Tremendous rain
Mission of San Luis Obispo
Gardens
Various fruits
Farm
Cactus tuna
Calinche
Pumpkins
Trial of Tortoria Pico
Procession of women
Pico's pardon
Leave San Luis
Surf of the Pacific
Captain Dana
Tempestuous night
Mission of St. Ynes
Effects of drought
Horses exhausted
St. Ynes Mountain
View of the plain of Santa Barbara and the Pacific
A wretched Christmas-day
Descent of St. Ynes Mountain
Terrible storm
Frightful destruction of horses
Dark night
What we are fighting for
Arrive at Santa Barbara
Town deserted.
_December 15_.--The rain fell in cataracts the entire day. The small
streams which flow from the mountains through, and water the valley of,
San Luis Obispo, are swollen by the deluge of water from the clouds
into foaming unfordable torrents. In order not to trespass upon the
population at the mission, in their miserable abodes of mud, the church
was opened, and a large number of the soldiers were quartered in it. A
guard, however, was set day and night, over the chancel and all other
property contained in the building, to prevent its being injured or
disturbed. The decorations of the church are much the same as I have
before described. The edifice is large, and the interior in good
repair. The floor is paved with square bricks. I noticed a common
hand-organ in the church, which played the airs we usually hear from
organ-grinders in the street.
Besides the main large buildings connected with the church, there are
standing, and partially occupied, several small squares of adobe
houses, belonging to this mission. The heaps of mud, and crumbling
walls outside of these, are evidence that the place was once of much
greater extent, and probably one of the most opulent and prosperous
establishments of the kind in the country. The lands surrounding the
mission are finely situated for cultivation and irrigation if
necessary. There are several large gardens, inclosed by high and
substantial walls, which now contain a great variety of fruit-trees and
shrubbery. I noticed the orange, fig, palm, olive, and grape. There are
also large inclosures hedged in by the prickly-pear (cactus), which
grows to an enormous size, and makes an impervious barrier against man
or beast. The stalks of some of these plants are of the thickness of a
man's body, and grow to the height of fifteen feet. A juicy fruit is
produced by the prickly-pear, named _tuna_, from which a beverage is
sometimes made, called _calinche_. It has a pleasant flavour, as has
also the fruit, which, when ripe, is blood-red. A small quantity of
pounded wheat was found here, which, being purchased, was served out to
the troops, about a pound to the man. Frijoles and pumpkins were also
obtained, delicacies of no common order.
_December 16_.--A court-martial was convened this morning for the trial
of Pico, the principal prisoner, on the charge, I understood, of the
forfeiture of his parole which had been taken on a former occasion. The
sentence of the court was, that he should be shot or hung, I do not
know which. A rumour is current among the population here, that there
has been an engagement between a party of Americans and Californians,
near Los Angeles, in which the former were defeated with the loss of
thirty men killed.
_December 17_.--Cool, with a hazy sky. While standing in one of the
corridors this morning, a procession of females passed by me, headed by
a lady of fine appearance and dressed with remarkable taste and
neatness, compared with those who followed her. Their _rebosos_
concealed the faces of most of them, except the leader, whose beautiful
features, dare say, she thought (and justly) required no concealment.
They proceeded to the quarters of Colonel Fremont, and their object, I
understood, was to petition for the reprieve or pardon of Pico, who had
been condemned to death by the court-martial yesterday, and whose
execution was expected to take place this morning. Their intercession
was successful, as no execution took place, and in a short time all the
prisoners were discharged, and the order to saddle up and march given.
We resumed our march at ten o'clock, and encamped just before sunset in
a small but picturesque and fertile valley timbered with oak, so near
the coast that the roar of the surf breaking against the shore could be
heard distinctly. Distance seven miles.
_December 18_.--Clear, with a delightful temperature. Before the sun
rose the grass was covered with a white frost. The day throughout has
been calm and beautiful. A march of four miles brought us to the shore
of a small indentation in the coast of the Pacific, where vessels can
anchor, and boats can land when the wind is not too fresh. The surf is
now rolling and foaming with prodigious energy--breaking upon the beach
in long lines one behind the other, and striking the shore like
cataracts. The hills and plains are verdant with a carpet of fresh
grass, and the scattered live-oaks on all sides, appearing like
orchards of fruit-trees, give to the country an old and cultivated
aspect. The mountains bench away on our left, the low hills rising in
gentle conical forms, beyond which are the more elevated and
precipitous peaks covered with snow. We encamped about three o'clock
near the rancho of Captain Dana, in a large and handsome valley well
watered by an _arroyo_.
Captain Dana is a native of Massachusetts, and has resided in this
country about thirty years. He is known and esteemed throughout
California for his intelligence and private virtues, and his unbounded
generosity and hospitality. I purchased here a few loaves of wheat
bread, and distributed them among the men belonging to our company as
far as they would go, a luxury which they have not indulged in since
the commencement of the march. Distance 15 miles.
_December 19_.--The night was cold and tempestuous, with a slight fall
of rain. The clouds broke away after sunrise, and the day became warm
and pleasant. We continued our march up the valley, and encamped near
its head. The table-land and hills are generally gravelly, but appear
to be productive of fine grass. The soil of the bottom is of the
richest and most productive composition. We crossed in the course of
the day a wide flat plain, upon which were grazing large herds of
brood-mares (_manadas_) and cattle. In the distance they resembled
large armies approaching us. The peaks of the elevated mountains in
sight are covered with snow. A large number of horses gave out,
strayed, and were left behind to-day, estimated at one hundred. The men
came into camp bringing their saddles on their backs, and some of them
arriving late in the evening. Distance 18 miles.
_December 20_.--Parties were sent back this morning to gather up horses
and baggage left on the march yesterday, and it was one o'clock before
the rear-guard, waiting for the return of those, left camp. The main
body made a short march and encamped early, in a small hollow near the
rancho of Mr. Faxon, through which flows an _arroyo_, the surrounding
hills being timbered with evergreen oaks. The men amused themselves
during the afternoon in target-shooting. Many of the battalion are fine
marksmen with the rifle, and the average of shots could not easily be
surpassed. The camp spread over an undulating surface of half a mile in
diameter, and at night, when the fires were lighted, illuminating the
grove, with its drapery of drooping Spanish moss, it presented a most
picturesque appearance. Distance 3 miles.
_December 21_.--Clear and pleasant. A foot march was ordered, with the
exception of the horse and baggage guard. We marched several miles
through a winding hollow, passing a deserted rancho, and ascending with
much labour a steep ridge of hills, descending which we entered a
handsome valley, and encamped upon a small stream about four miles from
the mission of St. Ynes. The banks of the _arroyo_ are strewn with dead
and prostrate timber, the trees, large and small, having been
overthrown by tornados. The plain has suffered, like much of the
country we have passed through, by a long-continued drought, but the
composition of the soil is such as indicates fertility, and from the
effects of the late rains the grass is springing up with great
luxuriance, from places which before were entirely denuded of
vegetation. A party was sent from camp to inspect the mission, but
returned without making any important discoveries. Our horses are so
weak that many of them are unable to carry their saddles, and were left
on the road as usual. A man had his leg broken on the march to-day, by
the kick of a mule. He was sent back to the rancho of Mr. Faxon.
Distance 15 miles.
_December 22_.--Clear and pleasant. Being of the party which performed
rear-guard duty to-day, with orders to bring in all stragglers, we did
not leave camp until several hours after the main body had left. The
horses of the _caballada_ and the pack-animals were continually giving
out and refusing to proceed. Parties of men, exhausted, lay down upon
the ground, and it was with much urging, and sometimes with peremptory
commands only, that they could be prevailed upon to proceed. The
country bears the same marks of drought heretofore described, but fresh
vegetation is now springing up and appears vigorous. A large
horse-trail loading into one of the _canadas_ of the mountains on our
left was discovered by the scouts, and a party was dispatched to trace
it. We passed one deserted rancho, and reached camp between nine and
ten o'clock at night, having forced in all the men and most of the
horses and pack-mules. Distance 15 miles.
_December 23_.--Rain fell steadily and heavily the entire day. A small
party of men was in advance. Discovering in a brushy valley two Indians
armed with bows and arrows, they were taken prisoners. Learning from
them that there was a _caballada_ of horses secreted in one of the
_canadas_, they continued on about ten miles, and found about
twenty-five fresh fat horses, belonging to a Californian now among the
insurgents below. They were taken and delivered at the camp near the
eastern base of the St. Ynes Mountain. Passed this morning a rancho
inhabited by a foreigner, an Englishman.
_December 24_.--Cloudy and cool, with an occasional sprinkling rain.
Our route to-day lay directly over the St. Ynes Mountain, by an
elevated and most difficult pass. The height of this mountain is
several thousand feet. We reached the summit about twelve o'clock, and,
our company composing the advance-guard, we encamped about a mile and a
half in advance of the main body of the battalion, at a point which
overlooks the beautiful plain of Santa Barbara, of which, and the ocean
beyond, we had a most extended and interesting view. With the
spy-glass, we could see, in the plain far below us, herds of cattle
quietly grazing upon the green herbage that carpets its gentle
undulations. The plain is dotted with groves, surrounding the springs
and belting the small water-courses, of which there are many flowing
from this range of mountains. Ranchos are scattered far up and down the
plain, but not one human being could be seen stirring. About ten or
twelve miles to the south, the white towers of the mission of Santa
Barbara raise themselves. Beyond is the illimitable waste of waters. A
more lovely and picturesque landscape I never beheld. On the summit of
the mountain, and surrounding us, there is a growth of hawthorn,
manzinita (in bloom), and other small shrubbery. The rock is soft
sandstone and conglomerate, immense masses of which, piled one upon
another, form a wall along the western brow of the mountain, through
which there is a single pass or gateway about eight or ten feet in
width. The descent on the western side is precipitous, and appears
almost impassable. Distance 4 miles.
_December 25_.--Christmas-day, and a memorable one to me. Owing to the
difficulty in hauling the cannon up the steep acclivities of the
mountain, the main body of the battalion did not come up with us until
twelve o'clock, and before we commenced the descent of the mountain a
furious storm commenced, raging with a violence rarely surpassed. The
rain fell in torrents, and the wind blew almost with the force of a
tornado. This fierce strife of the elements continued without abatement
the entire afternoon, and until two o'clock at night. Driving our
horses before us, we were compelled to slide down the steep and
slippery rocks, or wade through deep gullies and ravines filled with
mud and foaming torrents of water, that rushed downwards with such
force as to carry along the loose rocks and tear up the trees and
shrubbery by the roots. Many of the horses falling into the ravines
refused to make an effort to extricate themselves, and were swept
downwards and drowned. Others, bewildered by the fierceness and terrors
of the storm, rushed or fell headlong over the steep precipices and
were killed. Others obstinately refused to proceed, but stood quaking
with fear or shivering with cold, and many of these perished in the
night from the severity of the storm. The advance party did not reach
the foot of the mountain and find a place to encamp until night--and a
night of more impenetrable and terrific darkness I never witnessed. The
ground upon which our camp was made, although sloping from the hills to
a small stream, was so saturated with water that men as well as horses
sunk deep at every step. The rain fell in such quantities, that fires
with great difficulty could be lighted, and most of them were
immediately extinguished.
The officers and men belonging to the company having the cannon in
charge laboured until nine or ten o'clock to bring them down the
mountain, but they were finally compelled to leave them. Much of the
baggage also remained on the side of the mountain, with the pack-mules
and horses conveying them, all efforts to force the animals down being
fruitless. The men continued to straggle into the camp until a late
hour of the night;--some crept under the shelving rocks and did not
come in until the next morning. We were so fortunate as to find our
tent, and after much difficulty pitched it under an oak-tree. All
efforts to light a fire and keep it blazing proving abortive, we spread
our blankets upon the ground and endeavoured to sleep, although we
could feel the cold streams of water running through the tent and
between and around our bodies.
In this condition we remained until about two o'clock in the morning,
when the storm having abated I rose, and shaking from my garments the
dripping water, after many unsuccessful efforts succeeded in kindling a
fire. Near our tent I found three soldiers who had reached camp at a
late hour. They were fast asleep on the ground, the water around them
being two or three inches deep; but they had taken care to keep their
heads above water, by using a log of wood for a pillow. The fire
beginning to blaze freely, I dug a ditch with my hands and a sharp
stick of wood, which drained off the pool surrounding the tent. One of
the men, when he felt the sensation consequent upon being "high and
dry," roused himself, and, sitting upright, looked around for some time
with an expression of bewildered amazement. At length he seemed to
realize the true state of the case, and exclaimed, in a tone of
energetic soliloquy,--
"Well, who _wouldn't_ be a soldier and fight for California?"
"You are mistaken," I replied.
Rubbing his eyes, he gazed at me with astonishment, as if having been
entirely unconscious of my presence; but, reassuring himself, he said:
"How mistaken?"
"Why," I answered, "you are not fighting for California."
"What the d----l, then, am I fighting for?" he inquired.
"For TEXAS."
"Texas be d----d; but hurrah for General Jackson!" and with this
exclamation he threw himself back again upon his wooden pillow, and was
soon snoring in a profound slumber.
Making a platform composed of sticks of wood upon the soft mud, I
stripped myself to the skin, wringing the water from each garment as I
proceeded. I then commenced drying them by the fire in the order that
they were replaced upon my body, an employment that occupied me until
daylight, which sign, above the high mountain to the east, down which
we had rolled rather than marched yesterday, I was truly rejoiced to
see. Distance 3 miles.
_December 26_.--Parties were detailed early this morning, and
despatched up the mountain to bring down the cannon, and collect the
living horses and baggage. The destruction of horse-flesh, by those who
witnessed the scene by daylight, is described as frightful. In some
places large numbers of dead horses were piled together. In others,
horses half buried in the mud of the ravines, or among the rocks, were
gasping in the agonies of death. The number of dead animals is
variously estimated at from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty, by
different persons. The cannon, most of the missing baggage, and the
living horses, were all brought in by noon. The day was busily employed
in cleansing our rifles and pistols, and drying our drenched baggage.
_December 27_.--Preparations were commenced early for the resumption of
our march; but such was the condition of everything around us, that it
was two o'clock, P.M., before the battalion was in readiness; and then
so great had been the loss of horses in various ways, that the number
remaining was insufficient to mount the men. One or two companies, and
portions of others, were compelled to march on foot. We were visited
during the forenoon by Mr. Sparks, an American, Dr. Den, an Irishman,
and Mr. Burton, another American, residents of Santa Barbara. They had
been suffered by the Californians to remain in the place. Their
information communicated to us was, that the town was deserted of
nearly all its population. A few houses only were occupied. Passing
down a beautiful and fertile undulating plain, we encamped just before
sunset in a live-oak grove, about half a mile from the town of Santa
Barbara. Strict orders were issued by Col. Fremont, that the property
and the persons of Californians, not found in arms, should be sacredly
respected. To prevent all collisions, no soldier was allowed to pass
the lines of the camp without special permission, or orders from his
officers.
I visited the town before dark, but found the houses, with few
exceptions, closed, and the streets deserted. After hunting about some
time, we discovered a miserable dwelling, occupied by a shoemaker and
his family, open. Entering it, we were very kindly received by its
occupants, who, with a princely supply of civility, possessed but a
beggarly array of comforts. At our request they provided for us a
supper of _tortillas, frijoles_, and stewed _carne_ seasoned with
_chile colorado_, for which, paying them _dos pesos_ for four, we bade
them good evening, all parties being well satisfied. The family
consisted, exclusive of the shoemaker, of a dozen women and children,
of all ages. The women, from the accounts they had received of the
intentions of the Americans, were evidently unprepared for civil
treatment from them. They expected to be dealt with in a very barbarous
manner, _in all respects_; but they were disappointed, and invited us
to visit them again. Distance 8 miles.