Chapter I: Preface

Many events of moment occurred in California during my residence of three years in that country, and which were sketched in a journal kept by me at the time. They are interspersed with anecdotes and incidents of a less general concern, but which may not be without some interest with the reader, as affording a clue to the leading features of society, and traits of individual character. The circle of engaging objects in a community, just emerging into the refinements of civilization, is never broad; but every phase in the great change going on possesses an intense individuality, and leaves its ineffaceable impression, like a ship sweeping a solitary sea, or a bird scaling a sunset cloud. California will be no more what she has been: the events of a few years have carried her through the progressive changes of a century. She has sprung at once from the shackles of colonial servitude to all the advantages and dignities of a sovereign state.

Her emigrants are rushing from every continent and isle; they crest every mountain, they cover every sea; they sweep in like a cloud from the Pacific, they roll down like a torrent from the slopes of the Sierra Nevada. They crowd to her bosom to gather gold; their hammers and drills, their mattocks and spades divert the deep stream, and are echoed from a thousand caverned hills; the level plain, the soaring cliff and wombed mountain, give up their glowing treasures. But the gifts of nature here are not confined to her sparkling sands and veined rocks, they extend to the productive forces of her soil; they lie along her water-courses, through her verdant valleys, and wave in her golden grain; they reel in her vintage, they blush in her fruits, while her soft zephyrs, as they float the landscape, scatter perfume from their odorous wings.

But with all these gifts disease is here with its pale victims, and sorrow with its willow-wove shrine. There is no land less relieved by the smiles and soothing cares of woman. If Eden with its ambrosial fruits and guiltless joys was still sad till the voice of woman mingled with its melodies, California, with all her treasured hills and streams, must be cheerless till she feels the presence of the same enchantress. It is woman alone that can make a home for the human heart, and evoke from the recesses of nature the bright and beautiful: where her footsteps light, the freshest flowers spring; where her voice swells, the softest echoes wake: her smiles garland the domestic hearth; her sympathy melts through the deepest folds of grief; her love clothes the earth with light. When night invests the heaven, when the soft pleiads in their storm-rocked cradle sleep, and the sentinel stars on their watch-towers wane dim, her vigil flame still pours its faithful beam, still struggles with the encroaching darkness till the day-spring and the shadows flee away. Of all these sources of solace and hope multitudes in California are now bereft; but the ties of kindred, the quick-winged ship, and the steed of flame, on his iron-paved track, will soon secure them these priceless gifts. The miner, returning from his toil, will yet half forget the labors of the day in the greetings of his home:

“At length his lonely cot appears in view,
Beneath the shelter of an aged tree;
Th’ expectant _wee things_, toddlin’, stacher thro’
To meet their dad, wi’ flichterin noise an’ glee.
His wee bit ingle, blinkin’ bonnily,
His clean hearth-stane, his thriftie _wifie’s_ smile,
The lisping infant prattling on his knee,
Does a’ his weary carking cares beguile,
An’ makes him quite forget his labor an’ his toil.”

PHILADELPHIA, July, 1850.

W. C.

CONTENTS.

Page

CHAPTER I.—The flag.—Meeting of citizens.—Disposition of
forces.—Col. Fremont’s band.—Alcalde of Monterey.—Indian
mother.—Military leaders.—A California farm 13

CHAPTER II.—Fecundity of the Californians.—First intelligence of
the war.—Wild Indians on board ship.—The chief.—First newspaper
published in California.—Raising the materials.—The rival
suitors.—Flight of Gen. Castro.—A Californian on horseback 27

CHAPTER III.—A thief obeying orders.—Game.—No penitentiary
system.—The California cart on a gala day.—The runaway
daughter.—Faith of the Indians.—Return from the war.—First trial
by jury.—Indian and his squaw on the hunt.—Whales in the
bay.—The two gamblers.—Ladies on horseback.—Merriment in
death.—The Englishman and his mistress 39

CHAPTER IV.—Funeral ceremonies.—Elected alcalde.—Flight of Gen.
Castro.—Los Angeles taken.—Oven-bath.—Grog in a chimney.—The
flea.—First rain.—Rising of the Californians.—Measures of Com.
Stockton.—Mormons 54

CHAPTER V.—Fire on the mountains.—Emigrants.—Pistols and
pillows.—Leaders of the insurrection.—California plough.—Defeat
at San Pedro.—Col. Fremont’s band.—The Malek Adhel.—Monterey
threatened.—Soldier outwitted.—Raising men.—Bridegroom.—Culprits 72

CHAPTER VI.—Santa Barbara taken.—Lieut. Talbot and his
ten.—Gambling in prison.—Recruits.—A funny culprit.—Movements of
Com. Stockton.—Beauty and the grave.—Battle on the Salinas.—The
captain’s daughter.—Stolen pistols.—Indian behind a
tree.—Nuptials in California 89

CHAPTER VII.—San José garrisoned—A California rain.—Escape of
convicts.—Shooting Edwards.—Two washerwomen.—Death of Mr.
Sargent.—Indian hens.—Hunting curlew.—The California horse.—An
old emigrant.—The grizzly bear 106

CHAPTER VIII.—Little Adelaida.—Col. Fremont’s battalion.—Santiago
In love.—Sentiments of an old Californian.—The prize
Julia.—Fandango.—Winter climate.—Patron Saint of
California.—Habits of the natives.—Insurrection in the
north.—Drama in a church.—Position of Com. Stockton 121

CHAPTER IX.—Day of the Santos Innocentes.—Letting off a
lake.—Arrival of the Dale with home letters.—The dead
year.—Newly-arrived emigrants.—Egg-breaking
festivities.—Concealment of Chaves.—Plot to capture the alcalde 134

CHAPTER X.—Destruction of dogs.—The wash-tub mail.—The surrender
in the north.—Robbing the Californians.—Death-scene in a
shanty.—The men who took up arms.—Arrival of the
Independence.—Destitution of our troops.—Capture of los Angeles 149

CHAPTER XI.—Arrival of the Lexington.—The march to los Angeles,
and battle of San Gabriel.—The capitulation.—Military
characteristics of the Californians.—Barricades down 163

CHAPTER XII.—Return of T. O. Larkin.—The tall partner in the
Californian.—Mexican officers.—The Cyane.—War mementoes.—Drama
of Adam and Eve.—Carnival.—Birth-day of Washington.—A California
captain.—Application for a divorce.—Arrival of the Columbus 173

CHAPTER XIII.—The people of Monterey.—The guitar and runaway
wife.—Mother ordered to flog her son.—Work of the
prisoners.—Catching sailors.—Court of Admiralty.—Gamblers caught
and fined.—Lifting land boundaries 189

CHAPTER XIV.—A convict who would not work.—Lawyers at
Monterey.—Who conquered California.—Ride to a
rancho.—Leopaldo.—Party of Californians.—A dash into the
forests.—Chasing a deer.—Killing a bear.—Ladies with
fire-arms.—A mother and volunteer 199

CHAPTER XV.—A California pic-nic.—Seventy and seventeen in the
dance.—Children in the grove.—A California bear-hunt.—The bear
and bull bated.—The Russian’s cabbage head 210

CHAPTER XVI.—A Californian jealous of his wife.—Hospitality of the
natives.—Honors to Guadalupe.—Application from a Lothario for a
divorce.—Capture of Mazatlan.—Larceny of Canton shawls.—An
emigrant’s wife claiming to have taken the country.—A wild
bullock in Main-street 220

CHAPTER XVII.—Rains in California.—Functions of the alcalde of
Monterey.—Orphans in California.—Slip of the gallows
rope.—Making a father whip his boy.—A convict as prison
cook.—The Kanacka.—Thom. Cole.—A man robbing himself.—A
blacksmith outwitted 230

CHAPTER XVIII.—First discovery of gold.—Prison guard.—Incredulity
about the gold.—Santiago getting married.—Another lump of
gold.—Effects of the gold fever.—The court of an
alcalde.—Mosquitoes as constables.—Bob and his bag of
gold.—Return of citizens from the mines.—A man with the gold
cholic.—The mines on individual credit 242

CHAPTER XIX.—Tour to the gold mines.—Loss of horses.—First night
in the woods.—Arrival at San Juan.—Under way.—Camping out.—Bark
of the wolves.—Watch-fires.—San José.—A fresh start.—Camping on
the slope of a hill.—Wild features of the country.—Valley of the
San Joaquin.—Band of wild horses 257

CHAPTER XX.—The grave of a gold-hunter.—Mountain spurs.—A company
of Sonoranians.—A night alarm.—First view of the
mines.—Character of the deposits.—A woman and her pan.—Removal
to other mines.—Wild Indians and their weapons.—Cost of
provisions.—A plunge into a gold river.—Machines used by the
gold-diggers 269

CHAPTER XXI.—Lump of gold lost.—Indians at their game of
arrows.—Camp of the gold-hunters.—A Sonoranian
gold-digger.—Sabbath in the mines.—The giant Welchman.—Nature of
gold deposits.—Average per man.—New discoveries 282

CHAPTER XXII.—Visit to the Sonoranian camp.—Festivities and
gambling.—The doctor and teamster.—An alcalde turned cook.—The
miner’s tattoo.—The little Dutchman.—New deposits discovered.—A
woman keeping a monté table.—Up to the knee and nine-pence.—The
volcanoes and gold.—Arrival of a barrel of rum 295

CHAPTER XXIII.—Natural amphitheatre.—No scientific clue to the
deposits of gold.—Soil of the mines.—Life among the
gold-diggers.—Loss of our caballada.—The old man and
rock.—Departure from the mines.—Travelling among gorges and
pinnacles.—Instincts of the mule.—A mountain cabin 309

CHAPTER XXIV.—A lady in the mountains.—Town of Stockton.—Crossing
the valley of the San Joaquin.—The robbed father and boy.—Ride
to San José.—Rum in California.—Highwayman.—Woodland
life.—Rachel at the well.—Farewell to my camping-tree 324

CHAPTER XXV.—Cause of sickness in the mines.—The quicksilver
mines.—Heat and cold in the mines.—Traits in the Spanish
character.—Health of California ladies.—A word to mothers.—The
pingrass and blackbird.—The Redwood-tree.—Battle of the eggs 339

CHAPTER XXVI.—The public domain.—Scenery around
Monterey.—Vineyards of los Angeles.—Beauty of San Diego.—The
culprit hall.—The rush for gold.—Land titles.—The Indian
doctress.—Tufted partridge.—Death of Com. Biddle 351

CHAPTER XXVII.—The gold region.—Its locality, nature, and
extent.—Foreigners in the mines.—The Indians’ discovery of
gold.—Agricultural capabilities of California.—Services of
United States officers.—First decisive movement for the
organization of a civil government.—Intelligence of the death of
Gen. Kearny 365

CHAPTER XXVIII.—Ride of Col. Fremont from los Angeles to Monterey
and back.—Character of the country.—The rincon.—Skeletons of
dead horses.—A stampede.—Gray bears.—The return.—The two horses
rode by Col. Fremont.—An experiment.—The result.—Characteristics
of the California horse.—Fossil remains.—The two classes of
emigrants.—Life in California.—Heads against tails 377

CHAPTER XXIX.—The tragedy at San Miguel.—Court and culprits.—Age
and circumstances of those who should come to
California.—Condition of the professions.—The wrongs of
California.—Claims on the Christian community.—Journalists 391

CHAPTER XXX.—The gold-bearing quartz.—Their locality.—Richness and
extent.—The suitable machinery to be used in the mountains.—The
court of admiralty at Monterey.—Its organization and
jurisdiction.—The cases determined.—Sale of the
prizes.—Convention and Constitution of California.—Difficulties
and compromises.—Spirit of the instrument 403

CHAPTER XXXI.—Glances at towns sprung and springing.—San
Francisco.—Benicia.—Sacramento
City.—Sutter.—Vernon.—Boston.—Stockton.—New
York.—Alvezo.—Stanislaus.—Sonora.—Crescent City.—Trinidad 414

CHAPTER XXXII.—Brief notices of persons, whose portraits embellish
this volume, and who are prominently connected with California
affairs 425