Chapter IX

The Mexican System of Government--Establishment of the Legislative
Assembly of San Francisco--Seizure of the Town Records--Address of
the Assembly recommending the Formation of a State
Government--Interference of Brevet Brigadier-General Riley--Public
Meeting--Organization of the State Convention--The
Constitution--The Elections.

When I arrived in San Francisco, the causes had already been set in operation which have worked out for California a state government; and though they sprang out of a local question, the result was a general one. The tracing of these causes may not be uninteresting to those who are looking upon California now as a full-grown state.

As the town of San Francisco began to fill up with American citizens, lovers of law and order, it was thought necessary that a better form of town government than then existed was requisite to secure the rights of person and property. Thus far the old Mexican system of _alcaldes_ or chief-justices, and _ayuntamientos_ or town councils, had been retained, and the people were living under a law which they did not understand; a law subject to great abuses, in the hands of those who did not themselves comprehend it; and it was determined that the system should be changed, and one which was understood be substituted. In compliance with a call signed by a large number of respectable citizens of the town, a mass meeting was held in Portsmouth Square on the afternoon of February 12th, 1849, when, after organizing in the usual form, and hearing the remarks made by several gentlemen, a series of resolutions were offered and unanimously carried, by which it was determined to form, for the government of the district of San Francisco, a legislative assembly, which should enact laws, and that three judges and other necessary officers should be elected to administer them.

On the 21st day of February, an election was held, in compliance with the above resolutions, and a legislative assembly, consisting of fifteen members, three judges, a register, and sheriff, was elected. One of the first acts of the Legislative Assembly, which only claimed authority over the district of San Francisco, was to abolish the office of alcalde, considering it not only unnecessary, but incompatible with American institutions; and in compliance with the act of the Assembly, Myron Norton, Esq., chief-magistrate, directed a note to T. M. Leavenworth, late _alcalde_, requesting him to deliver to the new government the records of the town. To this note Mr. Leavenworth made no reply, and another one of the same tenor was sent by Mr. Norton. This received the same treatment as the first. Trouble appeared to be brewing, and, as is usual in such cases, many, who had been the first to propose and aid the new movement, were found at this time most wofully wanting. A code of laws had already been established by the Assembly, and the wheels of the new local government were ready to be put in operation, when it was found very difficult to procure a quorum for business at the meetings of the Legislative Assembly, and it was decided that additional members should be added thereto. On the 11th of May, another election was held, at which a large and respectable vote was cast, and ten members of the Assembly were chosen--and, some informality having occurred at the previous election, a register, sheriff, and treasurer. Among the newly-elected members was Peter H. Burnett, now governor of the new state of California. Previous to this time, a letter had been addressed by a committee of the Assembly to General Persifer F. Smith, who was at the time principal military commander in California, to which was received a decidedly non-committal reply. But it was understood that Brevet Brigadier-General Riley, who had assumed the civil government of the territory, would support the old authorities, and, if possible, crush the Legislative Assembly.

California, and San Francisco in particular, were in a curious political state of existence. From the time of the treaty of peace with Mexico until the arrival of Generals Smith and Riley, Colonel R. B. Mason, who had, during the war, been military commander and governor of California, had continued in the exercise of his authority, and the country had been ruled by the same laws and usages as during the war, when it was actually a territory belonging to Mexico. In express contradiction of at least the intention and understanding of the government at Washington, Colonel Mason had appointed collectors, and collected revenue in the ports of California, and in all respects the military government had been continued; and now, when the people of San Francisco, in their sovereign capacity, had established a local government for their own protection, they found themselves interfered with by a military commander.

The Legislative Assembly, however, went on, receiving, as it did, the support of the whole community. A court-house was established, and courts organized; and Judge Norton finding that Mr. Leavenworth still made no reply to his note, after waiting a reasonable time, issued a writ of replevin, and gave it into the hands of the sheriff, who called upon Mr. Leavenworth at his office, presented it, and demanded the surrender of the town records. Mr. Leavenworth refused to deliver them, and the sheriff, calling to his assistance a number of the citizens, seized the records, and deposited them in the court-house. Mr. Leavenworth started for Monterey the same evening, to consult with General Riley upon future proceedings. In the mean time, the Legislative Assembly issued an address to the people of California, earnestly calling upon them to assemble in convention, and organize a provisional government for the territory, prior to an immediate application to Congress for admission as a state.

This was in the early part of the month of June, and was the first concerted movement coming from any authorized body to recommend the formation of a state government for California. Mr. Leavenworth returned from Monterey, and, acting in the double capacity of a “returned officer” and a bearer of despatches, brought with him two proclamations issued by Gen. Riley, which were dated, one the 3d, and the other the 4th of June, and were found posted up in several parts of the town the morning after Mr. Leavenworth’s arrival. The streets of San Francisco, on the morning of the 10th of June, presented a most exciting scene. Little knots were gathered around the streets engaged in loud discussion, and crowds were collected in the vicinity of the proclamations reading them. The first was a long one, and commenced by stating that as Congress had failed to extend a government over California, it became the duty of the people to organize one; that he, (Gen. Riley) “in accordance with instructions from _the Secretary of War_,” had assumed, for the present, the civil government of the territory, and that he conceived it his duty to organize the old Mexican system, and put it in active operation until such time as a constitution and laws should have been created. The document was one of the most inconsistent and contradictory nature, assuming, firstly, that the territory of California was, and must of necessity, as a conquered territory, continue to be under the laws and usages of Mexico, until Congress should extend over it those of the United States; and at the same time calling upon the people to assemble and organize a government for themselves. The whole broad ground which had been taken by the Legislative Assembly of San Francisco, which was that, in the absence of a government extended over us by Congress, we had the inherent right to establish one for ourselves, although denied by Gen. Riley in the first part of his proclamation, was essentially admitted and urged in the latter portion.

The second proclamation was addressed merely to the citizens of San Francisco, in relation to the seizure of the town records by order of Judge Norton, and called upon all good citizens to assist in restoring them to the “proper authorities.”

Various were the feelings excited, and as various the opinions expressed in regard to these proclamations, but a large majority of the people of San Francisco were fully decided in the idea that Gen. Riley had assumed an authority, which, even if it was “in accordance with the instructions of the Secretary of War,” was one which he had no right to assume, and was in fact nothing more nor less than an unjust usurpation of power.

Trouble was again anticipated, and it was understood that, backed by Gen. Riley’s proclamation, the former _alcalde_, Mr. Leavenworth, would attempt the re-seizure of the town records. A few days after the publication of this document, a writ was served upon the town Register, calling for their delivery; he refused to give them up, and when an attempt was made to seize them, a force of about fifty of the most respectable citizens, gathered at the court-house, determined, if necessary, to resist _vi et armis_. The _alcalde’s_ sheriff presented his writ, and was replied to by Wm. M. Stewart, presiding judge, that the records could not be removed, and seeing that a strong party was arrayed against him, he left without making any forcible attempt to take them. Gen. Riley refused to lend the alcalde the assistance of any military force, and matters were soon progressing again as before.

On the 12th of June, a large meeting was held in Portsmouth Square, for the purpose of taking steps towards the establishment of a state government for California. The call for this meeting had been signed by a large number of respectable citizens, and was issued before Gen. Riley’s proclamations were published, and could therefore have no connexion with them. This meeting was addressed by Hon. T. Butler King, Hon. Wm. M. Gwin, William A. Buffum, Esq., and other speakers, all of whom urged the propriety of the immediate formation of a state government for California.

In reply to the proclamations of Gen. Riley, an address was issued by the Legislative Assembly of San Francisco, written by Peter H. Burnett, the present governor of California, setting forth in a clear and succinct manner, the right of the people, in the absence of a territorial government established by Congress, to legislate for themselves, and justifying, in a masterly way, the course which had been pursued by the Legislative Assembly.

In order to avoid all difficulty and confusion, and arrive, by the shortest and most practicable mode, at the “consummation devoutly to be wished,” the establishment of a state government for California, the Assembly and their supporters united cordially with the other citizens of California, and on the first day of August an election was held in accordance with the proclamation of Gen. Riley, at which were chosen the various local officers, and members of convention, to meet at Monterey, on the first of September, for the purpose of forming a constitution.

The convention met, and a more sensible and dignified body of men never assembled in any portion of the world. After six weeks’ severe labour, a constitution was prepared and laid before the people of California for their ratification or rejection. It was a constitution of the most radically democratic character, and most admirably adapted to the wishes and wants of the people over whom it was to be extended.

On the 13th day of November an election was held, at which the state constitution received an almost unanimous ratification, and at the same time a governor, and the necessary state officers, members of the state legislature, and two members of Congress, were chosen. The choice for governor fell upon Peter H. Burnett, Esq., one of the early emigrants to Oregon, and who there received the appointment as judge of the Supreme Court, an enterprising citizen of California, and one of the first to declare the rights of her people. John M’Dougal, Esq., formerly of Kentucky, was elected lieutenant-governor, and George W. Wright, and Edward Gilbert, representatives to Congress. The first State Legislature met at the capital, the Pueblo de San José, on the 15th of December, and elected Hon. John C. Fremont, and Wm. M. Gwin, Senators to the Congress of the United States. The action of Congress is thus alone necessary to constitute California one of the sovereign states of the American Union, and it is earnestly to be hoped that that august body will no longer trifle with the interests or the demands of so great and powerful a people. The struggles of California have been arduous, her trials severe; she has been taxed for the support of the general government, while not even a shadow of protection has been extended over her; and has been ruled by a military power against her own wishes, till her people have risen in their might and demanded that they should have a voice and a representation in the councils of the nation.

In tracing the causes which have created California a state, it will be seen that that little body of men, the Legislative Assembly of San Francisco, were the first to set the ball in motion, and I cannot refrain from giving them the credit which is their due. The proclamation of General Riley would probably not have been issued to this day, had not the body of which I have spoken taken the preliminary steps, and although General Riley deserves gratitude from the people for what he did, and as a man, is one of “nature’s noblemen,” I shall ever look upon his assumption of power as Civil Governor of California as unwarranted and unjust.