A GENERAL VIEW OF CALIFORNIA AT THE PRESENT TIME.
We have followed the narrative of the events in the history of
California up to the present time. We have traced her progress from
her first settlement up to the time when she appears as a sovereign
republican State; and we have seen the effects of her vast metallic
wealth working wonders in a short space of time. We have seen her
towns before and after the gold discovery, and marked the contrast;
and we have seen her territory become thickly peopled, and her
resources developed in a space of time which other territories less
favored, would require for an infancy. We have also considered her
soil, climate, productions, and population, and exhibited each subject
as fully as our information warranted. But in order to give a clear
conception of the general character of California and her resources
and capabilities, and to enable the reader to obtain an idea of the
bright future to which she is destined, we have concluded to add
another chapter upon the general state of things there at the present
time.
California is now a State--in organization at least, if not in being a
member of the Union. The country has become thoroughly American in its
government and laws. A Constitution is adopted as a State organization,
which bears the impress of enlightened sentiment and just principles.
The most liberal provisions have been made in that instrument for the
grand end of public education. The power and capability of the people
to rule themselves has been recognized in the matter of electing
nearly all the officers of the government--including the judges of the
various courts over which the State has control. The Legislature, in
the course of a laborious session, has abolished the old civil law
which ruled the country under the Mexican government, and continued
after the acquisition of the territory by the United States, and have
substituted the common law of England and many of the States in the
Union. In taking this step, they were actuated by sound policy. Few of
those who were subjected to be tried, or to have their suits decided
by the rules of this civil code were aware of the nature of these
rules; and from their crude and unintelligible character, it would
have been a long time before they could have been fully or certainly
informed. The old common law is that to whose rules they have
conformed in the older States, and which is better suited to their
habits and principles of action.
But with her complete State organization, California has applied for
admission into the Union, and from various causes, without reason, as
we conceive, has not yet been admitted to her claim. This delay,
continued through a long session of Congress, has somewhat irritated
the Californians, who are anxiously watching the doings of Congress.
The state of feeling on the subject is clearly stated in one of the
California papers; and it is worthy of attention. We extract it.
"SHALL CALIFORNIA BE ADMITTED?--We desire once more to state calmly
and firmly the grievances under which the State of California labors,
in order that Congress, in her hesitation, which may terminate in an
open refusal to admit us as equal sharers in the benefits, as we are
of the burdens of the general government, may not act in ignorance of
the true state of feeling existing here upon a point so vital to our
future.
"California feels that she has been made the sport of gambling
politicians long enough. This is the universal sentiment of one
hundred thousand citizens of this State, expecting daily
reinforcements which will swell the number to an aggregate of two
hundred and fifty thousand before the second session of the present
Congress. She feels that such a mass of men, born under the flag of
the Union, have a right to some of the privileges which they were
taught to suppose it typified. She feels that she has no right to be
taxed and not protected--to be taxed, and not represented, to be
taxed, and nothing but taxed. Nothing else has been done for her. We
hear of no Indian agent in the country. American citizens are
slaughtered weekly if not daily by savages on our border. An agent of
the Postoffice Department has been sent here, but his power to put
into successful operation a thorough mail system, commensurate with
the wants of the people, has been effectually crippled from the want
of an appropriation to meet the necessary expenses. We are without
admiralty courts; yet the interests of the commerce of the Pacific are
centring in the Bay of San Francisco. We are paying millions into the
treasury of the United States yearly. Our custom-house is thronged
daily with captains and consignees of vessels, paying government dues,
which eventually come from the pockets of the citizens of the whole
State; yet there is hardly a possibility that one dollar in a thousand
will ever be expended for our benefit.
"This state of things is unnatural--too much so for a quiet endurance,
unless stern necessity is at the bottom. Were there any reason why we
should be treated thus, we could patiently suffer on. But there is
none. And now a sentiment is fast gaining ground here, that it is the
intention of Congress--or a portion of Congress, to throw us back upon
a territorial organization. It may not be amiss to state that
California, under no circumstances, will give up her State
organization. She has just escaped from the crudities and
unintelligibilities of the Mexican code. Under it, she would still be
laboring, had the action of Congress been awaited. Neither to this
state of vassalage to institutions foreign to the habits and education
of her citizens, nor to a second vassalage of territorial government
under Congress, will she submit now. She knows her interests too well
for this. If we are driven to take matters into our own keeping, the
responsibility rests not upon us, neither should the odium, if any
attaches. Should Congress ever come to its senses, and do what naked
justice demanded months ago, California will ever be ready and proud
to form one of the States of the Union; but it is asking too much that
she should offer herself a willing sacrifice on the altar of
demagogues."
This is strongly and firmly said; and we hope that it will exercise
some influence on those to whose attention it is directed. Nothing can
be more unjust in politics than taxation without a due compensation of
protection and of law. There is scarcely any prospect, however, that
California will be required to go back to a territorial organization.
Such a request would be absurd in the highest degree, and none but
ultras recommend it.
Whether California be admitted into the Union at the present session
of Congress, or not, we may consider her Constitution and many of her
laws necessary for carrying out the provisions of the Constitution, as
fixed and operative. We have then, in a knowledge of their laws, a
view of the character of society in California, in many particulars,
but there are others which require further observation. One feature
strikes the observer at first glance. It is the variety of nation
which marks the population of the principal cities of California.
There may be seen the rapid, yet prudent Yankee, with a sharp eye to
the main chance, and a ready comprehension of the consequences of a
bargain or a speculation; the cool, slow, and heavy-moving Englishman,
wishing to be sure of his game, and, therefore, late in grasping for
it; the lively and sociable Frenchman, contrasting appearances and
manners with things in Paris; the coarse-looking German, with a lively
conception of the wealth of the country, and a deep consideration of
the means of grasping a goodly share of it; the half-Spanish native of
California, with his love of indolence, and easy of satisfaction; the
Chilian, with the ferocity and the cowardice of the descendants of the
Spaniards, and loving fandangoes and riding horses, as intensely as
the Californians, the Chinese, with dirty, but industrious habits, and
the native Indians--a mean, degraded specimen of that noble race that
once were lords of the American forests.
At the present time, it is a matter of doubt, whether the Americans or
the foreigners predominate in the population of California. It is
certain that the former have things pretty much their own way in the
various cities and in the mines. But that may be from a want of unity
of action among the foreigners. The habits and modes of life belonging
to the Americans are generally prevalent in the cities; but in the
smaller and older towns, the native Californians conduct every thing
in the old Spanish mode. The difference between the society of Los
Angeles and Sacramento City, is wide, and affords a good contrast
between the restless, enterprising, utilitarian spirit of the
Americans, and the indolent, pleasure-loving spirit of the
Californians. With the Americans, in the cities where they are in the
majority, business is the uppermost consideration upon all occasions,
and profit and loss, and chances of obtaining a competency, the
constant subject of thought. With the Californians, the enjoyment of
the present, which alone is theirs, is at all times a matter of prime
importance; and gambling, drinking, dancing, guitar-playing, and
riding on horseback, are the principal sources of their pleasures.
Which of these modes of passing away life is the most philosophical,
we leave to the speculative. But it is apparent in California, that
the energy of the American character is exercising a great influence
on the descendants of the Spaniards. Their spirit is infectious. In
some of the towns upon the coast, one half of the buildings are
occupied by persons who have emigrated from the Eastern States; and
the contrast between their log and brick houses, and the _adobé_
houses of the Californians, is singular, and seems as if the old dead
looking trunk of the tree had suddenly sent out new branches full of
life and freshness.
All the vices consequent upon a heterogeneous population, suddenly
thrown together and stimulated to an extraordinary degree of activity,
have fully exhibited themselves in California. Nearly every body in
the mining regions carries deadly weapons of some sort, and with the
promptings of avarice, and the excitement of passion, many shocking,
secret murders, and many open, revengeful encounters are continually
occurring. The practice of carrying deadly weapons can only be
abolished when a stronger feeling of security, induced by a confidence
in the protection of the laws, shall take the place of constant dread.
The mining population is of as mixed a character as that in the
commercial cities; and national jealousies will occur occasionally.
The elation consequent upon successful gold digging and speculating,
leads to excess in drinking and gambling, and these lead to frequent
quarrels and deadly encounters. The remedy for these things is only to
be found in the reaction to which a few years will lead, when the
power of the law shall be supreme throughout the gold region.
The principal thing which has contributed in some degree to influence
the prospect and the labors of the miners, is the government tax upon
the foreigners who wish to work upon the public lands in digging and
washing gold. The tax is certainly a just one, but many are of
opinion that it is too high. A lighter tax would more readily receive
the assent of the mass of foreigners; but whether it is not just that
they should pay a tax of eight dollars for every ounce of gold they
obtain from the land of others, is another question. The greater
portion of the gold region belongs to the government, and was paid for
by the government. The people of the United States should, therefore,
have the sole right to occupy it; and it is but just, that those
people of foreign nations who wish to reap a profit from it either by
digging gold or cultivating the ground, should pay for the use of it.
The effect of the tax is, that those who must pay it, either must give
up mining or work harder to reap sufficient profit. In either case,
the country is benefited.
The mining region is constantly increasing in extent. The _placers_
first worked still yield a profit sufficient to reward the gold seeker
for his labor, and the frequent discovery of new ones by parties
prospecting, keeps up the heat of excitement. The region is constantly
extending towards the north. The vicinity of Trinity River is the most
northern part of California where gold is obtained in any considerable
quantity, and the source of the San Joaquin, is the most southern. The
entire region embraced between these two points is known to abound in
the precious metal, and is traversed by the gold "prospecters." Of the
gold obtained, a great quantity--a third, at least, remains in the
country. Another is carried out of California by the foreigners, and
the remainder is sent to the Atlantic States of the Union. This is but
a rough estimate; but it seems warranted by the facts of the number of
foreigners in the country, and the necessary current money of the
residents. Certain it is, that were we to judge of the quantity of
gold obtained in California, by the amount received in the United
States, we would fall far too short of the truth.
The growth of the commerce of California necessarily carries with it
the growth of all those cities and towns which have any commercial
advantages, or which are connected with the various ports. Not only
has San Francisco constantly in her harbor a tremendous fleet of
merchant vessels from all parts of the world, pouring into her lap the
commodities necessary to a new country and a rapid building city, and
Sacramento, the commerce of the mines continually passing through it,
but all the towns along the coast have felt the impulse, and have
become the seat of a traffic of some sort. San Diego, Santa Barbara,
San Pedro, and Monterey, are all commercial ports, which have become
the resort of those traders who wish to escape the crowd of
competitors to be met with at the more northern towns, and to have a
pleasant place of residence besides. Los Angeles, twenty-five miles
from the port of San Pedro is the centre of an extensive inland trade,
and from its being a delightful place of residence, will contribute to
the building up of San Pedro in a greater degree than the commerce of
San Pedro can influence it.
At present, San Francisco is a city of about thirty thousand
inhabitants, and in spite of the repeated visitations of the calamity
of destructive fire, it has suffered no stoppage in its rapid
progress. On the contrary, these fires seem to give a new impulse to
the energy and enterprise of its inhabitants, and, by impressing upon
them the utility of building their houses and stores of the more
substantial brick, to have been of permanent benefit. Like the water
of a rapid river, which, meeting with a serious obstacle in its
course, is checked for the moment and then, having gathered new
strength, surmounts the barrier and springs forward with renewed
energy, San Francisco has pursued her course. The late fire, decidedly
the most disastrous the new city has experienced, produced for awhile
a general stand in business. But the go-aheadative principle was too
strong for a continuance of a stagnation; and all the sufferers set
about doing their utmost to retrieve their fortunes. Success must wait
upon such persevering energy.
Sacramento City is fast treading upon the heels of her commercial
sister city. Improvements are constantly being made to the appearance
of the city and the comfort of its inhabitants. A levee is in course
of construction, which, it is thought, will effectually protect the
city from being flooded during the season of the rise of the river.
The overland emigration of which Sacramento is the goal, contributes
to swell the population rapidly; and, during the rainy season the
greater portion of the population of the northern mines flock into the
city for refuge till the digging season commences.
Stockton, Benicia, San José, and Sutter are each increasing the number
of their residents and their trade very fast. The first is the depot
of the southern mines; the second, the military and naval station,
chosen by the government officers; the third is the capital of the
State; the last is a thriving town, near Sacramento, but in a better
situation.
One of the most interesting features of California is the number of
the missions in various parts of the State. They are and will continue
to be interesting, because of their age, and the self-denying and
energetic labors with which they are connected. They were the centres,
established by a few Catholic priests, from which the rays of
enlightenment and civilized enjoyment were spread to the native
Indians of California. Each mission was a little principality, with
many leagues of land attached, with some thousand head of cattle, and
all the neighboring Indians subject to the control of the padre, and
cultivating the land for their own and the padre's benefit. In 1800,
these missions were sixteen in number, and three only have been added
since that time. They are named and located as follows:--San Rafael
and San Francisco Solano, north of San Francisco Bay; Dolores, near
San Francisco; Santa Clara and San José, near Pueblo San José; San
Juan, Santa Cruz and Carmel, near Monterey; Soledad, San Antonio, and
San Miguel, in the valley of Salina River; San Luis Obispo, La
Purisima, Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara, and San Buenaventura, near Santa
Barbara; San Gabriel and San Fernando, near Los Angeles; and San Luis
Rey, San Juan Capistrano and San Diego, on the coast, south of Los
Angeles.
The wealth and power of these missions have fled, and they are all,
more or less, in a state of decay. The Indians who were prospering
under the care of the priests have either taken refuge in the
mountains or linger about the old mission buildings, in a degraded and
ignorant state. The immense quantity of land which was once attached
to them has been taken from them from time to time, and now they but
seem the ruins of former greatness. The beauty of the country
surrounding those of the missions which are still existing, and the
picturesque appearance of those which are in ruins make them well
worthy a visit to the lover of the antiquated.
The usual attendant of the American enterprise, the printing press,
has found its way to California, to contribute to the information and
convenience of the people. Several papers are in extensive circulation
in the cities and towns, and projects for others have been formed. The
principal are the _Alta Californian_, the _Pacific News_, the
_Courier_, and the _Placer Times_. The three first are published in
San Francisco, and the last at Sacramento.
The want of facilities for transportation must be severely felt in the
interior settlements of California. Steam vessels of the swiftest and
most commodious character are the means of easy communication and
transportation between San Francisco and the towns on Suisan Bay and
the Sacramento, as far as Sacramento City. Communication by the same
means will doubtless, soon be established between the different ports
on the coast. But railroads and canals are requisites for increasing
the social communication and drawing the people of all parts of the
State more closely together. These, however, will not be long in
demand, after the State has been admitted into the Union. The
companies for such purposes will feel secure in their charter, and
receive assistance from the government. There is nothing more
efficacious in binding a people together and maintaining peace and
harmony of action, than the mechanical facility of communication. The
Atlantic States of the Union afford plentiful illustration and
evidence of this assertion. Mark the differences of habit and
sentiment in those States, where the means of intercourse between the
inhabitants are comparatively few and far between. The interests of
the different sections of a large State are of course, dissimilar, and
produce the widest separation of feeling and opinion, which cannot be
harmonized without the facilities of intercourse afforded by railroads
and canals. In no State are there greater means of communication
between the people of the different sections, than in Massachusetts;
and in no State is there a more harmonious action in the Legislative
department of the government. Let the railroads and canals be so
constructed in California as soon as possible, and the effect will be
the same.
We have elsewhere mentioned and characterized the different harbors of
California. There has been one other surveyed and pronounced
excellent, and the beginning of a town made upon its shores. This is
called Humboldt, after the distinguished traveller. It is about one
hundred and seventy-five miles north of San Francisco. The river
formerly called Pigeon, but now Trinity, empties into it. The harbor
is sheltered from the south-west winds, but is exposed to the
north-west. The north-west winds prevail from November till March, and
are severe; but the south-west winds during the remainder of the year,
are violent, and the harbor that is sheltered from them is considered
a good one.
The Indians who inhabit a large portion of California, have been, and
will be, the subject of considerable trouble to the white residents.
It is a matter of the first importance for their safety, and that of
the Indians themselves, that agents should be sent among them, with
power to negotiate and settle all claims made by them and disputes
arising between them and the whites, else, a destructive war will be
the consequence. They should be induced to relinquish their claims to
the soil of California as far as the Sierra Nevada, and receive due
compensation therefor. But for the want of properly constituted agents
from the government, they have been either driven from their old
haunts by the mountaineers and other settlers, or remain amongst the
whites to be a constant source of trouble. The Shoshonees, or Snakes,
are the most numerous tribe to be found within the limits of the
State, but there are others which are more warlike and untameable.
They have all suffered considerably from the aggressions of the white
emigrants, and their attacks upon individuals and parties are but the
promptings of revenge, which should be taken into consideration.
Lately, a war of extermination against the whole number of certain
tribes was commenced on account of the doings of one or two of them.
Few of them are provided with better weapons than bows and arrows,
and, of course, they can make but a poor resistance to the rifles of
the white men. In illustration of the treatment of the Indians, we
quote an account of the doings of a war party against them, described
in the work of a California tourist:--
"A few days before our arrival in the mines, five men from Oregon,
named Robinson, Thompson, English, Johnson, and Wood, were murdered by
Indians while engaged in gold digging. Having but one rifle, they
imprudently left it in their tent. This the Indians some thirty or
forty in number, first secured, and then commenced their attack with
bows and arrows. The Oregonians defended themselves some time,
repeatedly driving the Indians with no other weapons than the stones
they found on the _bar_ where they were at work, but upon reaching the
edge of the _bar_, they were each time obliged again to retreat. At
length three of them, stuck full of arrows, were exhausted with loss
of blood and overcome; while the other two attempted to escape by
crossing the fork, one succeeding in reaching the other side, but both
finally meeting the fate of the others. One of the warriors of the
tribe who participated in these murders was afterwards taken prisoner,
and furnishing the above narration, his life was spared on condition
that he should guide the whites to their _rancheria_.
"Accordingly, on the 16th of April, a war party was made up of about
twenty young mountaineers, mostly Oregon men, and including also the
young Greenwoods. Well mounted, and equipped with the enormous
gingling California spurs, they rode up to Old Greenwood's for a
review from the old man preparatory to starting. Each man carried
besides his inseparable rifle, a long Spanish knife usually mounted
with silver, and stuck in the folds of his deerskin leggings; and many
were also provided with a brace of pistols or bowie knife, worn in the
red Mexican sash around the waist. Old Greenwood shouted 'Mind the
scalps and squaws for me, and be sure you bring 'em all in, boys,' and
away they went, at a thundering _lope_, eager for revenge."
The day afterwards, the party returned. They were preceded by a party
of Peruvians and Chilians, with a number of their _peones_, or slaves.
"Following closely this motley group, came on foot a body of about
sixty California Indians. Warriors and boys, squaws with _papooses_
tied on boards and slung at the back, all were prisoners. Clustered
together like sheep driven to the slaughter, they hastened through the
gorge with uncertain steps, the perspiration rolling off their faces
now pale with fright. Many of them were quite naked, and the men and
boys especially, looked more like ourang-outangs than human beings.
"In flank and rear rode the war party, which had left the Culloma
Valley two days previous. Every man's rifle lay across the pommel of
his saddle, and dangling at both sides hung several reeking scalps.
Among them was a dashing young mountaineer named John Ross, who had
two scalps for his share, and sticking in his sash was the
red-sheathed bowie knife, which the writer had sold him a few days
previous for an ounce of gold dust. Used previously to sever the rinds
of pork, or shovel in rice and frijoles, it had now been 'wool
gathering' or collecting wigs for old Greenwood's fancy stores.
"'Well done, boys,' shouted Grover, 'you have given it to them this
time; now, what's the news?' In reply to this inquiry, we learned that
the captured Indian had led them the night before according to
promise, to their _rancheria_, on Weber's Creek, where some of them
showing fight and others attempting escape, they were fired upon and
some twenty to thirty were killed. Their chief fought until shot the
third time, rising each time to his knees and discharging his arrows,
Ross finally killing, cutting off his head and scalping him. Their
_rancheria_ was then searched and burned; the Indians delivering up
the papers of the Oregon men, obtained at the time of their murder,
and confessing that they had afterwards burned their bodies to ashes
on the mountains.
"The subsequent facts were related to the writer by his highly
esteemed friend, Mr. Donald Grant, a native of bonnie Scotland, who
was one of our party to the mines, and an eye witness to the scene;
not having left on his return to San Francisco till the following
day.
"Arriving in the Culloma valley with their prisoners, the mountaineers
and miners had a grand revel and jollification to celebrate their
achievement. During the day most of the prisoners were released, but a
few squaws and seven warriors were retained. The latter were
questioned and examined relative to their participation in the murder
of the Oregonians. Nothing being elicited to prove their guilt, it was
nevertheless determined that they should die; because being bad
looking and strong warriors, it was believed they were participators
in the murders. Accordingly the consumption of champaigne and brandy
continued till sunset. At that hour the seven Indians were brought
forth, and knowing well their fate, one of them put up his hand as a
signal, and all leaped along the valley in rapid flight. Quick as
thought the rifles began to crack in every direction, while old
Greenwood raving around his cabin remonstrated at the deed, tossed his
arms aloft with violent denunciation; and stooping down gathered the
dust in his palms, and sprinkled it on his head, swearing he was
innocent of their blood. Meantime, John Greenwood stood beside the old
man in stoic silence, too brave to participate in the massacre, but
too much of a crow to utter his disapproval. But frantic with
excitement the others thought only of revenge, and the balls whistling
in every direction laid five of the warriors dead in the valley and
mortally wounding another, only one escaping unscathed. The dying rays
of the sun deserting the bloody scene, yet lingered on the mountain
top, and the smoke of the discharge rolled in thick volume, like a
pall over the corpses of the slain, while that solitary warrior
turned from his distant height, to gaze after his companions, a
moment in vain. But his heart quivered with vengeance, and the thin
white locks of the old man in the valley, still mingled with the gray
twilight, like the sackcloth and ashes of despair.
"And this is what they call fighting the Indians! A few days before
only, we saw a young mountaineer wild with rage, threaten the life of
an American who had ventured to suggest, that the murders committed by
these Indians were provoked by many previous murders by the whites,
and that they should be avenged by the death of the _guilty_ among the
Indians, and not by an _indiscriminate_ slaughter."
We cannot think highly of the civilization of the white men who take
such unmerciful and indiscriminate revenge as this. Such are not the
means to gain the Indians over to a peace. Revenge only breeds
revenge; and those who commit such slaughter in retaliation for the
murder of one or two men must look to the consequences.
The great body of the travel to California is at present by way of the
Isthmus of Panama; but those who intend to settle permanently in the
State, and who will increase the real population of it, take the
overland route from Independence, Missouri. The shortest and best
route for commercial purposes will soon be opened across Nicaragua.
This will have many advantages over the old Isthmus route, but will
not cause that one to be abandoned altogether. Chagres has become
somewhat Americanized, and so have Gorgona, Cruces, and Panama. Travel
has been somewhat facilitated by the addition of American boats on the
Chagres River, and the provision of the mountain mules for the rough
road to Panama, in sufficient number to lower the price of travel and
decrease the delay.
The facilities of intercourse between California and the States east
of the Rocky Mountains will tend to cement her to the Union by all the
ties of trade and mutual interest. The people of that State, being at
so great a distance from the rest of the States, would seem to be alien
to them in interest, and, therefore, that an independent government
would contribute most to their prosperity. But mechanical influences--the
telegraph--the railroad and the steam vessel--annihilate distance, and
will be the means of attaching the Californians to the confederacy. In
her union with the other States, there is her strength. She will add
much to their wealth and power, but her free institutions--entirely
American, require the support of the confederacy which produced
them--at least, until the State has reached her maturity.
What will be the future California is a question which admits of a
ready answer. If she retains her present boundaries, with her
extensive sea coast, and her progress bears any proportion to that
since the conquest, in fifty years--it is a warranted conclusion--the
State will surpass any of those upon the Atlantic coast. For, what
State has such united commercial facilities and vast resources? Where
are such internal wealth and such splendid harbors to be found united?
It is probable, however, that the State may be divided, after the
population has reached a sufficient number. It is the opinion of some
of the members of the present Congress, that there is too much sea
coast for one State to possess, and that has been made an objection to
her admission into the Union, with her present boundaries. But it is
of little weight at this time. After the State has existed a few
years, the utility of such a division as is proposed will be manifest
or disproved. In the mean time, let California be admitted into the
Union as her people have created her, and then she will have every
thing necessary for her to go on in the fulfilment of a glorious
destiny.
The gold discoveries in New Mexico and Oregon will have but a slight
influence on California affairs. Yet for that slight influence, they
deserve to be mentioned. The recent discoveries in New Mexico, would
seem to indicate that the El Dorado of the early Spanish voyagers has
been found, and nearly in the place to which their attention was
directed by the Indians. A late number of the Houston Telegraph, says:
"That preparations are in progress in all parts of the State, for a
grand expedition to the gold region that has been discovered in New
Mexico, not far from the ruins of the celebrated city of Grand
Quivira. Gold mines have been found all along the great chain of
mountains extending from the sources of the Arkansas and Platte
Rivers, by Santa Fe, to the Puerto. Immense excavations are shown
along the feet of these mountains, and the ruins of vast cities
indicate that these mines were once worked by millions of people. The
geographical formations of this region are so similar to those of the
gold regions of California, that they appear to be identical, and
contain similar deposits of the precious metals. These facts have been
made known throughout Texas, and the Telegraph would not be surprised
to find that the emigration to the gold region of Texas, in the
ensuing autumn, should exceed the emigration to California."
The "consummation devoutly to be wished" has been attained. California
has at length been admitted to take her place as a star of the
confederated republic. The bill for that object passed the House of
Representatives on the 7th of September, 1850, by a vote of yeas, one
hundred and fifty, nays fifty-six. It had previously passed the Senate
by a no less decisive majority. The announcement of the passage of the
bill was received with the greatest enthusiasm by its friends, and
considerable excitement upon the part of its opponents. The most
constant exertions were made by members from the Southern States to
defeat the bill by adjournment and by numerous amendments, but they
were unavailing. California triumphed.