County Histories
A Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California - Chicago, Lewis Publ. Co., 1891
AMERICAN INVASION.
In historic events like that of the taking of Sonoma and the hoisting of the bear flag, we naturally expect to find some continuity of antecedent causes leading up to the occurrence. But that great event stands out, in bold relief, a conspicuous exception to the rule. Like Topsy, who averred "I was not born'd—I jes growed up," the Bear Flag party seemed to be laboring under equal perplexity as to their origin and ultimate destiny. The happy outcome of their venture can be compressed into the single sentence, "All is well that ends well." Search and sift history as we may there can be found no authentic connection between the little band of adventurers and any responsible United States authority. There has been a great deal said and written upon the subject that inclines the casual reader of history to believe that the taking of Sonoma was but the first act in a well matured plan which was to ultimate in placing California under the stars and stripes of the United States; but we find nothing to warrant such conclusion. The majority of the Bear Flag party were frontiersmen with more nerve than education, and to believe them capable of carrying out to a successful conclusion the secret orders of the United States Government authorities, and never after disclosing the same, would be too great a tax upon even extreme credulity. It is true that General Fremont had been in California for some time, ostensibly at the head of a scientific expedition, but with a force at his back ample to render secure his travels while here, but till now it has never been revealed that he was clothed by the government that he represented with any powers of a revolutionary character. While his attitude had been defiant of California authority and his hoisting of the American flag on Gabilan Peak, almost in sight of the California capital, a bold affront to Castro, California's military chieftain, yet there is no evidence, as yet, that his acts were other than the effervescence of an individual disposed to magnify the importance of his mission. The effects of Fremont's acts were two-fold. The Californians believing him to be acting under instructions from his government, naturally believed that he was here for the purpose of fomenting a revolutionary spirit among foreigners resident here, and they were more disposed than ever to enforce the laws prohibitory of indiscriminate immigration. The American settlers finding themselves more and more the objects of suspicion by the California authorities, naturally took it for granted that as Fremont had been the instrument of inciting the authorities to a more rigid enforcement against them of existing immigration laws, he knew what he was about, and would stand by them if trouble came.
Aside from the fact that all knew that war was imminent between the United States and Mexico, California was rent and torn by internal discord. The Territorial government had ever been, at best, a weak one, but during the past decade it had gone from bad to worse, until chaos seemed to brood over the Territory from Sonoma to San Diego. The government was divided; one part being administered from Los Angeles and the other from Monterey, and each wing in open revolt against the authority of the other. In the very teeth of a threatened danger from without, Governor Pio Pico at Los Angeles and General Castro at Monterey were seemingly only intent on each other's overthrow. The action of Fremont, already referred to, in flaunting the stars and stripes upon Gabilan Peak seems to have brought General Castro to something like a correct appreciation of the fact that there was great need of unification and effort among California authorities. This he tried to impress upon Pico in the south, but the suspicious governor saw fit to construe the efforts of Castro to get the military upon a defensive basis, into a menace to himself; and the people of the entire South seemed to be in entire accord with him on the subject. In truth, the people of the lower and upper portion of the Territory seem to have been as completely estranged and soured against each other as if their origin had been from distinct races. Hence, was witnessed the pitiful endeavor of Pio Pico to gather together a force sufficient to proceed to Monterey for the purpose of subjugating Castro, at the very time the latter was equally intent upon gathering a force to meet what he conceived to be a great danger on the northern frontier. To California, the early months of 1846 seems to have been a dark period to all fruitful of junto meetings and dark-room cabals, when all were suspicious of each other, and it seemed politic for no man to let his right hand know what his left hand was doing.
While this condition of doubt and uncertainty was unmistakably true as related to the Californians, it was only less true, in a modified degree, as related to the Americans then resident here. While they were united in heart and sentiment, they were completely out at sea without chart or compass, in the face of a brewing storm. If Fremont's action in Monterey County had encouraged them to believe that he had authority to raise the standard of revolution in California, that belief must have received a chill when he, a few weeks later, with his sixty men started northward to Oregon, with the avowed purpose of returning East by that route. That this was not a strategic movement on his part is evidenced by letters he wrote at the time both to his wife and his father-in-law, Hon. Thomas H. Benton.
Thomas O. Larkin was the secret and confidential agent of the United States Government in California and he certainly had no commission to do anything in the direction of encouraging the raising of the standard of revolt in California. Fremont's conduct seems to have been to him a complete enigma. Larkin's instructions were to feel the pulse of Californians as well as Americans in reference to peaceable annexation to the United States, and any demonstration on the part of the Americans in the direction of violence and force could but complicate and render more difficult his task. He had sagacity enough to understand this, and seems to have directed all his energies in the direction of a peaceable solution of the problem he was to assist in working out. It must be borne in mind that Thomas O. Larkin had long been a resident merchant in California and that his intimate connection and association with the leading men of California, both natives and foreigners, peculiarly fitted him for this labor of paving the way for peaceable annexation of California to the United States. But that he was not taken into all the secret councils of the nation is manifest from the instructions of Hon. George Bancroft, then the Secretary of War under President Polk, under date of June 24,1845, nearly a year before war was declared between the United States and Mexico. The Secretary's instructions to Commodore Sloat were:
"If you ascertain that Mexico has declared war against the United States, you will at once possess yourself of the port of San Francisco, and occupy such other ports as your force may permit. You will be careful to preserve, if possible, the most friendly relations with the inhabitants, and encourage them to adopt a course of neutrality."
On the 13th of May, 1846, war was declared. On that very day Secretary Bancroft again instructed Commodore Sloat to carry out his first orders "with energy and promptitude." Only two days later we find Secretary Bancroft writing the following instructions to Commodore Sloat: "A connection between California and Mexico is supposed scarcely to exist. You will, as opportunity offers, conciliate the confidence of the people of California. You will conduct yourself in such a manner as will render your occupation of the country a benefit," etc. In a dispatch dated June 8th, 1846, the American Secretary comes out a little plainer. He says: "If California separates herself from our enemy, the central Government of Mexico, and establishes a government of its own under the auspices of the American flag, you will take such measures as will best promote the attachment of the people of California to the United States. You will bear in mind that this country desires to find in California a friend; to be connected with it by near ties; to hold possession of it," etc. On July 12 he speaks still plainer: "The object of the United States has reference to ultimate peace, and if at that peace the basis of the 'uti possidetis' shall be adopted, the Government expects to be in possession of California."
While the instructions to Larkin seem to have been of an entirely pacific and diplomatic character, it is quite evident that the authorities at Washington did not intend to allow the formalities of red tape to stand in the way of the acquisition of California.
There were two men on the northern frontier, both occupying commanding positions, and each destined to fill a conspicuous place in the history of those stirring times. One was General M. G. Vallejo, and the other Captain John A. Sutter. At this time, when California was nearing her final struggle with manifest destiny, it is important to know just how and where they stood. Much has been said and written on the subject, so much that it has become confusing and difficult to always determine where history ends and fiction begins. Vallejo and Sutter both were officers of the California government and as such owed good faith and allegiance to their country. We find nothing to warrant the conclusion that either proved recreant to their trust.
Vallejo evidently had a very strong premonition that California had reached the beginning of the end. So believing, he evidently had little heart or concern about the personal quarrels of Pico, Castro and other factious would-be leaders of California. When called into council on the alarming condition of the times, he was free to express his opinions, and so far as reliable evidence goes, it was always to the effect that if it came to the worst and a change of government had to be made, it was to the United States that California could look for the strongest arm of protection and speedy development of her latent resources. While those were his sentiments expressed in council with his countrymen, he in no wise seems to have abandoned hope that California might yet be safely steered through her dangers. This is evidenced by two circumstances. Governor Pico addressed a letter to Vallejo, probably in April, in which he chided him somewhat sharply for his apparent adhesion to Castro, the every act of whom Pico seemed to regard as dangerous usurpation of military power, the ultimate aim of which was the overthrow of the civil government. Vallejo's reply to Pico was both temperate and patriotic. He did not hesitate to admonish Pico that he was allowing his jealousy to befog his better judgment—that Castro was making an effort to properly face a real danger, and he warned Pico that the time had come when unity of action was imperative if California would continue to exist in her present form. He pointed out to the Governor the folly of expecting a general in the face of a threatened danger, to wait for the transmission of orders such a long distance as intervened between Los Angeles and Monterey. These wise and temperate counsels of Vallejo seem to have been wasted upon Pico, for he appears to have gone forward in his endeavor to marshal a sufficient force to march to Monterey and overthrow Castro. The second circumstance which shows that Vallejo had not yet lost all hope is the fact that early in June Castro visited Sonoma on his mission of gathering war supplies, and secured a large number of horses. Of these horses more will be said a little further on. Of what occurred between Vallejo and Castro at that time there seems to be little of record. Intelligent reflection draws two conclusions somewhat difficult to harmonize. That a matter of 170 horses was furnished by Vallejo to Castro would clearly indicate that the former was willing to contribute liberally toward the common defense, for Castro lacked the power, if he had the will, to exact from Vallejo forced contributions. The next question to harmonize with a cheerful desire of Vallejo to heartily second Castro's seeming patriotic efforts is, why was it that Sonoma with an armament of nine cannons of various caliber, and at least two hundred muskets, was not brought into requisition in a time of such great peril? It was to the east and north that Castro was looking for lurking danger, and if that General and Vallejo were working together in perfect accord, it seems little short of amazing that Sonoma was left to repose in sleepy security without a cannon shotted or a musket in hand or sentinel to signal the alarm of an approaching foe.
Of Captain John A. Sutter little in this connection need be said. Being a citizen by naturalization, his position was different from that of Vallejo. It is true he was holding position under the California government, but his attachment to the country of his adoption never seems to have outweighed his own personal objects and aims in business. But even he is not chargeable with having been guilty of gross perfidy to the land that had given him wealth and honor. This is evidenced by the two-fold fact that he took pains to warn the government at Monterey that a man named Gillespie, who had been at Monterey and was then following Fremont north, was a secret emissary of the United States. At the same time, and with possibly a less patriotic motive, he again called the attention of the California government to the importance of strengthening itself in the Sacramento Valley, and for that purpose offered to sell his establishments at New Helvetia. This, on his part, was business, simon pure, and should not be allowed to counterbalance too much of the good deeds and kind offices of that historic pioneer to the weary travel-worn American immigrants, so many of whom enjoyed his benefactions. Sutter was a man of pretty good common sense and was not blind to the fact that California was liable to be in an eruptive state at any moment; and, like Micawber, was "just waiting for something to turn up."
It was now in early May of 1846, and General Fremont, with his sixty explorers, was well on his way northward, having pitched camp on the shores of Klamath Lake. General Castro, doubtless elated at having achieved a bloodless victory in taking the abandoned fort of Fremont on Gabilan Peak, was now seeking new fields of glory. Pio Pico was yet in the south intent upon marshaling a sufficient force to warrant him in visiting the northern end of the Territory of which he was governor. Consul Larkin was inditing confidential epistles to all such as to whom he thought could be entrusted the secret and work of peaceable annexation of California to the United States. General M. G. Vallejo was in quiet repose at Sonoma, apparently having converted his sword into a plowshare, his spear into a pruning hook, and his martial field-glasses into a medium through which to watch his herds and flocks upon a thousand hills. Captain John A. Sutter was looking after his fields of waving grain at Hawk Farm, doubtless anticipating a paying harvest, for the incoming immigration expected from over the mountains was variously estimated at from 1,000 to 5,000 souls. The hills and valleys of this genial clime were doubtless clad in verdure and flowers; and yet the very air was oppressive with the forecast of revolution and sanguinary strife.
A new Richmond, with closed visor, had now appeared upon the field. He answered to the plain name of Archibald H. Gillespie, and had reached Monterey the 17th of April. Larkin had already received a letter from James Buchanan, the then Secretary of State, informing him that, "Lieutenant Archibald H. Gillespie, of the marine corps, will immediately proceed to Monterey, and will probably reach you before this dispatch. He is a gentleman in whom the President reposes entire confidence. He has seen these instructions, and will co-operate as a confidential agent with you in carrying them into execution." Gillespie was a month behind time in reaching Monterey in consequence of unavoidable delays in Mexico. That his dispatches to Larkin were of a very important and secret character is evidenced by the fact that lest they might fall into Mexican hands, Gillespie had memorized them and then destroyed the paper upon which they were written. On reaching Monterey he was plain Mr. Gillespie, an American merchant, traveling for the benefit of his health. He was also the bearer of a letter of introduction from Hon. Thomas H. Benton to his son-in-law, General Fremont, as well as a package of private letters from the same distinguished statesman to the "Pathfinder." After lingering a little at Monterey, doubtless to give color to his assumed character, Lieutenant Gillespie one night embarked for New Helvetia, and arriving there at once began to arrange for an escort to accompany him on the trail of Fremont. It was then, as already stated, that Captain Sutter conveyed to the authorities at Monterey his suspicion that Gillespie was a secret emissary of the United States Government. Lieutenant Gillespie made all haste northward. Historian Bancroft gives the following graphic account of this journey and the tragic occurrences attending it:
"This officer, of whose arrival I will have more to say presently, had reached Sutter's April 28th, and Lassen's the 1st of May. From that point, with only five companions, Lassen, Neal, Sigler, Stepp and a negro servant named Ben, he started May 2, on Fremont's trail. On the 7th two men were sent in advance, and the others encamped at the outlet of Klamath Lake, unable to ford the river, and having nothing to eat for forty hours. On the morning of the 9th a party of Indians made their appearance, who, with great apparent kindness, gave the travelers a fresh salmon for food, and ferried them over the water in canoes. After a day's journey of some thirty miles, Gillespie met Fremont at sunset, at a stream named from the events of that night, Ambuscade Creek. The sixteen tired travelers retired early after the two parties were united on May 9th, and were soon sleeping soundly—Fremont sitting up later than the rest to read his dispatches and letters from home. The Indians were deemed friendly, and no watch was kept. Just before midnight the camp was attacked by savages, Basil Lajeunesse and a Delaware were killed as they slept, by blows from axes. The sound of these blows aroused Carson and Owens, who gave the alarm; when the Indians fled, after killing with their arrows a Delaware named Crane, and leaving dead a chief of their number, who proved to be the very man from whom Gillespie had that morning been furnished with food and aid further south. Next morning they started northward to join the main body, burying the bodies of their slain comrades on the way. The whole party started on the 11th down the eastern side of the lake, wreaking terrible vengeance on the innocent natives along the route, if we may credit the statement of Kit Carson, who played a leading part in the butcheries. They reached Lassen's rancho on their return the 24th, and a few days later moved their camp down to the Buttes."
This awakens the reflection that the greatest of human events are subject to the modifying influence of currents and cross-currents; for had the Indians who made that midnight attack been successful in their evident design to massacre all in that unguarded camp, it is more than probable that the Bear Flag revolution would never have formed a chapter of California history. Mr. Bancroft expresses the opinion that Gillespie's meeting with Fremont had nothing to do with the latter's return northward—that "the Captain had nearly determined, on account of the difficulty of crossing the mountains into Oregon on account of the snow," to retrace his steps. We dissent from this view of the subject. If Gillespie was only the bearer of instructions to Fremont couched in the same language of diplomacy as that used by Secretary Buchanan in imparting to Larkin the duties devolved upon him by the President, then the continued presence of Fremont could have served no good end. In truth, his continued presence would be detrimental to the very object Larkin was expected to achieve. Gillespie must have had full knowledge of what Fremont had done at Gabilan Peak, and as he was the duly accredited secret agent of the United States government it is but reasonable to suppose that he would have at least some advisory influence with Fremont. Then, again, Fremont and Larkin were occupying entirely different positions, and it is quite probable that while the latter was expected only to use the weapons of diplomacy, the former may have been accorded discretionary power, if circumstances seemed to warrant, to use more weighty arguments. But outside of all this it must he remembered that Gillespie had placed in Fremont's hands letters from Hon. Thomas H. Benton. The latter was just as near to the war-making power as was James Buchanan, and he was under no trammel to measure his words with red tape. While he was not in a position to give Fremont either instructions or orders, it is fair to presume that he would intimate to the husband of his favorite daughter the true condition of affairs and impress upon him the importance of holding himself in readiness to improve any opportunities, such as were liable to suddenly arise, for preferment and position. To believe that Fremont had any serious intention of leaving California just at a time when he must have known that right here and then he was upon the very eve of the fruition of Benton's most ardent expectation, would be to impute to him a lack of regard for name and fame singularly at variance with reputed character of either himself or Mr. Benton.
But we now put behind us matters speculative and enter upon the domain of thrilling facts. During Fremont's absence north there were all kinds of wild rumors afloat, and they lost nothing as they passed from mouth to mouth. Castro's war preparations had been magnified into an expressed purpose on his part to drive the American settlers out of the country. It was rumored and so believed, that the Indians of the Sacramento Valley were being incited to an uprising, and that as soon as the grain fields were far enough advanced to be combustible, the torch would be applied. Captain Sutter seems to have given credence to these stories, for he was on an active Indian campaign against some of the lawless tribes. Fremont had moved camp from the Buttes to Bear River, near where Nicholas now stands. It was but natural that his camp should become the head centre, around which the hopes and expectations of his fellow-countrymen should cluster. The settlers knew that Gillespie was acting upon some authority of the United States government, and his swift haste northward after Fremont, and the latter's equally speedy return, had to them a significance that they were close to exciting times. There is nothing of record to show that General Fremont either counseled action, or quiet, on the part of American settlers. He seems to have been a passive listener to the recital of their plans and grievances, but somehow, the most unlettered of those frontiersmen, gathered from his very silence, assent that he would stand between them and harm. The people were ripe for revolution and the favored chance to strike the first blow opportunely came.
As has already been stated, General Castros' visit to General Vallejo in the first week of June resulted in his securing 170 horses. Having achieved this much toward placing himself upon a stable war footing, Castro returned by boat to Yerba Buena, entrusting the horses to the care and management of his private secretary, Francisco Arce, Lieutenant José Maria Alviso and an escort of eight men, for safe conduct to Santa Clara. Leaving Sonoma with the band of horses, they reached what is now Knight's Landing, on the Sacramento River, where a crossing was effected, and on June 8th they reached Sutter's Fort. It is alleged that Arce told some one on his route that the horses were for Castro, and to be used in driving the American settlers out; but this was probably idle rumor. But whether true or not, it served to intensify the excitement, which was now at about white heat. On the afternoon of June 9th, eleven or twelve Americans started on the trail of Arce and Alviso and their band of horses. These men are said to have started from the neighborhood of Fremont's camp, and a man named Hensley is the authority that they were sent by Fremont; but this lacks the evidence that should back a historic fact. In passing New Helvetia, this company was increased by two new recruits. Ezekiel Merritt commanded the expedition.
Of its members, Semple, Henry L. Ford and Granville P. Swift, afterward for long years a resident of Sonoma County, are the only names known with certainty. Crossing the American River late in the evening, they made their first stop at the rancho of Allen Montgomery, who not only furnished them a supper, but he, with another man, accompanied them to lend a hand at striking this first blow of revolution. Arce and Alviso had stopped for the night at the rancho of Murphy, using his corral for their horses. Merritt and his men camped within three miles of the place, and at early dawn, on the morning of the ever-memorable 10th of June, 1846, swooped down upon the unsuspecting Arce and Alviso, and in a trice had them and their men disarmed. That Merritt and his men were not heartless desperadoes is apparent from the fact that they allowed the vanquished to retain each a horse, and recognized Alviso's claim to a few more as private property; after which their arms were restored to them and they were made the bearers of a message to Castro, that if he wanted his horses he could come after them. Arce also reported to Castro that the insurgents had declared their purpose to take Sonoma. This declaration of their intent was a subject of official announcement at Monterey two days before Sonoma was captured, which proves that Arce and Alviso had not falsely reported the utterance of Merritt and his followers. The revolutionists, with their band of horses, were back to the neighborhood of Fremont's camp within forty-eight hours after they set out on their mission. While there seems to have been no preconcerted action on the part of the American settlers in this high-handed act, they all seemed to have assented to the fact that the bridges had been burned behind them, and all they had to do now was to "fight it out on that line if it took them all summer."
It was the 11th of June that Merritt and his followers returned with Castro's horses. They seem to have acted on the principle of "making hay while the sun shines," for on that afternoon the company was increased to twenty men, still led by Ezekiel Merritt, who took their departure in the direction of Sonoma. That night they reached Gordon's, on Cache Creek, where they halted for refreshments, and then made a night march to Napa Valley, which they reached on the forenoon of June 12th. In Napa Valley they remained two days, evidently for the purpose of strengthening their force, which they did by the enrollment of twelve or thirteen additional men. The force now numbered either thirty-two or thirty-three, who, so far as is now ascertainable, responded to the following names: Ezekiel Merritt, William B. Ide, John Grigsby, Robert Semple, H. L. Ford, William Todd, William Fallon, William Knight, William Hargrave, Sam Kelsey, G. P. Swift, Sam Gibson, W. W. Scott, Benjamin Dewell, Thomas Cowie, William B. Elliott, Thomas Knight, Horace Sanders, Henry Booker, Dav. Hudson, John Sears, and most of the following: J. H. Kelly, C. C. Griffith, Harvey Porterfield, John Scott, Ira Stebbins, Marion Wise, Ferguson, Peter Storm, Pat. McChristian, Bartlett Vines, Fowler, John Gibbs, Andrew Kelsey, and Benjamin Kelsey. It was about midnight of Saturday, the 13th of June, that this motley crowd of frontiersmen took to saddle and proceeded across the hills intervening between Napa Valley and the Pueblo of Sonoma. Just at break of day they reached that fortified stronghold of Northern California, and neither baying of watch-dog nor cackling of goose aroused the sleeping Sonomans to a sense of impending danger. Every reader will expect to hear, in detail, exactly what transpired on that memorable occasion. Bancroft has in his possession many of the original documents connected with that event, or authenticated copies. He is certainly in a position to give as near the absolute facts in connection therewith as will ever be attainable, as very many of the participants in the capture of Sonoma are now dead. We have had from General Vallejo's own lips a statement of the individual part he played in the event, and it is substantially the same as recited by Mr. Bancroft. Believing that historian Bancroft gives a true and reliable version of the whole occurrence, we incorporate it here. It is as follows:
"At daylight Vallejo was aroused by a noise, and on looking out saw that his house was surrounded by armed men. This state of things was sufficiently alarming in itself, and all the more so by reason of the uncouth and even ferocious aspect of the strangers. Says Semple: Almost the whole party was dressed in leather hunting-shirts, many of them very greasy; taking the whole party together, they were about as rough a looking set of men as one could well imagine. It is not to be wondered at that any one would feel some dread in falling into their bands. And Vallejo himself declares that there was by no means such a uniformity of dress as a greasy hunting-shirt for each man would imply. Vallejo's wife was even more alarmed than her husband, whom she begged to escape by a back door, but who, deeming such a course undignified as well as impracticable, hastily dressed, ordered the front door opened, and met the intruders as they entered his sala, demanding who was their chief and what their business. Not much progress in explanation was made at first, though it soon became apparent that the Colonel, while he was to consider himself a prisoner, was not in danger of any personal violence. Lieutenant-Colonel Prudon and Captain Salvador Vallejo entered the room a few minutes later, attracted by the noise, or possibly were arrested at their houses and brought there; at any rate, they were put under arrest like the Colonel. Jacob P. Leese was sent for to serve as interpreter, after which mutual explanations progressed more favorably.
"Early in the ensuing negotiations between prisoners and filibusters, it became apparent that the latter had neither acknowledged leader nor regular plan of operations beyond the seizure of government property and of the officers. Some were acting, as in the capture of Arce's horses, merely with a view to obtain arms, animals, and hostage—to bring about hostilities, and at the same time to deprive the foe of his resources; others believed themselves to have undertaken a revolution, in which the steps to be immediately taken were a formal declaration of independence and the election of officers, Merritt being regarded rather as a guide than captain. All seemed to agree, however, that they were acting under Fremont's orders, and this to the prisoners was the most assuring feature in the case. Vallejo had for some time favored the annexation of California to the United States. He had expected and often predicted a movement to that end. There is no foundation for the suspicion that the taking of Sonoma and his own capture were planned by himself, in collusion with the filibuster chiefs, with a view to evade responsibility; yet it is certain that he had little, if any, objection to an enforced arrest by officers of the United States as a means of escaping from the delicacy of his position as a Mexican officer. Accordingly, being assured that the insurgents were acting under Fremont, he submitted to arrest, gave up keys to public property, and entered upon negotiations with a view to obtain guarantees of protection for non-combatants.
"The guarantees sought were then drawn up in writing and signed by the respective parties. The originals of those documents are in my possession, and are given in a note.
The following are the documents referred to by Mr. Bancroft:
SONOMA, June 14,1816.
Be it known by these presents, that, having been surprised by a numerous armed force which took me prisoner, with the chief and officers belonging to the garrison of this place that the said force took possession of, having found it absolutely defenseless, myself as well as the undersigned officers pledge our word of honor that, being under the guarantees of prisoners of war, we will not take up arms for or against the said armed forces, from which we have received the present intimation, and a signed writing which guarantees our lives, families, and property, and those of all the residents of this jurisdiction, so long as we make no opposition.
M. G. VALLEJO,
VICTOR PRUDON,
SALVADOR VALLEJO.
We, the undersigned, have resolved to establish a government upon republican principles, in connection with others of our fellow-citizens, and having taken up arms to support it, we have taken three Mexican officers as prisoners, General M. G. Vallejo, Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Prudon, and Captain D. Salvador Vallejo, having formed and published to the world no regular plan of government, feel it our duty to say it is not our intention to take or injure any person who is not found in opposition to the cause, nor will we take or destroy the property of private individuals further than is necessary for our support.
EZEKIEL MERRITT,
R. SEMPLE,
WILLIAM FALLON,
SAMUEL KELSEY.
Mr. Bancroft, continuing, says :
"It was naturally to be expected, under the circumstances, that the arrested officers would be released on parole. Such was evidently the view taken on both sides at first. Ford says there were some who favored such a course. Leese, who had the best opportunities for understanding the matter, and who gives a more detailed account than any other writer, tells us that such a decision was reached; and finally, the documents which I have presented, Nos. 1 and 2, being to all intents and purposes regular parole papers, leave no doubt upon the subject. But now difficulties arose, respecting some phase of which there is contradictory testimony.
Thus far only a few of the insurgent leaders had entered, or at least remained in, the house; and the negotiations had in reality been conducted by Semple and Leese very much in their own way. Ide testifies that Merritt, Semple and Wm. Knight, the latter accompanying the expedition merely as an interpreter, were the first to enter the house, while the rest waited outside; that presently, hearing nothing, they became impatient, determined to choose a captain, and elected John Grigsby, who thereupon went in; and after waiting what appeared an age, the men again lost patience and called upon the writer, Ide, to go and investigate the causes of delay. Now the discrepancies in testimony begin. Ide describes the state of things which met his view as follows: "The General's generous spirits gave proof of his usual hospitality, as the richest wines and brandies sparkled in the glasses, and those who had thus unceremoniously met soon became merry companions; more especially the merry visitors. There sat Dr. S., just modifying a long string of articles of capitulation. There sat Merritt, his head fallen; there sat Knight, no longer able to interpret; and there sat the new-made captain, as mute as the seat he sat upon. The bottles had well-nigh vanquished the captors!" Leese also states that the brandy was a potent factor in that morning's event; but according to his version, it was on the company outside that its influence was exerted, rendering them noisy and unmanageable, though an effort had been made by his advice to put the liquor out of reach. I do not, however, deem it at all likely that the leaders drank more than it was customary to drink in a Californian's parlor, or more than they could carry; but that some of the rough characters in the company became intoxicated we may well believe.
"At any rate, disagreement ensued; the men refused entirely to ratify the capitulation made by the former leaders, insisting that the prisoners must be sent to the Sacramento; some of them were inclined to be insubordinate and eager for plunder; while the lawless spirits were restrained from committing outrages by the eloquence of Semple and the voice of the majority; yet the leaders could not agree. Captain Grigsby declined to retain the leadership that had been conferred upon him. So William B. Ide was chosen in his stead, and the revolutionists immediately took possession of all public property, as well as of such horses and other private property as they needed, at the same time locking up all citizens that could be found. It would seem that the second of the documents I have presented was torn, and the third drawn up and signed at an early stage of the disagreements, after it became apparent that it might be best to send the prisoners to the Sacramento, the signatures showing that it could not have been later. Vallejo, though not encouraged at seeing that the leaders were not permitted by their followers to keep their promises, was not very much displeased at being sent to New Helvetia. He was assured that the insurgents were acting by Fremont's orders; his own views were known to be favorable to the schemes of the United States; and he had no reason to doubt that on meeting Fremont he and his companions would at once be released on parole.
"Before the departure of the prisoners and their escort a formal meeting of the revolutionists was held. That Semple, secretary, made a speech counselling united action and moderation in the treatment of the natives, and that William B. Ide was chosen captain, is all that is known of this meeting, except what we may learn from Ide's narrative. The leaders differed in their ideas, not only respecting the disposition to be made of the prisoners, but about the chief object of the movement. Evidently there had been no definitely arranged plan of operations. Fremont had succeeded in bringing about a state of open hostility without committing himself. Some of the men regarded their movement as merely intended to provoke Castro to make an attack on Fremont; or at least they dreaded the responsibility of engaging in a regular revolution, especially when it was learned that no one could produce any definite promise from Fremont in black and white to support such a movement. Others were in favor of an immediate declaration of independence. That such differences of opinion did exist as Ide states, is in itself by no means improbable; and it is confirmed to some extent by the fact that Grigsby did resign his leadership, and by the somewhat strange circumstance that three such prominent men as Grigsby, Merritt and Semple should have left Sonoma to accompany the prisoners. Ide writes that when Grigsby heard that no positive orders from Fremont could be produced, his fears of doing wrong overcame his patriotism, and he interrupted the speaker by saying: "Gentlemen, I have been deceived; I cannot go with you; I resign and back out of the scrape. I can take my family to the mountains as cheap as any of you ;" —and Dr. S. at that moment led him into the house. Disorder and confusion prevailed. One swore he would not stay and guard the prisoners; another swore we would all have our throats cut; another called for fresh horses; and all were on the move, every man for himself, when the speaker [Ide] resumed his efforts, raising his voice louder and more loud, as the men receded from the place, saying: "We need no horses; saddle no horse for me; I can go to the Spaniards and make freemen of them. I will lay my bones here before I will take upon myself the ignominy of commencing an honorable work and then flee like cowards, like thieves, when no enemy is in sight. In vain will you say you had honorable motives. Who will believe it? Flee this day and the longest life cannot wear out your disgrace! Choose ye this day what you will be! We are robbers or we must be conquerors!" and the speaker in despair turned his back on his receding companions. With new hope they rallied around the desponding speaker, made him their commander, their chief; and his next words commanded the taking of the fort. Subsequently the three leaders of the party of the primitive plan of "neutral conquest" left us alone in our glory.
I find no reason to doubt that this version, though somewhat highly colored, is in substance accurate; that Merritt, having captured horses and prisoners, was content to rest on his laurels; that Grigsby was timid about assuming the responsibility of declaring independence without a positive assurance of Fremont's co-operation; that Semple, while in favor of independence, preferred that Sacramento should be the centre of operations, unless —what Vallejo and Leese also favored—Fremont could be induced to establish his headquarters at Sonoma; or finally, that Ide and his associate influenced the majority to complete their revolutionary work and take no backward steps. I think, however, that Ide and all the rest counted confidently on Fremont's support; and that Semple and Grigsby were by no means regarded as abandoning the cause when they left Sonoma.
It was about 11 A. M., on June 14th, when the three prisoners, accompanied by Leese as interpreter at their request and that of the captors—not himself a prisoner as has been generally stated—and guarded by Grigsby, Semple, Merritt, Hargrave, Knight and four or five others, started on horses from Vallejo's herds for the Sacramento. It will be most convenient to follow them before proceeding to narrate later developments at Sonoma. Before starting, and on the way, Vallejo was often questioned by Californians as to the situation of affairs; but could only counsel them to remain quiet, announcing that he would probably return within four or five days. His idea was that Fremont, after releasing him and his companions on parole, might be induced to establish his headquarters at Sonoma, an idea shared by Semple, Grigsby and Leese. Relations between captives and captors were altogether friendly, except in the case of some hostile feeling among a few individuals against Don Salvador.
They encamped that night at Vaca's rancho. No special pains were taken to guard the prisoners, who, with Leese, slept on a pile of straw near the camp. Vallejo had desired to travel all night; but the men declined to do so, having had no sleep the night before. Before dawn on the morning of the 15th, a Californian succeeded in reaching the captives, and informed Vallejo that a company of his countrymen had been organized to effect his rescue, and only awaited his orders. The Colonel refused to permit such an attempt to be made, both because he had no reason to fear any unpleasant results from his enforced visit to the Sacramento, and because he feared retaliation at Sonoma in case an attempt to escape should bring harm to any of the guards. On the 15th the party reached Hardy's place on the Sacramento. Here Merritt left the others, intending to visit Fremont's camp and return next morning, but as he did not come back Leese, with one companion, started in the forenoon of the 16th, also in quest of Fremont. Arriving at Allgeier's place, they learned that the Captain had moved his camp to the American River; and starting for that point, they rejoined their companions before arrival. Here Grigsby presented an order from Fremont for Leese's arrest, for which, so far as known, no explanation was given.
Late in the afternoon they reached the camp, and the prisoners were brought into the presence of Fremont. That officer's reception of them was very different from what had been anticipated. His words and manner were reserved and mysterious. He denied when Vallejo demanded for what offenses and by what authority he had caused their arrest, that he was in any way responsible for what had been done; declared that they were prisoners of the people, who had been driven to revolt for self-protection ; refused to accept their paroles, and sent them that same night, under a guard composed in part if not wholly of his own men—Kit Carson and Merritt being sent in advance—to be locked up at Sutter's Fort.
THE BEAR FLAG —STARS AND STRIPES.
General Vallejo certainly had a right to be surprised at the foregoing treatment by Fremont. That he appreciated the real condition of affairs is made very plain by the following correspondence, a careful perusal of which will show that General Vallejo, when taken prisoner at Sonoma, felt warranted in looking to United States authorities for protection. From John B. Montgomery, commanding United States ship Portsmouth, he certainly received more of consideration and cheer than from General Fremont, and yet in both instances the action of the Bear Flag party seems to have been repudiated and ignored entirely. Viewed from this stand-point it is not a matter of wonder that Captain Grigsby and others of the Bear Flag party may have felt a tickling sensation around the neck when they ascertained that their taking of Sonoma was not backed by any positive authority from Fremont or any body else clothed with United States authority. The rank and file of the Bear Flag party evidently acted upon the principle that a "wink was as good as a nod of assent;" and taking their lives in their hands they struck the blow, and took the chances. Like John Adams who, after affixing his name to the Declaration of Independence, remarked, "Well, if we hang we all hang together," they captured Sonoma, and left to the future what the outcome of the venture should be. The following is the correspondence referred to:
HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE.
General Vallejo's message to Captain Montgomery, the day of the capture of Sonoma—Montgomery's reply—Lieutenant Missroon's account of the revolutionists—Highly creditable conduct of the Bears—Ide's pledge to Missroon.
UNITED STATES SHIP PORTSMOUTH,
SAN FRANCISCO, August 17, 1846.
MY DEAR GENERAL:—I am now about to sail for Monterey, and avail myself of this mode of expressing to you my regret that I shall thus most probably he deprived of seeing you on your contemplated visit to Yerba Buena to-morrow, having anticipated much pleasure from this event; but you well know how little we servants of the public are left to the disposition of our own time. I reached the Portsmouth from Sonoma very comfortably on Friday last about 6 o'clock in the afternoon, greatly pleased with my visit, and gratified by the very kind and hospitable attentions of my esteemed friends there, the remembrance of which I shall long continue to cherish.
In compliance with your expressed wishes while I was at Sonoma, I herewith enclose you, my dear General, copies of the document forwarded to you by De la Rosa in the commencement of the late revolution, and those having reference to Lieutenant Missroon's visit to Sonoma by my orders, with overtures to the insurgent chief in behalf of prisoners and the helpless inhabitants of that place, which you are at liberty to use as you shall think proper.
From Monterey it is most probable I shall make a cruise to the southward, and am not without hopes of soon returning with the pleasing intelligence of peace between the United States and Mexico, which I feel assured will be most welcome tidings for you and all who are interested in the prosperity of California.
Be pleased to present my most respectful regards to Madam Vallejo and all the members of your interesting family, and express to them my sense of their kind hospitality and attention to me and my little son during our recent visit; and believe me, my dear General, I am and shall ever be, with highest esteem and friendship, sincerely your obedient servant,
JOHN B. MONTGOMERY.
Gen. Guadalupe Vallejo, Sonoma.
Statement of the interview between Senor Don José de la Rosa and Commander John B. Montgomery, commanding United States ship Portsmouth, Lieutenant W. A. Bartlett, United States Navy, interpreter. By order of the commander, John B. Montgomery.
Don Jose de la Rosa, on coming on board the ship, desired to inform Captain Montgomery that he brought information from Don Guadalupe Vallejo, military commandante of Sonoma, which he desired to give the moment Captain Montgomery could receive him.
On being received by Captain Montgomery I was directed to act as interpreter, when Señor de la Rosa proceeded to deliver his message, which I wrote, as follows: Don Guadalupe Vallejo desires to inform Captain Montgomery of the proceedings which took place at Sonoma yesterday morning at 5 o'clock. There arrived at Sonoma a party of about eighty men, as they said, from the Sacramento. They at once took forcible possession of the place, and posted themselves on the "Cuartel." They then made prisoners of General Vallejo, Captain Don Salvador Vallejo, and Lieutenant-Colonel Don Victor Prudhon, all of whom are officers of the Mexican army.
Then a Mr. Merritt, who appeared to have command or exercise the authority with the party, handed the General a convention demanding of him the surrender of all the arms and government property in Sonoma, which place they should not leave.
The General replied that he must surrender to the force in arms and did so surrender, when the party demanded further that all the above named officers should go with them to their camp on the Sacramento River.
General Vallejo then requested them to show their authority or determination (ahajo que plano); and as they said they were Americans, he desired they should exhibit their authority from the Government of the United States. They replied that they did not come under the authority of the United States; but having seen a proclamation of General Castro, threatening to drive all foreigners out of the country, they had taken up arms in self-defense.
They then made a prisoner of the Alcalde, and told him that if any person in the place or neighborhood attempted to notify other places of this act, or raise a force to oppose them, they would at once shoot the officers they then held prisoners. The Alcalde was then set at liberty, but told that if he did not prevent any opposition to them he would also be shot.
General Vallejo desires to inform Captain Montgomery of these facts, and to ask him to use his authority or exert his influence to prevent the commission of acts of violence by this party, inasmuch as they seemed to be without any effectual head or authority. To this end he hoped for an officer to be sent to the place, or a letter that would have the effect of saving the helpless inhabitants from violence and anarchy.
Señor Don José de la Rosa was directed by General Vallejo (at 11 A. M. yesterday) to come with this message, but could not leave until 3 P. M. A few moments past 11 the party left a garrison of twenty-five men at Sonoma protected by seven pieces of cannon. The others, with the prisoners, left for the Sacramento.
Reply of Commander Montgomery to the message of General Vallejo.
SIR :—You will say to General Vallejo, on my part that I at once and entirely disavow this movement as having proceeded under any authority of the United States, or myself as the agent of my Government in this country, or on this coast. It is a movement entirely local, and with which I have nothing to do; nor can I in any way be induced to take part in the controversy which belongs entirely to the internal politics of California.
If they are Americans, as they avow themselves, they are beyond the jurisdiction of the laws and officers of the United States, and must now take all the responsibilities of the position in which they have placed themselves, being answerable to the laws of Mexico and California.
I have now for the first time heard of this movement, and in making the most positive disavowal, for myself and for my Government, having in any wise instigated or aided this. I also disavow the same on the part of Captain Fremont, United States topographical engineer, now in the country for scientific purposes.
If my individual efforts can be at any time exercised to allay violence or prevent injury to innocent persons, it shall be exerted; but as an officer of the Government of the United States I cannot have anything to do with either party. They must take the responsibilities of their own acts. From what has already transpired I think it clear that no violence will be committed on any one who is not found with arms in their hands. You will assure General Don Guadalupe Vallejo of my sympathy in his difficulties; but I cannot positively interfere in the local politics of California.
Señor de la Rosa then thanked Captain Montgomery for his sentiments and sympathy; stated that all was distinctly understood and translated, and that he would place his statement in the hands of Don Guadalupe Vallejo at the earliest moment.
I hereby certify that the preceding statement is a fair translation of the message and reply read to Captain Montgomery and Señor de la Rosa.
(Signed) W. A. BARTLETT,
Lieutenant United States Navy.
United States Ship Portsmouth, Sausalito, June 15, 1846.
(COPY OF ORDER TO LIEUTENANT MISSROON.)
UNITED STATES SHIP PORTSMOUTH.
SAN FRANCISCO, June 15, 1846.
SIR:—By an especial messenger sent to me by Don Guadalupe Vallejo, I am notified of the forcible occupation of the town of Sonoma by a party of insurgents (foreign residents) of the country, among whom are said to be some persons from the United States, and that General Don Guadalupe Vallejo, with several other Mexican officers, have been sent prisoners to the Sacramento and threatened to he detained as hostages for the quiet submission of the surrounding country, leaving their families and other inoffensive persons in and about Sonoma in a painful state of agitation through apprehensions of violence and cruel treatment from the insurgent party in charge of the town. In consequence of this state of things, General Vallejo has appealed to me, requesting the interposition of any authority or influence I may possess over the insurgents to prevent the perpetration of acts of violence on their part upon the defenseless people.
I have, in my reply to General Vallejo (by the messenger), stated my previous ignorance of the popular movement in question; distinctly and emphatically disavowed all agency of the United States Government or myself as her representative in producing it, and disclaimed all right or authority to interfere between the opposing parties or in any way to identify my movements with theirs. But, in compliance with the urgent calls of humanity, I deem it my duty to use my friendly endeavors with the dominant party to secure (by the power of God) for the defenseless people of Sonoma that security of life, property and privilege to which all are entitled.
In pursuance of these views, sir, you are directed to proceed in one of the ship's boats to Sonoma, and on your arrival there, you will wait on the officer or person commanding the party having possession of the town; and as it is possible he is not fully aware of the extent and nature of the feelings produced in the minds of the population by this recent movement you will inform him of the state of apprehension and terror into which it seems to have thrown them, and disclaiming all right or purpose on my part of interference between them and their actual opposers; and without touching upon the merits of their cause further than may not be avoided in course of conversation, be pleased (in such terms as your own sense of propriety will dictate) respectfully to request from me, that he will extend his protecting care over the defenseless families of their prisoners and other inoffensive persons of Sonoma, and exert his influence with others in order to secure to them the uninterrupted enjoyment of their domestic and social privileges.
You will afterward wait on the Alcalde, or presiding civil officer of Sonoma, and inform him of what has been done (at the instance of Don Guadalupe Vallejo), communicating any satisfactory assurances which you may have received from the insurgent chief calculated to allay the general apprehension; after which, when sufficiently recruited, you will return to this ship and render to me a written report.
Respectfully, I am, sir, your obedient servant,
(Signed) JOHN B. MONTGOMERY,
Commander.
To Lieutenant John S. Missroon, Executive Officer United States Ship Portsmouth.
APPENDAGE TO MR. MISSROON'S ORDER.
DEAR SIR:---- As an appendage to the orders handed you last evening, I wish you to endeavor in as forcible a manner as possible, to represent to the person or persons of the insurgent party with whom you may confer at Sonoma and to impress their minds with a sense of the advantages which will accrue to their cause (whatever its intrinsic merits may be) from pursuing a course of kind and benevolent treatment of prisoners, as well as toward the defenseless inhabitants of the country generally, with whom they may have to do, and endeavor, as far as propriety will permit, to obtain a promise of kind and humane treatment toward General Vallejo and his companions in their possession as prisoners.
I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant.
(Signed) JOHN B. MONTGOMERY,
Commander.
To Lieutenant John S. Missroon, United States Ship Portsmouth.
Report of Lieutenant Missroon on his return from Sonoma, with accompanying documents B.
UNITED STATES SHIP PORTSMOUTH,
SAN FRANCISCO, June 17, 1846.
SIR:—In pursuance of your order of the 16th instant, to proceed to Sonoma and endeavor by all proper means in my power to secure to the female and unoffending portion of the population of that district some degree of security for their persons and property during the occupancy of the place by certain insurgents, chiefly foreigners, I have the honor to report, in obedience to that order, that I left the ship on the day of receiving your instructions, and reached the town about sunset, where I found about twenty-five men under arms, and having six or seven pieces of artillery with several hundred stand of arms. The whole party is only thirty-five.
I waited upon the commanding officer, Wm. B. Ide, and received from him both verbal and written assurances of his intention to maintain order and to respect both the persons and property of all persons residing within the limits of his command. He also handed me a copy of a proclamation which he had issued on the day after his occupation of the town, and which I herewith present to you, marked "A," in which you will observe that these promises of protection are set forth in explicit terms, and which I would remark to you, seemed to me to have fully assured the inhabitants of their safety, although Sonoma is evidently under martial law.
By this proclamation you will also observe that California is declared to be an independent republic. The insurgent party has hoisted a flag with a white field, with a border or stripe of red on its lower part, and having a star and bear upon it.
I informed the commanding officer of the state of terror into which his movement upon Sonoma had thrown the inhabitants in and about the Yerba Buena, as directed by my instructions.
I then waited upon the Alcalde of the place, informed him through my interpreter that my visit was entirely of a peaceful character, and that it had been induced by the message which my commander had received from the late Mexican commander, General Vallejo, now a prisoner in the hands of the insurgents, asking his (my commander's) interference for the protection of females and unoffending inhabitants; that assurances of respect and protection were freely given me by the commanding officer of the party under arms, and that I explicitly made it known to him, for the information of the surrounding country, that my commander disclaimed any and all interference in the matter other than what was dictated by motives of humanity.
After these interviews I then called upon the family of General Vallejo and moderated their distress, by the assurance of safety for the General, which I had received, and informing them that the prisoners were held as hostages.
Having completed the object for which I went to Sonoma, I left the place yesterday with the thanks of both parties, about meridian, and reached the ship about sunset. Before taking my departure I deemed it best to reassure the Alcalde, in order to prevent any necessity for future explanation, which is so apt to grow out of a business transacted with Mexicans, especially through an interpreter. I therefore addressed the letter marked "B," appending to it the written pledge, or a copy of the pledge, which I had obtained from the commander of the foreigners in possession of the place, and which I herewith hand you a copy of.
It only remains, sir, for me to add that, so far as I could judge and observe, the utmost harmony and good order prevail in the camp, and that I have every reason to believe that the pledges kind treatment toward all who may fall into their hands will be faithfully observed.
Respectfully, sir, your obedient servant,
(Signed) J. S. MISSROON,
First Lieutenant United States ship Portsmouth.
To Commander Jno. B. Montgomery, commanding United States ship Portsmouth, Bay of San Francisco.
Document B, accompanying the foregoing report.
SONOMA, June 17, 1846.
SIR:—As you were informed yesterday, through my interpreter, my visit to this place is of a strictly mediatorial character, and was induced by the application of General Vallejo through his messenger, Señor Rosa, to Captain Montgomery, requesting of him to adopt measures for the protection of the females and peaceable inhabitants of Sonoma.
I have the pleasure to assure you of the intention of the foreigners now in arms and occupying Sonoma, to respect the persons of all individuals and their property, who do not take up arms against them, and I leave with you a copy of the pledge which the commander of the party has voluntarily given to me, with a view to the pacification of all alarm.
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
(Signed) J. S. MISSROON,
Lieutenant United States Navy.
TO THE ALCALDE OF SONOMA.
I pledge myself that I will use my utmost exertion to restrain and prevent the men in arms under my command, all of whom present acknowledge my authority and approve the measure of forbearance and humanity, from perpetrating any violence, or in any manner molesting the peaceable inhabitants, in person or property, of California, while we continue in arms for the liberty of California.
(Signed) WM. B. IDE,
Commander.
Witness to the above signature,
(Signed), J. S. MISSROON,
Lieutenant United States Navy, and Executive Officer of the United States Ship Portsmouth.
SONOMA, June 17, 1846.
The revolutionists were now master of the situation, having control of nine cannons and about two hundred muskets. While William B. Ide, then the leader of the Bear Flag party, may have been a man of some eccentricity of character, he seems to have been a man of considerable culture, and there is little room for doubt that he shaped and controlled, to a large degree, the conduct of' those under him. It was no sinecure position, this of Commander Ide. It is true, the prisoners sent to Sacramento were taken charge of by General Fremont, under the saving clause that he had nothing to do with their arrest; and it is also true that Commander
Montgomery of the Portsmouth in an unofficial way, and in obedience to the dictates of humanity, sent Lieutenant Missroon to Sonoma, to counsel moderation and kindness on the part of the revolutionists toward the vanquished; but in neither case was there aught said or done that could be construed into leaving the door ajar for a safe retreat of the Bear Flag party out of their difficulty should their rebellion prove abortive. To stand their ground and successfully maintain their position under such adverse circumstances required not only nerve but real heroism.
That they knew that they were acting outside of the pale of any responsible authority is apparent from the tact that one of the very first matters to claim their consideration was the adoption of a flag. There is little question that the bear flag was made on the day of the taking of Sonoma, although it is quite possible it was not completed so as to be hoisted until the morning of the 15th of June. As there has been much controversy as to how and by whom that flag was made, we give place to the following, which we believe to be authentic:
Wm. L. Todd, in a letter to the editor of the Los Angeles Express, under date of January 11, 1878, gives the following version of the construction of the bear flag:
Your letter of the 9th inst. came duly to hand, and in answer I have to say in regard to the making of the original bear flag of California at Sonoma, in 1849, that when the Americans. who had taken up arms against the Spanish regime, had determined what kind of a flag should be adopted, the following persons performed the work: Granville P. Swift, Peter Storm, Henry L. Ford and myself; we procured in the house where we made our headquarters, a piece of new unbleached cotton domestic, not quite a yard wide, with stripes of red flannel about four inches wide, furnished by Mrs. John Sears, on the lower side of the canvas. On the upper left-hand corner was a star, and in the center was the image made to represent a grizzly bear passant, so common in this country at the time. The bear and star were painted with paint made of linseed oil and Venetian red or 'Spanish' brown. Underneath the bear were the words "California Republic." The other person engaged with me got the materials together, while I acted as artist. The forms the bear and star and the letters were first lined out with pen and ink by myself, and the two forms were filled in with the red paint, but the letters with ink. The flag mentioned by Mr. Hittell with the bear rampant, was made, as I always understood, at Santa Barbara, and was painted black. Allow me to say, that at that time there was not a wheelwright shop in California. The flag I painted I saw in the rooms of the California Pioneers in San Francisco, in 1870, and the secretary will show it to any person who will call on him at any time. If it is the one that I painted, it will be known by a mistake in tinting out the words "California Republic." The letters were first lined out with a pen, and I left out the letter I, and lined out the letter C in its place. But afterward I lined out the letter I over the C so that the last syllable of "Republic" looks as if the two last letters were blended.
Yours respectfully,
Wm. L. TODD.
On the occasion of the Centennial exercises, held at Santa Rosa on the 4th of July, 1876, General M. G. Vallejo made the following statement in reference to the capture of Sonoma in 1846 by the Americans:
I have now to say something of the epoch which inaugurated a new era for this country. A little before dawn on June 14, 1846, a party of hunters and trappers, with some foreign settlers, under command of Captain Merritt, Doctor Semple and William B. Ide, surrounded my residence at Sonoma, and without firing a shot, made a prisoner of myself, then commander of the northern frontier; of Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Prudon, Captain Salvador Vallejo, and Jacob P. Leese. I should here state that down to October, 1845, I had maintained at my own expense a respectable garrison at Sonoma, which often, in union with the settlers, did good service in campaign against the Indians; but at last, tired of spending money which the Mexican Government never refunded, I disbanded the force, and most of the soldiers who had constituted it left Sonoma. Thus in June, 1846, the Plaza was entirely unprotected, although there were ten war pieces of artillery, with other arms and munitions of war. The parties who unfurled the bear flag were well aware that Sonoma was without defense, and lost no time in taking advantage of this fact, and carrying out their plans. Years before I had urgently represented to the government of Mexico the necessity of stationing a sufficient force on the frontier, else Sonoma would be lost, which would be equivalent to leaving the rest of the country an easy prey to the invader. What think you, my friends, were the instructions sent me in reply to my repeated demands for means to fortify the country ? These instructions were that I should at once force the immigrants to recross the Sierra Nevada, and depart from the territory of the Republic. To say nothing of the inhumanity of these orders, their execution was physically impossible—first, because the immigrants came in autumn when snow covered the Sierra so quickly as to make a return impracticable. Under the circumstances, not only I, but Commandante General Castro, resolved to provide the immigrants with letters of security, that they might remain temporarily in the country. We always made a show of authority, but well convinced all the time that we had had no power to resist the invasion which was coining upon us. With the frankness of a soldier I can assure you that the American immigrants never had cause to complain of the treatment they received at the hands of either authorities or citizens. They carried us as prisoners to Sacramento, and kept us in a calaboose for sixty days or more, until the United States made itself respected, and the honorable and humane Commodore Stockton returned us to our hearths.
On the seizure of their prisoners the revolutionists at once took steps to appoint a captain who was found in the person of John Grigsby, for Ezekiel Merritt wished not to retain the permanent command; a meeting was then called at the barracks, situated at the northeast corner of the Plaza, under the presidency of William B. Ide, Dr. Robert Semple being secretary. At this conference Semple urged the independence of the country, stating that having once commenced they must proceed, for to turn back was certain death. Before the dissolution of the convention, however, rumors were rife that secret emissaries were being dispatched to the Mexican rancheros, to inform them of the recent occurrences, therefore to prevent any attempt at a rescue it was deemed best to transfer their prisoners to Sutter's Fort, where the danger of such would be less.
In order that the conquest of California should be accomplished in a decent and orderly way and the record thereof be properly handed down to future generations, Captain William B. Ide formulated the following declaration of purposes which was duly published to the world on the 18th of June:
A proclamation to all persons and citizens of the distract of Sonoma requesting them to remain at peace and follow their rightful occupations without fear of molestation.
The commander-in-chief of the troops assembled at the fortress of Sonoma gives his inviolable pledge to all persons in California, not found under arms, that they shall not be disturbed in their persons, their property, or social relation, one with another, by men under his command.
He also solemnly declares his object to be: First, to defend himself and companions in arms, who were invited to this country by a promise of lands on which to settle themselves and families; who were also promised a Republican government; when, having arrived in California, they were denied the privilege of buying or renting lands of their friends, who instead of being allowed to participate in or being protected by a Republican government, were oppressed by military despotism; who were even threatened by proclamation by the chief officers of the aforesaid despotism with extermination if they should not depart out of the country, leaving all their property, arms and beasts of burden; and thus deprived of their means of flight or defense, were to be driven through deserts inhabited by hostile Indians, to certain destruction.
To overthrow a government which has seized upon the prosperity of the mission for its individual aggrandizement; which has ruined and shamefully oppressed the laboring people of California by enormous exactions on goods imported into the country, is the determined purpose of the brave men who are associated under my command.
I also solemnly declare my object, in the second place, to be to invite all peaceable and good citizens of California who are friendly to the maintenance of good order and equal rights, and I do hereby invite them to repair to my camp at Sonoma without delay to assist us in establishing and perpetuating a Republican government, which shall secure to all civil and religions liberty; which shall encourage virtue and literature; which shall leave unshackled by fetters agriculture, commerce and manufactures.
I further declare that I rely upon the rectitude of our intentions, the favor of heaven and the bravery of those who are bound and associated with me by principles self-preservation, by the love of the truth and the hatred of tyranny, for my hopes of success.
I furthermore declare that I believe that a government to be prosperous and happy must originate with the people who are friendly to its existence, that the citizens are its guardians, the officers its servants, its glory its reward.
WIILLIAM B. IDE.
Thus far the revolution had been a bloodless one, but it was not destined to continue so to the end. There were two occurrences of thrilling character that came in quick succession—the killing of Cowie and Fowler and the battle of Olompali. As Robert A. Thompson, who has gathered much of the early history of Sonoma County, got his information about the battle referred to from one of the participants therein, we here incorporate his graphic account of those two events.
About this time one of the most distressing events of the revolution occurred. It was discovered that the garrison had an insufficient supply of powder. It was known that Moses Carson, at the Fitch ranch, on Russian River, had some on hand. Two men named T. Cowie and -- Fowler, who had joined the party in Napa, volunteered to go and get the powder. They imprudently took the main traveled road, or returned to it near Santa Rosa, and were captured by a scouting party, or, rather, a roving band of cut-throats and thieves under the lead of Juan Padillo. The two men were kept in the Carillo house all night. The next morning they were taken up the little valley, near the present county farm, were first inhumanly treated, and then shot. Not satisfied with this, their bodies were mutilated in a horrid manner and were then thrown into a ditch. An Indian named Chanate, who knew the men, told Moses Carson of their fate and condition, and he came and buried them under a pine tree, piling up a few rocks to mark the spot.
Finding that Cowie and Fowler did not return, there was mach uneasiness in Sonoma. A party was sent up the valley to make inquiry, who learned the circumstances of their cruel murder and mutilation. Two others of the party, who were out in search of horses, had been taken, and it was feared that they, too, would be killed.
The Bear Flag men were not of the class to suffer any indignity, much less a horrid outrage like this. It demanded instant and exemplary punishment. Volunteers were called for to go in search of the murderers. The whole garrison volunteered. All could not go. Twenty-three were selected and put under command of Lieutenant W. L. Ford. Among the number was Frank Bidwell, to whom the writer is indebted for this account of the pursuit. Captain Ford and his command came first to Santa Rosa. Padillo had fled. From Santa Rosa he went to the Roblar de la Miseria, ranch. He was there told by some Indians that the marauding band had gone, some three hours before, to the Laguna de San Antonio. Captain Ford pushed on to that point and bivouacked half a mile from the supposed headquarters. He charged upon the house next morning and found only four men there, whom he took prisoners. He left some of his men to guard the prisoners and horses which he had captured.
With fourteen men he continued the pursuit. After a brief ride of a few miles he came to the Olompali ranch, now Dr. Burdell's place, in Marin County. He saw a number of horses in a corral near the house apparently in charge of a vaquero. He dashed up rapidly to prevent the man in charge from turning them loose, as he proposed to confiscate them. Getting nearer he was astonished to see the Californians pouring out of the house and hastily mounting their already saddled horses. He had run upon the combined forces of Captain Joaquin de la Torre and the Santa Rosa murderers, numbering all told eighty-three men. Both parties had been surprised. Fortunately there was a willow thicket about sixty yards from the house. While the enemy were getting in motion Captain Ford ordered his men to fall back to the brush and to dismount, tie their horses, take position in the brush, and by no means to fire until "sure of a man." There was a mountaineer in the party who went by the name of "Old Red." He was a dead shot, and was stationed in the upper end of the wood. Frank Bidwell was some distance below him. The Californians, made bold by the supposed retreat, formed their lines and came up handsomely. Their advance was lead by a gallant young sergeant. All was still in the willows. The sharp crack of a rifle broke the silence, followed by a puff of smoke which burst through the brush. It was "Old Red," who could not hold his fire. This brought on the fight. Other shots came in quick succession. In a very few moments eight of the assaulting party lay dead upon the plain, two were wounded, and a horse with an ugly bullet-hole in his neck was struggling in the field. The young sergeant was the last to fall, whereupon the whole band broke for the cover of the hills, receiving as they left a volley at long range as a parting salute. Twenty-three shots had been fired; eleven took effect. "Old Red's" excuse for firing so soon was, that he was "sure of a man" anywhere in range.
As soon as the fight began a woman in the house cut Todd's bonds, and he joined his comrades before it was over. Captain Ford rested on his arms for some time thinking that the enemy would rally and renew the fight, but they made no sign. It was enough. He thereupon set out on his return to Sonoma with his rescued prisoners and his captives. The captured horses he drove before him as the spoil of war. The murder of Cowie and Fowler was avenged on the field of Olompali.
On the 20th of June, Castro made his first move in the direction of trying to recover lost ground north of the bay. On that date Captain Joaquin de la Torre crossed the bay with about seventy Californians and being joined by Padea and Correo, took a position near San Rafael. Of these movements Fremont was speedily apprised, and now for the first time gave open recognition of the claims of the revolutionists upon him for active aid. On the 23d of June, Harrison Pierce, a pioneer settler of Napa Valley, made a forced ride of eighty miles to Fremont's camp announcing the presence of Castro's troops on the north side of the bay and the consequent peril of those who had captured Sonoma. He received a promise from Fremont to come to their aid just as soon as he could put ninety men into the saddle. Pierce, with this cheering news, retraced the eighty miles formerly passed over, with but one change of horse, and soon carried the news to the little garrison at Sonoma, that Fremont was coming. On the evening of the day he had received the tidings Fremont and his men were on their way toward Sonoma. Of the make-up of Fremont's force, one of the party wrote as follows:
"There were Americans, French, English, Swiss, Poles, Russians, Prussians, Chilians, Germans, Greeks, Austrians, Pawnees, native Indians, etc., all riding side by side and talking a polyglot lingual hash never exceeded in diversibility since the confusion of tongues at the tower of Babel. Some wore the relics of their home-spun garments, some relied upon the antelope and the bear for their wardrobe, some lightly habited in buckskin leggings and a coat of war-paint, and their weapons were equally various. There was the grim old hunter with his long heavy rifle, the farmer with his double-barreled shot-gun, the Indian with his bows and arrows; and others with horse-pistols, revolvers, sabres, ships' cutlasses, bowie-knives, and pepper-boxes (Allen's revolvers)." Fremont, with his incongruous band, made forced marches and reached Sonoma on the morning of June 25th. After a rest Fremont started for San Rafael in quest of Castro and Torre's forces. Castro had not crossed over as supposed, and Torre was invisible. A decoy letter of Torre fell into Fremont's hands, the purport of which was that Torre's force, with some other imaginary ally was to proceed against Sonoma. Fremont at once called to saddle and his command went toward Sonoma as fast as muscle and tendon of mustang horses would carry them. Arrived there, Fremont became satisfied that he had been deceived, and made swift haste back toward San Rafael; but it was of no avail: the wily Torre had succeeded in getting his troops across the bay and was out of reach of the clutches of the "Path Finder."
It was on this occasion of the return of Fremont to San Rafael that occurred what has the resemblance of wanton sacrifice of human life. We allude to the shooting of Ramon and Francisco de Haro. They were of a respectable family living at Yerba Buena. They reached the San Rafael Embarcadero in a boat managed by Jose R. Berryessa. The Haros are said to have been quite young—only sixteen or eighteen years of age. One version is that they were taken prisoners, as spies, and were regularly sentenced and shot. But the statement that Bancoft seems to give credence to is, that when they were seen to land, Kit Carson asked Fremont, on starting with a squad of men to meet them, whether he should take them prisoners, and that Fremont's reply was, "We have no use for prisoners." It is then claimed that Carson and his men as soon as in shooting distance opened fire, killing them on the spot. The late Jasper O'Farrell is given as the authority for this version, and claimed to have witnessed the whole transaction. Unless there is more light cast on this transaction than we have had as yet, the killing of those young men will always seem wanton and cruel.
Captain William D. Phelps of Lexington, Massachusetts, who was lying at Sausalito with his bark, the "Moscow," remarks, says Mr. Lancey:----
"When Fremont passed San Rafael in pursuit of Captain de la Torre's party, I had just left them, and he sent me word that he would drive them to Sausalito that night, when they could not escape unless they got my boats. I hastened back to the ship and made all safe. There was a large launch lying near the beach; this was anchored further off, and I put provisions on board to be ready for Fremont should be need her. At night there was not a boat on shore. Torre's party must shortly arrive and show fight or surrender. Toward morning we heard them arrive, and to our surprise they were seen passing with a small boat from the shore to the launch. A small boat had arrived from Yerba Buena during the night which had proved their salvation. I dispatched a note to the commander of the Portsmouth, sloop-of-war, then lying at Yerba Buena, a cove (now San Francisco) informing him of their movements, and intimating that a couple of his boats could easily intercept and capture them. Captain Montgomery replied that not having received any official notice of war existing he could not act in the matter.
It was thus the poor scamps escaped. They pulled clear of the ship and thus escaped supping on grape and canister which we had prepared for them.
Fremont arrived and camped opposite my vessel, the bark Moscow, the following night. They were early astir the next morning when I landed to visit Captain Fremont, and were all variously employed in taking care of their horses, mending saddles, cleaning their arms, etc. I had not up to this time seen Fremont, but from reports to his character and exploits my imagination had painted him as a large-sized, martial-looking man or personage, towering above his companions, whiskered and ferocious looking.
I took a survey of the party, but could not discover any one who looked, as I thought, the captain to look. Seeing a tall, lank, Kentucky-looking chap (Dr. R. Semple), dressed in a greasy deer-skin hunting shirt, with trousers to match, and which terminated just below the knees, his head surmounted by a coon-skin cap, tail in front, who, I supposed, was an officer as he was giving orders to the men, I approached and asked if the captain was in camp. He looked and pointed out a slender-made, well-proportioned man sitting in front of a tent. His dress a blue woolen shirt of somewhat novel style, open at the neck, trimmed with white, and with a star on each point of the collar (a man-of-war's shirt), over this a deer-skin hunting shirt, trimmed and fringed, which had evidently seen hard times or service, his head unincumbered by hat or cap, but had a light cotton handkerchief bound around it, and deer-skin moccassins completed the suit, which, if not fashionable for Broadway, or for a presentation dress at court, struck me as being an excellent rig to scud under or fight in. A. few minutes' conversation convinced me that I stood in the presence of the King of the Rocky Mountains.
Fremont remained in the neighborhood of San Rafael until July 2, when he returned to Sonoma
On the 4th of July, our national holiday was celebrated with due pomp and ceremony, and on the 5th the California Battalion of mounted riflemen, 250 strong, was organized. Brevet Captain John C. Fremont, Second Lieutenant of Topographical Engineers, was chosen commandante; First Lieutenant of Marines, Archibald H. Gillespie, Adjutant and Inspector, with the rank of captain. Both of these gentlemen named were officers of the United States Government, yet this organization was consummated under the fold of the Bear flag that yet kissed the breezes of the "Valley of the Moon." The next day, the 6th of July, Fremont at the head of his mounted riflemen, started to make the circuit of the head of the bay, to go south in pursuit of Castro. As there were now no California soldiers north of the bay it did not require a large garrison of the Bear party to hold Sonoma.
But the end was hastening. On the 7th of July Commodore John Drake Sloat, having received tidings that war existed between the United States and Mexico, demanded and received the surrender of Monterey. The news was immediately sent to San Francisco, where was anchored the American war vessel, Portsmouth. At two o'clock on the morning of July 9th, Lieutenant Warren Revere left that vessel in one of her boats, and reaching the Sonoma garrison at noon of that day lowered the bear flag and hoisted in its place the stars and stripes. And thus ended the Bear Flag revolution at Sonoma. Lieutenant Revere also sent American flags to be hoisted at Sutter's Fort and at the establishment of Captain Stephen Smith at Bodega.
Lieutenant Revere was sent to Sonoma by Montgomery of the Portsmouth, to command the garrison, consisting of Company B of the battalion, under Captain Grigsby. Lieutenant Grigsby tells us that "a few disaffected Californians were still prowling about the district, in pursuit of whom on one occasion he made an expedition with sixteen men to the region of Point Reyes. He did not find the party sought, but he was able to join in a very enjoyable elk-hunt." In August the Vallejos, Prudon, Leese and Carrillo were released from durance vile, and restored to their families and friends. That very amicable relations existed between the victors and vanquished is evidenced by the fact that in September, while Lieutenant Revere was absent on an expedition, the Vallejos were commissioned to protect the Sonoma frontier with a force of Christian Indians. Some date previous to September 11th, Lieutenant John S. Missroon, of the Portsmouth, assumed command of the Sonoma garrison.
On the 25th of September, a meeting of the "Old Bears" was held at Sonoma, at which J. B. Chiles presided and John H. Nash acted as secretary, and a committee of three was appointed to investigate and gather all the information possible in relation to the action of the Bear Flag party, and report at a subsequent meeting. Semple, Grigsby and Nash were appointed the committee. Manuel E. McIntosh was now alcalde of Sonoma. From the Bear Flag conquest of Sonoma, down to the discovery of gold in California in 1848, there is little to note in connection with Sonoma. Grigsby, Revere, Missroon and Brackett were successive military commandants, and the Indians were easily held in subjection by Vallejo as sub-agent of Indian affairs. In 1848 Sonoma had a total population of about 200 souls. José de los Santos Berryessa under Mexican rule had been at the head of municipal affairs. There was then an interregnum of military rule, after which John H. Nash became alcalde, and was superseded in 1847 by Lilburn W. Boggs, who, aided by a council of six, administered the municipal government of Sonoma until 1848.
THE BEAR FLAG: HOW MADE, ETC.
R. A. Thompson published the following communication in the Sonoma County Democrat of September 9, 1885:
The Independents were very proud of their flag. The bear made an apt illustration of their situation. The grizzly attended strictly to his own business, and would go on munching his berries and acorns if you let him and his cubs alone. If you undertook to crowd him out, or to make him go any other way or any faster than he wanted to go he would show fight, and when once in a fight he fought his way out or died in his tracks.
The Independents were here, had come in good faith, and come to stay; were quiet and peaceable if let alone. General Castro undertook to crowd them. His grandiloquent proclamations were harmless, but vexatious. At last the crisis came. The Independents, weary of threats and rumors of war, were forced, for the sake of peace, to fight, and having "gone in," to use the identical words of one of them, they did not intend to "back out." The bear was typical of that idea.
The difference of opinion about the make-up of the bear flag arises from the fact that there was more than one made. The first was a very rude affair. It is described in Lieutenant Missroon's report to Captain Montgomery. Lieutenant Missroon arrived in Sonoma Tuesday, the 16th of June, about forty-eight hours after the capture. He reports to Captain Montgomery on the 17th that "the insurgent party had hoisted a flag with a white field, with a border or stripe of red on the lower part, and having a bear and star upon it." The words "California Republic " were not on it at this time, or of course so important a feature would have been noted by Lieutenant Missroon, who was on a special and exceedingly important mission from his commander. That these words were afterwards added is undoubtedly true. It is a matter of very little importance, but if any one wishes an exact description of the flag as first raised, he can satisfy himself by an examination of the above-mentioned report. The flag with the bear standing is an after production, as is also the silk guerdon which Lieutenant Revere presented to the pioneers. The description of the flag given by Lieutenant Missroon accords with the account of several of the party whom the writer has personally interviewed. Of course, as there were several flags made; each differed from the other, in the material, from whom the material was obtained, by whom the flag was made, and just how the figures were placed upon it. Hence the confused and many diverse accounts of it. All are right as to what they describe; but what they describe is not the flag first raised by the Independents. That was rather a rude affair. In fact, the representation of the bear upon it resembled the species porcus as much as it did the Ursus ferox or horribilis.
There were thirty-three men in the Bear Flag party, more than half of whom came from the Sacramento Valley. Among the latter was the brave and gallant blacksmith, Samuel Neal, and Ezekiel Merritt, the captain of the company.
Following is the first list ever published of the names of all the party. A number came into Sonoma the day after the capture, and they continued to come in for some time. It is very difficult to separate these from the actual members of the party who rode into Sonoma on the morning of June 14th. The accompanying list has been a number of years making, and has been revised many times and corrected from written records and by personal interviews. There are, doubtless, still some errors, which may be corrected upon a satisfactory showing:
SACRAMENTO VALLEY.—Ezekiel Merritt, R. Semple, William Fallon, W. B. Ide, H. L. Ford, G. P. Swift, Samuel Neal, William Potter, Sergeant Gibson, W. M. Scott, James Gibbs, H. Sanders, P. Storm.
NAPA.—Samuel Kelsey, Benjamin Kelsey, John Grigsby, David Hudson, Will Hargrave, Harrison Peirce, William Porterfield, Patrick McChristian, Elias Barrett, C. Griffith, William L. Todd, Nathan Coombs, Lucien Maxwell.
SONOMA.—Franklin Bidwell, Thomas Cowie, —Fowler., W. B. Elliott, Benjamin Dewell, John Sears, "Old Red."
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.