When I was fifteen years old the San Joaquin slough was wide enough
for river steamers, schooners and sloops to make safe landings in the
heart of Stockton. This was in 1854. Schooners brought lumber,
potatoes and hay to Stockton from San Francisco. One of the boats
making a monthly trip to Stockton was captained by a popular young man
familiarly called "Captain Charley." That is my reason for not calling
him by his name. I never saw him, but my brother, George Kroh, would
often stand on the wharf and watch his men unload the steamer. It was
on one of these occasions that Captain Charley in conversation with
one of his friends said, "I tell you, John, I'd give a fifty-dollar
slug if I could get a Bear flag to fly from the topmast of my natty
schooner. Nothing would please me more than to come up this slough
with just such a flag. I won't rest, either, until I have Old Glory
and the Bear Flag flying on my craft." When the captain's friend left
him, my brother stepped up to him and said, "Were you in earnest,
captain, when you said you would give a fifty-dollar slug for a Bear
flag?" The captain laughed and said, "I certainly was in earnest, and
I'll say it again to you."
My brother said, "Captain, I have a sister who can make you that
flag." "All right," said Captain Charley, "You have a fine flag ready
when I get back and the slug will be yours." It was a bargain and they
shook hands on the deal. When George came home he said to mother,
"Where's Maggie?" "Up stairs," was the reply. He came up and said in
an off-hand way, "Maggie, how would you like to make a Bear flag?" I
looked up in surprise and said, "A bear flag? What kind of a flag is
that?" My sister, Mary, spoke up and said, "Why, Maggie, it is the
flag of California. I saw a picture of it in the newspaper, and I cut
it out." She then asked George who wanted the flag. "Well," he
replied, "Captain Charley of one of these schooners said this morning
he would give a fifty-dollar slug to get a Bear flag to float beside
Old Glory, and I told him you would make it for him." A fifty-dollar
slug all my own! "Ha, ha," I laughed in high glee. "I'll make it if
sister will help me." So it was planned I should make the first Bear
flag to fly on any boat up the San Joaquin river.
The next morning sister and I went to the dry goods store at Grove and
Knight streets, and after getting the proper materials we obtained
information in regard to the size of the flag and the bear and other
details. The work began early the next day and my hands were busy
hemming the sides and ends while sister drew the shape of the bear and
cut it out of brown drilling. We got our quilting frame and stretched
the flag on it, and when it was all nicely stretched we laid the bear
on the white surface and began to get it into the right place. Then
the basting began so that nothing should go wrong in putting it neatly
and correctly in the middle. After it was securely basted we had some
dark green drilling cut so as to resemble the grass under his feet,
and that was carefully basted and looked very proper. Now there was a
star to go on in the corner. We cut it out of blue selicia and soon
had it in its place. My sister Mary was an artist and could draw
anything and cut anything she wished. After the basting was done, we
stood and looked at our work with a satisfied air, pleased with our
effort in making a flag for the first time. Now came the work. All
this had to be done by hand. There were no sewing machines at that
time, and the only way was to hem down every figure, also the letters
and star. The edges must be secure or else the wind would soon play
havoc with the flag, so stitch after stitch was taken and everything
was thoroughly hemmed and carefully fastened. I was no stranger to the
needle, and my deft fingers flew over these letters and hemmed in the
corners, so that when it was finished and pressed they looked as
though they were woven upon the cloth. I was a whole month stitching
and hemming the different parts that composed the flag.
[Illustration:
Sallie Knox
Mary O'Neill
Mary Atkins
Principal