introduced sheep devoured (5). Mutton as well as beef became staple meats of the ravenous gold camps.
Native bunch grass’ deeply rooted, large, matted root system absorbed the heavy winter rains and slowly released more moisture into the county's water table (12)(13). The smaller, shallow root system of the wild oats allowed faster runoffs during the winter rains. The loss of the native bunch grass resulted in increased erosion of Contra Costa’s hillsides, dumping more sediment into Walnut Creek and its tributaries.
Another environmental blow came in the 1850’s with the clear cutting of the redwood forests blanketing the headwaters of Las Trampas Creek, an important tributary of Walnut Creek (12). The rapid growth of San Francisco created an intense demand for lumber. By 1860 the redwood forests were gone. Even the giant stumps were removed for firewood. Now the winter rains and moisture laden fogs were not captured and absorbed by the forest. Heavy rains falling on Contra Costa’s coastal hills were no longer slowly released into Contra Costa’s groundwater system.
Clear cutting of the redwood forests, extinction of the native vegetation and overgrazing led to larger runoffs producing increased erosion, debris flows and landslides (12). During the 1850's, factors gradually increased the sediment load of central Contra Costa's stream system and setting the stage for what was coming.
The next natural environmental disaster was unprecedented and unexpected. California was hit with a Megaflood (3). In early November 1861 the normal winter rains began. But then it continued to rain through November. By December 9th the Sacramento Bee editorialized about the "Deluge of 1861.” The Union troops stationed in Stockton moved to Benicia to escape their flooded camp (7). Yet the rain continued to fall all the way through December. Rivers overflowed their banks and the San Joaquin Valley began to flood. Hundreds of thousands of cattle drowned. Thousands of people perished (3).
But the worst was yet to come. Heavy rains persisted through all of January 1862. When the rains finally ended, San Francisco records show that the city had received around 50 inches. Certainly on Mt. Diablo and the Berkeley Hills equal or greater rainfall occurred. Martinez received 49 inches. In Contra Costa it rained 15 inches in one week. All the county bridges were gone. The mining facilities at Nortonville and Somersville were washed away. At Sonora in the Sierra foothills over 8.5 feet had fallen by February 1, 1862 (1). In the Central Valley a lake 300 miles long and 20 to 60 miles wide formed (1). One could have boarded a steam ship in Bakersfield and sailed to San Francisco. So much rain had fallen that San Francisco Bay became a freshwater lake (3).
On the newly exposed hillsides of Contra Costa, stripped of its native grasses and redwood forests, the overwhelming winter rains proved disastrous. The unprecedented runoff eroded millions of tons of soil from the Walnut Creek watershed. Annie Loucks reported that after the flood, Walnut Creek began to silt up (8). Business records reveal the effect on Walnut Creek. After the megaflood of 1861-62, cargo ships could no longer reach Pacheco’s wharves. George Loucks was forced to move his warehouse three quarters of a mile downstream due to the rapid upstream filling of Walnut Creek (6). The megaflood of 1861-62 flooded Pacheco sweeping away warehouses and homes. But now an even worse disaster was about to begin.
In California a wet winter rainy season is commonly followed by drought. This time was no exception. After the extreme megaflood of 1861-62, there began such a horrendous three year megadrought from 1863 through 1865 that it permanently changed the economic face of California (11). For 1862-63 there was only 15 inches measured in San Francisco. Martinez recorded only around 9.5 inches. In Los Angeles only four inches were recorded. In the following years it was even worse. Los Angeles received only a trace of rain. A usually rainy San Francisco recorded only nine inches (12) (13). Given the current ratio of rain in San Francisco to rainfall in Contra Costa, most of central and eastern Contra Costa probably averaged less than four inches in 1863-64.
For the dry wheat farmers of central Contra Costa County, the drought years were devastating. Wheat was customarily sown from October until March and corn from March to July (9). But without moisture the winter wheat crop failed leaving the plowed fields dusty and barren.
The cattle industry in Contra Costa nearly vanished after three years of extreme drought (12). On California’s cattle range the stench of dead cattle filled the air (14). It became so bad that cattle were dying not only from starvation but from suffocation caused by dust inhalation (5). The over-grazed, drought stricken hills were stripped of their protective vegetation. In Southern California starving steers were sold for thirty-seven and a half cents apiece (14). By the end of the drought, over two and half million California cows had died. Crushed by debt, most of the remaining large ranchos were broken up and sold (11).
Normal rain fall returned in 1865 and 1866. In 1867-68 even heavier rains were recorded. Pounding drought damaged hillsides, rain water cascaded down the slopes turning gullies into deep ravines. This is a quote from the first history of Contra Costa County written in 1882 by Munro-Fraser (9). He begins by discussing two famous Contra Costa pioneers, Elam Brown and Nathaniel Jones, who arrived in the late 1840’s. Then Fraser goes on to note the changes to the Contra Costa countryside.
"The country in its general aspect has been greatly changed since their arrival, especially in the matter of ditches, many of these which now are of considerable magnitude, being then more drains. The prime cause of this we believe to have been the breaking of the upper crust of the soil by the trampling of stock, which increased in number year by year and consequently caused the greater damage as their hundreds were changed into thousands." (Page 427, History of Contra Costa County, 1882).
Less absorption of rain water meant greater erosion stripping the soil from the environmentally damaged hillsides. The filling of Walnut Creek accelerated after the megaflood of 1861-62 and the extreme drought of 1863-65.
During the rest of the 1860’s, continuing deposition of mud and silt into Walnut Creek and its slough made the navigation of cargo ships to Pacheco increasingly difficult. The intense winter rains of 1868 produced more terrible flooding of Pacheco. Faster runoffs and Walnut Creek’s gradual fill up of silt, mud and sand had reduced the creek’s water carrying capacity. Repeated floods and fires during the 1860's crippled Pacheco's prosperity (6)(8).
To add insult to injury, from 1852 to 1883 hydraulic gold mining in the Sierras poured huge amounts of sand, mud and silt down the Sacramento River and into Suisun Bay. Today these deposits are found as far west as San Francisco Bay (3). By the middle 1860's sand and silts formed shifting barriers in the entrance of the Walnut Creek slough making it increasingly difficult for ships to enter Walnut Creek (8).
In 1869 the offer of free or inexpensive land to the flood prone merchants of Pacheco by Salvio and Fernando Pacheco was warmly received. The site of the new settlement lay two miles to the east of Pacheco on higher ground. Many accepted the offer and the new town of Todos Santos (later Concord) was born (9). This was the final blow to the future of Pacheco. By 1873 regular shipments by boat had become nearly impossible because of the silting up of Walnut Creek. With the loss of the port and the decline in Pacheco's population, the Contra Costa Gazette publishers abandoned the town and moved to Martinez (6).
In the Old World this sad story of environmental damage and its consequences has been replayed many times. The great classic ports of Ephesus and Troy were abandoned after their harbors filled with mud and silt. Man’s destruction of native forests and overgrazing caused massive erosion and silting up of some of the great harbors of antiquity.
In summary Walnut and Mount Diablo creeks, two important commercial Contra Costa waterways of the 1850’s and 60’s, suffered the same fate and for many similar reasons. Overgrazing, extinction of the native grasses and destruction of Contra Costa’s first growth redwood forests made the Walnut Creek watershed prone to accelerated erosion and deposition. Together with additional catastrophes in the form the greatest rainfall in the West Coast's recorded history immediately followed by Californian's greatest drought ultimately doomed the navigability of Walnut and Mt. Diablo creeks and with them, Pacheco's commercial future.
(Note: the author is a geologist interested in the influence of geologic forces on human history.)
Romer, Margaret, April 1963, "The Story of Los Angeles - Part III", Journal of the West, vol. II, no. 2.
The climate was bone dry.... There was no moisture and our cattle died off in very great numbers ... Before the year 1864 had passed away, there was perfect devastation. Such a thing was never before known in California. --Juan Forster, Rancho Santa Margarita
Droughts are common in California, always have been. Long before scientists suggested a "greenhouse effect" and the possibility of permanent climatic change, pioneers coped with erratic and disastrous wet/dry cycles.
The drought of 1862-65 was a catastrophe for the state of California--a bitter dry period, preceded by unusually heavy rains and accompanied by an untimely epidemic of smallpox.
The decade of the 1860s began with little hint of the natural catastrophes ahead. For several years in succession, gentle autumn and winter rains had fallen with consistency, supporting vast grasslands that fed immense herds of cattle.
But in the winter of 1861-62, rains of biblical proportions came to California.
The rain fell for almost a month, inundating river valleys, farmlands and towns. The persistence of the rain led the editor of the Los Angeles Star to comment: "On Tuesday last the sun made its appearance. The phenomenon lasted several minutes and was witnessed by a great number of persons."
In San Diego, the flooding washed away soil and timberlands, destroyed vineyards, melted adobe houses, and drowned livestock. At San Luis Rey, the raging floods "cut an arroyo 50 feet across." An estimated 200,000 head of cattle were lost in California.
But in the spring, the rain-soaked grazing lands flourished. Herds of cattle recovered quickly in the abundant pasturage.
Then came three years of intense drought. In the fall and winter of 1862-63, only 3.87 inches of rain fell in San Diego County. As the grasslands dried up, the long-horned cattle grew emaciated and weak. The overstocked ranchers tried to minimize their losses by thinning their herds. The markets became flooded with cowhides and prices fell.
From Santa Margarita (modern-day Camp Pendleton), rancher Juan Forster would write in January, 1863: "We poor Rancheros have had a damned bad string of luck these last two years and if it is going to continue I don't know what will become of us." To cut losses, Forster drove his herds into the mountains, saving perhaps half his cattle.
At Rancho Guajome near San Luis Rey, rancher Cave Couts complained in early spring that there was no grass, that it was as dry as August, and that smallpox was beginning to take a toll.
The outbreak of smallpox in California added human misery to the growing economic toll. Appearing in the fall of 1862, the plague quickly spread throughout Southern California. Effective quarantines proved impossible and vaccine could only be obtained from San Francisco.
Cave Couts reported: "Smallpox is quite prevalent--six to eight per day are being buried in S. Juan Capistrano--Indians generally. . . . I vaccinated the whole rancheria at San Luis some six weeks since, & hope they may escape, thus saving our community of the terrible disease."
By late spring, the smallpox epidemic had run its course, but the drought continued. A little more than five inches of rain fell in 1863-64. More and more ranchers drove their cattle into the mountains in the search for grass and water. Other cattlemen moved their herds to Baja California. From San Luis Rey, Couts would moan: "I am badly in want of money . . . taxes on hand, no goods in my shop & no money."
As the drought lingered, the bad luck of ranchers continued. A violent storm that broke in May killed famished cattle grazing in the mountains. Forster lost 300 head in one night at San Ysabel. When summer came, strong dry winds were reported and grasshoppers appeared, which soon stripped the remaining forage.
The drought finally began to ease in November, 1864. Two and half inches of rain fell, followed by more than five inches in the next two months. Not until the 12-inch season of 1864-65 did the cattlemen feel secure.
The Great Drought virtually ruined the once-great cattle industry of California. Statewide, herds declined by about 46% in the 1860s. The numbers are unknown for San Diego County but in Los Angeles County the loss was more than 70%.
The long-term impact did show a few benefits. Ranchers learned to plant feed crops in order to lessen their reliance on natural forage. The raising of sheep (a far more "drought-tolerant" animal than a cow) became popular. In North San Diego County, a more diversified agricultural economy slowly developed. [259]
It's official. On January 17, Governor Brown declared it so, and in mid-February he stood grim- faced in the San Joaquin Valley dust with President Obama nodding his head in agreement. Were that not enough, the drought has now climbed up onto the signs above Highway 1 usually reserved for capturing kidnappers and drunk drivers. I saw the brake lights ahead before I could read the sign as startled drivers slowed to read the entire message (I'll withhold comment about reading speeds and the effects such signs have on traffic flow).
The Old Timer You might wonder how folks around here knew they were in a drought before highway signs were available to shout it or television could broadcast images of politicians standing in dusty fields looking all worried and serious, or TV weather anchors showed satellite images of a storm track carrying that winter rain northward to places that don't need it.
Back in the olden days residents of this region didn't need to be told. They could feel it, see it and hear it. Those who had been here awhile weren't surprised. If you were a newcomer there was always someone around who had been here longer – we'll call him The Old Timer – who would say, "Yup. This here's a drought. We get them all the time. You think this one's bad? You shoulda seen the one in…" and then he would remind of 1857, 1864, 1877, 1898.
Then, the Old Timer would be put away until the next natural calamity.
Drought. The Elephant that Never Leaves the Room. First off, if you're looking for some precision in this drought business, you'll be disappointed. The definitions are general and have little to do with rain gauges. Basically, as one Australian website states , "it is a dry period when there is not enough water for users' normal needs." The California Department of Water Resources admits that "there are many ways that drought can be defined," and then goes on to describe those many ways. Those definitions all agree: it's all about what happens to people.
It's not tied to rainfall, necessarily. It all depends on where you are and the impact a water shortage has on you.
Since 1769 Euro Americans first came into this region and began writing accounts, the typical California straight line record of fecundity and prosperity was punctuated by a steady stream of natural calamities, most of which were easily identifiable – floods, earthquakes, wildfires, and windstorms. All those were easy to recognize.
Droughts were harder. They began slowly, often punctuated by episodic early-season showers (I call them "teasers"), and then the dry days tightened from south to north, with those living and working in the upper Salinas and San Benito watersheds feeling them first. The mid-autumn grass emerged and then withered and the hills stayed a tawny brown all winter. Stream flows fell. And then an endless parade of bright, cloudless days stretched on for months, shriveling the place.
Eventually, the blessed sound of steady rain on the roof would signal the drought's end, and a feeling of relief washed the drought memory away.
As John Steinbeck wrote in East of Eden about the Salinas Valley: "But there were dry years too, and they put a terror on the valley. They came in a thirty-year cycle…and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way."
Early Droughts – The Great Famine – 1770-1772 The Franciscans who came here to establish their missions had never encountered a climate quite like this one; it took them years of trial and error to figure out how to extract a living from the region's landscape. Father Junipero Serra, for example, had spent his entire New World career in Mexico, and the first thing he noted in June of 1770 when his mission was located on the north side of the Peninsula was the cold. That summertime Monterey fog.
After he was able to warm up a bit by moving his mission over the hill to the banks of the Rio Carmelo, he encountered something a bit more challenging – a drought. There was plenty of water in the river down below the mission, but no way to get it up on the alluvial terraces. By necessity, the Franciscans were the region's first dry farmers, planting their meager crops in the hope that it might rain. But they weren't familiar with the region's dry summers. Their early plantings shriveled and by the summer of 1772, Serra declared their puny garden "miserable." In a letter to Mexico in 1772, he admitted that: "We are starving."
Serra's only recourse was to release the few Indians living at the mission so that they might return to their villages and hunt and forage as before. They brought back enough venison and pine nuts and other local delicacies to see the Spaniards through the drought. (The ultimate solution at Carmel and many of the other mission was irrigation, but it wasn't until 1781 that a canal was completed that diverted the water of the Carmelo up onto the terrace where it could be used.)
The Cattle on a Thousand Hills – the Droughts of the 1820s, 1830s, and 1840s Over the decades the mission herds of cattle, sheep and horses grew and wandered across the hills much to the delight of mountain lions and grizzly bears. Irrigation solved some of the missions' farming challenges, but the herds were dependent on the grasses that were dependent on the rains. In the early 1820s, the accounts tell of a drought that caused the livestock to "suffer dreadfully." Thousands of cattle and horses died of starvation out on the range. Cattle had more value than horses, and according to the accounts, the missionaries at Soledad took matters into their own hands and slaughtered 6,000 horses to release the pressure on the few surviving cattle.
There were stories of missionaries driving herds of wild horses over cliffs and into the sea during dry years to manage the grasslands.
Some droughts stuck in local memory longer than others – everyone that was here remembered the twenty months from 1828-1830 when the countryside was baked in the relentless sun. Watering holes dried up, stream flows dropped and the cattle and horses died by the thousands. Buzzards grew so fat they couldn't fly. This 1828-1830 drought also had other consequences – a sharp rise in lawlessness, as horse thieves roamed the countryside, stealing the few remaining broken horses. Rancheros went into debt to the ever-increasing numbers of foreigners moving into Alta California, and subsequent droughts often resulted in the Californios losing their land.
But, the account of a drought in the early 1840s as retold by the artist and historian Joe Mora was the one that stuck with me. Again the issue was the herds of wild, unbranded horses competing with the cattle for scarce rangeland resources. The Alta California government ordered that makeshift corrals be built and all the horses, tame and wild, be driven in. The vaqueros then rode into the corral, separated the healthy, branded horses and released them until only the wild ones remained. The mounted vaqueros then formed a double file at the corral's gate and as the doomed horses were driven out, the vaqueros rode alongside and drove their lances into their hearts.
No one who witnessed the slaughter ever forgot it, the screams of the horses forever etched into their drought memory.
Every major drought in the region left a unique signature.
My next newsletter will discuss the two most memorable droughts of the 1850s and 1860s.
In his brilliant, landmark 2007 book, Tiburcio, historian John Boesseneker describes in great detail the Monterey Bay Region of the 1850s, characterizing it as a "crucible of crime, corruption and racism." I would mix drought into that crucible. Drought didn't cause racism, but it intensified and exacerbated the tensions between newly-arrived Yankees and resident Californians.
The Dry Years – 1855-1856 Unlike earthquakes or floods, droughts don't come suddenly. They creep in quietly, signaling themselves with harbingers that long-time residents recognize. One measure in Monterey was the level of El Estero, the lagoon that surrounded the community's cemeteries. In the fall of 1855 it was possible to walk directly from Monterey across the dry bed of the lagoon, "which has not occurred but once before since 1826" according to the Pacific Sentinel. By spring of 1856, the rangeland throughout the region was drying up, and hogs and cattle were dying on the Salinas plains, The Sentinel's editor was warning that California would soon be "down in her marrow-bones" leading to a "true crisis of our social, meteorological and political troubles.."
Vigilantism and Lynchings – 1856-57 The drought rubbed nerves raw, intensifying the anger and frustration throughout the region. The Yankees were frustrated by their lack of progress. For most, the Gold Rush had been a bust, and when they turned to the land, it was already owned, usually by someone with a Spanish surname. The drought drove down the price of cattle, and many of the Californio landowners slid into bankruptcy, Yankee lawyers waiting for them just like the vultures waiting for death to come on the plains.
Tiburcio Vasquez, 1874. Vasquez's personality was developed from the late 1840s into the 1850s, and the drought of the mid-1850s contributed to the violence in the region. Vasquez was a product of that period. Photo credit: John Boesseneker. It seemed to the Californios that everything was up for grabs—not only their land, language, culture and way of life. Some of the younger men, like Tiburcio Vazquez, began to vent their frustrations with violence, and the Yankees returned with violence of their own – mob violence and lynchings.
Lynchings Lynchings are a peculiarly American institution, a unique form of extra-legal vigilante justice often beginning with an apprehension by a mob, a mock trial, and an execution usually by hanging. Historians of the genre have tabulated a total of 294 lynching in California between 1850 and 1870, with Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties accounting for 30. The vast majority of those lynched were Indians, Mexicans or Californios. (The late historian Phil Reader and I believe that the number 30 is low, and that there were more examples of summary justice in the region that went unrecorded.)
Watsonville Lynching, October 1856 – One 1856 example will suffice. A group of Spanish-speaking horsemen that were camped along the Pajaro River near Watsonville were suspected of stealing horses. A mob of "Americans" (I would use the term Yankees) rode out to their camp, and killed and captured them all. The following day another group of "Spaniards" rode through town and the mob re-organized and attacked them, driving all of them off except for one man who was wounded. They tied him to a flag staff, and after several discussions about whether to turn him over to the Sheriff or impanel a jury on the spot, he was "hanged without further ceremony."
1856 -- A "Hot, Windy, Dusty, Thirsty" year – 1856 wasn't just tough on the Californios. The grizzly bears in the hills being Santa Cruz were sickly, their hair "loose and falling off" as they came down to feed on a whale carcass that had drifted in to the beach below town. The local newspaper summarized the year as "strange, curious, volcanic, hot, windy, dusty, thirsty, murdering, bloody, lunching, and robbing…" The Yankees, through vigilante groups, had taken the law into their own hands, and by the end of the year the tide was turning in their favor.
The Holy Cross Church that replaced the Santa Cruz Mission church in 1857. This church and the 1892 Gothic edifice that followed reflected the church (and community's) turning away from its Spanish-Mexican roots.
1857: The Hispanic Collapse The year of 1857 began inauspiciously. On the morning of January 9, much of California experienced what seismologists believe was the largest earthquake in California's recorded history. Still commonly known as the "Fort Tejon" earthquake because of the damage done there, seismologists have now determined that it was a magnitude 7.9 with an epicenter near present-day Parkfield. Damage was focused along the San Andreas fault south of Parkfield, but residents in southern Monterey County ran terror-stricken out of their homes, and trees in the Salinas Valley whipped back and forth. The quake was felt throughout the region, though there was little damage in the immediate Monterey Bay Region.
Then, on February 16, the front wall of the mission church at Santa Cruz fell with a "terrible crash." (Some historians erroneously connect the mission wall's collapse with the January 9 earthquake, and it is certainly possible that the structure might have been weakened by the quake, but the two events are over a month apart.) Combine the mission church's collapse with its Spanish name being changed to "Holy Cross," and the replacement church's decidedly Protestant appearance, and all this can be seen as a symbol of the further erosion of the region's Spanish-Mexican culture.
And the lynchings continued. One of the more infamous was the lynching of Anastacio Garcia inside the Monterey County Jail on February 17 (see the chapter in Boesssenecker's Tiburcio on the Roach-Belcher feud). Watsonville had another particularly gruesome hanging in May of 1857, though the victim in this case was an "American."
The Panic of 1857 – Beginning in late 1857, the region's already weakened economy was hammered by the arrival of the effects of the Panic of 1857. Most economists consider the Panic of 1857 to be the world's first global economic depression, and in California, already weakened land and livestock values dropped even farther.
The Mega-Drought – 1856-1862 Some climatologists believe that the drought of the mid-1850s was actually the beginning of a drought that lasted almost a decade. The region's cattle industry was staggered, but hung on until the early 1860s when the region – and all of California – was visited by yet another deadly drought. Only this time it was snuggled between a huge flood and a swarm of fires. [260]
---
Note: For earlier drought stories see: I – The Screaming Horses drought – 1840-41 II - The Lynching Drought – 1855-56
The 1860s – The End of Pastoral California The winter of 1860-61 saw a couple of good storms and enough rain fell in February in the upper San Lorenzo to blow out Isaac Graham's dam and flood the lower parts of Santa Cruz for a time. But the extremes seemed to be leveling out, and attentions were quickly diverted by the attack on Fort Sumter in April, 1861 and the onset of Civil War.
And then it started:A Natural Disaster Smackdown. It's a wonder there was anyone living around here by the end of the 1860s. In its bare bones, with the US Civil War and Lincoln's assassination as the backdrop we have an astonishing sequence of disasters: The Flood of 1862, The Drought of 1863-1864, Wildfires of 1865, two large earthquakes and a Smallpox epidemic to finish off the decade.
The Mother of All Floods – 1861-1862 We're here in the 1860s to re-visit the drought, but we absolutely must spend a minute with the flood that preceded it. This wasn't just any flood. It scarred California's memory so deeply that in 2011, the United States Geological Survey declared it to be the biggest flood event in California's written history. 43 days of rain turned California's valleys into lakes, rivers tore entire town away and killed hundreds of thousands of cattle. The USGS has named it the ARKstorm Scenario – the plume of subtropical moisture swung up like a firehose and locked onto the Pacific Coast.
The buzzards (more correctly termed turkey vultures) grew so fat during the 1863-1864 drought that they could only waddle.
Henry Miller was one of a few cattle ranchers able to survive and even thrive during the 1863-1864 drought by moving his cattle to his pasturage he owned beyond the reach of the drought.
With the rain hammering on the roof, Californians huddled in their churches and prayed for the rain to stop. When it finally did in late January 1862, bridges were gone, and the state was left with a huge bathtub ring of mud, and no funds. California was bankrupt.
We'll come back to the flood of '62 and the huge effects it had on the Monterey Bay Region sometime, but for now, just imagine the locals digging out of the sand and mud, relieved that the hills were turning green for the remaining livestock that hadn't been swept away into the ocean.
Then, once everyone was busy building levees and organizing to protect their properties from future floods, it stopped raining altogether. Again.
THE DROUGHT OF 1863-1864
When it didn't rain that much in the winter of 1862-1863, locals couldn't believe that the natural order had turned off the faucet, so they called that first winter a "dry spell." Yet, a mere 22 months after the '62 flood waters began to recede; churches were filled with congregations praying for rain.
Once again, the sun had baked the earth, the grass shriveled and the cattle bellowed and died "as if they were poisoned." An article in a Monterey newspaper in the summer of 1864 suggested that the rancheros should ride out and kill the cattle to "prevent them from dying." Killing was much more humane than a slow death in a dry water hole. Grizzly bears and coyotes were in heaven, and the buzzards got so fat they could only waddle.
Most California historians conclude that the drought of 1863-1864 was a major turning point in the state's history, marking the end of the dominance of the old, Spanish-Mexican style pastoral economy. It also marked the end for many of the Californio rancheros who had survived the drought and race war of the 1850s, and the mega-flood of '62.
Profiting from the Drought
Some entrepreneurs turned the drought to their advantage, most notably, German immigrant Henry Miller, and recently-arrived New Englander, Loren Coburn. Coburn owned large ranches in both present-day coastal San Mateo County (he owned Pigeon Point, for example) and Monterey County. When his Monterey County pasturage withered away, he drove those herds north into the foothills behind Pescadero where the effects of the drought weren't so severe. Once the price of beef recovered he drove them to San Francisco and enhanced his fortune.
Henry Miller also had far-flung properties across the West, and during the drought he bought cattle for $2 a head and then drove them to his northern properties and sold them in San Francisco in 1865 for $70 apiece.
One person's drought is another's opportunity.
Santa Cruz County's lumber industry was also hit hard by the 1863-1864 drought. The southern slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains had always relied on its dependable year-round streams to drive Santa Cruz's factories and mills. But without the winter rains to maintain the stream flows, the rivers dropped until they could no longer drive the wheels or fill the flumes. By the fall of 1864, for the first time in local memory, lumber was being shipped into Santa Cruz County.
Wildfires – 1865 Locals were not surprised by the wildfires that roared around the Monterey Bay Region in fall of 1865--fires always followed drought. The forests were tinder dry, and with so few residents or developed property in the mountains, fire suppression was usually left to the affected property owners and was meager at best. In September of 1865, after two winters of low rainfall, Monterey Bay was covered by huge clouds of smoke as the forests burned. For most of September, the hills behind Monterey and their signature Monterey pine trees were on fire. Monterey County landowner David Jacks lost thousands of dollars worth of forest and pasturage. At the same time, the Santa Cruz Mountains were also on fire with the local newspaper declaring that the "loss of timber will prove immense."
Earthquakes – 1865 & 1868
At thirteen minutes before 1:00 o'clock on the afternoon of October 8, 1865, the Santa Cruz Mountains were shaken by a 6.5 earthquake that was felt from San Juan Bautista on the southeast to Napa on the north. Modern seismologists put the earthquake's epicenter somewhere in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Damage was relatively light, though the temblor drove many of San Francisco's residents out into the streets. A Santa Cruz County newspaper suggested that the quake was caused by geological flatulence.
One of the interesting consequences of that earthquake was the increased flow of streams throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains. Flouring and lumber mills that had closed during the drought were able to immediately resume operations without any rainfall. copyright © 2015 Central Coast Secrets
Bam! Another Earthquake The October 21 1868 earthquake had an estimated magnitude of 6.8 with an epicenter in the East Bay along what is now known as the Hayward Fault. It killed thirty San Franciscans, and did considerable damage throughout the East Bay, but damage was relatively light in the Monterey Bay Region.
The Final 1860s Smackdown We can forgive the good people of the region in the late 1860s if they concluded that they were being punished. Just as the rumble of the October earthquake died away, a warning came out of San Juan Bautista that a smallpox epidemic had erupted. (The 1868 smallpox epidemic was a global event.) Despite quarantines and even the burning of a bridge to stop east-west traffic, by the end of the year, hundreds in the region had perished and many more had fled to the hills before the epidemic had run its course.
Living here is risky business By the end of the 1860s, those who had lived here and survived that many-splendored gauntlet understood that living here involved a risk. Continual and ever-changing risk. They tried hard to understand the causes, but they knew that their "normal" included flood, drought, and earthquakes, with a helping of wildfire and even pestilence thrown in. There was a strong sense of humility.
Drought was (and is) one of the prices charged for living in this splendid place. Drought is the elephant that never leaves the room. Along with his nasty siblings, flood and earthquake, they tag team the region, smacking us upside the head now and then to teach us a basic lesson in humility. Communities could prepare for flood (organizing and building levees), and earthquakes (building stronger structures and staying off "made land"), but drought was a different matter.
Maybe that's always been the problem. Instead of preparing for a drought, they should have learned how to live with drought and invited him to sit permanently at the head of the table. That way they would never have forgotten he lived here. [261]
Pasture Cultivation — Eastern Grass And Alfalfa
52
So far there has been little cultivation of pasture, but with the extension of farming interests and the consequent limitation of cattle ranges, and the effort to improve the breed of animals for different purposes, the industry is gaining ground. Among the reasons for the neglect is the mildness of the winter, which obviates the need for special winter fodder, and the dryness of the summer, which kills most of the favorite grasses, and obliges frequent replanting.1
1 For this reason the alfalfa, or lucerne, is gaining favor, as it sends down deep roots, and thrives luxuriantly with irrigation. Col. Agric. Soc., Trans., 1877, 150-9; Alto, Cal., June 29, 1851; May 19, 1860; Eureka Times, Sept. 29, 1877; S. F. Bulletin, Oct. 27, 1858; Nov. 20, 1871; Reno Jour., June 18, Sept. 27, 1873; May 23, 1874. Hay worth 12 cents per Ib. in 1849. Woodward's Slat., MS., 7; Kern Co. Hist., 113. Ensilage system introduced by J. W. Green. Hist. Mont. Co., 164. Of wild grasses, the bunch-grass in small detached tufts affords almost perpetual pasture on dry hills, in being proof against drought. The flattened tufts of the alfilleria also endures well. The lupin, which is cultivated in France, grows here wild among the sand hills. The bur clover, mostly in the south, sustains the stock during autumn with its rich oily seed, scattered almost invisibly on the ground. Among sheep it injures the wool, and at times the throat. The most striking pasture is presented by the wild oats, with small grains, and bent, bearded projections, which is frequently cut for hay, yielding on an average one ton per acre. Cultivated oats are preferred to barley, which, like green wheat, is widely harvested for hay. The rough tule-grass saved many cattle during the drought of 1864. The hay harvest occurs about May 1st. One turning and one day's curing is enough. The Census gives the hay harvest for 1850, 1860, 1870, a.nl 1880 at 2,000, 305,000, 551,000, and 1,135,000 tons, the last named from 758,000 acres, Sta Clara leading with 71,000 tons.
MEXICAN BREEDS.
53
Stock-raising was the chief occupation of colonial days, and hides were almost the only medium of exchange. The animals introduced from Mexico, of deteriorated Spanish breed, increased rapidly, until in 1834, the last year of mission prosperity, they numbered scores of thousands. They roamed in untamed freedom, and a portion overran the interior valleys in a wild state, a condition which by no means served to improve the quality, distinguished as it was by 'scrub' colors and light weight; the cattle by long, thin legs, heads high and slender, wide-spread horns; and the sheep by short, coarse wool. The incoming Americans brought at first stock valued chiefly for strength and endurance. A large special importation followed in response to the high prices of early mining days, partly for breeding, and by 1862 the number of cattle had increased to over 2,000,000, as compared with 262,000 in 1850.
> Then came the disastrous droughts of 1862-4, which destroyed several hundred thousand by starvation and forced slaughter, and created so wide-spread a mistrust as to greatly curtail the industry. It made a perfect revolution in the business, by giving prominence to sheep, by changing many cattle districts to farming regions, and by obliging the adoption of more careful methods, such as the better apportionment of cattle to pasture, and the wide introduction of fencing, partly under compulsory laws. But compensation was found in the improved feeding and breeding, marked also by greater and better yield of beef and milk, and by reduced loss from diseases and accidents, with diminished expenses for herding. Cows calve before they are two years old. The business is now mostly combined with farming, with a desire to still further raise the breed. Few of the Spanish stock remain, for the south had suffered most from the droughts. The census for 1870 returned only 631,000 cattle, and the increase since has been slow, partly owing to the increased price of land, under the steady encroachments of agriculture. In 1889 the number was estimated at about 725,000, worth from $13,000,000 to $14,000,000, while the total value of all live-stock might be placed at nearly $60,000,000.*
[266]: 52–55
":An abrupt shift from the Hispanic pastoral to single-purpose American entrepreneurism during the Gold Rush marked the beginning of a spectacular cattle boom throughout California. Prior to 1848 California cattle were commercially valuable only for their hides and tallow, and the average price of full-grown steers seldom rose above four dollars a head. The Gold Rush created an enormous and ever-expanding demand for beef, raising the price of cattle to levels never before dreamed of in the isolated territory, destroying the existing balance of economic and cultural values, and transforming the ungainly Spanish black cattle into four-legged gold nuggets. In response to the urgent demand for livestock in the mines and the new cities of San Francisco and Sacramento, the custom of slaughtering cattle for their hides and tallow immediately gave way to the more profitable practice of driving the animals to market to sell as beef on the hoof."
":Tens of thousands of cattle were driven up the coast valleys and the San Joaquin Valley to market, until the extension of Southern Pacific rail lines to southern California made the practice obsolete. The cattle lived off the country they traveled through, usually after the completion of winter rains when the new grass was well established. The average herd of 700 to 1,000 animals might be a month on the trail from the southern ranchos, traveling about 10 or 15 miles a day. The owner might lease land near the market area where the stock could rest and fatten at the conclusion of the drive, or would sell cattle to agents or buyers who traveled out from the larger cities to inspect and purchase entire herds at the point of departure."
":Cattle prices rose immediately in response to the unprecedented demand, and continued to rise for nearly seven years. Beef cattle sold for as much as $75 a head in San Francisco, or up to $30 or $40 per head when purchased at a distant rancho. Newcomers told of the extravagance with which the Californios disposed of their new-found wealth, and expressed shock and dire warnings that their improvidence in failing to restock their herds would cause them grief in the near future. In fact, the Californio corner on the beef market was soon disrupted with the arrival of midwestern and eastern beef brought in from Missouri by entrepreneuring young drovers. By the end of 1853, 62,000 head had entered the state over the main immigrant roads, and were pastured in the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys while awaiting market."
":California was ideal cattle country, with unending miles of green grass carpeting the hills with the annual winter rains. When the rains ceased in April, cattle found an abundance of nutritious pasture in the dry alfilaria and burr clover that covered the ranges. Beginning in 1862, however, a series of climatic misfortunes paved the way for a major revolution in the dominant economy of the state. Prolonged rains began in December 1861, causing floods that paralyzed business and travel and drowned thousands of head of cattle, destroying possibly a fourth of the state's taxable wealth. The Central Valley became an inland sea with runoff from the coast ranges and Sierra Nevada. The loss of cattle throughout the state ran to about 200,000. When the rains finally ceased, they had produced a rich and luxuriant pasturage that fattened cattle and increased stock in an already overburdened market. The great flood, however, was followed by two years of unparalleled drought. Cattle prices dropped lower and lower as the drought continued, and enterprises such as wealthy stockmen Miller and Lux purchased starved cattle from the ranchos at $8 per head. A few months later, cattle were routinely slaughtered for the trifling value of their horns and hides. Only those who had the means and mobility to drive their cattle to the Sierra Nevada, or in the case of Miller and Lux, to Oregon, were spared nearly absolute losses. In addition to losses caused directly by the drought, thousands of weakened cattle fell easy prey to mountain lions, bears, and coyotes. When the drought ended, the cattle business had passed from dominance in California's economy."
":Following the period of devastating drought, stockmen most able to recoup their losses were those who were principals or contractors with widespread stockraising corporations. Henry Miller, of the partnership of San Francisco based Miller and Lux, was one man that not only suffered few losses but was able to benefit from the abominable economic situation suffered by the majority of California stockmen. The cattle empire built up by Miller and Lux controlled millions of acres in California, Nevada, and Oregon, and profoundly affected the settlement of the San Joaquin Valley."
":Henry Miller was a German immigrant who completed his butcher apprenticeship and left for New York in 1846 as Heinrich Kreiser, worked in New York at the butcher trade, and arrived in California in 1850 as Henry Miller, a name borrowed from the non-transferable steamer ticket he had purchased from a friend in New York. Miller built up a thriving butcher business in San Francisco, purchasing cattle at first from the stockyards in the city, then from stockranchers in the Santa Clara Valley, San Joaquin Valley, and the San Francisco peninsula. He went into partnership with Charles Lux, a former competitor, in 1858, and became the field agent and purchaser for the company while Lux managed the business office in San Francisco. Miller's first land purchase was the Rancho Santa Rita in Merced County from the outfit that had purchased it from the original Mexican grantee. Miller's pattern for later large purchases was to buy out one heir of a rancho, raise cattle on the land as tenant in common with the remaining heirs, then buy the others out. Miller also loaned money to struggling cattle ranchers on future profits, foreclosing on the loans when sales did not meet expectations. The corporation acquired vast blocks of the public domain using ingenious ways of circumventing the letter and spirit of the Homestead Act, and accepted government land script as currency from former soldiers. Miller paid employees of the corporation to file homestead claims under agreement to sell it to him when proved up. Deed records in Merced County indicate that Miller and Lux were Grantees in 287 instances of land transfers, most in 160 acre Homestead blocks, between 1863 and 1887. Under application of the Swamp Lands Act to California in 1850, Miller was reimbursed for the purchase of a continuous strip of land from the Santa Rita to Orestimba Ranch as overflow lands along the San Joaquin River. Miller and Lux monopolized cattle grazing lands on the west side of the San Joaquin, and employed descendants of the earliest Mexican families on the ranch holdings. Consequently, the western part of the San Joaquin Valley retained its Mexican period lifestyle much longer than did many other parts of California after American domination."
":The Miller and Lux holdings in Monterey County included all of Peachtree Valley, and in Kern County they shared the title of the county's largest landowners with the Kern County Land Company of Haggin and Tevis. Both corporations were responsible for nearly all of the major drainage projects and canal systems of the southern San Joaquin Valley."
Passing of Three Well Known People.
COL EYRE LA GRIPPE'S VICTIM WAS ILL A FEW DAYS AND PNEUMONIA CAME. Emanuel M. Heller, the Merchant, Passes Away — Mrs A. W. Scott a Third on the Fatal List. Death the Reaper was busy in this city yesterday, and among his victims were several well known to the general public. The most striking figure among these was Colonel Edward Engle Eyre, who passed away at his late residence on Pacific avenue.
Colonel Eyre since he came to this State in the early sixties had been prominently identified with the large business interests of San Francisco, and California as well. At a time when the Stock and Exchange Board was a great institution Mr. Eyre was its president and one of the leading speculators in the market. He also conducted a large brokerage business, and during the bonanza days he handled the entire stock business of Flood & O'Brien. Deceased was one of the few large operators who had the sagacity to retire at the proper time. He left the stock business with a fine competency, and settled at Menlo Park, where he owned a beautiful estate. The family are among the leading society people of this State. Colonel Eyre continued to take an interest in mercantile affairs and was at the time of his death president of the Germania Lead Works, with offices at 124 Sansome street. He was also one of the first to appreciate the need for the construction of the Valley road and one of the original subscribers to the stock. Deceased was the father of Mrs. Richard D. Girvin of the firm of Girvin & Eyre, Miss Mary, Robert M., E. L., Percy and Perry Eyre. A widow is also left to mourn his loss. Mr, Eyre was over 75 years old at the time of his death. The immediate cause of his demise was la grippe, followed by pneumonia. He was attended by Dr. De Vecchi, but the disease had secured such a strong hold upon his system that there was no possibility of saving him. The funeral will be held from his late residence in this city on Tuesday at 11 a. m. [271]
MARRIED. In this city, March 26th, by Rev. Father Kelly, Capt. Wm. H. Pierson to Miss Hattie McClellan. Bangor (Maine) papers please copy.
01/1866 [282] 5/1866 Daily Alta California, Volume 18, Number 5921, 27 May 1866, p.4 col.8 Isabel add and also add: For Regular Dispatch Line FOR COLORADO RIVER, DIRECT. Connecting with the Pacific and Colorado S.N. Co.'s Steamers ESMERALDA and NINA TILDEN at the Mouth of the River. For Fort Yuma, La Paz, Fort Mohave, and Callville. The Clipper Barque DELAWARE; SHILLABER, Master; Is now loading at Clay street wharf, and will be dispatched on or before June 5th, having most of her cargo engaged. For freight or passage apply to K. C. ELDREDGE. Agent. NE corner Front and Pine Sts. 3/1867 [278] 11/1867 [283] 10/1869 [284] 10/1869 [285] 9/1870 [279] 5/1871 [286] 9/1871 [287] 8/1867 [288]
14 February 1865, p.4 col.8 [281]
Vallecito, San Diego County, California
Green Valley, (Cuyamaca Mountains, California)
Carrizo Creek (Imperial County, California)
Daily Alta California, Volume 22, Number 7341, 27 April 1870, p.1, col. 3, THE SAN DIEGO AND FORT YUMA TURNPIKE COMPANY.
California State Historical Landmark #194, is Mountain Springs Station. Plaque Inscription: In 1862-70, about a mile north of here Peter Larkin and Joe Stancliff used a stone house as a store from which ox teams pulled wagons up a 30% grade. The San Diego and Fort Yuma Turnpike Co. used the site as a toll road station until 1876. The crumbling house was replaced in 1917 by another still visible to its east. But road changes, beginning in 1878 and culminating in today's highway, have left the older stone house ruins inaccessible.
California Men and Events: Time 1769-1890, By George Henry Tinkham
The "South Tank" was located approximately 10 miles east of Gila Ranch and is variously referred to in modern terms as "Happy Camp Cistern" and "Forty Mile Desert Tank". Anhert (1973), ... states that the present cistern "... was built directly across the trail from the [original] tank after Butterfield Overland suspended operations." Anhert correstpondence in 2010 gives location for South Tank/Pima Pass Tank as 33°01′43.388″N 112°29′59.041″W / 33.02871889°N 112.49973361°W. [380]: 131
[357]: 27
and long marches, without water, with the thermometer at 95°.
breakfasting to-morrow at Van Horn's Wells. Our ride this morning has been utterly destitute of interest. The travelling has been most excellent, generally on elevated plateaus, or across broad and level valleys; but entirely without timber of any description. The grass for the most part good, though a little parched and dry. We have travelled for the past lew days parallel with two ranges of mountains, one on each side of us. They present a barren, rugged and repulsive aspect, and are without timber.
of their loads, as we have eaten almost all our forage. In consequence, they frequently reach camp before the wagons, and can always do so, if hurried at all. We shall leave our present camp this evening, and go on fifteen miles further, which will bring us near to Eagle springs. To-night we shall make another dry camp, as the drive would be too far for our animals to go on to the next water, without rest.
At 2 we started again, and found a rolling country, and good travelling all the evening to Ojo de las Muertas, (Spring of the Dead.) We passed the grave of a man who had been killed by the Indians, which had the usual pile of stones, to prevent exhumation by the wolves; a shingle at one end, and a sharp stick at the other. " [357]: 26, July 19.
grass. We encamped here for the night. [357]: 26, July 18.
brackish water, but very clear. The road this morning has been excellent, with plenty of grass, but of a coarse quality, and no timber, but a little dwarf mesquite. Our next camp will be a dry one, the nearest water being forty miles distant. We shall remain here until two or three in the afternoon, and then travel until dark, and camp wherever night overtakes us. The camels came into camp about an hour after us to-day, not having been packed in time to start with us this morning Leon spring was supposed by our guide to be five hundred feet deep; everybody said so. We exploded this popular fallacy by a very simple process, to wit, sounding it. We found it deep enough to save it from any exaggeration, viz., twenty-five feet. We started again at 3 p. m., and travelled until 10 at night, when we encamped on the prairie. At midnight we were awakened by a stampede of all our loose animals, which during the night we had close to the wagons, under a strong guard. When the stampede first took place I thought but little of it, knowing the animals would not run far, and that the guard would soon bring them back; but presently, mingling with the sound of the horses' receding footsteps, we heard in rapid succession two shots. This was startling, as we were in the midst of the Indian country, and it became evident that the Indians had run off our horses. Immediately I ordered all hands called, and taking with me five men, who were quickly mounted on the team animals always kept hitched to the wagons, started out in the darkness to the place where the shots had been fired, and expecting to find some of our horse-guard killed by the Comanches. We had not gone far, however, before we found our men and the animals, with the exception of six, and discovered that the report of fire-arms we had heard was from the accidental discharge of two barrels of a revolver in the hands of one of our Mexicans. Much relieved, and with our animals driven before us, we returned to camp and to our blankets. The stampede has been of service in one respect, it has shown who are willing to fight, and who are not. Some who have been very loud in the desire to see an Indian skirmish were not as forward last night as I could have desired. The grass is excellent, but there is no wood. We have made to-day twenty-eight miles. [357]: 23–24, July 14.
---
---
[468]: 174–175
The wonderful and almost magical growth of California is exhibited, as much as in any other manner, by the increase of the means of steam transportation upon our coast and rivers. Well do we recollect the time, scarcely two years since, when a journey to Sacramento City was a wearisome sail of six or eight day and the only possibility of traveling on our coast was by a transient vessel that was proceeding either up or down, with merchandise. The ?????? enormous rates of transportation were charged the miners and settlers in the country were of course obliged to pay a corresponding price for goods and provisions.
A change came o'er the spirit of the dream of California. One fine day the steamer California came puffing into our harbor, cheered on by the loud huzzas of the people as they crowded the hills that overlook the bay. This was the commencement of steam navigation amongst us. But one year ago at this time tln-re were three steamers, the Oregon, l'aiiiima and California, engaged iv transporting passengers and merchandise between this port and Panama ; and the idea of traveling to Oregon in four days was then uubroached. On the still waters of the Sacramento, between here and Sacramento City, two boats, the Senator aud McKim, made triweekly trips ; aud on the Stockton route not more than two small boats ran. The litth; iron steamer Fire Fly occasionally made trips to Santa Clara, when she was able to baffle the strong winds of the bay, and one or two pony powers had penetrated the banks of the Sacramento and Sau Joaquin above Baciainento City aud Stockton.
The following is a list of the steamers at present engaged in the conveyance of passengers aud merchandise upon our coast and rivers. Most of them are fitted up with regard to neatness aud comfort — many of them with an eye to the beautiful :
Pacific Mail Steamship Company's Line —
G. Meredith, -\_-.nt. TONS. Oregon Pearson, Commander 1100 California Budd, do 1100 Carolina Wliitir% do 600 Northerner Raudall, do 1100 Panama VVatkiu*, do H"0 Tennessee Cole, do 1300 Sarah Sands I»ley, do 1*250 I liii urn Nicholson, do 7UO
Law's Line — Olives Chablick, Agent. Columbus McGoweu, Commander. Antelope Ackley, do. I -ili in n« Ottinger, do. Republic H udsoo, do. Steamers running between San Francisco and Oregon. Gold Hunter Hall, Commander. Sea Gull Eyre, do. Mail Steamere, mouthly. Steamers running to Gold Bluff and Trinidad Bay. Chesapeake Ward Pacific Mining Company. (ien. Warreu Smith J. H. Titcomb. Goliah Thomas Chas. Minturn. Steamers running beticeen San Diego and the Intermediate Ports. Constitution Bissell Cook, Bros. & Co. Ohio Haley Bullitt &■ Patrick.
Transient Steamers.
New Orleans, Wood ; Confidence, Uuiinctt ; Wilson U. Hunt, Bi-uuia, Teliama.
Steamers running beticeen San Francisco and Sacramento City. Major Tonipkniß Mosby Ogdcn & Haynes. New World Hutching*.. Chas. Minturn. Senator Va^n Pelt do. 11. T. Clay Murray Thompson Sc Co. West Point Kelsey George H. Reed. Confidence Gannett Yasaault & Co. Hartford Averell .... J. Blair. California Boobar . Steamers running btttieen San Francisco und Stockton. Baaas Seely T. T. Smith. Capt. Sutler Lamb James Blair. El Dorado Robertson.. . Sail Joaquin Moore Mr. Bartlett. Erastus Corning M' Lean. Man posa Porter . Sauta Clara Saunders.
Steamers running beticcsn San Francisco, Han Jose and Santa Clara. William Robinson , Commander. New Star Sampson, do. Jenny Lind Le Fcvre, do. St 1 amirs running between Sacramento City and Marysvillc. Gov. Dana, Photnix, Lawrence, Jack Hays, Sacramento, Linda, Missouri, Faeliion, Star.
In addition to these we are daily expecting the arrival of the steamers Columbia aud the John C. Fremont, both of which belong to or will be under the control of the P. M. S. Company, the former to run reguliirly with the mails to Oregon, and the latter with the mails to San Diego aud other intermediate ports, thus relieving the large steamers from the annoyance of stopping in at these places.
Thus we find at the present date forty-three steamboats running upon our rivers and coast, where one year ago not more then eight or ten were engaged. The facilities for travel and transportation have necessarily reduced the prices of merchandise among the miners and farmers, newspapers and letters are sent with speed and security, and traveling in California has ceased to be an arduous task. X-Jhere will be room for more boats, but not at present. The wild forests of the Sacramento, San Joarpiin, and their tributaries, are fast yielding to the stroke of the woodman's axe, and cities, towns, and villages, are springing up on the banks of these rivers. As facilities for travel increase, communications will be more frequent, aud California will become a laud closely united by bonds of brotherhood which cannot be broken.
Department of Arizona fort list
Arizona
[546]: 155–156 [547]: 6–8 , [548]: 119 [549] Capital 4,000 shares $200,000 [550]
Eilean Adams contends it was her grandfather who first went down the Colorado River via the Grand Canyon. February 04, 2002|ANN JAPENGA What good is it being the granddaughter of a great adventurer of the West when no one believes you? That has been a dilemma for Eilean Adams ever since sixth grade when she was asked on a test: "Who was the first man to go down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon?" Adams answered: "James White," her grandfather. She flunked the test.
Her teacher believed, as do most Americans, that the one-armed Civil War hero John Wesley Powell was the first white man to challenge the mighty canyon in 1869. At the time, the Grand Canyon was the last big chunk of unexplored territory in the West. There were rumors that the unknown river hid Niagara-type waterfalls and currents that would drag boats under. The first man to survive the journey would be a hero for all time--akin to the first man on the moon.
Indeed, Powell is currently enjoying a resurgence of celebrity based on his 133-year-old conquest. After surviving his canyon trip, Powell went on to a career in Washington, directing the U.S. Geological Survey and founding the Bureau of Ethnology, among other achievements. But it is his descent of the Colorado that gives him enduring appeal. There were four new books published on Powell in 2001, and at least four Powell documentaries produced in recent years.
But was Powell truly the conqueror of the canyon?
Not according to Adams, now a 78-year-old retired technical writer in Seattle. Spurred by her F in the sixth grade, she spent 40 years researching the family story. In her new book, "Hell or High Water: James White's Disputed Passage Through the Grand Canyon, 1867" (Utah State University Press), she asserts that her grandfather actually ran the river two years before Powell.
Except, unlike Powell, he did it by accident.
Adams' book has reawakened an old controversy down on the river, where many boatmen double as historians. "Eilean's book is turning heads," says Brad Dimock, a Colorado River boatman and historian. "James White had been thoroughly dismissed. The river-running world had just about laughed him off. But Eilean's story leaves little doubt that White actually was the first down the Colorado."
In 1867, the few residents of Callville, Nev., came out to watch as a near-naked man on a log raft floated down the Colorado River. (Callville is today submerged under the waters of Lake Mead.) The man, James White, was bruised, scabbed, blackened and babbling.
Once hauled ashore and revived, White said he'd been prospecting for gold in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. One member of his party was killed in an Indian attack, and White and a man named George Strole fled for their lives. Finding no overland escape route, they used lariats to tie together three 10-foot cottonwood logs and launched themselves on the river. Four days later, Strole was washed off the makeshift raft and vanished in a whirlpool.
The lone passenger strapped himself to the raft so he wouldn't meet Strole's fate, then he bounced helplessly down the chaotic river for what he said was 14 days. As the Callville bystanders pieced together the story, they realized their visitor could only have come by way of the unknown gorge, then called Big Canyon or Grand Canyon.
The newspapers picked up White's story, and accounts that a man had survived the canyon journey soon reached the East Coast. At first, White's tale was accepted as fact. But after Powell's expedition two years later, new accounts began to question White's veracity. Among other charges, doubters said the features White described on his passage--rapids, cliffs and distances--did not match the observations of later explorers.
At one point soon after his 1869 expedition, Powell told a reporter that White's adventure was "a complete fiction." Another White critic was Robert Brewster Stanton, the man who claimed to be second to lead an expedition through the Grand Canyon. By the time of White's death in 1927, his claim to being first through the Grand Canyon was cause for smirks and jokes.
Then in 1959, a legendary river historian Otis "Dock" Marston contacted Eilean Adams' mother and said he wanted to tell White's story. Marston did not believe White had made his alleged Grand Canyon journey, but he wanted the details anyway. Adams says Marston's visit to her mother marks the beginning of her 40-year journey to unravel her grandfather's story. "It bothered my mother enormously that people said he didn't do it," she says. "She was furious."
Although Adams had little sentimental attachment to her grandfather (he died when she was 4), she says she, too, was offended that he was called a liar. "I was proud of my grandfather, and I couldn't understand why what he did didn't mean anything to anyone," she says. "Nobody wanted to know about it."
List of Steamboats on the Colorado River
--- Journey north
--- Return to south
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Cañon Del Muerto m 33°10′13″N 107°06′25″W / 33.17028°N 107.10694°W, m Elevation: 4573/1394, s 33°08′39″N 107°07′10″W / 33.14417°N 107.11944°W ele. 4,770 ft / 1,454 m confluence with McRae Canyon 33°11′20″N 107°07′33″W / 33.18889°N 107.12583°W
---
---
---
December 3.—Allen, the volunteer, who was absent five days, and was at one time thought to have deserted, returned to camp yesterday evening. He was very badly off; he had come forward the morning we followed the trail to the brink of the pass, and he came down the trail, and his whole misfortune turned upon his taking it for granted that we could not and would not come that way, but turn to an apparent opening toward the south. He finally struck our road near the dry lake; he describes minutely his having been robbed by a small party of Indians of his musket, knife, and canteen; he ate of the carcase of a dead horse we left near there, and having no knife, had to use his teeth. The village of Apaches first visited by Leroux, have not come in to-day. One man came late, and gave us to understand that they were afraid; but two mules have been purchased or bartered for, and at high prices. The guide engaged, and who went to a village, has not yet returned, but Leroux has confidence that he will not fail us. The hunters have reported the killing of perhaps a dozen wild cattle to-day, and many pack mules have been a longtime out, but have not yet brought any in, (7 p.m.) I have had the provisions which were issued to the companies at Santa Fe, weighed, and find that there is a deficiency in pork and flour both, of six or seven days; it has arisen in part from wastage, and the weighing out of flour by small quantities. I have but fifty-one days' rations, (at 10 ounces flour, If pounds fresh meat, and 10 ounces of pork.) No meat has been issued to-day. I sent this morning a pioneer party on the old Fronteras trail, which will be ours for seven or eight miles through a gap in mountains to the west. They worked as far as water, and a camping place six miles. This old ranche was abandoned, I suppose, on account of Indian depredations; the owner, S. Elias, of Arispe, is said to have been proprietor of above two hundred miles square, extending to the Gila, and eighty thousand cattle; several rooms of the above houses are still nearly habitable; they were very extensive, and the quadrangle of about 150 yards still has two regular bastions in good preservation; in front and adjoining was an enclosure equally large, but is now in ruins. The wild cattle we will find ranging as far as the San Pedro; they support the Indians just as buffalo, on the plains to the east of the Rocky mountains. Fires would have been disagreeable to-day from 9 a. m. until near sundown. It may be worthy of mention that the 1st dragoons are now serving in four States or departments of Mexico, of vast extent, viz: Chihuahua, New Mexico, Sonora, and California. My camp is about seventy miles from a town of three thousand inhabitants—Arrispe. [583]: 31–32
[583]: 32–33
[583]: 33
This camp is at a very good gamma grass; the first good spot seen today in a march of fifteen miles. There is plenty of mezquite wood.
[583]: 39
Emigrants passed through the area along either the Salt Lake Road or the Mojave Road (by then known as the Government Road). Mining developed, attracting people to the area in increasing numbers. Several trading posts were established along the routes of travel, some growing into small settlements. Major suppliers were Lane's (Oro Grande),Grapevine (near Barstow), Fish Pond (Nebo) and Hawley's in Yermo. [600]: 38
N 34° 45.659', W 117° 0.625'
The stay was a brief one, however, as the Protheros soon finished construction of their own homes at the Cottonwoods. The following year Edward and his son, John, are shown in the Auditor's Assessment Book as each having improvements on state land at the Cottonwoods.
From various sources it is known that Aaron was not alone at the crossing. The census shows there were ten people living in two residences on the river by 1860. Listed in Dwelling No. 703 were Aaron Lane, William R. Levick, and the Nicholson family, consisting of George and Frances, and their three children aged 9 to 13. Joseph and Mary Highmoor lived in Dwelling No. 704, with a seven-year-old female named Anna.
In January of 1860 the newspaper, referring to this small group, announced that a settlement was being formed on the Mojave and that "good locations are known to exist." In April of the following year another "settlement" was reported to be in existence:
"On the Mojave river settlements are springing up. The tide of travel is carrying along the hardy and industrious pioneer, with his family, who is now erecting his home on the banks of the river. Fine tracts of arable land exist there, and already broad fields present their luxuriant grain to the astonished gaze of the weary traveler. Fine springs of water thread their silvery course, affording joy and refreshment to the wayfarer, ere lost in the sands of the desert."
Although the author of this article indulged in some rather fanciful rhetoric, it can be seen that he only is referring to a single residence being built on the river for one family. This was most likely the Nicholson home at Point of Rocks, as that property appears on the tax assessment records for 1862, and there are no other candidates.
"To the Sheriff of San Bernardino County -- We the settlers of Mohave River, do sincerely petition to the Citizens of this County for help to drive the Indians off, as they are here in considerable numbers at Camp Cady. They are killing stock of all Brands. We had a fight with them yesterday Evening. They all appear to be armed with good guns and fight desperate.The Citizens of Camp Cady are all at the forks of the Road assembled for self protection."
Mathews received the letter the next day, and sent a notarized copy to the commander of Drum Barracks in Wilmington, Colonel James F. Curtis of the 4th Infantry, California Volunteers. Mathews also wrote a cover letter stating he had no other knowledge of the incident, because the person who delivered the letter had received it from someone else at midnight and he had not bothered to ask the messenger for any particulars of the raid. He added that a small group of armed citizens was preparing to leave in the morning, of a size "sufficient I think to keep the Indians at bay until Government Troops can arrive."
Neither Aaron Lane, nor Pleasants and the other cowboys, were listed on the petition. Just who finally did run the Indians off -- the local citizens' militia or the military -- is unknown, as no further details could be found on the episode.
The site Lane chose for his new home was a splendid one. He had shrewdly decided to turn his sights to agriculture, though he continued to raise livestock, and the land he had selected this time included the most fertile ground along the overflow of the river. Lane praised the superior quality of this soil in an article he wrote for the newspaper:
The land on the Mojave, at the point where I am, is exceedingly fertile, and comparatively free from alkali. It is of that peculiar character which retains moisture well, and consequently I am able to cultivate successfully without irrigation. I do irrigate my garden, this season, but planted in the proper time, it would not be necessary so to do.
Lane described his ranch as being "immediately on the river, seven miles from the Upper Crossing," which today is in the community of Bryman. Though he did not mention it in the article, the ranch sat on a pretty stretch of land along the Mojave River. The surrounding landscape offers a view of the desert mountains and hills. Along the west side of the river a steep bank rises vertically some 200 feet high, and a dense forest of green cottonwoods and creek willows blankets the river bottom as far as the eye can see.
Even as late as 1871 the Mojave River was considered rather remote. One person took a trip to the mines at Ivanpah and thought it enough of an adventure into the wilderness to warrant writing a series of articles for the paper. In the September 9, 1871, Guardian, he writes of his stop at Lane's prospering way station and of Lane's good cheer and benevolence:
After crossing the river we struck a rolling sandy road running parallel with the river six or eight miles; we then reach Capt Lane's ranch; the hearty greeting of the old Capt (who had his title in the Mexican war) was refreshing; he has the good things of this life in abundance, and which he dispenses with a liberal hand to any unfortunates who may pass and there are a good many in this lower country who know from personal knowledge of the fact.
"The Capt has a nice garden growing on the banks of the river below his house with a good crop of corn, melons and vegetables generally. He has also about one hundred acres enclosed in a substantial fence which affords good pasture for his stock, consisting of horses, cattle and sheep."
The fruitfulness of the Captain's garden was a wonderment to many of his guests over the years. One observer said that it had the best turnips he had ever seen, and a squash weighing over 100 pounds.
LANE CONTINUED BEEKEEPING AT HIS NEW RANCH. BEE EXPERT A. I. ROOT STATED THAT ALFALFA, A "SPECIES OF CLOVER," IS ONE OF THE "GREATEST HONEY PLANTS IN THE WORLD."
In December of 1873 Lane's Station was listed in the San Bernardino newspaper as one of the nine principal ranches on the Mojave River, along with Houlton's, Brown's, Kelley's, Atkinson's, Point of Rocks, Lightfoot's, Grape Vine, and Cady.
From the standpoint of acreage, these ranches were modest in size for the time, except for that of Amos Houlton, which at 920 acres was at least in the top 64 in San Bernardino County. There were nine ranches in the county that exceeded 10,000 acres. Former mountain man James W. Waters owned properties amounting to over 36,000 acres, which made his holdings almost feudal in proportion. Total acres assessed in 1873 were 370,880, at a value of $679,001 -- an average of $1.83 per acre.
Gen. Morehead's Expedition.
From this time scouts were sent out daily in pursuit of the Indians. Morehead himself, with his main command, crossed over the Colorado to the point of land between that river and the Gila, where the Indians have their principal settlement. The Indians, perceiving his approach, were busy in packing their little wares upon their animals, preparatory to a hasty retreat. Morehead at once commenced an attack upon them, and followed them so closely that most of them were compelled to throw away every encumberance to ensure their own safety. They were followed for many miles — several were shot, and some of their animals taken. From this time forward, few or no Indians were seen. They retreated up the river, leaving their crops and their possessions to the mercy of their foe. How extensive these are the reader will hardly be prepared to believe. We are assured by one who rode over their fields that they extended many miles.
All these were at once appropriated by Morehead to the purposes of his command. His animals were turned in upon them, as were also those of different companies of emigrants as they came up. Not content with this, he caused the huts of the Indians to be sacked and despoiled of large quantities of musquite beans. These it is well known are a prime article of food with the Indians, in this vicinity. Pounded up and mixed with stewed pumpkins they make a bread that is not only nutritious but not altogether unpalatable. The musquite is very prolific about the Colorado, and the Indiana had stored up large quantities for the winter's consumption, but all that fell in his way were destroyed by Gen. Morehead.
Thus terminated this forray against the Indians. We shall leave the reader to draw his own conclusions upon the wisdom of the mode in which it was conducted. Two results however it seems to us must be inevitable. The first is, most extensive and severe suffering on the part of the Indians from the destruction of their crops, and the other is an ineradicable feeling of hostility will be implanted in their savage natures, which will not fail to wreak itself on every small body of emigrants that fall in their way. Fortunately for travelers the post at the mouth of the Gila is now in the possession of an experienced and discreet commander, who will be able, we trust, to convince the Indians that the Americans will neither sanction robbery from them, nor allow it to as practised upon them.
There remains to be written yet another chapter of this expedition which mast reveal acts more reprehensible than any which have been yet recorded. After Morehead had got rid of the Indians, he turned his attention to the Mexicans. It is well known that some of these people, on their return to their own country, have been in the habit of taking animals from our raucheros, as they have had opportunity, for which, of course, they deserve a severe punishment ; but whether the coarse pursued by Gen. Morehead is the correct one, the reader can form his own opinion. It appears that Gen. Bean — at least so goes the story — has authorised him to take from Mexicans all animals that were not "bented" — that is to say, had not the brand of their original owner duplicated on their right shoulder, signifying that they had been sold. Now the absurdity of this order can be readily seen by noting that, in the first place, many of those Mexicans bring with them their own animals, and of coarse have no occasion to " bent " them. Some of the Sonorians, for instance, that visit the mines, are men of wealth, and bring with them a large number of peons, (I have known one man to have over one hundred) mounted on animals raised upon their own ranches. Secondly — Many of these animals are bought in the mines, and are of American breed, and have never been branded ; and, thirdly, it is by no means an unusual custom with our rancheros to dispose of their animals, and not "bent " them at all. Many are sold with a written certificate to that end, and may as transferred to a new owner, without even that showing. All these facts are sufficiently notorious, and yet we find Gen. Morehead commissioned to take, at the river Colorado, from every returning Mexican, all the animals in their possession not " bented. "
The rascality of the transaction will be better conceived when it is understood that these poor creatures have the past season had more than the usual ill luck of those engaged at work in the southern mines. Most of them being unable to pay the outrageous tax imposed upon them by the ignorant cupidity of our last legislature, have been hunted from pillar to post, and have hardly realized enough to pay their expenses. At the Colorado River they are in the midst of an almost impassible desert. Before they arrive at the first settlement on the way to Alter, the usual route, they have to travel in one instance 100 miles without water, and in another 60 miles. The whole distance to Alter is 300 miles. Many of them live five hundred and a thousand miles beyond it. Now it will hardly believed that, under these circumstances, and from the shallow apology just described, over one hundred animals were taken from returning Mexicans, nineteen twentieths of which, I do not hesitate to say, were in all probability taken from their real owners, and I do not much care if the reader adds, were known to be so when they were so taken. Teodoro
Murder on the Mojave.
On Wednesday morning, Mr. Jones, the express rider from Fort Mojave, arrived here, and informed us that the Pi-Ute Indians had come down from the Santa Clara and the Vegas, and were driving-off the cattle on the Mojave, belonging to Mr. Bachman of this city, and had obtained possession of over twenty head, and several horses, and that as he passed the station, the men in charge were going out to recover the stock. A few hours afterwards, the startling rumor reached town, that Mr. Robert Wilburn, in charge of the cattle, bad "been killed by the Indians, which, unfortunately, proved too true, as the dead body was brought into town same evening. It appears Mr. Wilburn went in search of the cattle and found a dead ox; seeing Indian tracks, he looked around for the Indians, but could not see them, although they were lying concealed very near him. He was pierced by three arrows, and was in a dying condition when joined by his companions. The body was interred on Thursday afternoon, an inquest having been previously held thereon by Dr. J. C. Welsh, coroner. The funeral of deceased was largely attended.
From San Bernardino.
San Bernardino, March 27, 18G0. Editor Star—On Thursday night, an express arrived here from the Mojave river, with intelligence of the murder of Thomas S. Williams, Esq. a merchant of Great Sait Lake city. [The particulars are stated elsewhere so we omit that portion of the letter of our attentive correspondent.] Mr. Jackmao is lying at Lane's, on the Mojave in a most critical condition. Dr. A. Ainsworth is in attendance on him. [629]: p.2, col.4, From San Bernardino.
---
The article by Phil Perretta was only used to supply the first name of Ed Parrish.
156 HISTORICAL SOCIETY oF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA our teams to assist them. I made known to Brother Benjamin Wright, who was in charge of affairs at Voree, my intention of going to Beaver Island, the seat of the First Presidency, and we took under advisement how to dispose of my wagons and horses and procure the necessary outfit, whereupon we came to the con- clusion that I should turn over all I had to Brother Wight (or rather the association) and that he should provide me with such outfit for the island as their circumstances would justify. Brother Whitney concluded to remain at Voree, where he died the succeed- ing spring. On my part, I worked with my might in assisting the brethren in their ordinary labors, until such time as it might be convenient to get my outfit for the place to which my desires in- spired me to go. ‘No one can possibly realize my gratitude to the God of heaven for my safe deliverance from the perplexity of mind and burning anxiety for respite from the misrule of the haughty and arrogant usurpers of authority in the Church and Kingdom of God, and my eager expectations of being in a week or two placed again under the guidance of the true shepherd of the flock of God’s people on earth, but those alone who have passed through such ordeals as I have in the last six years, subsequent to the death of Joseph Smith, and up to the time of my arrival at Voree.
GEORGE MILLER, JR. So much for George Miller, the elder. I now come to the second part of my subject—the life, or, to be more exact, some few inci- dents in the life of the son, George Miller, Jr.—the George Miller who is with us today. He was born February 11, 1850, in Indian Territory, among the Creek Indians, and was the only son of George Miller, Sr., by his second contemporaneous wife, née Boughton, who died in 1851 in Michigan. His father, a Mormon bishop, and, of course, a polygamist, was an intimate friend and a firm believer in Joseph Smith, but he hated Brigham Young as the devil hates holy water, and the compliment was apparently returned, for we have seen that on at least one occasion he vehemently suspected his enemy of compassing his assassination. Of his mother little is known, for she died when he was a baby. He was his own man from the age of twelve—literally and abso- lutely. He started without father or mother and without a red cent, and all that he has he has made by the sweat of his brow. He is thus a self-made man in the highest sense of the term, and is proud of it. The young George had every opportunity and every excuse for developing into a first-class blackguard, as he himself has often
“DE TAL PALO TAL ASTILLA” 157 told me, for he was thrown in those troublous times into the com- pany of as ruffianly a type of humanity as God ever allowed to exist. And around the camp-fire at night he has told me time after time tales of his early life which have made me wonder how an orphan boy, under such circumstances, could have grown up other than an Apache, but the stuff was there—“De Tal Palo Tal Astilla” —and from his parents he inherited that essential integrity for which he has been known in California for nearly sixty years. Lit- erally, George Miller would not betray a trust, tell a lie or do a dirty trick for all the money in the world. An enthusiastic Mason, he simply and unostentatiously subscribes to the high beliefs and tenets of that order, and lives up to them. Unlike his father, he has a simple and old-world faith in the integrity of his brethren— judging others by his own standard. The elder Miller, you will recollect, put Mormonism before Masonry. More than once I have known him seriously imperil his estate financially and socially to help out some old friend who was down and out and in serious trouble, never hesitating for a second to count the cost, but simply practising the golden rule. He is perhaps most widely known to the present generation as an old- time Indian hunter. In fact, his whole life has been that of a hunter. He hunted Indians until they were all killed off, and grizzly bears until he himself, in 1901, killed the last grizzly bear in the San Ber- nardino mountains—and thereby hangs a tale—since which time he has had to be nominally content with the official two bucks per season, except when employed by the proper authorities to secure specimens of the Ovis Canadensis for the Golden Gate Museum of San Francisco, where many of his trophies may be seen. I append a copy of a letter which, at the request of Byron Waters, he wrote to the Pioneer Society of San Bernardino in 1916. In his own language he tells the tale of the life of a pioneer in these regions in the sixties.
158 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COPY OF GEORGE MILLER)S LETTER TO BYRON WATERS IN RE: INDIAN TROUBLES AT SAN BERNARDINO FROM ONWARD
FIRST FIGHT AT MILL Jonathan Richardson, William Kane, George Lish, Tom Welly Henry Law, George Armstrong, Frank Talmadge, A. J. Currey, Thomas Enrufty, George Birdwell, Frank Blair Highland, Cal., July 18, 1916. Byron Waters. Dear Friend: To make good my promise that I would give you a little early history of our Indian troubles in San Bernardino County, I will commence back. In 1863, as near as I can recollect, they began to get quite bold. They came into the valley and killed a man by the name of Polito, a Spanish man, at the mouth of Little ‘Sand Canyon, above Del Rosa, about where Jake Huff now lives. They made their escape over the mountains through Little Bear Valley, and stole a mule from Sam Pine, the father of ex-Supervisor Pine, who was living there at that time with his family. They went on down Willow Canyon below the narrows in a side canyon. They killed a mule and then ate him; they seemed to love mule and ‘horseflesh better than beef. I think a short time after that, at the mouth of Davy James’ Canyon, now known as Cable Creek, they shot a horse and mule of W. F. Holcomb and ‘Pete Smith, while they were hunting. I think about the same time they shot [but did not kill] Dr. Smith in Cajon Pass. This Dr. Smith was the man who first located Arrowhead Hot Springs. Bill Holcomb and others gathered up a party and followed them over into the Rock Creek country. They took no provisions with them; had to live on venison straight, and so had to give up the chase. About that time *S. P. Waite was living in Cajon Pass at the upper toll-house, with his family, having to keep a sharp lookout for Indians. He discovered a bluejay darting down at something up on the bluff above the house; it raised his suspicions that something might be there. He thought he could see an object there, and so he took a shot at it. The next morning he went out to investigate and found an Indian lying there. Now I will go back a little and speak of myself in order to get the date more definite. I went up on the mountain with Justus Morse and old man Wixom to work in the shingle-mill in Dark
“DE TAL PALO TAL ASTILLA” 159 Canyon. Old man James was running a saw-mill at what is known as Knapp’s Flat. Old man Huston was running a saw-mill at the east end of the flat on the creek coming down from Squirrel Inn. We call it Huston Creek. I got one of my fingers cut off in the mill while making shingles, and a bad cut on the leg with an axe; so I came down to the valley for repairs. I then went out to Yucaipa to work for James Waters; stayed there about three months; came back and went to the mountains again, and then went to work for A. J. Currey, who afterwards became sheriff of the county. After I had worked for him about a year, I bought him out. We were living in a little canyon running in Little Bear Valley from the south side, just east of where Lapraix mill stood afterwards. We were living previously for a short time in a house that had been vacated by Frank Talmadge. Bill Holcomb was living in a house close by that had been occupied by Sam Pine. The place is covered with water now of Little Bear Lake. I took Bill Holcomb in as a partner some time after that to finish working up the timber I had on hand. The Indians were very troublesome all this time, stealing cattle and horses. Everybody had to be on their guard. Old man James, just before I went to work for Currey, had moved his mill in ‘Little Bear Valley Canyon, now known as Blue Jay. He sold out to William Caley, Jonathan ‘Richardson, George Armstrong and J. J. Willis. Frank Talmadge was driving a logging team for the company at that time, he buying out Armstrong afterwards, Garland P. Thomas buying out J. J. Willis. Now that brings me up to about 1866. The Indians were very bad, killing stock on the Mohave River, in particular that of the Bemis boys and Dunlap, the owner of the Dunlap & Parrish ranch —the one on the west fork of Mohave, now known as the the Las Flores rancho. It was there, while they were driving up their cattle, the Indians ambushed them and killed Parrish, Bemis and White- side, while they were riding up a small draw, looking for a cow and yearling that had escaped the herd. It was between sundown and dusk they were killed. They recovered the bodies of Parrish and Bemis that night. They were stripped of all their clothing. They found Whiteside the next morning. He had been wounded evi- dently, and had put up a fight from the indications. His body was also stripped of all clothing. He was shot full of arrows, as well as having a bullet hole in his shoulder. His head was smashed in with a rock. This occurred about one mile east of the house, a short distance from the mouth of Grass Valley Creek, west. Just as soon as the horses came in with saddles covered with blood, every- body took the back trail to find the bodies of the men. It being dark made it difficult, and they got only two of them that night, Bemis and Parrish, finding Whiteside the next morning. Then the chase began, driving the Indians into the desert and mountains. I
160 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA do not know how many Indians there were, but I presume there were two hundred and fifty to three hundred all told, old and young. They were mostly Piutes, and a few Chimihueve and rene- gades. They inhabited the north side of the mountain range and desert. The next depredation was in Little Bear Valley, about where the dam runs across the Arrowhead reservoir. There was a little pen stalk water saw-mill standing there—sash saw—turning out about 800 feet of lumber in twenty-four hours, first built by Jerome Benson, and rebuilt by old man Meeks. The Indians slipped in when no one was in, and robbed the houses, and afterwards burned them. They then came up the valley to Bill Kane’s house, just below where Talmadge’s last mill stood, in ‘‘Little Bear Valley. George Lish and John Dewitt had just brought up supplies of pro- visions to go to work, and just turned their horses in the pasture and went across the valley for a few minutes. On their return they found the Indians in possession of horses, guns and provisions. The Indians made a dash for them. They made their escape to Talmadge’s mill, now called Blue Jay Camp. The next morning Talmadge and Richardson, Armstrong and Kane, took two saddle- horses and one pack-animal and started after them. They went down by the house and found it burned to the ground, grindstone broken and everything destroyed they could not carry off. Con- siderable snow fell during the night, about five or six inches, and that made tracking good. So they were determined to find where the Indians were located. They had already sent to San Bernardino for help that had arrived, and gathered all women and children into the mill house, so that they could go on without any fear for the families. So on they went for Willow Canyon. Right at the head in a little flat, just this side of the gate house of Arrowhead Reservoir Company, they saw eight Indians. . The Indians saw them first and ran. Talmadge and Kane were on horses, Richardson and Armstrong afoot, leading the pack animal. Talmadge and Kane, being on horses, ran after the Indians, it being easy to fol- low the tracks in the snow. They chased them on down on the right side of the canyon just below where the first tunnel comes through from Little Bear Lake. The Indians, being pressed too closely, got in behind a big log. Talmadge kept above the trail a little; Kane followed right after them. He ran right on them be- fore he knew it. They shot his horse several times; his horse threw Kane off, and he got behind a tree. The horse went back to the pack animal. The Indians were trying to get Kane, he having dropped his gun in the fall. Talmadge had got off his horse, and shot and killed the one just drawing a bead on Kane. Kane had lost his gun when he fell from his horse; he had nothing but a pistol left. Talmadge had a double-barrel, muzzle-loading gun. The Indians then turned their attentionlto Talmadge. Kane ran
“DE TAL PALO TAL ASTILLA” 161 back to the other boys. Talmadge fired another shot. He could not hold his horse any longer and hold his gun. The Indians scat- tered. Talmadge went back to meet the boys. They all went back to the mill. That ended the first round. The next day they gath- ered in what guns and ammunition they could; one or two more men from San Bernardino came up; they moulded up all the lead they could get hold of; got powder and caps, for all we had was muzzle-loading guns in those days, and started to locate the Indians once more. They left with the women four men: J. J. Willis, G. P. Thomas, G. Birdwell and one other man. They decided not to go the wagon road down to Bear Valley for fear of being way-laid by the Indians. More snow had fallen by this time, almost two feet, I think. In the party that day were Frank Talmadge, Jonathan Richardson, I think; William Caley, A. J. Currey, Thomas Enrufty, better known as “Noisy Tom”; Henry Law, George Lish, Tom Welty, Frank Blair, Bill Kane, George Armstrong, I think, and Joab Roar. It was so long ago that I am not positive as to those two. As I said, they decided to go down the canyon on the left side toward Bear Valley. They left the road about two hundred yards below the mill and started up over the first ridge. Just as they reached the top they met about sixty Indians. The timber being thick, the fighting was done mostly from behind trees. I think the Indians opened fire first. They must have had about forty guns, and some had bows and arrows. The firing lasted some time, several hundred shots being fired. Tom Welty got shot through the shoulder, Bill Kane in the leg. Two men being wound- ed, and about four men and two guns being all they had left to protect the women folk, they went back to the mill. They left one dead Indian and several wounded. That ended another scrap. The Indians having got the worst of it, leaving two dead (‘N. B. in the two scraps—so G. M.) on the ground and a good many mortally wounded, they went down for a warmer climate, towards the desert. Those Indians that were killed had their shoes, or sandals, tied to their belts and their feet in the snow. They all were bare- footed, as their tracks showed in the snow. We determined to drive them out of the mountains. We gath- ered up some more men from San Bernardino, with provisions, and a wagon to haul the blankets, and our supply, not being much at that. Some went over the mountains; some went through the Cajon Pass. We made our first headquarters at the Dunlap and Parrish ranch, now Las Flores ’Rancho—see note “A” at end. In the army of the Mojave at first outset were W. F. Holcomb, Jack Martin, John St. John, Samuel Bemis, Edwin Bemis, Wm. Bemis, Harrison Bemis, Bart Smithson, John McGarr, Jonathan Richard- son, Frank Blair, George Armstrong, George Birdwell, Joseph Mecham, Jack Ayres and one man—I don’t know his name. He
162 HISTORICAL socmrv oF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA was so no-account he would not get out of camp or do a soli thing—the laziest man I ever saw in my life. We divided up into small parties each day to go in different directions to get the trails to find where the Indians had gone to. We found all trails of them going northeast on the desert from Rock Creek on the west to Cushenberry on the east track; all led toward the Rabbit Springs. We then moved down to the Mojave River to get closer to our work, in some heavy timber—the place is now known as the Verde Rancho; it was not owned by anybody at that time. From there we put out our scouting parties, and soon located the Indians on a rocky mountain north and west of Rabbit Springs, just north of the west end of a dry lake. I was with the Bemis boys and Jack Martin during the time we were scouting. A brave set of men they were, but cautious and on the alert.. The next thing to do now was to make an attack, as soon as we could get all hands together at about 20 miles from our camp west, and we decided to make a daybreak attack. Three or four men then got sick all at once—toothache and head- ache—and they went home then. The next day came more men, Dave Wixon, Noisy Tom, Sam Button and a man by the name of Stout, and his son and son-in-law. Those who went home were Ayres and Mecham—I have forgot- ten the other names. We sat up that night till about 12 o’clock. Then we divided into two parties. Stout was made captain of the men who went by the wagon road. St. John was made captain of the men who went north of the mountain. It was a considerably greater distance for those going on the north side of the mountain. I want to say right here that this was the coldest weather that I had experienced in many a day. Men’s moustaches froze from their breath. I was not old enough to grow hair on my face at that time. We wandered around through the night in the “chollas” (cactus) half frozen, and arrived at the foot of the hill in broad daylight. We should have been at the top of the mountain at that time. Stout and his party, following the road, a much shorter distance, got there on time. They saw us just starting up the hill. They did not see any Indians. They fired off a gun to let us know they were there, and hallowed a few times, and started down to the wagon. That woke up the Indians, and put them on their guard. We could see the Indians running about from place to place, one with something in his hand, a piece of blanket, and directing his men. The Indians did not see us. They were watching Stout’s party, and trying to cut them off from the wagon. All this time we were hurrying the best we could, the ground being very rocky and hard climbing. We would go half at a time; then we would get behind rocks and wait until the others came up. They would get under cover and we would go on again. We got right in there among them before they
“DE TAL PALO TAL ASTILLA” 163 knew it. Then the guns began to crack and arrows began zipping about, and you could not see any distance for so many big rocks. Jack Martin and Bill Holcomb, Noisy Tom and Bill Bemis went on the west side of a big rock. Richardson and I were on the east side of the rock. We started to go round on the south side, where the most shooting was. An arrow struck Richard-, son in the breast. He staggered round, and I caught him in my arms, and got him behind a rock and started on. I had gone but a few feet when I met St. John, our captain. He said, “Where are you going?” “I was going,” I said, “to get help, as Richard- son was badly wounded.” He went and looked at-him. I showed him the arrow he was shot with, covered with blood. He shook his head and said, “You can’t do anything for him; let the battle go on.” He turned round to me and said, “George, you see that bush there and a little piece of blanket? That rock is split in two. The Indians are going through and getting away. You crawl right up to that little pile of rock; don’t let them get out that way; don’t shoot unless you are very close. I will go round and get the other boys, and come over the rock and meet you.” I crawled up within twenty feet of where he told me to go. The Indians were yelling like ten thousand coyotes. I lay about as flat as a man could lie on the ground, laid my pistol right Where I could get my hand on it, and used the gun first. The Indians were passing at the left of me and a little in the rear of me. I hardly knew which way to expect them. I heard the rocks rolling behind me and looked across a little canyon. I saw Dave Wixom and Harrison Bemis crawling down the hill toward me. I beckoned them and they came to me. I felt very much relieved when they crawled up to me. About that time I heard Noisy Tom’s voice and saw the heads of them coming over the rock—Noisy Tom, Holcomb, Martin, St. John, all of them in a breast, guns ready to shoot. When Tom saw me with my gun in the direction of him, pointed at the blanket and bush, he hallooed out at me, “Miller, don’t you shoot this way, you little S. B., you.” As St. John said, the Indians had made their escape through the split in the rock—all that were in that company, except two squaws, one boy about fourteen, one girl about ten, and a baby. They took them prisoners. In the fight were Noisy Tom, Holcomb, Martin, St. John, Richardson, Wixom, H. Bemis, S. Bemis, W. Bemis, E. Bemis, Blair and Armstrong. The two last stayed hid a1l the time the fight was on. J. McGarr and Button were taking care of the horses. John McGarr and Samuel Button had taken the horses in the meantime around to the wagon. Now the next thing to do was to get Jonathan Richardson down to the wagon, and with him the prisoners we had. Richardson was very weak and sick, and the ground was very steep and rocky, but we got to the wagon in safety. If those Indians had known that there
164 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA were but a dozen men of us, they could have wiped us off the face of the earth. Our coming up and attacking them in the rear sur- prised them. They were busy trying to cut Stout’s party off from the wagon. With us coming up they thought they were trapped, and they scattered like quail, and lucky for us they did. Now to get ‘Richardson to San Bernardino we had to send an escort with him, Bill Holcomb, Sam Button and Armstrong and Blair. That ended that scrap. Then we went on after the broken remnants of them. We chased them around through rocks. They were getting together as fast as they could. Our party getting weaker all the time, we thought we could handle a few of them more easily than all of them together. I was with Bill Bemis, Ed Bemis and Jack Martin. The next day we went up to the old battleground to pick up the trail of some of the stragglers. We soon picked up a trail leading down the north slope of the mountain. We followed them down to th'é valley, where they turned up a sand wash running into some low hills. They seemed to have gotten together again. The trails looked as if there were 150 or 200 of them. We were close to the foot- hill at the mouth of the canyon. We heard a shot close by, only a few rods away. We looked around, but could not see anything. It was almost sundown. VVe had no water and had six miles to walk, so we went to camp and reported. The next morning, as soon as we could see, all hands went to take up the trail where we left it the evening before, leaving three men in camp. In a short time we had the trail again. We had not gone far from where we left the trail the evening before, and heard the gun fired, when we found where they had stayed all night—not over four hundred yards from where we turned back the evening before. The canyon was about one hundred feet across at the mouth, and very rocky. They went right up the sand wash and you could see the tracks a hundred yards ahead. They then turned off out on either side and came back to the mouth of the canyon, and fortified both sides, and there lay in waiting for us. Had we gone any further the evening before, they would have killed all four of us without doubt. We then followed on, skirting the foothills. We were close on to them; they would not come out in the open valley, but kept in the rocks, except when crossing the mouths of canyons. We followed on until about three o’clock in the afternoon. We had no water, having no canteens. We started back to camp. We had traveled all this time in a half circle. We were nearer camp than when we first took up the trail in the morning. We met Stout’s son coming with two horses, leading one for his father, the other for his brother-in-law. He had a canteen of water
“DE TAL PALO TAL ASTILLA” 165 and a lunch for the three. They decided to follow them on, as they were still going on in a circle. St. John and Martin remonstrated with them, and told them how they had set a trap for us the eve- ning before, and said they had better go to camp with us. They would not listen. They were on horseback and were going to follow a little further. I was dry and thirsty and hungry; had had no water since early morning, and hurried into camp. Dinner was ready; so was I. So I washed myself and got a plate of beans and had started to sit down, when I heard the guns begin to pop. The other boys had all got in by that time. I picked up a field glass and looked in the direction I heard the shooting, and saw a man coming on a bald-faced horse across a dry lake north of us. The man had no hat on his head. I knew it was Stout’s son and horse. I could not see the other two men. We were all gone and going to meet him before he got to camp. We were there just in time to save his father and brother-in-law. Stout’s horse was shot, and his son-in-law had a broken arm. Stout had several bullet holes through his coat, but none had hit the flesh. They had followed the Indians to a little point through a little pass, with two little buttes on either side. The Indians lay in the rocks on both sides of them and opened fire on them as they came through. How they ever escaped I do not know. The Lord must have been on their side. We opened fire on the Indians as soon as we got there. They were making for the top of the mountains. I started to go round a point of the hill. John McGarr had tied his horse to a grease bush and the horse was about to break loose, hearing so much shooting. John hallooed at me to get his horse before he got away. I had just seen two In- dians running up through the rocks and was hurrying round on the other side to get a better shot at them. So I jumped on the horse, and started in a hurry. The horse started bucking. I was hang- ing on for dear life. Two Indians ran out from behind some rocks not over fifty yards from me; they never stopped to shoot at me‘, but ran farther up into the rocks. By the time I got the horse stopped, and got off, they got in behind some more rock. I then found that I had lost all my bullets. I took the horse’s tracks and followed back until I found about a dozen. By that time the shoot- ing had stopped. Then the next thing was to get in the wounded man and horse. It was near sundown. We held council and found, when we had furnished an escort to San Bernardino with the wounded, there were only Jack Martin, the four Bemis boys and myself, and we decided we could not do any business. So we came on with the rest of them. I went on ahead with part of the crowd that night on horseback, as Richardson had left his horse with me. The balance of the men went with the wagon. W e were to meet at the old camp on the Mojave River. It was bitter cold that night. It was storming on the mountains; the sleet blew in our
166 HISTORICAL SOCIETY oF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA faces all the way to the Mojave. The wagon lost the way, and landed about eight miles above us on the river. They had all our blankets and provisions. The snow fell on us that night about six inches deep. We had not had anything to eat since daybreak the morning before. We found the wagon the next morning about nine o’clock, and got some breakfast, what little there was to get. I could tell you a funny story that happened there, but it will do some other time. While we were there, Joe Serrill’s brother, and, I think, John Burkhart, killed eight Indians at the mouth of Cushen- berry Canyon. Now I will commence where I left off. \rVe waded through the snow over the Cajon Pass almost frozen and starved. We hadn't had a square meal for thirty-two days. We got to the upper toll- house. A man by the name of Fears, I think, was there, and others. Some of the boys got meals at seventy-five cents; I did not have the price. So I went on down to the lower toll-house. John Brown, Sr., was there and his son, Joseph Brown. Mr. Brown says, “Boys, I expect you are hungry. I am not very well fixed to cook for so many at a time, but come in; I will serve you all as fast as I can. You shall have the best I have got. You deserve it.” They all took him at his word but John McGarr and myself. I was as hungry as a coyote, but did not want to impose on good nature. I got home about two o’clock in the night, having been gone from home just thirty-two days. Yours truly, GEORGE MILLER.
Note A: I want to state right here, before I go any further, as to the mode of fighting, that they keep up a constant yell all the time. They make more noise than 10,000 coyotes; never come out in the open to fight, but fight from behind rocks and trees, and keep up a constant yell all the time. There is one thing they never do; that is, they never leave any wounded on the battle-ground. They take and carry away every one that has a spark of life left in him. You never know how many are wounded and killed. Note B: Army of the Mojave—W. F. Holcomb, Jack Martin, John St. John, Sam Bemis, Harrison Bemis, William Bemis, Edwin Bemis, Bart Smithson, John McGarr, D. H. Wixom, Jonathan Richardson, Frank Blair, George Birdwell, Joseph Mecham, Stout and son, Griffith (son-in-law), one man (I dont know his name), Sam Button. Shot: Parrish, killed, Bemis, killed; White- side, killed; Dr. C. Smith, wounded; Polito, killed; Weltz, wounded; Kane, wounded; Wolley, killed. Note C: Those who participated in first fight at Rabbit Springs
“DE TAL PALO TAL ASTILLA” ' 167 —John St. John, Bill Holcomb, Ed Bemis, Harrison Bemis, John McGarr, Jonathan Richardson, George Armstrong, Jack Martin, Sam Bemis, Bill Bemis, Thomas Enrufty, Dave Wixom, Frank Blair. Bard Smithson stayed with the wagons and horses at all times, he and two other men.
But I am getting ahead of my subject. I must go back to his early days, and finally will wind up with some more or less pictur- esque, but always forcible, anecdotes, wherein he and his friends, many of whom have since gone over the Big Divide, bore conspic- uous parts.
Born February 11, 1850, in a log cabin in Indian Territory, among the Creek Indians, at the age of eleven months he went to Michigan, Where his mother died. In 1854 the family moved to Meringo, Illinois, where his fatherdied in the following year. The next trek was to Iowa in 1856, with the object of uniting forces with Joshua Miller, his half-brother, in their journey to California. In 1857 the party was well under way, but was wrecked in the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River boat on which they were traveling coming to grief near Fort La Vaca, where they were land- ed. John, another half-brother, was now appealed to for help, and he promptly came from Texas, and the journey was continued over- land in oxen-drawn wagons. In 1858, Burnett ‘County, Texas, was made, and in 1859, Mormon Mill, where they waited a year be- fore a sufficiently strong wagon train to cross the plains was col- lected.
In 1860 they arrived with their ox-teams in California, and in August, 1861, in San Bernardino. Their immediate party included John Miller, with his second wife and three children; Joshua Miller, with his wife and five children; Elizabeth, who married first one Robert Keir, by whom she had one child, and later Bill McCoy, to whom she bore four children, all now dead, except Tillie, who married Walter Shay, now chief of police of San Bernardino. ‘George Miller, Jr., the subject of this paper, who married Ele- anora Hancock (who came to California from Iowa in 1854), by whom he has had eight children: Joseph, born June 1, 1872, died at birth; Nancy, born March 30, 1873, died at birth; Augusta, born, February 1, 1874, married John R. Crandell, and by him she had two children; George, born December 5, 1875, accidentally killed in 1913; Ida, born December 4, 1878, married J. O. Lamb, had two children; Mary, born September 20, 1881, married W. P. Rogers, no children; Willie, born September 30, 1884, married Stella Edwards, one child (Delia Vaughan, aged 18 months) ; and Charles, born March 16, 1891.
In 1862, at the age of twelve years, George, now his own man,
168 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA went to work for Sandy Keir for one year. In 1863 he worked suc- cessively at Taggert’s brick yard, Wixom’s shingle mill and for _I_im Waters at Yucaipa. In 1864 we find him working for one Rose, who owned a shingle mill, and later on for one Currie, cutting logs. In 1865 he bought out Currie, being of the mature age of fifteen years, and went into partnership with Bill Holcomb, of whom more anon. The partners spent 1868 prospecting in Death Valley, Inyo County, and in 1869 in the San Bernardino Mountains. In 1870 he went to Arizona and spent the year freighting, driving a mule team out of Prescott, and in the following year, still driving his mule team, he returned to Grass Valley, San Bernardino, and married‘. In 1872 he bought eighty acres of land at $2.50 per acre and plant- ed it to peaches, apricots and alfalfa, and in 1901 to oranges. This land is now worth $1500.00 per acre.
This biographical sketch is very incomplete, but a perusal of it enables one to draw a mental picture of the life of a pioneer in the sixties, and explains perhaps the fact that right now, when he is in his sixty-eighth year, there are few men of half that age who can keep up with George Miller in the mountains.
A hunter from birth, he has a knowledge of woodcraft that is extraordinary, and, his climbing muscles having been developed by over sixty years of constant use, he never seems to tire in the mountains. Starting at five A. M. he strikes his own gait, and although traveling slowly, as all good hunters do, he keeps it up until dark. Many a time I have mildly suggested that it would be a good idea to sit down for five minutes for lunch, only to be told that he preferred to eat his walking. Many a time, when hot and tired out from a long tramp I have taken advantage of the oppor- tunity to cool off in a mountain stream, has he severely and with an almost pained expression remarked, “That isn’t ‘hunting deer.” Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about George is his pos- session to a weird degree of the sixth sense, the sense of location. Even old and experienced hunters occasionally get temporarily lost in the mountains—at night, for instance, or in a strange country— but George Miller, never. Like the carrier pigeon, he takes a bee- line back to camp, and many are the stories told about him in this oonnection.
On one occasion, in the northern part of the state, I was hunt- ing with him in a very rough country—quite unknown to him. As usual he persisted in tracking deer until it was dark. The remon- strances of myself and the guide, however, were finally efficacious, and we started, as we thought, campwards, the guide leading. At once George remarked quietly, “That isn’t the way home.” The man who had been born and bred in the locality, and had acted as a guide there for more than thirty years, and who was tired and hungry and more than a little sore at having been kept out unneces-
“DE TAL PALO TAL ASTILLA” 169 sarily late, answered sharply that he was quite capable of finding the way in his own country. George said nothing more, but some two hours later, when the guide grudgingly confessed himself hope- lessly off the right track, quietly assumed the latter’s functions and tacking ship led us straight back to camp, which lay in a totally different direction from that which we had been following. I could easily multiply such examples, but this one suffices to illustrate my point.
It is while sitting around the camp fires at night that George sings his best forty-niner songs and tells his best hunting and pros- pecting yarns. Of the former, “Sweet Betsy of Pike,” to the tune of “Villikins and His Dinah,” and “Lather and Shave,” to a tune of its own, are my favorites, though his repertoire is an extensive one, and I shall never forget the delight of a famous singer in Berkeley, in whose salon, on our way back from a bear-hunt in Siskiyou County, I persuaded George to oblige with these two gems. The singer said she had always wanted to hear a forty-niner song— and she heard two!
Of his yarns, which are many and varied, those which appeal to me most are the ones that refer to his one-time partner, Bill Hol- comb, now, alas! gone on his last hunt. He tells how Bill Hol- comb (born in Iowa in 1832; died at San Bernardino, California, 1912) came to California in 1850, traveling by the northern route, and in an ox-wagon to the Green River, which empties into the Co10- rado; in crossing the latter his raft capsized and he lost his entire outfit. He continued his journey on foot, living with his friend, Jack Martin, on rose buds for four days, a diet which may seem romantic to us, but was not very filling. On the fifth day, being at their last gasp, they miraculously found a canteen of water and a sack of food, and, to his dying day, Bill Holcomb always solemnly referred to this as an example of the direct intervention of Provi- dence.
After arriving in Upper California, they passed on to Calaveras County, hunting for the market and looking for gold. Again they had got into very low water, when one day they ran on to a creek, the sandy bottom of which glittered with gilded particles. Visions of wealth floated before their eyes, and until literally starving they worked feverishly to collect the coveted wealth. Foreseeing a mad rush to their treasure-trove, Bill traveled eighteen miles to the near- est point where he could buy grub, going and coming by night to elude pursuit. At length their last cent was spent, and at length, too, they had a sack full of gold. Brazenly now they swaggered into a store in a market town, where they ordered lavishly and without thought of expense a goodly supply of food—producing in payment a small quantity of the golden dust. A queer expression came over the face of the store-keeper—a look wherein pity was
170 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOTHERN CALIFORNIA mixed with suspicion—as he remarked, “That is no good to me.” “Why not, you d— fool? it is gold,” replied Bill. “No, it is isin- glass,” replied the man. It took long to convince Bill, by demonstra- tion with the scales, that the man was right, and, when he was finally convinced, he sat down and cried. All their toil and priva- tions had been for nothing, and, worse than that, he had not a cent to buy provisions for himself and famished partner. Fortune fa- vored them here, however, for the kindly store-keeper took pity on them and grubstaked the greenhorns, paying them $10.00 a day to work in his own placer mines. His exchequer being replenished, he soon after decided to visit his brother in Oregon. Sending ahead for a ticket, he journeyed to San Francisco, whence the boat sailed, went aboard and retired at once to his room, being fearful of being robbed of the real gold which he now carried in his belt. All at once the ship’s whistle blew a great blast preparatory to start- ing. With a wild yell the rustic Bill rushed madly on to the crowded deck, shouting at the top of his voice, “You d— fools, why don’t you jump? The ship is blowing up!” When the nautical mystery was at length explained to him, he was so ashamed that he fled to his cabin and hid there. Coming on deck some few days later he felt strangely squeamish, and it flashed across his mind that he had had a drink with a stranger who was desirous of robbing him, and had plainly doped his liquor. Hastening to the captain he handed over his belt, with tears in his eyes, imploring him to send it to his mother, so that the villains should not get his money. On the captain explaining to him that he was seasick, Bill yelled at him, “You scoundrel, you are in with the gang l” Truly he was very green. Time passed, and Bill became a wiser and a sadder man. His next venture was on the Feather River, where he “made good”; but a flood came and the partners barely escaped with their lives. After this came a spell of hunting (elk, bear, antelope) for the market; then, via Ventura, he came down to San Bernardino in 1859, slay- ing four grizzly bears and discovering the Holcomb Valley mine within a few days. The usual story follows: Jack Martin got drunk and gave the show away; the rush of miners followed, and the part- ners, frozen out, left for Arizona with $18.00 between them. In Arizona they located a mine which they sold to one Dick Gurd for $500.00; it netted Gurd one million a little later on. His next move was to San Bernardino, where he worked in lumber, becoming acquainted with George Miller in 1864. There- after they were bosom pals to the day of his death. In the year 1877 the two were hunting grizzly bears in what is even now a wild spot known as Devil’s Hole, at the head of Little Rock Creek, when an event occurred, reference to which was for many years a sore point with Bill Holcomb. A certain amount of
“DE TAL PALO TAL ASTILLA” 171 . hunters’ rivalry existed between them. They were the best of friends, both crack shots and first-class hunters, but Bill was ex- tremely anxious to get a particularly fine old grizzly which had long eluded them, and determined to “put one over” on George. Selecting a time when the latter was otherwise occupied (looking for a strayed horse), he took up the track and finally in a most difficult country he caught a glimpse through the dense under- growth of the bear. Leveling his trusty 45-90 he pulled the trigger, and down came an old brown horse. To chagrin succeeded fear, for the horse must belong to Indians, who would nof be slow to follow up and take revenge. That night at the camp fire it was evident to those present that Bill had something on ‘his mind, and finally, after several drinks, he was prevailed upon to confess, first, that he had mistaken a horse for a bear, and, secondly, that he had endangered the lives of his companions by shooting the Indian’s horse. It was a bitter pill for Bill to swallow, this double confes- sion, not made any easier by the unmerciful chaff of his companions. In fact, it was too good a story for the latter ever to forget, and is still one of the favorite jokes which, to this day, the pioneers of San Bernardino laugh over. As a matter of fact, the horse was owner- less—a derelict that had strayed and got into that abominable place and couldn’t get out. Only a few years ago George and myself found evidence of a similar occurrence in a wild spot in the Haystack Mountains, Santa Rosa Range. Now comes the sequel: In 1901, just fourteen years after Bill Holcomb shot the horse, George Miller, the younger, shot the last grizzly bear killed in these parts—this was not the famous club-foot mentioned in various books (among them, “Yosemite Trails,” by J. S. Chase, though,‘ as a matter of fact, a shot from George Miller’s rifle, and not the trap as mentioned by Chase in above named book, was the cause of the said club-foot), but a magnificent silver tip weighing thirteen hundred pounds, measuring over eight feet long. One could write a large volume of the reminiscences of this great old hunter, reminiscences which rival those of James Capen Adams as detailed in the account of his life by T. H. Hittell, but the above must suffice. For the past ten years I have regularly taken my vacations in the form of hunting trips with George Miller, and have picked up a fairly accurate story of his life in the evenings around the camp fires, where, with some persuasion, he would tell yarns of the times now long past, when this was a first-class big game country, and with a little more coaxing would sing the songs of forty-nine. I hope in the above disconnected and fragmentary sketch I have in some measure justified the title "De Tal Palo Tal Astilla.” To me it has seemed that the same indomitable energy in the face of diffi- culties, the same resolute courage and tenacity of purpose, charac-
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA terized both father and son. Both were more than a little “sot in their ways,” both had cast-iron oonstitutions, which enabled them to endure privations which the average man would wilt under; not “facile,” either of them; both were good men and true, who, uncon- taminated by their somewhat lurid surroundings, emerged clean, and played the game as they understood it to the limit—both were pos- sessed of that two-o’clock-in-the-morning courage which Napoleon so admired, that level-headed, unruffled readiness to face the music, Whatever it might be, at any time or in any place, and that with matter-of-fact, simple modesty, as if it were all part of the day’s work. Of such a breed were the founders of this state, and I, for one, take off my hat to them. When one reads, on the one hand, of the father, half pityingly and with thinly veiled contempt, telling the story of how his miser- able companions, after four days of incredible hardships and no food, began to waver and grumble, whereas he, accustomed to both, was in no ways inconvenienced by either; and, on the other, of the son who hunted a particularly wise old grizzly bear for fourteen years, and, on at length coming up with him, tackled him alone in the dense brush, in the night time, armed only with an antiquated, single shot rifle, one cannot, it seems to me, fail to come to the conclusion that heredity does play a part in the make-up of men, and that the old saying is a true one, "De Tal Palo Tal Astilla.”
---
---
The Colonel's other concern was the reaction of the secessionists in the area. Even though a formal surrender had been signed two days previously, the death of the President was expected to rouse some of the secessionists into action, and the Union people in San Bernardino had heard rumors that an operation of some kind was being planned.
In January of 1867 a large band of Indians invaded the Lake Arrowhead area, burning a sawmill and some cabins. There were two encounters in which Indians were killed. The Indians were driven from the mountains by a citizen's militia and then pursued out into the desert, culminating in a fight at Rabbit Springs near what is now Lucerne Valley. The militia was headquartered at the upper narrows on the site of what would soon be the Brown Ranch. Later that year, in October of 1867, Indians attacked a mail wagon on the Mojave Road, and killed one of the three men in the party, an Army surgeon on his way to Fort Mojave.
These Indians caused considerable alarm and trouble through their murder of Mr. Calloway and threat to kill all residents along the river. They are a hard tribe to manage, as they are very intelligent and brave. The cause of the trouble was more from injudicious management by Mr. Calloway than anything else.
Reports have been circulated that Calloway was a drunkard, but being personally acquainted with him for two years and knowing his history for the past five, I can state that they are wholly untrue. Mr. Calloway was killed on the 8th of March, aud as the military had some time before promised to protect the company employing him, they were immediately notified of the murder and as soon as possible sent ten soldiers to the spot. Previous to this four Indians from Fort Mohave were sent to the agency to demand the murderers. From their coming to the agency the Chim-e-hue-vas imagined that I was acting in concert with the Army. This led them to distrust me, and their hostility was opi-nly expressed. They were camped ten miles from the agency and had only to build a raft to reach it in an hour. Word was brought by the most intelligent and influential of the Mohaves that the agency would be atiacked that night by the Chim-e-hue-vas if soldiers were sent up after them. I at once consulted the employe's, and as we had no arras and eleven womeu and children to care for we tried to get twenty Mohaves to guard the agency, but through their fear of the Chime-hue-vas they would not come until they weie frightened into doing so by our leaving the agency—fearing it would be destroyed.
On the 12th of May Colonel Price was sent with sufficient troops to subdue the tribe. They were induced to come in and talk. They brought in the two men implicated in the Calloway affair, and, promising to be peaceable, were given rations aud placed upon land on this reservation, where they have since remained. [632]
652 RECORDS OF SERVICES. ...
WILLIAM REDWOOD PRICE: Born in Ohio; appointed from Pennsylvania. Second Lieutenant Third Pennsylvania Cavalry January 15, 1862; First Lieutenant September 7, 1862; Captain May 1, 1863; Major and Assistant Adjutant-General Volunteers August 5, 1864; Brevetted Lieutenant-Colonel Volunteers January 23, 1865, for industry, zeal, and faithful services during the Campaign before Richmond, Va.; Colonel Volunteers March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious services, and Brigadier-General Volunteers March 13, 1865, for faithful and meritorious services during the war; Honorably mustered out September 1, 1866; Major Eighth Cavalry --- 563 RECORDS OF SERVICES.
July 28, 1866; Lieutenant-Colonel Sixth Cavalry April 2, 1879; Brevetted Lieutenant-Colonel March 2, 1867, for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Five Forks, Va.; Colonel December 10, 1868, for gallant and meritorious services in an engagement with Indians in the vicinity of Walker's Springs, in the Aquarious Range in Arizona, December 10 and 13, 1868; Died December 30, 1881.
William Redwood Price Birth 20 May 1836 ,Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, USA Death 30 Dec 1881 (aged 45), Germantown, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA Burial Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA Plot Section I, Lot 5
Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. Entered the Civil War as a Captain in the 3rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry. He then served as a Assistant Commissary of Musters of the staff of Brigadier General William W. Averell. His administrative skills then brought him to a staff position in the War Department in Washington DC, where he served as an Assistant Adjutant General, then as an Assistant Inspector General in the Cavalry Bureau. He was brevetted Brigadier General, US Volunteer on March 13, 1865 for "faithful and meritorious services during the war". Remained in the US Army after its reorganization in 1866, and eventually rose to Lieutenant Colonel of the 6th United States Cavalry. [633]
---
--- notes
[i]“Free soil” did not mean anti-slavery. California before the Civil War limited more than any other “free” state the civil rights of African Americans.
[ii]Imogene Spaulding, “The Attitude of California to the Civil War,” Annual Publication of the Historical Society of Southern California, vol. 9, nos. 1-2, 107.
[iii] Voters in the state’s six southern counties supported division of the state by 2477 for and 828 against.
[iv] “Governor’s Message,” Journal of the Senate of the State of California at the 11th Session of the Legislature (Sacramento, T. C. Potts, 186.), 60.
[v] Quoted by Spaulding, “The Attitude of California to the Civil War,” Annual Publication, 108.
[vi] Downey was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor in January 1860. Five days later, Governor Milton Latham resigned after being elected (by the state legislature) to fill the vacancy left by the death of US Senator David C. Broderick. Broderick had been killed in a duel over the division of California into “free soil” and “slave” territories in September 1859. Downey assumed the governorship on January 14, 1860.
[vii] “Hostilities Commenced,” Los Angeles Star, April 27, 1861.
[viii] Johnston took command of the Department of the Pacific on December 21, 1860. He resigned on April 9, 1861, when his adopted home state of Texas seceded.
[ix] Sumner to Townsend, April 28, 1861, Operations in: The Pacific Coast, January 1, 1861-June 30, 1865 (Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, ser. 1, vol. 50, part 1), 471.
[x]. According to his wife, writing many years later.
[xi] President Lincoln received only 25 per cent of Southern California’s vote in November 1860.
[xii] Sumner to Thomas, June 10, 1861, Operations, 506.
[xiii] The constitution of the Confederate States of America was adopted by seven southern states in March 1861.
[xiv] “Letter from Los Angeles,” Sacramento Daily Union, April 30, 1862.
[xv] Quoted by John W. Robinson in Los Angeles in Civil War Days, 1860-1865 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1973), e-book.
[xvi] Throughout the 1850s, the state militia had supplied muskets and other military paraphernalia to quasi-official volunteer units organized in Los Angeles by many of the same men who, in 1861, formed the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles. Some of these arms were collected by Sheriff Tomás Sanchez. After the Johns/Mounted Rifles party left for Texas in June 1861, none of the rifles and sabers sent to Los Angeles could be found, presumably because they had been taken to the Confederacy by Undersheriff Alonzo Ridley.
[xvii] In some accounts, Andrew King is identified as a deputy sheriff; in others, an undersheriff.
[xviii] Ezra Drown, Jonathan Warner, and James Mohan, “Address to the Loyal and Patriotic Voters of Los Angeles County,” clipping in Scrapbook of Benjamin Hayes, vol. 48 (Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley), publication and date not identified.
[xix] “The Crisis,” Los Angeles Star, February 2, 1861.
[xx] John W. Robinson, “A California Copperhead: Henry Hamilton and the Los Angeles Star,” (Journal of the Southwest, Autumn 1981), pp. 113-120
[xxi] Edward John Kewen had been California’s first Attorney General in 1850.
[xxii] Quoted in California and Californians, vol. 2, ed. Rockwell D. Hunt (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1926), 339.
[xxiii] “Letter from Los Angeles,” Daily Alta California, September 29, 1861.
[xxiv] The creation of the Confederate States was announced on February 8, 1861.
[xxv] Semi-Weekly News (Los Angeles), September 6, 1861.
[xxvi] Ibid., July 30, 1862.
[xxvii] Congressman John Burch, in a letter published in the San Francisco Herald on January 3, 1861, strongly endorsed the Pacific Republic scheme. Congressman Charles Scott echoed Burch a few days later in the same newspaper.
[xxviii] This also was the view of Adjutant-General William Kibbe of the state militia.
[xxix] Sumner to Townsend, April 29, 1861, Operations, 474.
[xxx] Hancock to Army Headquarters, May 4, 1861, Operations, 477. Hancock was referring to a small cannon that County Sheriff Sanchez had been keeping (unaccountably, it seems) at the county jail along with other arms.
[xxxi] In July 1861, Texan Volunteers, led by Confederate Colonel John Baylor, captured the southern half of the Arizona Territory and named it the Confederate Territory of Arizona. By February 1862, Confederate units had nearly reached the Colorado River.
[xxxii] Sanchez was re-elected sheriff in 1863 and 1865.
[xxxiii]Los Angeles News, November 24, 1865.
User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Manuel de Jesus Castro
075; sec. of the prefecture '42-3. iv. 652. He was prime mover in the revolt against Micheltorena, taking an active part throughout in '44-5, being once captured and exchanged, and finally eomisionado to make a treaty, iv. 45S-9, 462-8, 486-7, 500-509. Under the new admin, he was made prefect of the Monterey district in '45, being also made lieut of the Mont, comp., and taking a most prominent part in public affairs, as representative of the civil authority and supporter of Gov. Pico against (Jen. Castro in the north, iv. 533, 536-7, 006, 652. In '46, besides being promoted to capt. of the Sta B. comp., getting a land grant, having a Cat. claim of $10,000, and continuing his services as prefect, v. 630-7, he took a prominent and honorable ]>art in the troubles with Fremont, v. 4. 12. 17; quarrel with Cambuston. v. 34; efforts for defence against the settlers and the U. S. v. 41, 45, 56, 1.11, 134-5; sent south in July as eomisionado to effect a reconciliation bet. the general and gov. v. 136, 143-4, 201; left in com. at Los Ang. on Gen. C.'s departure in Aug., but there is doubt whether he was one of the officers captured and paroled by Stockton's men. v. 266, 282, 361. On the outbreak of Flores' re- volt in Oct. Castro was put in com. of the northern division and commanded in the Natividad campaign, v. 321, 361-72, 639; flight to Mex. with Flores '47. v. 407-9. In Mex. Don Manuel continued his military services for sev- eral years, and in '49 was put in com. of tho frontier comp. of L. Cal., in place of Andres Castillero, taking charge of the military colony of Santo Tomas till '52, when he had to yield to Castillo Negrcte. See Hint. North Mex. States, ii. Since '52 Castro has resided for the most part in S.F. down to 'S5, never becoming a citizen of the U. S., often interested in Mex. colonization ---
in the last years. He was never married. Don Manuel was an abler man than his cousin, the general, and his public record in (,'al. down to '47 ni in most respects an excellent one. True to his country's cause, with no sym- pathy for foreign filibusters, he exerted himself, for the most part in vain, to heal foolish dissensions between Calif, chiefs and direct their force against the invaders. Of his later record not so much can l>e said in praise. Various 'ways that are dark ' are popularly attributed to him, and, while charges are doubtless exaggerated, it is possible that he has yielded somewhat to temptations offered by land litigation, politics, dislike of the Yankees, and chronic impecuniosity. But at least he has contributed grandly to the store of material for CaJ. history. The Castro, Doc. Hist. Cal., in 3 vols, is a most important collection of original papers presented by him in '75; and a few years later he contributed a still larger and richer col. of Doc. Hist. Cal., with important L. Cal. material—somewhat unwillingly, it is true, some of my assistants having to adopt the policy of 'fighting the devil with fire;' and finally I obtained his Relation de Alta Cal., none the less valuable because after it had been written at my expense one of my wicked collaborators had to steal a copy for my use. [697]: 753–754, Pioneer Register and Index, Castro, Manuel de Jesus
MenefeeDodge
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).DACDAC18510609p1c2
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).PacificCoast
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).Michno
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).