At this time, the generally bright prospects of California were clouding
over. Great changes had taken place in the Mexican government, new
individuals had sprung into power, and their followers were recompensed
with dignities and offices. But, as these offices had been already
filled by others, it was necessary to remove the latter, and,
consequently, the government had made itself more enemies.
Such was the case in California; but that the reader may understand the
events which are to follow, it is necessary to draw a brief sketch of
the country. I have already said that California embraces four hundred
miles of sea-coast upon the Pacific Ocean. On the east, it is bounded
by the Californian gulf, forming, in fact, a long peninsula. The only
way of arriving at it by land, from the interior of Mexico, is to travel
many hundred miles north, across the wild deserts of Sonora, and through
tribes of Indians which, from the earliest records down to our days,
have always been hostile to the Spaniards, and, of course, to the
Mexicans. Yet far as California is--too far indeed for the government
of Mexico to sufficiently protect it, either from Indian inroads or from
the depredations of pirates, by which, indeed, the coast has much
suffered--it does not prevent the Mexican Government from exacting taxes
from the various settlements--taxes enormous in themselves, and so
onerous, that they will ever prevent these countries from becoming what
they ought to be, under a better government.
The most northerly establishment of Mexico on the Pacific Ocean is San
Francisco; the next, Monterey; then comes San Barbara, St. Luis Obispo,
Buona Ventura, and, finally, St. Diego; besides these sea-ports, are
many cities in the interior, such as St. Juan Campestrano, Los Angelos,
the largest town in California, and San Gabriel. Disturbances, arising
from the ignorance and venality of the Mexican dominion, very often
happen in these regions; new individuals are continually appointed to
rule them; and these individuals are generally men of broken fortunes
and desperate characters, whose extortions become so intolerable that,
at last, the Californians, in spite of their lazy dispositions, rise
upon their petty tyrants. Such was now the case at Monterey. A new
governor had arrived; the old General Morano had, under false pretexts,
been dismissed, and recalled to the central department, to answer to
many charges preferred against him.
The new governor, a libertine of the lowest class of the people, half
monk and half soldier, who had carved his way through the world by
murder, rapine, and abject submission to his superiors, soon began to
stretch an iron hand over the town's-people. The Montereyans will bear
much, yet under their apparent docility and moral apathy there lurks a
fire which, once excited, pours forth flames of destruction. Moreover,
the foreigners established in Monterey had, for a long time, enjoyed
privileges which they were not willing to relinquish; and as they were,
generally speaking, wealthy, they enjoyed a certain degree of influence
over the lower classes of the Mexicans.
Immediately after the first extortion of the new governor, the
population rose _en masse_, and disarmed the garrison. The presidio was
occupied by the insurgents, and the tyrant was happy to escape on board
an English vessel, bound to Acapulco.
However, on this occasion the Montereyans did not break their fealty to
the Mexican government; they wanted justice, and they took it into their
own hands. One of the most affluent citizens was unanimously selected
governor _pro tempore_, till another should arrive, and they returned to
their usual pleasures and apathy, just as if nothing extraordinary had
happened. The name of the governor thus driven away was Fonseca.
Knowing well that success alone could have justified his conduct, he did
not attempt to return to Mexico, but meeting with some pirates, at that
time ravaging the coasts in the neighbourhood of Guatimala, he joined
them, and, excited by revenge and cupidity, he conceived the idea of
conquering California for himself. He succeeded in enlisting into his
service some 150 vagabonds from all parts of the earth--runaway sailors,
escaped criminals, and, among the number, some forty Sandwich Islanders,
brave and desperate fellows, who were allured with the hopes of plunder.
I may as well here mention, that there is a great number of these
Sandwich Islanders swarming all along the coast of California, between
which and the Sandwich Islands a very smart trade is carried on by the
natives and the Americans. The vessels employed to perform the voyage
are always double manned, and once on the shores of California, usually
half if the crew deserts. Accustomed to a warm climate and to a life of
indolence, they find themselves perfectly comfortable and happy in the
new country. They engage themselves now and then as journeymen, to fold
the hides, and, with their earnings, they pass a life of inebriety
singularly contrasting with the well-known abstemiousness of the
Spaniards. Such men had Fonseca taken into his service, and having
seized upon a small store of arms and ammunition, he prepared for his
expedition.
In the meanwhile the governor of Senora having been apprised of the
movements at Monterey, took upon himself to punish the outbreak,
imagining that his zeal would be highly applauded by the Mexican
government. Just at this period troops having come from Chihuahua, to
quell an insurrection of the conquered Indians, he took the field in
person, and advanced towards California. Leaving the ex-governor
Fonseca and the governor of Senora for a while, I shall return to my
operations among the Indians.
I have stated, that upon the resolution of the Shoshones to unite the
tribes, I had despatched my old servant to Monterey, and Gabriel to the
nearest Apache village. This last had found a numerous party of that
tribe on the waters of the Colorado of the West, and was coming in the
direction which I had myself taken, accompanied by the whole party. We
soon met; the Apaches heard with undeniable pleasure the propositions I
made unto them, and they determined that one hundred of their chiefs and
warriors should accompany me on my return to the Shoshones, in order to
arrange with the elders of the tribe the compact of the treaty.
On our return we passed through the Arrapahoes, who had already received
my messengers, and had accepted as well as given the "brides," which
were to consolidate an indissoluble union. As to the Comanches, seeing
the distance, and the time which must necessarily be lost in going and
returning, I postponed my embassy to them, until the bonds of union
between the three nations, Shoshones, Apaches, and Arrapahoes, should be
so firmly cemented as not to be broken. The Arrapahoes followed the
example of the Apaches; and a hundred warriors, all mounted and
equipped, joined us to go and see their fathers, the Shoshones, and
smoke with them the calumet of eternal peace.
We were now a gallant band, two hundred and fifty strong; and in order
to find game sufficient for the subsistence of so many individuals, we
were obliged to take a long range to the south, so as to fall upon the
prairies bordering the Buona Ventura. Chance, however, led us into a
struggle, in which I became afterwards deeply involved. Scarcely had we
reached the river, when we met with a company of fifteen individuals,
composed of some of my old Monterey friends. They were on their way to
the settlement, to ask my help against the governor of Senora; and the
Indians being all unanimous in their desire to chastise him, and to
acquire the good-will of the wealthy people of Monterey, I yielded to
circumstances, and altered our course to the south. My old servant had
come with the deputation, and from him I learnt the whole of the
transaction.
It appears that the governor of Senora declared, that he would whip like
dogs, and hang the best part of the population of Monterey, principally
the Anglo-Saxon settlers, the property of whom he intended to confiscate
for his own private use. If he could but have kept his own counsel, he
would of a certainty have succeeded, but the Montereyans were aware of
his intentions, even before he had reached the borders of California.
Deputations were sent to the neighbouring towns, and immediately a small
body of determined men started to occupy the passes through which the
governor had to proceed. There they learnt with dismay, that the force
they would have to contend with was at least ten times more numerous
than their own; they were too brave, however, to retire without a blow
in defence of their independence, and remembering the intimacy
contracted with me, together with the natural antipathy of the Indians
against the Watchinangoes, or Mexicans, they determined to ask our help,
offering in return a portion of the wealth they could command in cattle,
arms, ammunition, and other articles of great value among savages.
The governor's army amounted to five hundred men two hundred of them
soldiers in uniform, and the remainder half-bred stragglers, fond of
pillage, but too cowardly to fight for it. It was agreed that I and my
men, being all on horseback, should occupy the prairie, where we would
conceal ourselves in an ambush. The Montereyans and their friends were
to give way at the approach of the governor, as if afraid of disputing
the ground; and then, when the whole of the hostile should be in full
pursuit, we were to charge them in flank, and put them to rout. All
happened as was anticipated; we mustered about three hundred and fifteen
men, acting under one single impulse, and sanguine as to success. On
came the governor with his heroes.
A queer sight it was, and a noisy set of fellows they were;
nevertheless, we could see that they were rather afraid of meeting with
opposition, for they stopped at the foot of the hill, and perceiving
some eight or ten Montereyans at the top of the pass, they despatched a
white flag, to see if it were not possible to make some kind of
compromise. Our friends pretended to be much terrified, and retreated
down towards the prairie. Seeing this, our opponents became very brave.
They marched, galloped, and rushed on without order, till they were
fairly in our power; then we gave the war-whoop, which a thousand echoes
rendered still more terrible.
We fired not a bullet, we shot not an arrow, yet we obtained a signal
victory. Soldiers and stragglers threw themselves on the ground to
escape from death; while the governor, trusting in his horse's speed,
darted away to save himself. Yet his cowardice cost him his life, for
his horse tumbling down, he broke his neck. Thus perished the only
victim of this campaign.
We took the guns and ammunition of our vanquished opponents, leaving
them only one fusil for every ten men, with a number of cartridges
sufficient to prevent their starving on their return home. Their leader
was buried where he had fallen, and thus ended this mock engagement.
Yet another battle was to be fought, which, though successful, did not
terminate in quite so ludicrous a manner.
By this time Fonseca was coasting along the shore, but the
south-easterly winds preventing him from making Monterey, he entered the
Bay of St. Francisco. This settlement is very rich, its population
being composed of the descendants of English and American merchants, who
had acquired a fortune in the Pacific trade; it is called _Yerba buena_
(the good grass), from the beautiful meadows of wild clover which extend
around it for hundreds of miles.
There Fonseca had landed with about two hundred rascals of his own
stamp, and his first act of aggression had been to plunder and destroy
the little city. The inhabitants of course fled in every direction; and
on meeting us, they promised the Indians half of the articles which had
been plundered from them, if we could overpower the invaders and
recapture them. I determined to surprise the rascals in the midst of
their revellings. I divided my little army into three bands, giving to
Gabriel the command of the Apaches, with orders to occupy the shores of
the bay and destroy the boats, so that the pirates should not escape to
their vessels. The Arrapahoes were left in the prairie around the city
to intercept those who might endeavour to escape by land. The third
party I commanded myself. It consisted of fifty well-armed Shoshones
and fifty-four Mexicans from the coast, almost all of them sons of
English or American settlers.
Early in the morning we entered into what had been, a few days before, a
pretty little town. It was now nothing but a heap of ruins, among which
a few tents had been spread for night shelter. The sailors and pirates
were all tipsy, scattered here and there on the ground, in profound
sleep. The Sandwichers, collected in a mass, lay near the tents. Near
them stood a large pile of boxes, kegs, bags, etcetera; it was the
plunder. We should have undoubtedly seized upon the brigands without
any bloodshed had not the barking of the dogs awakened the Sandwichers,
who were up in a moment. They gave the alarm, seized their arms, and
closed fiercely and desperately with my left wing which was composed of
the white men.
These suffered a great deal, and broke their ranks; but I wheeled round
and surrounded the fellows with my Shoshones, who did not even use their
rifles, the lance and tomahawk performing their deadly work in silence,
and with such a despatch, that in ten minutes but few of the miserable
islanders lived to complain of their wounds. My Mexicans, having
rallied, seized upon Fonseca and destroyed many of the pirates in their
beastly state of intoxication. Only a few attempted to fight, the
greater number staggering towards the beach to seek shelter in their
boats. But the Apaches had already performed their duty; the smallest
boats they had dragged on shore, the largest they had scuttled and sunk.
Charging upon the miserable fugitives, they transfixed them with their
spears, and our victory was complete.
The pirates remaining on board the two vessels, perceiving how matters
stood, saluted us with a few discharges of grape and canister, which did
no execution; the sailors, being almost all of them runaway Yankees,
were in all probability as drunk as their companions on shore. At last
they succeeded in heaving up their anchors, and, favoured by the
land-breeze, they soon cleared the bay. Since that time nothing has
been heard of them.
Fonseca, now certain of his fate, proved to be as mean and cowardly as
he had been tyrannical before his defeat. He made me many splendid
offers if I would but let him go and try his fortune elsewhere: seeing
how much I despised him, he turned to the Mexicans, and tried them one
and all; till, finally, perceiving that he had no hope of mercy, he
began to blaspheme so horribly that I was obliged to order him to be
gagged.
The next morning two companies arrived from Monterey, a council was
convened, twenty of the citizens forming themselves into a jury.
Fonseca was tried and condemned, both as a traitor and a pirate; and, as
shooting would have been too great an honour for such a wretch, he was
hanged in company with the few surviving Sandwichers.
Our party had suffered a little in the beginning of the action; three
Mexicans had been killed and eighteen wounded, as well as two Apaches.
Of my Shoshones, not one received the smallest scratch; and the
Arrapahoes, who had been left to scour the prairie, joined us a short
time after the battle with a few scalps.
The people of San Francisco were true to their promise; the rescued
booty was divided into two equal parts, one of which was offered to the
Indians, as had been agreed upon. On the eve of our departure, presents
were made to us as a token of gratitude, and of course the Indians,
having at the first moment of their confederation, made such a
successful and profitable expedition, accepted it as a good presage for
the future. Their services being no longer required, they turned
towards the north, and started for the settlement under the command of
Roche, to follow up their original intentions of visiting the Shoshones.
As for us, I remained behind at San Francisco.