RECENT EVENTS.
Believing that every event which in any way affects the interests or
welfare of California is important to those who have watched her
progress and have been astonished at her rapid rise, we will in this
and a subsequent chapter, bring the narrative up to the time of
issuing this work.
The city of San Francisco, in the midst of her progress and
prosperity, has been twice visited by the destroying element of fire.
The first calamity of this kind occurred on the morning of the 25th of
December, 1849. The fire consumed all that portion of the city on and
near the plaza, involving a loss, at California prices, of over a
million of dollars. Fortunately, it was the rainy season. If the fire
had occurred during the dry season, and the prevalence of the furious
gales, the whole city, composed, as it was, of canvas tents and wooden
houses, must have been destroyed. The event did not materially affect
the progress of the city; for the burnt district was entirely rebuilt
within twenty days.
The second great fire occurred on the night of the 4th of May, 1850.
It broke out in the United States Hotel, situated on the plaza, or
Portsmouth Square--the very heart of the city. The flames soon spread
to the adjoining buildings, and several of the principal hotels were
destroyed. Nothing could stop the progress of the fire but the tearing
down of a whole block of houses on one of the streets leading from the
Square. Five entire blocks of the business portion of the city were
destroyed--involving a loss of about a million of dollars. To show the
amount of enterprise and energy existing in San Francisco, no better
opportunity is afforded than to look at the state of things in that
city, ten days after the fire. We extract from the Alta Californian of
the 15th of May, the following remarks:
"THE BURNED DISTRICT.--Intimately as we are acquainted with the
predominant spirit of energy and enterprise of our city, we have
almost wondered at the rapidity with which the burned district is
being again built up. It exceeds the speed with which the work was
accomplished after the December fire. Already, in Portsmouth Square,
the Bella Union and St. Charles, houses of public resort, are opened
and hourly thronged. In Washington Street, two dry goods stores, 'La
Amarilla' and Juan Cima's, are opened and stocked, and on both sides
of the way buildings are nearly completed, and will be ready for
occupation by the latter end of this week. In fact, the ruins are more
than half covered over, and except that the new edifices are not of so
elegant a character or so substantially built, even, as previously,
they will present a handsome appearance.
"The fact of the business season having now fairly commenced, and the
necessity of being alive to take advantage of it, has materially
accelerated operations. The present busy hum created by the
industrious mechanic, will soon give way to the usual activity and
bustle of mercantile trade, and ere the departure of the next steamer
a casual observer would be scarcely able to realize the devastation of
the 4th inst. Notwithstanding the immense amount of property
destroyed, which was not at all over-estimated, business has not been
so generally depressed, even momentarily, as it was feared and
anticipated. Our community have risen again to the surface of the
waters with cork-like buoyancy, and the sad and gloomy faces of the
early part of last week have brightened by the prosperous hopes
anticipated in the future. Never was calamity taken with more
fortitude and philosophy than in this city. And if to win success is
but to deserve, then those who have suffered will meet with their just
reward. _Nil desperandum_ seems to be the popular motto, amalgamated
with the David Crocket principle, enlarged and improved. We are
satisfied that nothing can retard or check the prosperity, rapid
growth, advancement and importance of this, the principal city and
seaport of the Pacific coast. _Viva_ San Francisco!"
[Illustration: MODE OF WASHING CLOTHES IN CALIFORNIA.]
The annexed extract from the Message of the Mayor of San Francisco
gives an idea of the quantity of disease and destitution in that
city. No doubt San Francisco is the grand receptacle for all who
become diseased in any way at the mines or other places in the
interior; and this may serve to account for the extraordinary
statements contained in the Message--
"During the last nine months, an expense of eighty thousand dollars
has been incurred for the support of the sick and destitute, who have
been thrown penniless upon our shores, and found friendless and
homeless in our streets, and for the burial of those who have died
without sufficient means to defray the expenses of interment. If these
enormous expenditures are continued, (and it is evident from the rapid
growth of the population, that they must seriously increase, unless
some new system is adopted,) it will readily be perceived that a very
large portion of the revenue of the city will be absorbed in defraying
the expenses of the hospital department alone. Something therefore
must speedily be done to remedy this great drain upon the public
purse."
As an indication of the vast increase of the commerce of San
Francisco, it is stated that, in six days in the month of May, 1850,
there arrived at that port seventy-six vessels, freighted with cargoes
to find a market there. Several large steamboats have been put upon
the Sacramento and the Bay of San Francisco, and they are reaping
extraordinary profits. The trip from San Francisco to Sacramento City
was, a few years ago, a work of some days, but it is now performed in
less than nine hours.
The reports from the mines continue to be of the most favorable
character. Gold has been discovered upon Trinity River, about two
hundred miles north of Sacramento City, and the digging has proved to
be equal to that of any of the other placers. The mouth of the river,
which empties into Trinity Bay, has been surveyed, and, being
considered a very good harbor, a town has been projected, to be
situated upon the shore at the mouth of the river. Rich diggings have
been opened near Mariposa, and on one occasion, a mass of gold and
quartz, weighing fifty pounds, was taken from them, and sold for
sixteen hundred dollars. Several important discoveries have been made
on the Mokulumne River. Out of one hole, three men, in two days, took
the sum of four thousand dollars. It is thought that more bullion will
be obtained during the dry season of the present year, 1850, than has
been received since the commencement of the gold-digging. This seems
to falsify the predictions of some persons, that the gold region would
be speedily exhausted.
The following is an account of some bloody transactions upon the North
Fork of the American River. We extract it from the Pacific News of May
15th, 1850:--
"About two weeks ago, a party of Indians came stealthily upon a few
miners who were sleeping after their work was over in their tents on
the North Fork, some twenty miles above Auburn. Before the Indians
gave any warning to the whites of their presence, they killed two,
wounded another, and then succeeded in making their escape. On Friday
of last week, a trader, who was travelling with his team, was
surrounded by Indians when about fifteen miles above Auburn. The
arrows from their bows took effect upon his person, and he only saved
his life by a precipitous flight. They carried off his coat which he
left in his wagon, with $600 worth of gold dust in the pocket. They
also robbed his wagon of several valuable articles. Upon receiving
news of this attack at Auburn, a number of men set out on horseback,
in pursuit of the Indians. They overtook them in a valley not far from
Auburn, and found a large party of them drawn up to meet them. The
Indians were armed with bows and arrows and had one gun. The whites
attacked them, and soon put them to flight. The Indians left a
considerable number of dead behind them, and it is supposed that they
carried off many more. Two of the whites were wounded with the arrows
of the Indians, but not fatally.
"It is believed by many of the miners that there are white men among
the Indians, inciting them to hostilities. It is pretty certain that a
German doctor has been leading them on in their attacks. A meeting was
held at Auburn, last Monday evening, to raise a company of volunteers
for the purpose of scouring the country, and making war upon the
Indians wherever found, so long as they maintain a hostile position,
and a number of men were enrolled."
A portion of the Indians of the eastern part of California have always
manifested their hostility to the whites, and have taken numerous
occasions to wreak their vengeance upon those whom they consider the
invaders of their country. But the pursuit of such a course will only
hasten their own destruction. They are in no condition to contend with
the whites, and their proper course would be to conciliate those whom
they cannot resist. The following account of an exterminating
expedition against the Indians is from the Alta Californian of the
first of June. To our thinking, the punishment far exceeded the
offence, and the officer who gave the order for extermination, is
culpable in a high degree.
"We have received particulars of the recent slaughter of a large body
of Clear Lake Indians by an expedition sent out against them from the
United States garrisons at Sonoma and Benecia. The tribe that incurred
this terrible punishment, comprises the natives of Sonoma and Napa
valleys, and has maintained, in general undisturbed peaceful relations
with the white settlers of that section of California. Last summer,
however, a stubborn family Indian offered an indignity to the wife of
one Kelsey, who had resided in the country some nine years, for which
he was taken before a magistrate and sentenced to receive one hundred
lashes. After this punishment, on the same day, we are informed
Kelsey, sought the wretched offender, and laid him dead at his feet,
shooting him in the presence of several gentlemen, who remonstrated
with him on the barbarity of the deed. This man Kelsey was afterwards
murdered, as was also a brother-in-law, by the Indians of the
neighborhood. Since then repeated acts of violence have been visited
upon the natives, and our readers will remember the accounts which we
published a few months since, of outrages committed in Sonoma and
Napa, by a party of desperate white men. The Indians were driven to
the mountains, and subsequently made depredatory incursions upon their
old masters, driving away cattle, and indulging their natural
propensity to steal. Complaints were made,--doubtless the accounts of
their conduct highly colored,--to the garrisons of Benecia and Sonoma,
and on the 1st of the month an expedition was fitted out against them,
composed of a detachment of infantry, and a company of dragoons, under
command of Lieutenant Davidson, (seventy-five in all,) with orders to
proceed against the Clear Lake Indians, and _exterminate_, if
possible, the tribe.
"The troops arrived in the vicinity of the lake, and came unexpectedly
upon a body of Indians numbering between two and three hundred. They
immediately surrounded them, and as the Indians raised a shout of
defiance and attempted escape, _poured in a destructive fire
indiscriminately upon men, women, and children_. 'They fell,' says our
informant, 'as grass before the sweep of the scythe.' Little or no
resistance was encountered, and the work of butchery was of short
duration. The shrieks of the slaughtered victims died away, the roar
of muskets then ceased, and stretched lifeless upon the sod of their
native valley were the bleeding bodies of these Indians--nor sex, nor
age was spared; it was the order of extermination fearfully obeyed.
The troops returned to the stations, and quiet is for the present
restored."
Here is the account of more Indian troubles.
"FIGHT WITH THE SACRAMENTO INDIANS.--TREATY.--In consequence of
depredations of the Indians of the Sacramento valley and outrages
committed by them, General Thomas J. Green, 1st Division, State
Militia, ordered out two companies of Mounted Volunteers, under
command of Captain Allgiers and Captain Charles Hoyt, and marched from
Oro, on the 17th of May, in the direction of Deer Creek. On the same
day Lieutenant Bell, of Captain A.'s company, with ten men,
encountered a large number of Indians, killed five, and took six
prisoners.
"On the 18th the command scoured the country in the region of Deer
Creek and Bear River. On the 19th, the trail to Colonel Holt's mill,
where he was murdered, was taken, the villages found to be deserted,
and the white settlement abandoned.
"On the 20th, the Indians, two or three hundred strong, were
discovered within two miles of Bear River, upon an elevated conical
hill. An engagement took place, in which eleven Indians were killed
and a number wounded. About fifty of the state volunteers were
engaged. None were killed, but Captain Hoyt, Lieutenant Lewis, and Mr.
Russell were wounded. Major Frederick Emory (brother of Major Emory,
United States Topographical Engineers of the boundary Commission,) was
accidentally shot through the thigh with a rifle ball. He was
aid-de-camp to General T. J. Green.
"On the 25th, the Indian Chiefs Weimer, Buckler, and Pooliel, came in,
by permission, and entered into a treaty of peace between the three
tribes, severally represented, and the State of California and
Government of the United States. The treaty is sensible and
comprehensive."
In the following, among other interesting intelligence, will be found
an account of that which was expected long before it occurred--the
resistance of some of the numerous body of foreign gold-seekers to the
tax imposed upon them. The license tax is certainly a just one; but
the foreigners presumed upon their number and strength, that they had
power sufficient to resist its imposition. The easy excitability of
the Americans, upon any subject connected with their own soil is well
known; and it is exceedingly strange that a serious collision did not
take place. We extract from the Alta Californian, of June 1st, 1850.
The _Alta Californian_ has letters from Stockton to May 22d. On the
Tuolumne, but little gold digging has been effected since last fall
along the banks. The gold is under water, and preparations were making
by companies to dam the streams to get at it. This work has been
actively going on for five or six months. There is want of men at this
kind of work, and eight or ten dollars a day is readily obtained. The
diggings at Jamestown, Sonora, &c., have been partially deserted on
account of new diggings discovered at Columbia, three miles from
Sonora, at the last accounts some two thousand persons had collected
there, and town lots were selling at high prices.
Sonora is growing very rapidly, being in the centre of an extensive
mining region. It is likely to be next to Stockton in size and
importance. Discoveries of rich placers have been made in its vicinity
lately; some of the richest holes at Columbia are thirty, forty, and
fifty feet deep. A serious difficulty has broken out at Sonora. A
number of foreigners refused to comply with the law taxing them for
the privilege of working the mines. A time was fixed by the collector
to summon a posse of American citizens to prevent them from working.
The day previous to the time fixed, the foreigners paraded with guns,
&c., and reinforcements of Americans were sent for from the
neighboring towns. A letter from Stockton, dated May 22d, adds:
"In the evening, the sheriff, Mr. Work, was accosted by a Mexican, who
asked him if he was not an officer, or the officer who intended to
enforce the payment of the license. On replying that he was, the
Mexican made an attempt to stab him, when a person standing by, named
Clark, with a single stroke of a bowie knife, nearly severed his head
from his body. Thirty armed Americans soon arrived from Mormon Gulch,
and the whole American population were on the alert all night.
"At last accounts there were two or three hundred Americans at Sonora,
under arms, and others were hourly arriving. On Monday the excitement
had somewhat abated. Hundreds of the Mexicans and Chileans were
packing up and leaving for Stockton. Many of them disclaimed having
had any intention of resorting to arms, and all were evidently more or
less frightened at the aspect of affairs. It appears that the Mexicans
who took part in the disturbance, were led on by some hot-headed
Frenchman, lately arrived from France, of the Red Republican order.
They found, however, that the majority of the Spaniards were not
disposed to join them, and it is supposed that the whole affair will
blow over without any very serious consequences. The affair will
probably be a severe blow to business, for the present, in Sonora."
The _Stockton Times_ has a letter from Sonora, giving the details of
this difficulty. The foreigners said they were willing to pay four or
five dollars per month, but that the amount demanded was utterly
beyond their power to pay. They made this statement at an interview
with the Governor. The letter goes on as follows:
"During the discussion, an American who wished to get out of the
crowd, began elbowing his way from the place where he stood, when a
Mexican or Chilian, in front of him, drew a pistol. In a moment a
dozen revolvers were out, and a precipitate retreat was made by the
foreigners. No shot was fired, but the Mexicans were alarmed, and the
town was cleared in five minutes. Our peace now seemed threatened by
about five thousand men outside, and no inconsiderable alarm was
created in town. The citizens armed themselves, and expresses were
sent to Mormon Creek and Sullivan's Diggings, from which places about
five hundred well armed Americans arrived, and marched through the
streets with guns and rifles on their shoulders. The demonstration was
sufficient; the crowds in the vicinity soon dispersed, and quiet was
restored. The only thing to be feared, is the misguided zeal of our
own citizens, who although generally sympathizing with the discontent
occasioned by the unjust tax, are incensed that the foreigners should
presume to take the law into their own hands, and may not be willing
to allow the affair to rest where it is.
A serious affray took place this afternoon, in which a Mexican was
seriously wounded. A man was noticed parading the streets with two or
three pistols and a knife in his belt; the man was intoxicated, and
the sheriff arrested him, or rather took his arms from him. While in
the act, a Mexican came up behind and made a stab at the officer with
a large knife. The murderous intent was frustrated by a bystander,
who, with a bowie knife, struck the man, wounding him severely. Mr.
Work, the sheriff, was happily untouched.
This state of affairs, if allowed to last, will ruin the prosperity of
the whole southern mines, and your own town of Stockton will be the
first to suffer thereby.
_Monday, May 20._--A guard was kept up all last night, but every
thing was quiet, and as I said yesterday, I believe the danger, if any
was to be apprehended, had passed away. But the excitable feelings of
the hundreds of Americans now under arms had to be indulged, and
hearing that a camp, mostly composed of foreigners, situated about
seven miles from Sonora, had mounted Mexican, Chilian, and French
flags, (what truth there is in the report, I know not,) they have
started out this morning to avenge the insult, and chastise the
temerity of the "greasers" and "outsiders." I sincerely trust there
will be good sense enough in the party to refrain from wanton
aggression.
Gov. Burnett has sent Hon. John Bidwell and Judge H. A. Schoolcraft in
charge of the block of stone contributed by California to the
Washington Monument. It is thus described:
"This block of gold-bearing quartz, is from the Mariposa diggings,
near Fremont's mines, and weighs about one hundred and twenty-five
pounds. In shape it is irregular, approaching a square, its sides
varying from eighteen to twenty inches in length. It averages in
thickness nine inches--across its face diagonally it is twenty-one
inches by measurement. Very little gold is perceptible to the naked
eye, but it is estimated to contain about eighty dollars worth."
Since the above events were recorded, another most disastrous fire has
occurred in the city of San Francisco. It broke out in the Sacramento
House, situated in the wealthiest portion of the city, on the 17th of
June, 1850, at eight o'clock, A.M., and in the short space of three
hours, about two-thirds of the wealthiest district was consumed. The
shipping in the harbor was only saved by the greatest exertion. The
entire loss is estimated at from three to four millions of dollars.
This event occurring so soon after the previous fire, has had a
depressing and gloomy effect upon the business operations, not only of
San Francisco, but of Sacramento City also. Many of the heaviest
trading houses have been entirely ruined; and others brought to the
verge of it. Several individuals, including the Mayor of the city,
distinguished themselves by their noble and generous exertions to
arrest the progress of the fire and save property.
The emigration to California by way of the overland route is six times
as great during the present year as it was in 1849. The last company
left Council Bluffs, on the 15th of June. They brought up the rear of
near four thousand wagons, ten or twelve thousand persons, and about
twenty thousand head of horses and cattle. The continued success of
the gold diggers and the extraordinary prospect in regard to the
quantity that will be obtained during the mining season of 1850,
serves to keep up the excitement and to allure the emigrant to the
golden land.
There is a prospect that the seat of government of California will be
removed from San José to the proposed new city of Vallejo, about
twenty miles above San Francisco, near the Straits of Carquinez, and
at the junction of the Napa and San Pablo Bays. The new city has
already been surveyed, and a company of influential capitalists
organized, with the determination to "go ahead," whether the capital
is or is not established at this point. The site no doubt presents
many advantages for a large commercial city, not possessed by San
Francisco. The distance from the "Golden Gates," (as the entrance
from the Pacific to the succession of bays connected with the harbor
of San Francisco is termed) is about the same as San Francisco. The
harbor is one of the safest and most commodious in the world, and the
commissioners appointed by the general government to make surveys and
decide upon the best location, have to recommend Mare's Island, half a
mile from Vallejo, as the naval depot of the United States in
California. The climate of Vallejo is delightful, and the place is
never subjected to those strong and cold northerly winds which render
San Francisco so disagreeable as a residence and so dangerous as a
commercial city. There is plenty of marble for building purposes in
the immediate vicinity of Vallejo, and plenty of limestone at a
convenient distance, and easily obtainable. The new city will command
a most beautiful view of San Pablo Bay and of the country adjacent,
and the Napa valley (through which the Napa River flows, and near the
mouth of which the city is located,) and the Sonoma valley in the
vicinity are among the most fertile in California. Near Vallejo are
also mineral springs, possessing similar properties, and said to equal
the celebrated Congress Springs at Saratoga.