AMONG THE FORTY-NINERS.
DAYS OF IDLENESS AT MONTEREY--ADAM AND EVE--SUNDAY DIVERSIONS--
WHO IS GOVERNOR?--GENERAL FREMONT--THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD
AND THE RUSH FOR THE MINES--DOMESTIC ECONOMY OF CAMP LIFE--
NEGRO FIDELITY--BACK TO THE EAST--MARRIAGE OF SHERMAN AND
MISS EWING--HOW HE HEARD WEBSTER'S SPEECH--A SHADY TRAVELLING
COMPANION--ENTERING AND QUITTING THE LAW.
The voyagers of the "Lexington" found Monterey a particularly peaceful
and sleepy place, despite the war-like rumors that had greeted them,
and Sherman was compelled to drop into a life of dull routine in the
Quartermaster's department. Monterey was inhabited by about a thousand
persons, Americans, Spaniards, Mexicans and Indians, mixed. They were
a kind and pleasant people, apparently with nothing to do. Horses and
cattle were ridiculously cheap, and game of all kinds was abundant.
Coffee, sugar and such supplies were, however, scarce and costly. The
half dozen shops in the town were almost empty and seldom patronized,
and the people spent their time mostly in riding, dancing and shows of
all kinds. Every Sunday there was a grand ball, and Sherman pronounced
the girls very graceful dancers. Soon after their arrival the officers
were invited to witness a play called "Adam and Eve." "Eve was
personated," says Sherman, "by a pretty young girl known as Dolores
Gomez, who, however, was dressed very unlike Eve, for she was covered
with a petticoat and spangles. Adam was personated by her brother, who
has since become somewhat famous. God Almighty was personated, and
Heaven's occupants seemed very human."
Sherman spent a month at Monterey, doing some routine work, studying
a little Spanish, and cultivating the acquaintance of the people. On
one occasion he and Ord went on an excursion inland. They stayed over
night at the house of Senor Gomez, father of the young people who had
played Adam and Eve, and then rode to the old Mission of St. John
the Baptist. It was Sunday, and they went to church, Ord's gorgeous
uniform attracting much attention. After church the priest tucked up
his robes, and betook himself to playing billiards, while the rest were
cock-fighting and horse racing. Sherman improved the opportunity to buy
a splendid new horse.
News soon came of the quarrel between General Kearney, Colonel Fremont
and Commodore Stockton, as to the right of supreme authority on the
coast. General Mason and Commodore Shubrick also laid claim to supreme
control. So the young officers were asking, "Who the devil is Governor
of California?" One day Sherman and the others were aboard the frigate
"Independence" when General Kearney approached on board another ship,
the "Cyane." Kearney soon came aboard the "Independence," dressed in
an old dragoon coat, and an army cap to which he had added the broad
visor cut from a full dress hat, to screen his face and eyes from the
hot sun. As he was received by the officers on the "Independence"
one of them exclaimed, "Fellows, the problem is solved; there is the
Grand Vizier (Visor), ----! He is Governor of California!" And in fact
Kearney and Shubrick at that very meeting came to a most cordial
understanding, Kearney being recognized as the supreme commander.
Fremont still disputed Kearney's authority, however, and soon came
down to Monterey. Sherman called on him and took tea with him, but, he
says, "left without being much impressed." Kearney and Sherman after
this went up to Los Angeles, to replace the authority which Fremont had
set up there. The country was peaceful and Sherman's experiences and
observations were picturesque rather than important. He also went up to
Sonoma, and Yerba Buena, as San Francisco was then called.
In the spring of 1848, Sherman went with Colonel Mason to Santa
Barbara, where he had a good time hunting deer and bear in the
mountains, and ducks and geese on the Salinas Plains. In the course of
a few hours he had shot as many geese and ducks as could be loaded on a
mule's back. Sometimes he killed as many as nine with one discharge of
his gun.
At about this time one day two Americans came to the office at Monterey
to see the Governor (Mason). Their business was most important, for
they brought specimens of placer gold which had just been found.
Captain Sutter had found it in the tail-race of a saw mill he was
building at Colma, and he wanted a title for his property. This was the
commencement of the gold discoveries which revolutionized California
and startled the world. Soon every one was talking of gold, and the
excitement became feverish. Soldiers began to desert and rush to the
mines. Sherman himself did not escape the infection, and soon convinced
Colonel Mason that it was their duty to go and investigate the matter
personally. So in June, 1848, Sherman set out with four soldiers, a
negro servant and a number of horses and mules. On reaching Sutter's
place he heard from Captain Sutter himself the story of the discovery
of gold by Marshall, the workman who built the mill. As Marshall was
working in the ditch which was to carry off the water, he saw some
particles of yellow metal. He picked them up and the thought flashed
into his mind that they were gold. He hurried to Captain Sutter and
showed them to him. Sutter attached little importance to the discovery
and told Marshall to go back to work and say nothing about it. But he
at once sent the specimens down to Governor Mason. Marshall could not
keep his secret, however, and soon the other men wanted to gather the
gold. Marshall threatened to shoot them if they did so. Thereupon they
went fifteen miles further down the stream, and they discovered one of
the richest placer mines in the world.
While Sherman was travelling about in the gold country his soldiers
deserted him and all his followers, except the negro servant, and when
he got back to Monterey he found the same state of demoralization
there. Every one was crazy over gold. But in September, 1848, official
news of the treaty of peace with Mexico reached them, and most of
the soldiers were regularly mustered out. In September and October,
Sherman, Mason and others made a second visit to the mines, and during
that fall Sherman, Ord and Warner camped on the bank of the American
River, near Sutter's Fort. Sherman was cook, Ord washed the dishes
and Warner looked after the horses. They soon dismissed Ord from his
position, however, because he would only wipe the tin plates with a
tuft of grass, while Warner wanted them thoroughly washed with hot
water. So Warner took to washing the dishes and Ord cared for the
horses.
General Persifer F. Smith came out to California in February, 1849 to
take supreme command, arriving at Monterey on the first steamship that
reached that coast. Sherman became his Adjutant-General, and went up to
San Francisco with him. General Smith and his family had much trouble
with their servants, who all deserted them for the gold mines excepting
one little negro, named Isaac, who was cook, chambermaid and general
man and maid of all work. Accordingly, domestic affairs were chaotic.
Breakfast was announced at any time between ten and twelve, and dinner
according to circumstances. "Many a time," says Sherman, "have I seen
General Smith, with a can of preserved meat in his hands, going toward
the house, take off his hat on meeting a negro, and on being asked the
reason of his politeness, he would answer that they were the only real
gentlemen in California." Indeed the fidelity of Isaac and of Colonel
Mason's negro boy, at a time when white men laughed at promises as
things made only to be broken, gave Sherman a kindly feeling of respect
for negroes which he never lost.
Having little official business on hand, Sherman and some of his
comrades made a contract with Colonel J. B. Stevenson to survey his
projected city of "New York of the Pacific" at the mouth of San Joaquin
River and to mark out a channel through Suisun Bay. For this they were
well paid, but the city never was built. After this Sherman surveyed
a large ranch in Sacramento Valley and had some lively experiences
with grizzly bears. All his earnings he invested in real estate
at Sacramento, on which he made good profit. He was an interested
witness of the great rush of prospectors to the coast in 1849, of the
organization of government under a State Constitution, the election of
Fremont and Gwin as Senators, and all the picturesque scenes that the
rising community in those days presented.
[Illustration: SHERMAN ENTERING U. S. SENATE.]
In the fall of 1849 his friend Warner was surveying Feather River and
its source, Goose Lake. While engaged in that work he was murdered by
Indians, and Sherman was much shocked and grieved at the loss. It was
impossible at that time to punish his murderers, and it was not until
the next Spring that his scattered bones were found and buried.
Sherman now became anxious to return to the East, chiefly, it is
surmised, on account of his old playmate at Lancaster. Accordingly, he
induced General Smith to send him home with dispatches. In January,
1850, he went down to Monterey to bid his friends there good-bye, and
then took passage on a steamer for Panama. There they crossed the
Isthmus, partly on mule-back and partly in a canoe. Thence they made
their way to New York by steamer. Senator Gwin, Ord and A. J. Smith
were members of the party, and Sherman brought along two Spanish boys
from Monterey to put into college at Georgetown, D. C. Sherman's party
on reaching New York put up at Delmonico's Hotel, on Bowling Green. The
next day Sherman went to General Scott's office and delivered General
Smith's dispatches, and was "ordered" (not invited) to dine with him
the next day. At the dinner General Scott entertained his guests with
stories of the Mexican war. Sherman felt deeply the fact that the
country had passed through a foreign war and that his comrades had
participated in great battles, while he himself had not even heard a
hostile shot. He thought that his last chance was gone and his career
as a soldier at an end. But Scott startled him with the prophecy that
the country would soon be plunged into a terrific civil war.
After a few days in New York, General Scott sent him on to Washington.
Mr. Ewing was then Secretary of the Interior, and Sherman, of course,
became a member of his family. Sherman soon went to call on President
Taylor at the White House. He had never seen him before, though he had
served under him in Florida in 1840-41. He had a long and very pleasant
chat with him, and was, he says, most agreeably surprised at his fine
personal appearance, and his pleasant, easy manners.
As soon as possible Sherman obtained six months' leave of absence. He
visited his mother at Mansfield, Ohio, and then returned to Washington.
There, on May 1st, 1850, he was married to his first and only love,
Ellen Boyle Ewing. The ceremony occurred at the house of Mr. Ewing, on
Pennsylvania Avenue, opposite the War Department building. A large and
distinguished company attended, including President Taylor and all the
members of his Cabinet, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, Thomas H. Benton,
and many other prominent statesmen. The young couple made a wedding
journey to Baltimore, New York, Niagara Falls and Ohio, returning to
Washington on July 1st.
President Taylor took part in the celebration of the Fourth of July,
and immediately afterward was taken ill and died. Sherman was present
in the gallery of the Senate chamber when Fillmore took the oath of
office and succeeded to the Presidency. He also attended General
Taylor's funeral as an Aid-de-Camp.
Important political changes soon came on, which were watched by
Sherman with much interest. Mr. Ewing resigned his office as Secretary
of the Interior and became Senator. Sherman listened to many of the
interesting debates that took place in the Senate at this time. He
heard Webster's last speech in the Senate before he entered Fillmore's
Cabinet. Learning that Webster was to make a speech, he went to
the Capitol at an early hour, but found all the galleries already
overcrowded. Anxious to hear the speech, he appealed to Senator Corwin,
who asked him what he wanted. Sherman said he wanted him to take him to
the floor of the Senate, adding that he had often seen from the gallery
persons on the floor no better than he was. Corwin asked him in a
quizzical way if he was a foreign ambassador. Sherman said he was not.
A Governor of a State? No. A member of the House of Representatives?
No. Ever received a vote of thanks from either house? No. Well, Corwin
explained, those were the only persons entitled to go upon the floor;
but there was just one other chance. "Have you any impudence?" "Yes,
if occasion calls for it." "Could you become so interested in talking
with me as not to see that door-keeper?" "Yes, if you will tell me one
of your funny stories." So Corwin took Sherman's arm and walked around
the vestibule for a few minutes with him, and then led him through the
doorway into the Senate Chamber. The door-keeper began asking him if
he was an Ambassador, or Governor, or Representative, but Sherman paid
no attention to him, pretending to be so absorbed in Corwin's story as
not to hear him. Once in, Corwin told the young man to take care of
himself, and he did so.
He sat near General Scott and not far from Webster, and heard the whole
of the speech. He has recorded that it was heavy in the extreme, and
he was disappointed and tired long before it was finished. The speech
could not, in Sherman's estimation, be compared with Mr. Clay's efforts.
At the end of July all the family went home to Lancaster and Sherman
was soon sent to St. Louis. In September, 1852, he was sent thence to
New Orleans. But he soon applied for and obtained a leave of absence,
desiring to go to San Francisco with a view to settling there. So he
sent his family back to Ohio and went himself to California by the
way of Nicaragua. When he boarded the steamer bound from San Juan del
Sur for San Francisco there was a great rush for state-rooms. Just as
he had secured his, a lady who had been a fellow-passenger from New
Orleans asked him to secure one for her and her lady friend. The purser
answered that there was not another left, and so put down their names
for the other two berths in Sherman's state-room, promising to make
other arrangements as soon as the vessel was off. So down went the
entry, "Captain Sherman and ladies." A few minutes later the purser
gave Sherman a berth in another state-room, so that the two ladies had
the room to themselves. At every meal the steward invited Sherman to
bring "his ladies" to the table, and they had the best seats there.
The two ladies were, Sherman says, the most modest and best behaved on
the ship. But soon after his arrival at San Francisco he discovered
that one of them at least--the one who had asked him to secure the
state-room for her--was a notorious woman.
It was a poor ship they travelled in, and the weather was foggy. In
trying to make San Francisco harbor they ran aground, and Sherman went
off in a small boat to reach the city and bring help. He came near
getting drowned, but finally reached the city and sent back help to the
stranded vessel. All the passengers were taken off and brought to the
city in safety and the next night the ship went to pieces. Had even
a slight storm arisen when they ran aground, probably not one of the
passengers would have escaped.
Sherman now went into business in San Francisco. In the summer of
1853 he returned East and took his family back to the Pacific
coast. On September 6th he resigned his commission in the army and
devoted himself earnestly to various business enterprises, but the
unhealthy state of speculation disgusted him. Presently there was a
financial panic, in which Sherman and those associated with him lost
considerably. But he held on there with varying fortunes until the
spring of 1857, when he returned with his family to New York. Again in
1858, he went to San Francisco and closed up his business there, making
full payment of all dues and then after some experience in St. Louis
and elsewhere, settled his family at Lancaster in the fall of 1859.
Among his various adventures at this period was the practice of law.
The young Ewings, his brothers-in-law, were establishing themselves
as lawyers at Leavenworth, Kansas, and Sherman, after living for some
time on a farm of 160 acres which he owned, near Topeka, joined their
law firm. For two years he strove to be a lawyer, but with indifferent
success. While the Ewings rose rapidly among the foremost leaders in
the law and the politics of the State, their eccentric office partner
gained but little influence and no prominence; the citizens knew little
of him. "It happened one day," says an old copy of _The Leavenworth
Conservative_, "that Sherman was compelled to appear before the Probate
Judge, Gardner, we believe. The other partners were busy; and so
Sherman, with his authorities and his case all mapped out, proceeded to
court. He returned in a rage two hours after. Something had gone wrong.
He had been pettifogged out of the case by a sharp petty attorney
opposed to him in a way which was disgusting to his intellect and his
convictions. His _amour propre_ was hurt, and he declared that he would
have nothing to do with the law in Kansas. That afternoon the business
was closed, partnership dissolved, and in a very short time Sherman was
on his way to a more congenial clime and occupation.